Wireless Wednesday for 9/2/15: One Hit Tech Wonders

Rick is in Myrtle Beach this week, working the Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday World Am.

The World Am is the largest golf tournament in the world. 3,500 golfers competing on about 70 courses in Myrtle Beach. Brian Katrek is playing again this year...

Great fun in one of the best golf destinations, in the world, Myrtle Beach.

Check out www.myrtlebeachgolfholiday.com

You know those "one hit wonders" from the world of music. The Likes of: Manfred Mann, the Georgia Satellites and The Buggles have nothing on this one-hit wonders from the world of tech...

Have a listen:

1.   Rubik's Cube  

*Still being sold today

This has to be one of those one hit wonder inventions that makes the most famous list, in addition to being on my original one hit wonder invention list. The Rubik’s cube was invented by a Hungarian architect, Erno Rubik, in 1974, but he did not intend to create a toy! His invention stemmed from a means of displaying a working model explaining three-dimensional geometry! The 'magic cube' (as it was first known) consists of nine colored squares on each side and can be arranged 43 quintillion ways. After being displayed at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in 1979, it became a huge hit and was licensed to the Ideal Toy Corp in 1980. Since then, it has sold 350 million units, making it the biggest-selling toy in the world.

 

2. The Waterbed

The concept of a waterbed is not really new, but as with most inventions, it’s all about timing and when a product hits the market. The waterbed became a ‘hot seller’ during the late 1960s and into the 70s.

Nowadays, waterbeds aren’t as popular, but they still account for about 5% of the mattress market.
 
 

3.  Books on Tape

Long before the iPod, iPad and smartphone the way many people read books was "Books on Tape"
People used to listen to books on cassette tapes in their car or on cassette players. Had to rewind the cassette after listening and many times the cassette tape would reak, get tangled or eaten by the casette player.

 

4.  The Bumpit

*Women know about the Bumpit
The brainchild of mortgage broker, Kelly Fitzpatrick-Bennett. Still sell for $5-$7
 
 Bumpits® Hair Volumizing Leave-In Inserts allow you to go from Flat to Fabulous in Seconds!

Bumpits self gripping leave-in volumizing hair inserts give you instant volume and let you enjoy FEELING CONFIDENT and BEAUTIFUL, like you just stepped out of a professional salon!!

At its peak, the Bumpit sold at a clip of a million units a month. Ms. Fitzpatrick-Bennett's current business plan calls for sales of about 20,000 a month. "I was pretty realistic in knowing it would only have a year of good life and then it would just sit and stop," Ms. Fitzpatrick-Bennett says.

5. The Sony MiniDisc and LaserDisc

Sony designed and developed MD in 1986 and launched in 1992. The MD looks like a small compact disc: the diameter of a CD is 5.25" while that of an MD is a mere 2.5". Following CD technology, MD technology uses a laser beam to read the information, but that is where the similarities end. MDs are magnetically encoded whereas CDs use physical grooves and pits to indicate the binary code. Also, MDs are considerably more shock-resistant; the 40-second digital buffer system utilized by MD players is far superior to most portable CD players' shock-resistant technology. Indeed, one can vigorously shake an MD player and no skipping would occur; a CD player would skip endlessly under the same conditions.

Sony emphasizes that MD technology combines the best of both audio cassettes and CDs. Recording mixes on MD is greatly improved over cassettes because MDs treat music as data - computer files that can be manipulated, moved, and erased. In a similar fashion to hard disks, MDs have a Table of Contents (TOC) that indicates which sectors contain important data. In this way, songs can be completely fragmented, with seconds at one sector of the disc and minutes at another sector. Not one precious second is wasted because the reading laser can jump from any sector to sector by simply following the TOC's directions. Therefore, after a full night of recording, one can erase any track at will and still have a seamless mix of music; no ugly gaps of filler appear. This effortless recording manipulation combined with instant playback track access (as we are accustomed to with CDs) seems to present the best of two worlds in one small package.

However, the MD's sound quality is slightly inferior to that of CDs.

The Laser Disc was supposed to complement VHS tapes, but you couldn't record on them and who wanted large album-sized discs holding movies on them.
 


App of the Week:

US Open App - iOS and Android

Designed and developed by IBM with special features sponsored by American Express. Follow the action LIVE during the Open, August 25 to September 13, 2015.

New this year:  "Push Notifications"

Push Alerts

Get breaking news and player updates as the action happens along with special offers and promotions for the US Open and our Official Partners.

NOTE: When you are on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, be sure to use the "USOPENWIFI" free WiFi Network courtesy of Time Warner Cable.

Key Features:

Scores – Analytics & Insights by IBM
LIVE exclusive point-by-point scoring, statistics and completed match results during the US Open.

US Open Trendcast – Presented by American Express
Fans can stay on top of and engage with the latest trending topics through Twitter, Insta-gram and Facebook in our TrendCast section and join in the US Open Daily Debate.

Video
On-demand video highlights, press conferences, analysis and more video features throughout the tournament.

Open Access
Open Access is a new Fan Enhancement available for all US Open Patrons allowing them streamlined access to various activation points around the grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. This program allows fans to register once to participate in activities ranging from customized photo opportunities to interactive games and it will personalize their whole US Open experience with their own personal webpage with the US Open app. Just for signing up for Open Access all fans are entered to win tickets to the 2016 Men’s or Women’s finals.

Streak Challenge – Presented by Esurance
New for 2015, fans can play along with the US Open Streak Challenge and test their US Open tennis knowledge with two questions every day about players, matches and tournament stats. Keep answering correctly and you’ll add to your streak and move up the leaderboard. Win a Prize?

News
Latest news updates from on and off the court throughout the tournament.

USOpen.org Radio - American Express Special Feature
LIVE streaming ball-by-ball radio coverage featuring Courtside Q&A — a live, interactive Q&A with match commentators featuring user-submitted questions via Twitter.