WTF?? On Thu, 24 Jan 2002 05:43:06 -0000 "kriss rolo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > These are the items that iam interested in selling.. > Could you help me with some details on the goods, history, origin etc. > are these worth anything and if so who would i contact with regards to > selling them? and the best way to sell them ie auction etc > > APOLOGISE IF YOU HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED THIS E-MAIL > > JPEGS ARE AVAILABLE AT YOUR REQUEST > > MANY THANX > > kriss rolo > tel: > 0044 182760393 office (uk) > 0044 1216864211 home (uk) > 0044 7814294018 mobile (uk) > > return e-mail address [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > UK ONLY VEHICLE REGISTRATION NUMBER N64 CON > NINTENDO 64 CONSOLE > > item 1 > > > hand carved round table with metal chain link in the middle > > > > > > item 2 > > magnum laurent perrier vintage 1988 champagne > > > > > > item 3 > > miniture football on stand from euro96 signed by pele and bobby > charlton > > > > item 4 > is a bit more interesting. its a protana minifon attache, as u will > see ive enclosed notes from a web site regarding this and you will see > back in the 50's it cost $340.00 so i could imagine this to be worth a > bit. it also has an original tape inside i do not know what is on this > tape, but judging by who made it and the cost of the machine, the tape > could have some important information on it. heres the note..... > > > > The Minifon, developed in the early 1950s by Monske GMBH of Hanover(or > by Protona GMBH- I'm not certain), was an ultra-miniaturized, battery > operated magnetic recording device. It could not (initially at least) > record the full range of sounds and was thus limited to voice > recording, but it did offer easy portability in a very small package. > The idea of offering a pocket dictating machine was novel, since > dictation had previously been done in the office. However, it was > thought that people like salesmen could take the machine "on the road" > with them. Once on the market, the Minifon's promoters discovered that > many people took advantage of the recorder's small size to make secret > recordings to be used as evidence, as in court.<BR> > <BR> > The "legitimate" use of the Minifon, as a dictating machine, was > somewhat problematical. Recordings made on regular dictating equipment > were usually letters, and thus were normally sent almost immediately > to a typist. The Minifon offered no obvious advantages over standard > dictation equipment for office use, but its developers hoped to > cultivate new uses for dictation equipment, such as stock taking in > warehouses, or the use of the machine as a substitute for note-taking > by reporters, insurance adjusters, salesmen, and others. > > In its original form, the Minifon was a wire recorder, using a type of > wire medium developed by the Armour Research Foundation of Chicago and > employed in many similar devices since the late 1940s. The machine at > its introduction in 1952 had a recording time of one hour, which was > remarkably long, and weighed only about 3 pounds at a time when a > typical office dictating machine weighed upwards of 10 pounds. It > accomplished this small size and light weight in part through the use > of miniature tubes and clever mechanical design. The basic machine > cost $289.50-- a price that sounds high today but was very much in > line with competing office dictating machines. > > The parent company attempted to set up distribution, sales and service > networks in the United States. It established a business office called > the Minifon Export Corp in New York, and an existing company, Harvey > Radio in New York City became the main distributor. Although smaller > tape recorders appeared at about the same time, the main competition > in the voice recording field was from an American company, Mohawk, > which made a small, battery-operated cartridge tape recorder called > the Migetape. Both products sold less than 10,000 units per year in > the U.S.<BR> > > After a few years, the Minifon was modified to use transistors and > magnetic tape, further lowering its weight and cost. By 1962 the basic > machine weighed in at only 1.5 pounds. Competition by this time had > helped bring the cost down to $249.50. > > The Minifon after about 1962 was distributed by the international > conglomerate ITT through its subsidiary in the U.S., Federal Electric > Corp. A little later, distribution was taken over by the ITT > Distributor Products Division in Lodi, New Jersey. (I don't know > whether these were the same company with different names) > > By the time ITT became associated with this product, it had taken on > the name of Minifon "Attache," and a new line of models and options > appeared. These included a hi-fi model, the 978H, which sold for > $330.50.Usinga two-track, 1/4 inch tape cartridge operating at 1 7/8 > inches per second, the machine claimed a frequency response of up to > 12,000 Hz, plus or minus 3db. > The coming of magnetic tape did not completely displace wire. The > Model 240 series of recorders introduced in the early 1960s were > probably the last wire recorders in regular production. The 240L, at a > price of $269.50 used a special long-playing wire cartridge that held > 4 hours of wire. Otherwise it looked like both the tape model and the > 240S, which used a 2-hour wire cartridge and sold for $249.50. > > Another innovation was the introduction of more conventional > recorders. After years of offering only "half" of a complete dictation > system, Minifon finally developed a restyled, non-portable "office" > machine, mainly for use by a transcriber, with pedal controls. > > By the mid-1960s, Minifon was trying to market its machines as > multi-purpose devices suitable for nearly any recording need. In > addition to the hi-fi and long-playing machines, the company offered > an astounding variety of optional equipment such as foot controls, > microphones, external amplifiers and loudspeakers, headsets, external > power supplies, telephone recording attachments, conference recording > adapters. One of the most interesting options were the miniature > microphones intended to allow users to make "spy" recordings. In > addition to a small tie-clip microphone, the Minifon could be equipped > with a microphone disguised as a wrist- watch. > > _______________________________________________ > Linux-users mailing list - > http://linux.nf/mailman/listinfo/linux-users Subscribe/Unsubscribe > info, Archives,and Digests are located at the above URL.
-- Myles Green Calgary AB Canada Alberta Linux Step by Step Mirror: http://mylesg.homelinux.net/ -- USER, n.: The word computer professionals use when they mean "idiot". _______________________________________________ Linux-users mailing list - http://linux.nf/mailman/listinfo/linux-users Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Archives,and Digests are located at the above URL.
