80s Flashback: When TV Watches Were All the Rage | Flashback | NBC News

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 24 кві 2016
  • Long before the Apple Watch, gadget-lovers of the 1980s were armed with a hot, new fad: the tiny TV.
    » Subscribe to NBC News: nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC
    » Watch more NBC video: bit.ly/MoreNBCNews
    NBC News is a leading source of global news and information. Here you will find clips from NBC Nightly News, Meet The Press, and our original series Debunker, Flashback, Nerdwatch, and Show Me. Subscribe to our channel for news stories, technology, politics, health, entertainment, science, business, and exclusive NBC investigations.
    Connect with NBC News Online!
    Visit NBCNews.Com: nbcnews.to/ReadNBC
    Find NBC News on Facebook: nbcnews.to/LikeNBC
    Follow NBC News on Twitter: nbcnews.to/FollowNBC
    Follow NBC News on Google+: nbcnews.to/PlusNBC
    Follow NBC News on Instagram: nbcnews.to/InstaNBC
    Follow NBC News on Pinterest: nbcnews.to/PinNBC
    80s Flashback: When TV Watches Were All the Rage | Flashback | NBC News

КОМЕНТАРІ • 119

  • @westep4273
    @westep4273 5 років тому +78

    Feels weird watching this on a phone

  • @jerlewis4291
    @jerlewis4291 3 роки тому +24

    In 1989 I got a Casio mini-tv, it was color and had a fantastic picture. I took it to football games to watch the replays. Wound up putting it away at my parents' house because my two-year-old son could not leave it alone. Seventeen years later I was going through a box and found it. Put batteries in it and it still worked, but couldn't get a picture because of digital TV.

    • @holobolo1661
      @holobolo1661 Рік тому +1

      Wow that's really sad in a way. The analog tech era is quickly becoming a forgotten time.

    • @Daniel-79
      @Daniel-79 4 місяці тому +1

      It’s too bad what they did with all the old television technology. The really made it obsolete

  • @mugpush4816
    @mugpush4816 2 роки тому +6

    I miss the 80s....much simpler times....

    • @bill42608
      @bill42608 Рік тому

      I remember I got a desktop tape recorder. When I was almost 10 in 1980 tons of fun recording people without there knowledge ads long I was in the room hey RI has a one party consent and since I was party to such conversations I would be ok with the law but my father on the other hand 😭

  • @pancudowny
    @pancudowny 5 років тому +46

    When I first saw a Sony Watchman in a General Mills television ad--around 1984--I wanted one, but certainly couldn't afford one. When I saw Casio's television watch on display in a store window at the local mall, I was impressed... until I later saw in a magazine how big the attached tuner unit was.
    In 1998, with money to burn I bought a Casio pocket-sized color television... for a mere $50.00, on-sale a local Radio Shack. Despite it's screen being only 2.2" it served me well for many years. Some time later, I bought a digital-compatible pocket television with a much larger screen through eBay. Digital television reception being what is, it didn't serve me as well and saw little use.
    Now, with smartphones like the one I'm typing this comment on and subscription television apps, and accessories for smartphones like a armband holder that fits my wrist... I can easily watch clear, smooth-streaming television anywhere on a screen far larger than that of any vintage device, just by glancing at my wrist and touching the screen.
    Looks like I got my T.V.-watch after all!😊

  • @elizabethpeterson1644
    @elizabethpeterson1644 Рік тому +2

    My mother had this one TV with a radio on the side of TV that was portable. It was a black and white screen. I remembered tuning to this one station that played music videos on. That was in our 1982 Ford conversion van. I sat in the back to watched it. My sister usually goes the back of the van to sleep with one of our cats. I was in the middle with the other cat. Both of my parents in front. We had 2 cats back in the early 80’s to the early 90’s. Both cats were red tabby cats.

  • @Antonio---
    @Antonio--- 4 роки тому +8

    My mom worked for Sony she got a portable tv for xmass gift, Those good old days.

  • @thetrustybutterknifean80sa19
    @thetrustybutterknifean80sa19 7 років тому +23

    Wanna go back to the fall of 1985 on an adventure of a lifetime?

    • @erinasherton8411
      @erinasherton8411 5 років тому

      The Trusty Butter Knife: An '80s Adventure That’s where I’m heading To later on, Not exactly In The fall but somewhere In The warmer month’s.

    • @MrMelgibstein
      @MrMelgibstein 3 роки тому

      She's not wearing her glasses,her eyes are all over the place .

  • @ChuckD79
    @ChuckD79 4 роки тому +7

    The Watchman was also a frequent obstacle course prize on Double Dare during its first year (86-87)...back then, what kid wouldn't want a TV they could hold in the palm of their hand?

  • @MattyIcecubes
    @MattyIcecubes 3 місяці тому

    My grandpa was a truck driver, and he got a Sony WatchMan for Xmas 1986 and thought it was the greatest thing in the world.

  • @Larry
    @Larry 5 років тому +27

    Never knew Sinclair sold their TV's in the US.

    • @jordanvelazquez6321
      @jordanvelazquez6321 3 роки тому

      Wow now we have smart watches and small tech now.

    • @AckzaTV
      @AckzaTV 2 роки тому

      Sinclair was big brand in usa . We used to be europhiles in 80s ...then we visited europe lol

  • @rudylittlewolf
    @rudylittlewolf 5 років тому +4

    I have had this TV Watch since 1988, and I wouldn't give it up for any price. It is just a nice collector item and who knows what it will fetch in the years to come. Other than that, it's just going to stay in my family, or sold to a collector when my time is up on earth. My mom got it for me as a Christmas gift in 1988. A man from NY brought it to my town after my mom had searched for one. He said it was a display model in some famous NY store. She paid $150 for it!

  • @boat6float
    @boat6float Місяць тому

    It's amazing that it took so long to get to the smartwatch if they were already around in the 80s

  • @stevesibaja3123
    @stevesibaja3123 5 років тому +6

    80's Gadgets they where Awesome

  • @Daehawk
    @Daehawk Рік тому +2

    I have a pocket tv..someplace. Had it since my wife got it for me around 1991.

  • @scratchdog2216
    @scratchdog2216 5 років тому +4

    I had a Sony Watchman around 1984. It worked well enough for what is was.

  • @jcampton1
    @jcampton1 7 років тому +18

    I would rather have a tiny tv rather than an apple watch because you cannot watch UA-cam, Netflix, Snapchat on Apple Watch. On a tiny tv you could watch any channel anywhere 24/7

    • @chiefmangas2367
      @chiefmangas2367 6 років тому +2

      James Campton true. Old technology would seem more enjoyable than everything being so easy for everyone to use like modern technology.

  • @jazzbollywood
    @jazzbollywood 4 роки тому +4

    I never saw anyone in the u.k with those watches. The first time I saw the watch was in the movie dragnet and I was like how come we don't have them.

  • @tickedoffnow
    @tickedoffnow 3 роки тому +4

    Watching this on a tablet in late 2020 😂

  • @jamesa6494
    @jamesa6494 5 років тому +2

    It's surprising that portable TVs didn't catch on to a greater degree given their convenience. I used to have an walkman that came equipped with an audio only tv tuner and even that was extremely handy.

  • @hamesh3474
    @hamesh3474 Рік тому +1

    I remember that when I was 10. Man did I want one 👍

  • @clintmillent
    @clintmillent 4 роки тому +7

    So thats where the applewatch came from

  • @hoppinggnomethe4154
    @hoppinggnomethe4154 Рік тому +1

    Ah, the 80s, when a mobile TV is smaller than a cellphone

  • @lymarie1974
    @lymarie1974 6 років тому +3

    what in the world!!!!! im a kid of the 80s all i wanted was my mtv. never knew about these watches.

    • @briankelly9347
      @briankelly9347 5 років тому

      Not all white folk had the latest state of the art tech

  • @beavacuda
    @beavacuda 6 років тому +35

    I think they positioned that lady to compensate for her lazy eye

    • @aboutagirl13
      @aboutagirl13 6 років тому +3

      She had eyes?

    • @subtletones3926
      @subtletones3926 6 років тому +2

      I think they positioned her eyes to compensate for the reporter's lazy story

    • @SAMEntalhealth
      @SAMEntalhealth 6 років тому +1

      BEAVACUDA lmao

    • @jcp012000
      @jcp012000 5 років тому +1

      One is looking at you and the other is looking for you

    • @believeachieve2847
      @believeachieve2847 5 років тому +2

      i think she's GORGEOUS tho!

  • @ernandstevensune9036
    @ernandstevensune9036 3 роки тому

    We had this before and I still kinda want it now

  • @orangebetsy
    @orangebetsy Рік тому +1

    omg i remember my big bro getting the casio calculator watch but i DON'T remember the watch!!!

  • @mjrodriguez8670
    @mjrodriguez8670 Рік тому

    Back in 1987, when I was 12 years old, I bought a Citizen LCD Pocket TV with a clip-on backlight. The screen was 2.5 inches. I watched it indoors and outdoors. However, it drained my batteries after 3 hours of continuous use. So I used the AC adapter as much as I could. Today that pocket TV, which I really miss, is now technologically obsolete. I now watch TV shows on my Amazon Kindle Fire 8.

  • @skatintod
    @skatintod Рік тому

    Can't wait to get one

  • @saharabaker7852
    @saharabaker7852 2 роки тому

    All you have to do is switch the antenna to digital

  • @gavinthecrafter
    @gavinthecrafter 3 роки тому +3

    Not even modern smartwatches can do this. I've tried.

    • @jasonspades5628
      @jasonspades5628 3 роки тому

      Have you tried smacking my mother in the face? That just might work.

    • @richardjohnson9543
      @richardjohnson9543 3 роки тому +1

      The original TV watch failed because the technology wasn't there yet to make it self contained and even now, it would be difficult to put all that into a watch for a reasonable price. And battery life would be an even bigger problem at that size.

  • @theomegaman218
    @theomegaman218 3 роки тому

    It was great.

  • @n1k3inthehouse
    @n1k3inthehouse 2 роки тому +1

    Now we have smart watches lol

  • @stevesibaja3123
    @stevesibaja3123 5 років тому +4

    80's Technology Devices

  • @M4SON24
    @M4SON24 14 годин тому

    Good thing a tiny hand held portable mobile device isn’t going to be released in 2007 called the iPhone one 😮‍💨phew

  • @karlastafford9623
    @karlastafford9623 3 роки тому +1

    Little did people know back then that years later that they would be having a computer device called smartwatches on their wrists.

    • @ibobeko4309
      @ibobeko4309 Рік тому

      If someone would tell them, they would have a camcorder, walkman, phone and a supercomputer in one device in the size of a wallet, nobody believe them.

  • @lazarusblackwell6988
    @lazarusblackwell6988 Рік тому +1

    Cool retro tech.
    These days its obsolete.

  • @Susie4Jesus
    @Susie4Jesus 4 роки тому +1

    Love her hair!

  • @tomservo5007
    @tomservo5007 4 роки тому +1

    she's the senior tech writer ? like a senior in high school?

  • @Nightweaver1
    @Nightweaver1 2 роки тому

    Yeah, and when was the last time you saw ANYBODY using a smart watch? Exactly.

  • @AckzaTV
    @AckzaTV 2 роки тому +1

    Wow lcd tech is old

  • @HarryPotter87
    @HarryPotter87 2 роки тому

    Hey! That's before we watch Netflix via our phones!

  • @MrJWTH
    @MrJWTH 6 років тому +4

    Somethings simply aren't meant to be that small.

    • @okamijubei
      @okamijubei 6 років тому

      Mr. JH and yet they still watch them in that size... And cheaper as well.

    • @outonthetiles
      @outonthetiles 5 років тому +3

      You sound like my wife when she first pulled my trousers down.

    • @AtticTapes14
      @AtticTapes14 4 роки тому

      Apple watch.......

  • @unknownuser1357
    @unknownuser1357 5 років тому +7

    Ah good old american memories when stuff was built good and well organized and nothing was fake from China

    • @erinasherton8411
      @erinasherton8411 5 років тому +2

      Unknown User That’s why tiny tv’s were made In Japan, Because The Greatest Country on earth Japan know’s how To do It better while all other one’s lie That They’re better, They’re really not.

    • @Phineas1626
      @Phineas1626 5 років тому +1

      erin Asherton Right. Buy your televisions there. Just don’t buy the 4-hour battery back-up for your nuclear plant.

  • @angelav9838
    @angelav9838 6 років тому +2

    Only at radio shack...

  • @sadalite
    @sadalite 9 місяців тому

    Would have been nice to know the date this aired. 86? 88? Does anyone know???

  • @octaviussludberry9016
    @octaviussludberry9016 3 роки тому

    Mostly landscape screens too.

  • @tascabron6462
    @tascabron6462 6 років тому +1

    With those prices ..no wonder I never had one 200 dollars like 600 right now

    • @briankelly9347
      @briankelly9347 5 років тому

      Look that ain't,much if you make 45'000 bucks a year you can,spare 200

  • @bill42608
    @bill42608 Рік тому

    Well I won't tell you how I got my first small tv I was a bad boy sometimes.

  • @paperchasindude6578
    @paperchasindude6578 5 років тому +3

    Anyone else feel creeped out about anything in the 1980s

  • @johnw2026
    @johnw2026 2 роки тому

    Well even if you had one of those old tv watches today, and it actually still worked, you couldn't watch tv on it because of the switch to digital. Those would've only picked up analog tv.

  • @lemasculin8831
    @lemasculin8831 4 роки тому

    1980 Ice watch

  • @dietdr.cheeznipsanthology1705
    @dietdr.cheeznipsanthology1705 4 роки тому

    the lady in the beginning and end look like Phil Swift

  • @stevesibaja3123
    @stevesibaja3123 5 років тому +3

    Today we have Smart Watches the Technology is advancing

    • @steventopper9310
      @steventopper9310 4 роки тому +1

      Smart watches social media cell phone's are all that's ruining 2k20 with this pandemic going on the riot's! In the late 90's life wasn't as complicated as thing's are today thing's have changed over the years whatever happened to using Landline phone's? whatever happened to going to your local video store buying your favorite movie on VHS and watching it?. Nobody talks to each other it's only through texting nobody really makes phone calls anymore either! We're stuck in the digital age were thing's are online miss the late 90's so much.

    • @stevesibaja3123
      @stevesibaja3123 4 роки тому +1

      In the 90's we had the Casio Databank watch

  • @jaishemajames4554
    @jaishemajames4554 3 роки тому

    She watched too much small TV...she cross-eyed

  • @dayman4753
    @dayman4753 Рік тому

    Love the comment in the video at 2:00 'The Japanese know exactly how many shopping days there are until Christmas'.
    Just LOL. Turns out they have calendars in Asia too, eh?

  • @outonthetiles
    @outonthetiles 5 років тому

    Does that watch phone have picture in picture? If it doesn’t it’s no good to me.

  • @kirk1968
    @kirk1968 4 роки тому +2

    Was Chuck Todd even alive when this tech was featured? I still have a working Watchman, although it's now useless since everything went digital -_-

    • @johnnyballenatl
      @johnnyballenatl 3 роки тому

      Chuck was in elementary or middle school at the time.

  • @lanabyk8012
    @lanabyk8012 3 місяці тому

    Anyone here a TV fanatic?

  • @davejay6855
    @davejay6855 Рік тому

    If only they knew what would happen...

  • @wop8184
    @wop8184 8 місяців тому

    "The Japanese " lol

  • @AckzaTV
    @AckzaTV 2 роки тому

    I miss when we had these smart Japanese keeping us on our toes in biz warz

  • @jasonhuntley4203
    @jasonhuntley4203 7 років тому

    now if only they had the cell phones back then that would of been something

    • @ChrisG3253032
      @ChrisG3253032 7 років тому +5

      Cell phones did exist in the 80s. They were expensive, heavy, bulky and battery tech wasn't too great. Think "big lebowski", remember that huge cell phone the dude was carrying? that was an Ericsson Hotline [circa 1988] (or similar) and it weighed 4kg believe it or not. Another cell phone that appeared in tv and movies alot during the late 80s early 90s was the motorola dynaTAC. Such a brick it could have served as a wheel chock for a truck ;-)

    • @blackentertainmenthistory8601
      @blackentertainmenthistory8601 3 роки тому

      Rich People had cell phones in the 80's

  • @SoCalFreelance
    @SoCalFreelance Рік тому

    Is orange girl blind? Why isn't she looking at the camera and communicating to the audience? o_0

  • @mwildthing5525
    @mwildthing5525 3 роки тому +1

    The crosseyed chick is cute

  • @nigelcarren
    @nigelcarren 4 роки тому

    Susan Moody seemed pretty Moody concerning her husbands TV addiction... I would like an update please NBC. Did this couple stay together long enough to appreciate the shared joy of a front-loading VHS or did they falter during the top-loading Betamax era? If they are both reading this comment on a 60" smart-TV I shall weep with joy... though I would like to take this opportunity to remind Mr Moody that it wouldn't hurt him to do the dishes occasionally.

  • @pedroparamo7563
    @pedroparamo7563 10 місяців тому

    The problem was the litium

  • @AntajuanGrady
    @AntajuanGrady 3 роки тому

    I'm surprised the TV watch didn't last as there was NO such innovation of it really until the 2010s aka the smart watch.

    • @richardjohnson9543
      @richardjohnson9543 3 роки тому +1

      It didn't last because you had to hook it up to a tuner the size of a portable cassette player to use the TV and that defeated the purpose. Plus it cost $500. For $200 you could just buy a portable TV with a much better picture and with a built-in radio

  • @TheEvilganon4
    @TheEvilganon4 6 років тому +14

    Lazy eye

  • @subielife4life
    @subielife4life 2 роки тому

    Why do I feel weird when I look at the reporter/host eyes? Her eyes look weird or something.

  • @clubgothica
    @clubgothica 5 років тому +2

    Oh look, something on NBC that wasn't fake news.

  • @TrueVintageRnBFan
    @TrueVintageRnBFan 2 роки тому +1

    Is she cross-eyed?

  • @vincentdelareux1630
    @vincentdelareux1630 4 роки тому +2

    Who is she lookin at?

  • @Terminxman
    @Terminxman 6 років тому

    Is that ser barristan?

  • @luislopez-tx4tl
    @luislopez-tx4tl 2 роки тому

    Old people really act like they dont know how things work

  • @amangadpale6251
    @amangadpale6251 5 років тому

    Aahhh????

  • @alexisrivas9105
    @alexisrivas9105 3 роки тому

    She crossed eyed

  • @lemonfridge5119
    @lemonfridge5119 5 років тому

    Where’s the crack? Or heroine? Didn’t see in this video

  • @Playafly540
    @Playafly540 4 роки тому

    Why y’all got that crossed eyed woman on there?? Lol

  • @PatricKruiz
    @PatricKruiz 8 років тому

    boring

  • @buildingglocks5797
    @buildingglocks5797 10 місяців тому

    The first Apple Watch