The Digital Bridges Technology, Apps, Gadgets, Media and More
Digital technology is constantly changing. It has to with all the market trends to watch. Technology users, like yourself, want smaller and faster media storage. The industry has been kind enough to oblige. The late 20th century was dominated by disk media and the early 21st century has so far embraced streaming cloud media, but what came before all that? Here are some cartridges that people used in the past that your children will likely never experience for themselves. If you remember them, you may have earned your right to wear some of the best geek t-shirts anyone has ever seen. Moving forward, there are many types of ink cartridges that are under constant improvement to stay updated.
Ink Cartridges
Ink cartridges are probably the most recognizable form for this technology. Any printer you have, besides a 3d printer, will have an ink cartridge that is responsible for holding the ink that creates your documents and images. This was true before Zabbix software came about, and it is still true now. Some of the most widely used ink cartridges are made by HP, such as the HP Deskjet 1510 Printer Ink. Nowadays, you can even buy refillable ink cartridges or just recycle your old ones. Ink cartridges are one of the few modern uses for this type of outdated technology.
Types Of Ink Cartridges
There are actually quite a number of different types of ink cartridges. Despite common belief, toner cartridges and ink cartridges are actually two different things. On top of that, there are singles and combined color ink cartridges and starter and high capacity ink cartridges. There are also pigment based ink cartridges and dye based ink cartridges. Clearly, cartridge are not nearly as outdated as your old 1970 Plymouth. Remember to keep this in mind if you happen to need printer ink refills in the future.
Toner Cartridges For Printers
Toner is made up of dry power and stored inside the cartridge. Typically, it is used in laser printers. The printer uses a laser to electronically heated and placed on the paper. This is one the fastest ways to print using a cartridge. It is still used for many printers in the commercial and industrial settings. For large print jobs, toner cartridges are considered very reliable. As we see the shift to 3D printing, we may see toners become widely used for finishing of physical products.
8-Track Cartridges
Music media used reel-to-reel tapes for much of the 20th century. However, this was not a practical option for everyday use due to its size and difficulty in preparing reels. These issues were solved by 8-track cartridges, which dominated much of the 1960s and 1970s until cassette tapes came along. 8-track cartridges owe much of their popularity to the booming automobile industry, which installed 8-track players so drivers could enjoy music on the road. 8-tracks changed technology, almost as much as the iphone impacted technology today. Modern technology users may know 8-track cartridges from movies and family stories of the 1960s, but it is unlikely the next generation will even understand the concept of this obsolete media.
Super-8 Cartridges
Super-8 video cartridges were released in the mid 1960s for much the same reason as 8-track music cartridges. Prior technology was large and difficult to use. Super-8 film was significantly smaller and allowed film makers to use more portable equipment. Upon initial release, Super-8 was video only. It was not until 1973 that sound was included on this media. Technology users may be familiar with super-8 cartridges if they have researched obsolete movie technology. However, it is unlikely your children will ever see it in the future.
ROM Cartridges
ROM cartridges were read-only memory storage devices that were heavily used for consumer video games in the late 1970s through the mid 1990s. This is long before the days of data centers. The first system to use these cartridges was the Fairchild Channel F released in 1976. These cartridges were popular for many years due to their durability and instant loading speeds. Unfortunately, they were incapable of holding as much data as other types of media. Compact disc technology started the demise of ROM cartridges in the mid 1990s, but technology users can still find these cartridges employed in Nintendo’s portable gaming system. As cloud technology and streaming becomes more prevalent, it is possible tech users will witness Nintendo abandoning these cartridges in the future.
Karaoke Cartridges
Karaoke originally used 8-track cartridges in the 1970s and 1980s way before media mentions were ever a thing, even though the technology was in decline for general consumers. Singers would read lyrics from a printed book, not from a screen as it is today. The technology evolved somewhat in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A few Japanese companies released karaoke cartridges and players that played re-recorded versions of songs (not the original music) and could display lyrics on a television screen. These cartridges have since been forgotten for CD+G technology, which stands for compact disc and graphics. Technology users are unlikely to see karaoke cartridges of any sort in the future, now that digital and optical methods have been embraced by the karaoke community.
Cartridges were a popular form of media storage for collaboration tools in the 20th century due to their durability and portability. Cartridges are interesting because unlike digital media and disk media, they did not abandon prior technology. Instead, cartridges took older media formats and made them smaller, faster and more accessible to everyday users. Technology users will continue to demand smaller and faster media, but it is unlikely they will return to cartridges for their needs. Actually, that is what we thought until recent developments were just uncovered.
Return To Cartridges
It has been known for awhile that Nintendo had it’s next console in the works. The project, code named the NX turned out to be one of the best tech gifts of the year. What we were not expecting however, was the return to cartridges with this new Nintendo system! Several sites have announced that the NX is expected to use cartridges instead of the optical discs used by most modern gaming systems, such as Xbox or Playstation. Do not get too nostalgic though, these cartridges are not the same ones you may remember from a digital business in the 80s and 90s. SD cards are technically considered cartridges, and those are currently used by Nintendo DS systems. This is what, we expect, will be used on the Nintendo NX. Guess we will have to wait a little longer to see what Nintendo has up its sleeve for its return to cartridges.
