Outdated technology in the OT from today's perspective

*pannoni1* · 08-31-2011, 06:16 AM

As the years pass, more and more things from the OT pick up that "nostalgia" feeling. First it was the lingo, then it was the production style, now we're getting more in-depth with it as the OT really feels more and more like a period piece. There are many gadgets in the OT that really feel out of place with the present, that if they are included in future incarnations, they can be subject to jokes about coming from another era.

Here are just a few:

-The typewriters used by Irma/Burne in Channel 6 in the earlier seasons
-Dot-matrix printers
-Payphones (still a few here and there, but far less common today then they were even 5 years ago)
-Of course, CRT-monitor computers
-TVs with dials on them (no wonder saying the channel number is hardly present anymore in actual newscasts, back in the '80s/early '90s, it was much more common to say "Channel X News". There were still quite a few people without cable back then. Thus, local programming was more important with fewer channels to select from).

BTW, Turtlecom technology even looks a little basic compared to other smartphones; all it can do is transmit images; smartphones today would make Donnie jump for joy compared to the turtlecoms they used.

Cryomancer · 08-31-2011, 07:18 AM

The turtlecoms are pretty damn advanced for their time though. Cellphones were not that big of a deal yet, and especially not ones that would do video, and whatever other random feature the plot decided it needed. Not to mention that Donatello somehow knows how to work on cars from dimension X...the series had a really weird elastic grasp on technology.

And this is only slightly related here, but...I always liked that the technodrome had a giant portal / TV screen. But I bet it sucked having part of the image covered up by a control panel. I wonder how many times that thing got broken by rock soldiers driving tanks too close to the corner when using the portal?

*CyberCubed* · 08-31-2011, 01:56 PM

Oddly enough the OT had technology even more advanced than the modern era.

There were countless intelligent robots in the old series, even ones made by normal humans like the police officer robots, the robot meter maids, etc.

I think the funny thing is how advanced Donatello's computers were.

~~ABrown~~ · 08-31-2011, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cryomancer

And this is only slightly related here, but...I always liked that the technodrome had a giant portal / TV screen.

Ha, even the Technodrome is outdated. Today's Techonodrome would have their dimensional portal screen in HD.

cryan · 08-31-2011, 05:17 PM

No boubt that Nick will have to update the technology.I know they did this on the 2003 version.DVD and Blu ray have replaced VHS tapes.The internet is a facto of life now.The think the internet was used briefly in THe OT.

*CyberCubed* · 08-31-2011, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cryan

No boubt that Nick will have to update the technology.I know they did this on the 2003 version.DVD and Blu ray have replaced VHS tapes.The internet is a facto of life now.The think the internet was used briefly in THe OT.

April uses the internet in Seasons 9 and 10. That was 1995/1996, when the internet was first being used by the public.

**Venom** · 08-31-2011, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Oddly enough the OT had technology even more advanced than the modern era.

Laser blasters too! I always thought that was quaint, but I liked it.

cryan · 08-31-2011, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venom

Laser blasters too! I always thought that was quaint, but I liked it.

Hey it worked in GI joe.

TMNT_2010 · 08-31-2011, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cryan

Hey it worked in GI joe.

Wasn't it to please the censors? Something about not being bullets let them get away with using guns in the time slot it was running.

*ToTheNines* · 08-31-2011, 08:45 PM

Mike and Don play Pong in one episode, that's always funny.

*Jephael* · 08-31-2011, 10:27 PM

I know in a couple episodes Channel 6 offices had landline phones with cords attaching the reciever to the unit.

*sdp* · 08-31-2011, 10:34 PM

I would say that just recently have we gotten the turtlecom with video to video chat in smartphones like that. Sure they can do more than that but that feature is still fairly recent. As far as TV's with dials that was outdated even in the late 80s they were just there for artistic reasons not because it was cutting edge technology.

Outside of a few things the OT really isn't that outdated, I mean CRTs are still fairly common, heck they even use the internet in the OT. It's more stuff like videocassettes that really date cartoons/tv shows than say typewriters which may just be a personal choice as far as you know.

*Coola Yagami* · 08-31-2011, 10:41 PM

Yeah, the VHS tapes and the occassional episode that still had them use floppy disks on computers. I never heard of a device that is a 2-way image thing like the Turtlecom. I just know they made the TurtleCom like a high-tech walkie-talkie while the new toon made the Shell-Cell into a high-tech cellphone. I wonder if Nick will make them use Smart-Shells.

~~ABrown~~ · 09-01-2011, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jephael

I know in a couple episodes Channel 6 offices had landline phones with cords attaching the reciever to the unit.

Well it's not as though there's still businesses with those anymore.

*pannoni1* · 09-02-2011, 07:33 AM

At the start of the episode "The Gyrbyx", Donatello and Michelangelo are playing Pong, which in 1989 was already thought of as "so '70s" compared to the present NES stuff.

*Powder* · 09-02-2011, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pannoni1

At the start of the episode "The Gyrbyx", Donatello and Michelangelo are playing Pong, which in 1989 was already thought of as "so '70s" compared to the present NES stuff.

Well that's there to make a point, just like the stack of books being used as a TV leg. They use what they can find in or near the sewer.

Fugitoid Jones · 09-03-2011, 12:03 AM

To echo Cryomancer's statement, you've got to hand it to the writers of the OT, they made the Turtlecoms the size of today's cell phones with video to video capability, during a time when cell phones were the size of a VCR.

I don't think the Turtles will frequently be making video rental runs anymore. They would probably get NetFlicks now.

*CyberCubed* · 09-03-2011, 01:12 AM

I don't know if this counts but you do see the Twin Towers in the background of several episodes. Not counting when it was used for the main plot of one epiosde either.

*pannoni1* · 09-03-2011, 10:24 AM

I guess April was about 10 years behind the times in terms of upgrading her phone in her apartment: In the episode "Four Turtles and a Baby", April's green landline phone has a rotary dial; in the next episode, "Turtlemaniac", April's phone has a touchtone dial, but still isn't cordless.

*ssjup81* · 09-03-2011, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pannoni1

I guess April was about 10 years behind the times in terms of upgrading her phone in her apartment: In the episode "Four Turtles and a Baby", April's green landline phone has a rotary dial; in the next episode, "Turtlemaniac", April's phone has a touchtone dial, but still isn't cordless.

My family had a rotary phone in the 90s. The others were touch dial. We also didn't have a cordless phone until the later part of the 90s. If it ain't broke, why fix it, ya know? Now when the phones died, they were replaced.

08-31-2011, 06:16 AM	#1
pannoni1 Foot Elite Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: USA Posts: 3,447	Outdated technology in the OT from today's perspective As the years pass, more and more things from the OT pick up that "nostalgia" feeling. First it was the lingo, then it was the production style, now we're getting more in-depth with it as the OT really feels more and more like a period piece. There are many gadgets in the OT that really feel out of place with the present, that if they are included in future incarnations, they can be subject to jokes about coming from another era. Here are just a few: -The typewriters used by Irma/Burne in Channel 6 in the earlier seasons -Dot-matrix printers -Payphones (still a few here and there, but far less common today then they were even 5 years ago) -Of course, CRT-monitor computers -TVs with dials on them (no wonder saying the channel number is hardly present anymore in actual newscasts, back in the '80s/early '90s, it was much more common to say "Channel X News". There were still quite a few people without cable back then. Thus, local programming was more important with fewer channels to select from). BTW, Turtlecom technology even looks a little basic compared to other smartphones; all it can do is transmit images; smartphones today would make Donnie jump for joy compared to the turtlecoms they used. __________________ http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sho...d.php?t=37065- MY WANT LIST TMNT FAN CLUB LINK: http://sot.ag/gCjK/ 30 years of Turtle Power!

08-31-2011, 07:18 AM	#2
Cryomancer Mad Scientist Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,090	The turtlecoms are pretty damn advanced for their time though. Cellphones were not that big of a deal yet, and especially not ones that would do video, and whatever other random feature the plot decided it needed. Not to mention that Donatello somehow knows how to work on cars from dimension X...the series had a really weird elastic grasp on technology. And this is only slightly related here, but...I always liked that the technodrome had a giant portal / TV screen. But I bet it sucked having part of the image covered up by a control panel. I wonder how many times that thing got broken by rock soldiers driving tanks too close to the corner when using the portal? __________________ Final Boss of translation group Opentrain. We do videogame comics and TMNT stuff. http://opentrain.theyear199x.org/

08-31-2011, 10:27 PM	#11
Jephael That whack job behind you Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Carlisle, Pennsylvania Posts: 8,143	I know in a couple episodes Channel 6 offices had landline phones with cords attaching the reciever to the unit. __________________ "I like it. Simple, but effective!" Raphael; The Mean Machines - 1988

08-31-2011, 10:34 PM	#12
sdp Detoxed Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Tokio, Italy Posts: 11,215	I would say that just recently have we gotten the turtlecom with video to video chat in smartphones like that. Sure they can do more than that but that feature is still fairly recent. As far as TV's with dials that was outdated even in the late 80s they were just there for artistic reasons not because it was cutting edge technology. Outside of a few things the OT really isn't that outdated, I mean CRTs are still fairly common, heck they even use the internet in the OT. It's more stuff like videocassettes that really date cartoons/tv shows than say typewriters which may just be a personal choice as far as you know. __________________ *Trapt* *urself Page MiscRave!!!* Click to join The Drome Discord server

08-31-2011, 10:41 PM	#13
Coola Yagami Overlord Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 15,709	Yeah, the VHS tapes and the occassional episode that still had them use floppy disks on computers. I never heard of a device that is a 2-way image thing like the Turtlecom. I just know they made the TurtleCom like a high-tech walkie-talkie while the new toon made the Shell-Cell into a high-tech cellphone. I wonder if Nick will make them use Smart-Shells. __________________ "I was down with TMNT once, but then they changed what TMNT was. Now what I was down with is no longer TMNT and what TMNT now is seems weird and scary. And it'll happen to YOU." Check out my blog for Comic Reviews and other things. https://markepicblogofrandomness.blogspot.com/ I also started The AEW Crew, the All Elite Wrestling Fan Club! https://www.facebook.com/groups/637508120044168/

08-31-2011, 01:56 PM	#3
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,869	Oddly enough the OT had technology even more advanced than the modern era. There were countless intelligent robots in the old series, even ones made by normal humans like the police officer robots, the robot meter maids, etc. I think the funny thing is how advanced Donatello's computers were.

08-31-2011, 05:17 PM	#5
cryan Stone Warrior Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Athens,AL Posts: 743	No boubt that Nick will have to update the technology.I know they did this on the 2003 version.DVD and Blu ray have replaced VHS tapes.The internet is a facto of life now.The think the internet was used briefly in THe OT.

08-31-2011, 08:45 PM	#10
ToTheNines Col. Stinkmeaner Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 19,341	Mike and Don play Pong in one episode, that's always funny.

09-02-2011, 07:33 AM	#15
pannoni1 Foot Elite Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: USA Posts: 3,447	At the start of the episode "The Gyrbyx", Donatello and Michelangelo are playing Pong, which in 1989 was already thought of as "so '70s" compared to the present NES stuff. __________________ http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sho...d.php?t=37065- MY WANT LIST TMNT FAN CLUB LINK: http://sot.ag/gCjK/ 30 years of Turtle Power!

09-03-2011, 12:03 AM	#17
Fugitoid Jones Stone Warrior Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: D'hoonib, VT Posts: 886	To echo Cryomancer's statement, you've got to hand it to the writers of the OT, they made the Turtlecoms the size of today's cell phones with video to video capability, during a time when cell phones were the size of a VCR. I don't think the Turtles will frequently be making video rental runs anymore. They would probably get NetFlicks now. __________________ "You are right, I have always known about man. From the evidence, I believe his wisdom must walk hand and hand with his idiocy. His emotions must rule his brain. He must be a warlike creature who gives battle to everything around him, even himself." -Dr. Zaius

09-03-2011, 01:12 AM	#18
CyberCubed Overlord Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 43,869	I don't know if this counts but you do see the Twin Towers in the background of several episodes. Not counting when it was used for the main plot of one epiosde either.

09-03-2011, 10:24 AM	#19
pannoni1 Foot Elite Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: USA Posts: 3,447	I guess April was about 10 years behind the times in terms of upgrading her phone in her apartment: In the episode "Four Turtles and a Baby", April's green landline phone has a rotary dial; in the next episode, "Turtlemaniac", April's phone has a touchtone dial, but still isn't cordless. __________________ http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/sho...d.php?t=37065- MY WANT LIST TMNT FAN CLUB LINK: http://sot.ag/gCjK/ 30 years of Turtle Power!