What's so amazing about this design is the commitment to rectangles where curves make so much more sense. Or is that just my Western point of view? If the radio is rectangular — they seem to have thought — then the dial should be rectangular and the knob should be rectangular. If you begin with something rectangular — and you're not going to have an oval-shaped radio — then you ought to square off everything else, no matter how natural the curve seems to be. It's the opposite of form follows function. It's form follows form."Nevsky 402" Soviet portable radio, 1987 pic.twitter.com/sP0Ev9q5TL
— Soviet Visuals (@sovietvisuals) November 12, 2020
November 12, 2020
Soviet visuals.
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44 comments:
"The Soviet microchip, the largest microchip in the world!"
The old Russia used curves in their architecture. With the Soviets, it was all straight lines and sharp angles. Rectangles and squares. Look at their Soviet era buildings. Yecch.
We have some in this country who like that sort of thing.
Form over function. I thought that was a big no no with commies.
The antenna end-cap and body are round, so there are some things not congruent with the rectangular shapes theme.
In Soviet Russia, radio corners you.
It’s not a “western point of view.” By making the viewer rectangular, the precision of the dial varies depending on where the needle is. It makes very little sense unless for some reason I don’t get, that’s what they wanted.
Plenty news out there about COVID and the recounts.
What are we paying you for, anyway?
Flat with corners is cheaper & easier to manufacture.
Especially in countries that don't have a lot of experience.
I am assuming the radio is plastic but this is true of sheet metal as well.
John Henry
Interesting that it is 1987.
It looks like a Soviet take on a American '60s transistor radio, with no sign of two decades of advancement.
In 87 I believe the analogy would be the Walkman here in the West.
But the Soviets couldn't trust you with your own tapes. No Ramones for you. And no mixtape for the girlfriend.
I am Laslo.
Is that a Star Trek logo??
"Don't be such a square, Daddyo, errr...Gromyko."
Reminds me of the riddle: What did socialists use before candles? Electricity.
You can listen to this radio while you wait in the queue to apply for delivery of a snappy new Lada in 18 months, or three years, whichever comes last. Behold the romance, the dreams!
https://twitter.com/sovietvisuals/status/1326507971023499265/photo/1
@Karen
It's a tricorder.
where's the volume switch?
Designed by committee.
The round stuff is on the side of the radio, which goes for about $25 to $40 on ebay.
If we're talking about our favorite late Soviet aesthetics, this is my favorite.
I saw Jonah Goldberg's tweet of this. Absolutely LOVE this dial design. Just gorgeous.
If we're talking about our favorite late Soviet aesthetics, this is my favorite.
Nice. I've been trying to find a cheap watch like that.
What's so amazing about this design is the commitment to rectangles where curves make so much more sense. Or is that just my Western point of view?
Don't stop there.
Probably racist too.
"You can listen to this radio while you wait in the queue to apply for delivery of a snappy new Lada in 18 months, or three years, whichever comes last."
My wife's cousin from the communist German Democratic Republic waited 10 years for delivery of the GDR manufactured 3 cylinder, mostly plastic Trabant auto he paid for in 1979. The only significant trip he made in it was to the Pariser Platz celebration of the wall coming down, then put it in the garage. He gave me a ride in it in 2005 when we visited - it rode like my golf cart.
Rectangular Magnavox radio dial here:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ocQAAOSwErlfC0QW/s-l300.jpg
I actually kind of like it.
Da. I like very much.
"daskol said...
where's the volume switch?"
I believe it's the slide bar, lower right side of the "dial." Dual on/off and volume.
1987 was 33 years ago. Just sayin’
In Soviet Russia radio listens to you.
I miss the Soviet style buildings that dominated the University of California at Santa Barbara in the '70s. It was in stark contrast to the glorious geographical location of the school. I can't imagine how horrific it would be to have to live among that type of architecture while being smothered by Stalin dictatorship.
How precise does the dial need to be, Tim? In the USA we had dials like that.
You just need to get close then twiddle to get the strongest signal.
Some radios had a special green light that would get brighter with a stronger signal.
We even had, at one point i the early 60s A TV that had to be tuned between channels. Setting to the 4 on the dial was only approximate. No clicking. You twiddle until you got the best signal.
John Henry
John Henry: you are making me feel nostalgic for the age of analog controls with steam gauges that you have to keep banging on to make sure they're right.
Google image search "soviet sculpture." Their radio designers were afflicted with the same inspiration that their sculptors were. And their architects...
The Rooskies never got over Malevich and Lissitzky.
Makes me nostalgic for a soldering iron and the smell of hot rosin.
Laugh now, but we'll be "watching" Biden "fireside chats" over a "record player" just like that one to "make sure kids hear words".
Yeah, but try to find a place to plug it in!
I knew a guy on campus whose Russian father-in-law had been with the Soviet space program; the old guy would mock the American effort and brag that their technology was more advanced than ours.
Then, needing a smoke, he'd rummage around for his prized Ronson lighter.
Narr
Could it pick up Limbaugh?
In my beloved spiritual homeland (Mitteleuropa) last year, I took three photos with my flip phone. One was Old Fritz's grave at Sans Souci--he's buried with his pooches, and people leave flowers and potatoes.
One is at the remnant of the Wall, and the other was taken there and features a Trabant. There's a whole Trabant subculture in Europe, and this one was owned by a Brit who had driven it over for the 30th celebrations.
People pay money for short rides. "Golfcart" sounds like a great comparison.
Narr
Is capitalism great, or what?
Curious George said...
In Soviet Russia radio listens to you
In US TV not only listens to you, allegedly for voice commands. It also watches you.
Seriously, when I bought a new TV last month everthing on offer at Costco was Samsung or LG and came with Alexa pre-installed and, according to the internet no way to physically disable them.
I bought some offbrand set, smaller than I wanted because it, supposedly has no camera. It does have a microphone, though. I can turn it off from my sofa. But that means anyone else can turn it on from anywhere else. I put a switch on the plug and am trying to get my wife to kill power when not in use. (to cut our electric bill, I tell her)
Remember how horrified we were when we read about telescreens that could not be turned off in 1984?
Yet now tens of millions of people pay money foralexa/echo/siri spyware and think they're the schizzle because of the tech.
Probably even some here.
"but it's so convenient" is the general excuse.
John Henry
"...with Alexa pre-installed and, according to the internet no way to physically disable them."
My niece sent me one of these. When I went to download the app for my phone, it demanded so many permissions that I immediately deleted, boxed the thing up, and stowed it deep away.
"Or is that just my Western point of view?"
Are you implying the USSR wasn't 'Western'?
While there is a vast landmass to the east, the capital and the culture are certainly 'west.'
Like everything else the commies did, the radio has a distinctly brutalist design.
No subtlety...
SCTV had it covered years ago : )
Howard said...
John Henry: you are making me feel nostalgic for the age of analog controls with steam gauges that you have to keep banging on to make sure they're right.
It sounds like you've been there and done that. So have I as a Navy Machinist Mate on a steamship.
But now I'm curious where. I thought you were a Marine and marines don't normally encounter steam gauges.
You are right about tapping. I learned never to trust a gauge until I had.
It's called hysteresis, and though I've known about it for more than 50 years, id never thought about the etymology until just now.
Is hysteresis misogynistic?
As for analog gauges, they are more effective than digital when high degrees of precision are not needed.
The throttle control board on my ship probably had 30 gauges. First time I saw it, I thought I'd never learn what they all did.
After a week or so I could take a quick glance and tell if anything was abnormal. You can't do that with digital gauges.
Digital gauges certainly have their place. But so do analog gauges. Or "clocks" as the Brits call them.
John Henry
you're not going to have an oval-shaped radio
You’ve got to be kidding.
This was my first radio. They were ubiquitous.
And coincidentally, if you happen to be searching for an abstract form to celebrate feminism, this would be it: A circle, broken and unbroken.
John Henry: Steam gauge is just a term of art, although my first job out of college was on geothermal production Wells where we were responsible for the flow testing.
I picked up using that term while I was doing flight training in 1960s vintage Pipers and Cessnas where everyone called the gauges steam gauges as compared to the newer models that were using screens.
Rectangles are masculine. Curves are feminine.
I've seen (at an antique radio show in New Hampshire) a Nazi era German radio that could only be tuned to selected channels. That may be the case for this Soviet radio.
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