CED / VideoDisc
I’ve just enjoyed Technology Connections broad and deep discussion of RCA’s “forgotten” CED VideoDisc technology.
I had some interest in … something … that led me to this discussion of electric rice cookers. While it’s fascinating, I’m not sure what it originally was.
More recently - I bought a air conditioner to make my workspace more habitable in the warm weather.1 My search history must have led YouTube to think that I was interested in “swamp coolers” which led to the same author’s discussion of these devices. The next suggestion was a discussion of the portable air conditioner designs which I had just purchased - and my takeaway was that a “two hose” system would have been a much better idea.
Well; a window-mounted unit would be the best idea, but, I am in a loft so I needed a “hose exhaust” one. The “two hose” ones suck in hot air and then vent it out, while the one-hose ones suck up your cold air and vent it out - quite silly.
Anyway; now I’m on a “streaming binge” for this channel as far as I and YouTube are concerned. So next is a discussion of RCA’s CED technology. I remember the LaserDisc player and media that my father kept2 and was interested to see an alternative. The host discusses both details of the format and technology as well as some of the corporate histories that led to many interesting asides. While some of this is “tangential” it (seemed to) shed some light on technical questions that’d been rattling in my head for several decades.
So, in conclusion - this was a fun watch across four parts. (I think I’m on part three of four) I enjoy the channel’s presentation style and content - it felt like a modernisation of the “PBS programming” I recall from my childhood. Since I haven’t had much to post - it felt worth writing up to keep myself “on the search ending’s radar” and as practice.
