The 8-Bit Nametag - Brookstone Programmable Nameplate
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- Опубликовано: 12 сен 2024
- Display your name or up to three lines of text on a retro-style monochrome dot matrix LCD with the Brookstone Programmable Nameplate, from 1999.
Dan O'Connor's video about the fancier version with a built-in pen and business card holder: • When A Normal Desk Nam...
Music: "Primo Louie" from the BackTraxx Music Library.
#8bit #retro #lcd
"Are you attending this meeting?"
"Oh, I forgot. I'll be right there, just give me seventeen minutes to set an away message on my nameplate."
When I was young, my dad had a name plate that could be "programmed" with whatever message you wanted. By means of sliding small plastic letter tiles onto the frame.
This junk seems to be a downgrade from your dad's nameplate
Yes
couldn't rotate though, could it, wise guy?
@@HylianOverlord no, but give me five minutes and a record player....
If your desk comes with a programmable nameplate, you might want to consider the implications re: that role's longevity.
Also, if you're a board member yet can't afford a secretary to tell people where you are.
"Cancel all my appointments this afternoon. I have to reprogram my Brookstone Programmable Nameplate."
Perfect for those high turnover positions!
Amazon will be buying their entire stock
Like being an American citizen.
You know, seeing this video kinda makes me miss Brookstone. Sure, most of what they sold was useless overpriced electronic nonsense, but it was always one of my favorite stores when visiting a mall, just because it was fun to look around and admire the oddball things they had.
At least we had Dyson today
Brookstone was THE place to browse-not-buy, and the employee knew it, that's why they rarely asked if you needed help
I loved how you rick rolled us without even playing the song
never gonna give -rickrolling- you up
These same programmable nameplates were for sale in the UK too but under the name John Lewis rather than Brookstone.
I wonder what happened to Chris Anderson over there.
If they ever made a modern version, an electronic ink display would be perfect.
@Brian that wants you to make an account
@@Wilus0 in china
Yes with Bluetooth so you can hack your bosses display to say douchebag every week.
Probably already seeing them in stores and not realizing. Bestbuy and other places use them for the prices on the shelves now. Modern name tags are led based.
I know! I just went and looked for some but didn't find anything that really was a modern version of this :/
I really hate those unintentional mistakes. They make life so difficult, unlike those more manageable intentional mistakes.
Totally agree. However having followed @VWestlife for years, I bet that was just him comment-baiting.
I liked the 8-bit guy Shout-out and the most discreet Rick Roll I've ever had.🤣
I like the 8 Bit Guy reference at the end lol
And then we got Rick rolled.
I can just picture the vice-president of Company Inc spending 10 minutes clicking his "in meeting" message before going to his meeting...
Quite fancy, for when a standard nameplate is just not enough. The additional information actually makes it pretty functional, I can see it being convenient to quickly check when you need it. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone who actually used these had more than one, such as having “Out To Lunch” or “Out Of Office” on a second one and then just swapping them out as needed instead of spending extra time reprogramming what it says.
for when a pen and paper is not professional looking enough
Brat Gomez, HR department, let's talk about you getting fired
This should have a solar panel (like on calculators) on top to make the batteries last longer when it's on a brightly lit place.
You can't see this nametag in the dark anyway.
I was thinking an E-ink display, that uses very little battery, maybe that would balloon the cost, but I'm not sure
@@zen-airstrike that's the point. it'll almost always be on.
Good examination. I see you had the grief of programming it too. I wondered if it was just me. I'm leaving the batteries in mine to see how long they last.
That whole Feb 29 thing is cheesy AF even for 1999.
I have absolutely no use for this (apart from the date-hour-temperature side that I could get with a million other clocks), but still want one.
Nice nod to the 8 But Guy and his AST days :-)
A nice and interesting product and I can think of several people that would enjoy one.
A great way to quit....just program the 3rd message to flash it and leave.
David will like that shoutout at the end for sure. Clint reviewed an old AST computer from 1996 in a video that came up a few days ago and of course, there was a mention of him while browsing some documentation mentioning their customer support.
Nothing says you're temporarily like a re- programmable nametag, just waiting for a new occupant.
I was surprised that the 3 displays on the back were all separate. I thought it would be just one long display like the front. Quite a nice unit though.
I'd like to make a modern version of this. That might use solar panels and/or external power input. And definitely an inductive loop at the bottom so it can be powered/charged from a mobile phone- style charging pad. Which could be built into your fancy mahogany desk!
And a full dot matrix LCD with no gaps between characters. And able to be programmed via USB and/or Bluetooth. Hmmm... if it's BT, it's opening itself up to hacking employees!
As someone else already said.
The way to possibly prevent that is the SLOW TEDIOUS one button at a time method. Not the instant upload!!
Brookstone - Like a GreatValue Sharper Image
If there was a version of this product that used a VFD display instead, I would definitely buy it. It would look way cooler and would be also visible in the dark.
The amount of trolling to be done in a company that had a few of these is large.
This is very late 90s. I remember seeing LCD scrolling displays everywhere back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Not sure why, though. I think it was a trend. I remember graphic designs used dots for lettering. This "electronic" or "LCD" look was super popular.
This kind of resembles a Minidisc LCD remote from around 2000-2002 (unsurprisingly). The ones that are backlit and with the new Walkman logo.
I really liked the video. A clear, concise description of the product, how to use, a fair assessment of the whole experience... But the thing that got me chuckling was the celebrity name dropping! And an almost rick-roll. Fantastic! I've watched many of your videos and I'm always pleasantly surprised at how many treats you manage to seamlessly incorporate into the production.
Jeez dude, just ask him already! Maybe he feel the same.
I like the shoutouts to 'themaritimegirl' and 'The 8-Bit Guy' near the end of the video.
Finally someone else who recognizes themaritimegirl! Most people only know the 8 bit Guy.
Pretty crazy it can't store messages to quickly switch to "in a meeting" or whatever. Especially if they're gonna passively advertise that on the box
I have the modern led version. In pink 😁They make amazing bike lights 👍 better than most on the market lol. I was just gutted i couldnt update it live easily. It would have made it incredible.
Reminds me of some of my synths programming the text, at least they can go back if you go past a required letter, some have a numeric keypad for text input (even if it is a different layout, looking at you S2) and one you can even hook up a screen, remote numeric keypad and mouse!
This is absolutely an answer to a question that *nobody* ever asked.
I have a love-hate relationship with gadgets like this. It seems so cool but it takes so much painful time to set up or change that it’s debatably not worth owning.
I like the nod to the 8bit Guy's previous employment, I wonder if he had one on his desk back then?
I wonder if there is a way to inject the messages directly with some external interface (besides emulating button presses).
A followup video with a teardown and investigation of the circuit would be nice
Judging by the age and layout, I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't running a standard HD44780 LCD controller. Dead easy interface.
@@JohnJones-oy3md Oh reusing the LCD should be easy if the connectors themselves are practical.
However I meant more a way to write the message in memory directly, if say they left useful test points or you can access the microcontroller or whatever is running the show
You should be able to hook it up to a pi or something similar and hit the contacts to program it using the buttons on a programmatic way?
@@georgeyreynolds he said without emulating button presses
@Jared Connell it's not emulating though it's actually pressing the buttons. But if hitting the contacts isn't what was meant fair enough. Personally I think it would be cool to see it spinning through the letters all by itself
These dot matrix text displays (as well as >7 segment displays) seemed super high tech to me as a kid
7:23 Nice nod the themaritimegirl
Always liked stuff like this, probably why I own so much of it now. If I remember right Brookstone used to sell the table top versions of video games like Pac Man in their stores. I could be wrong, been a long time.
Another product to add to my personal list of things I never knew I needed yet now want for some reason.
semi-useful and unusual gadget. i loved the rick astley touch in the end.
Such a cool gift for my cousin. That's his name on the box. :)
I miss Brookstone, they were a cool store that had unique electronics and they lasted longer than the Sharper Image, they closed in our mall nearly a decade ago.
I love Dan’s channel!
nice product, that might still be useful today
These days it would be better to set status to: "bored in meeting."
It's a pity it predates the wide adoption of bluetooth, Wifi and to a lesser extent USB as one of those would have made it much easier to program from a computer or mobile device.
A crude display, battery powered, no way to connect to a computer, painful user interface... What's not to love?
Don't forget cheap materials, generic design, poor display, terrible buttons... and 4 batteries? Why does this thing need 6V ??
@@8BitNaptime It has two sets of batteries in parallel, so it runs on 3 volts.
@@vwestlife Whoah. So the front and back displays are two separate things?
@@8BitNaptime Probably. They each have their own set of controls.
There’s nothing poor about that display 😀 sunlight readable, low power, no burn in…
Never before have I wanted something for my desk more than right now. Thanks for sharing!
I can just imagine Alan Sugars'.........
Alan Sugar
Amstrad PLC
You're Fired
😂
Oh nice a new video this thing was very useful for having a small clock and a approximative temp
"Out on Vaccation" - given the US rules about "time off", I'd suspect that the vaccation is over by the time you have programmed the message into that plate. 😆
oh damn cool!
Nice to see you here, Garret!
Haha… you did not NEED to change the temperature bit… Celcius and Metric is far superior. 😂
You'd think a Norwegian would like higher temperature numbers 😆
Ikr. I once got very confused when a friend of mine told me it was 95 degrees at his place. I thought he was in a furnace or something. Turns out its 95 fahrenheit
Indeed. Fahrenheit makes about as much sense to me as socket sizes measured in fractions of an inch 🥴
@@F40PH-2CAT Yes, but high for us is usually 30… that’s too hot for us. 100 means water is boiling so yeah. But you know… USA is a slow ship to turn around. ;)
Most metrics are better than thier American standard counterparts. But for temperature, Celsius is woefully vague, each increment of Celsius represents several increments of Fahrenheit, it's like a summary of the temperature while Fahrenheit is more exact.
Really interesting product here!
Cool. I don't need one and I have no use for one, but I want one. :)
my friend had one and the batteries ran out , then he went crazy because he didnt know his name. he should of just had a name plate made
Having a nameplate might be the only reason anyone commutes to an office.
I have something like this but it uses red LEDs instead of a text LCD display and it scrolls right to left. It is programmable and saves the programmed message when the batteries are out. It originally ran on a CR2032 coin cell battery but I hotwired it to run on 2 AAA batteries for longer runtime. Can't remember where I purchased it either discovery channel store or brookstone. It's pretty old but it still works. I have a short video of it here:
ruclips.net/video/__TLrYH8NC4/видео.html
Maybe I'll make an updated video on it because I programmed a new message into it.
In my opinion, this is good because the employees will get to know their employer's name without asking for their employer's name
ottimo come regalo di Natale. Dovevi fare questo video qualche mese fa,
I had (well still do actually) an LED one that you could velcro to your chest, with a 32 character message. It was for clubs. It would scroll about 8 of them. The only message i could think to put was "Stop staring at my tits!"
Nice gadget. Looks elegant and slim.
I’m surprised it takes so many batteries to operate such a basic device
But can you play Doom on it ?
0:34 I see a very tiny bug crawling on the box near the lower left red arrow! 🐜
A more suitable fit for the programming segment IMO would be the Benny Hill theme lmao
I clicked on the video thinking it was from the 8 Bit Guy! I was mistaken hahahaha
I gave one of these to my admin. assistant as a gift. I never saw her use it.
Woah! I had one of these! It had the pen/card. Fun gift to receive. Pretty sure it doesn't work anymore :(
imagine typing in: Dunder Mifflin-Dwight Schrute-Assistant to the Regional Manager
Using the same display for the date, time and temp makes a lot of sense from a manufacturing point of view. Why make a "custom" display for each if 90% of the elements are the same? Just mass produce one that can handle multiple uses.
It's straight out of Futurama!
Wish the name on the box said Thomas Anderson
I yearn for a time when electronic knick-knacks were considered cool and not obsolete by phones
lucky for you to learn fahrenheit, punds and miles at school....
but that was actually quite an interesting device...
😊
Well you know. So you programmed... "THE MESSAGE."
Eh i guess it's a microcontroller with one time programmable memory (or even factory programmed) which uses a calendar/time chip that happens to have 64 bytes of sram and they use that area to hold the information you input (3 lines x 16 characters plus options) and relies on a tiny capacitor to hold 60s worth of energy to keep that calendar/time chip active instead of using a regular battery.
Not surprised about using same lcd for the three small ones, surprised they didn't just use a 2nd 16 character one instead, I guess they saved a few pennies going with 3 small ones.
I’d like one for callsign for radio room!
Shout out to the 8bit support at AST.
Haha, what a ridiculous gadget! Well done. I suspect the LCDs on the back were identical for cost reasons; those were all custom made, and having them all be the same would ease assembly as well.
Ah, the bygone era of cringey executive toys. More useful than a Newton's cradle, perpetual motion sculpture, flowing sand, levitating globe or pin art, at any rate. Sadly hot desking has rendered this stuff obsolete for most of us.
What a ballache
Why do I now feel the urge to order parts from AliExpress and start designing a 3D printed case? Alpha displays on both sides and of course an ESP 82xx or 32 running the show with a web interface. Power it with USB-C and put a PD port and a few USB-As on one side and you have a charging dock.
That would be perfect for E-Paper-Pricetags. So complicating to change anything it would prevent from price changes. (-:
Unfortunately it seems that the numbers can only be made to climb higher, you can't push backwards to make them lower!
A modern version with Bluetooth and an e-ink display would be nice, especially in large offices with lots of turnover
Amazon would love this for their turnover. :-)
I was going to ask about the date/time/temp displays...you know your audience well! I'd guess it was probably cheaper and eliminated the possibility of an assembly error to make all three the same.
A USB port for programming might have been a nice extra.
But USB was not widespread yet in 1999, so a serial port probably would've been the best to hope for back then.
Be different!
I'm gonna party like it's 1999
This remembers me a real life version of the "mac tiny Pro"
It is currently 14 degrees Celsius PM in Pittsburgh, LOL.
Surely you should program it to say 'KILL' 'KILL 'EM ALL' (Xfiles ref)
So instead of sending them away with their name plate when you fire them, you just reprogram this one to the new person you hire
I imagine the degree of turnover a company has to need a programmable nameplate.
"There. That's better." -- 2m1s - 2m4s
Yep.
Who is thinking about rude messages for theirs, if they had one?
"that's better" *metric screeching*
Celsius actually isn't Metric. The ISO standard measurement of temperature is Kelvin.
Uh-oh, the board meeting is about to start. Better change my status so people know where I am.
*spends 15 minutes programming nameplate*
We going to CEO like it’s 1999.
These days it'd need an app you have to register online to even connect to the device before you could use it, so long as the company hadn't gone out of business leaving you SOOL... :P