Objects you'd find in a 1999 office?
December 1, 2012 1:23 PM Subscribe
Think of an office or cubicle in the United States around 1999, particularly in tech/IT companies. What kinds of objects would you see there which are less common now?
For example:
* mousepad
* Dilbert cartoon newspaper clipping
* razor scooter
Don't worry about being correct. Maybe it is something you're not sure was "a thing," but it was just something you remember. Lay it on me!
For example:
* mousepad
* Dilbert cartoon newspaper clipping
* razor scooter
Don't worry about being correct. Maybe it is something you're not sure was "a thing," but it was just something you remember. Lay it on me!
Typewriter? I had one in my cubicle at a fiber optics company in 2002.
posted by something something at 1:29 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by something something at 1:29 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Desks with keyboard trays.
posted by embrangled at 1:29 PM on December 1, 2012 [7 favorites]
posted by embrangled at 1:29 PM on December 1, 2012 [7 favorites]
Fax machine.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:29 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 1:29 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Calculators.
posted by NoraCharles at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by NoraCharles at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Boombox and CDs to listen to music while working.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by sciencegeek at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2012
CRT computer monitors. Loads of ordners. Stacks of cd-roms or dvds.
posted by Ms. Next at 1:34 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Ms. Next at 1:34 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Man, just come by my desk and take a look.
Dictionary. Or any book, for that matter.
Pencil sharpener.
Three-ring punch.
Large calendar blotter/desk pad.
One of those radios that tunes into only one station.
Also, just because it's gotten so PC, no bottles of booze or titty pix.
And, hey, I still have a desk with a keyboard tray!
posted by sixpack at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012
Dictionary. Or any book, for that matter.
Pencil sharpener.
Three-ring punch.
Large calendar blotter/desk pad.
One of those radios that tunes into only one station.
Also, just because it's gotten so PC, no bottles of booze or titty pix.
And, hey, I still have a desk with a keyboard tray!
posted by sixpack at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012
Storage case/rack for floppy disks.
posted by decathecting at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by decathecting at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
A printer.
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012
Wired mouses and keyboards. Desk phones. And yes, diskettes and zip drives.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 1:35 PM on December 1, 2012
Desk phones on every desk used to be much more common, lots of tech/IT companies don't bother anymore, assuming everyone has their own (or company issued) cell phone.
posted by RichardP at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by RichardP at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
3.5" floppies.
Dumb terminals for connecting to mainframe systems.
If still tech-bubble era: Aeron chairs in every cube.
Personal inkjet printer.
posted by cabingirl at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
Dumb terminals for connecting to mainframe systems.
If still tech-bubble era: Aeron chairs in every cube.
Personal inkjet printer.
posted by cabingirl at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
Scanners, particularly those stupid handheld ones. Laser pointer.
posted by axiom at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by axiom at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
Desktop computers in general. Printers. Calendars.
posted by General Malaise at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by General Malaise at 1:36 PM on December 1, 2012
Document holder, maybe. Not really sure, but I imagine they were used much more in 1999.
posted by electriic at 1:37 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by electriic at 1:37 PM on December 1, 2012
Modems.
Paper catalogs and data books for electronic parts.
posted by Bruce H. at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2012
Paper catalogs and data books for electronic parts.
posted by Bruce H. at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2012
Best answer: Huge spindles of blank CDs.
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
Faxes and carbon copies of order forms were still very much around.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by sciencegeek at 1:38 PM on December 1, 2012
Non-flat-panel monitors.
posted by scratch at 1:39 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by scratch at 1:39 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Best answer: CDs from AOL promising 100's of hours of free internet connection.
posted by visual mechanic at 1:39 PM on December 1, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by visual mechanic at 1:39 PM on December 1, 2012 [5 favorites]
Best answer: Troll dolls were popular in the late 90's, weren't they? Those suckers were everywhere.
posted by WowLookStars at 1:40 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by WowLookStars at 1:40 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh, and at all but the wealthiest companies, those enormous CRT computer monitors. The first time I had a flat panel monitor was in about 2005, and it felt as though my desk had doubled in size.
posted by decathecting at 1:41 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by decathecting at 1:41 PM on December 1, 2012
If the tech/IT company was a digital media company, you might have seen a bunch of original iMacs on desks, having been released by Apple in 1998. Not many of those on desks any more.
posted by RichardP at 1:41 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by RichardP at 1:41 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
The boxes from software, software manuals, binders of CDs and floppies.
In my cubicle, I had Xena posters and Xena action figures, but I may have been an outlier...
posted by SuperSquirrel at 1:44 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
In my cubicle, I had Xena posters and Xena action figures, but I may have been an outlier...
posted by SuperSquirrel at 1:44 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
SCSI cables.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:45 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by sciencegeek at 1:45 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Far Side cartoon-a-day desk calendar.
posted by Sara C. at 1:47 PM on December 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by Sara C. at 1:47 PM on December 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
Also, screen savers!
Haven't seen a screen saver in years.
Especially the quirky/funny "flying toasters" sort. If they still exist today, they're either a corporate logo/company name or the ones that come prepackaged with the OS.
posted by Sara C. at 1:48 PM on December 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
Haven't seen a screen saver in years.
Especially the quirky/funny "flying toasters" sort. If they still exist today, they're either a corporate logo/company name or the ones that come prepackaged with the OS.
posted by Sara C. at 1:48 PM on December 1, 2012 [6 favorites]
The alpha geeks might've had a 21" CRT monitor (maybe even two!), probably from Sun Microsystems; the receptionist probably had an iMac.
posted by kimota at 1:51 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by kimota at 1:51 PM on December 1, 2012
Document holder attached to the computer with velcro strips.
posted by dottiechang at 1:51 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by dottiechang at 1:51 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Anything regarding the Y2K Bug.
Also, remember that Office Space came out in 99. Maybe you'll find something in there.
posted by jozxyqk at 1:55 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also, remember that Office Space came out in 99. Maybe you'll find something in there.
posted by jozxyqk at 1:55 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Paper calendars, big planning calendars, day-by-day calendars, wall clocks, and an enormous variety of other timekeeping devices.
posted by SMPA at 2:01 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by SMPA at 2:01 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
A regular coffee pot in the break room and ceramic coffee mugs.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 2:04 PM on December 1, 2012
Best answer: Computers, CRT monitors and keyboards were beige, not black.
Atlas, dictionary
Roller ball mouse
Overhead projector and transparencies
Phone book, yellow pages
Flatbed scanner
Maybe Star Wars or The Matrix posters?
Corporate branded gifts - magnetic hovering pens, desk organisers, digital world clocks
Mugs with sexist jokes on them
Dead tree software manuals for everything
Card files for contacts
Tall metal filing cabinets
posted by embrangled at 2:07 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Atlas, dictionary
Roller ball mouse
Overhead projector and transparencies
Phone book, yellow pages
Flatbed scanner
Maybe Star Wars or The Matrix posters?
Corporate branded gifts - magnetic hovering pens, desk organisers, digital world clocks
Mugs with sexist jokes on them
Dead tree software manuals for everything
Card files for contacts
Tall metal filing cabinets
posted by embrangled at 2:07 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Definitely a palm pilot on almost every desk, along w/charging cradles. I believe the palm 3 was most likely for 99.
posted by jenkinsEar at 2:08 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by jenkinsEar at 2:08 PM on December 1, 2012
Alternative input devices might include the Microsoft Natural keyboard, or a Logitech Trackman with a red rotating trackball. A mouse would've been one with a typical ball rather than an LED. Maybe a cell phone with an antenna and probably no SMS.
This was also a time before data centers - a server would've probably had "its own" cubicle. An IT worker might have had multiple computers at his/her desk.
posted by graymouser at 2:09 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
This was also a time before data centers - a server would've probably had "its own" cubicle. An IT worker might have had multiple computers at his/her desk.
posted by graymouser at 2:09 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I wonder if this hasn't changed, but: ANIME TENTACLE PORN EVERYWHERE, on every idle screen that didn't have those matrix-style green-on-black rain-of-letters-&-numbers screen savers.
Then a bit later all the fucking rm -rf /bin/laden tshirts, meanwhile the most go-getter of your Libertarian coworkers is all excited to tell you about the barrels of grain he's burying in the hillsides, and do you want to see feed from the cameras installed around the perimeter of his walled-in property?
Christmas bling from Network Solutions in the kitchen.
posted by tapir-whorf at 2:11 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Then a bit later all the fucking rm -rf /bin/laden tshirts, meanwhile the most go-getter of your Libertarian coworkers is all excited to tell you about the barrels of grain he's burying in the hillsides, and do you want to see feed from the cameras installed around the perimeter of his walled-in property?
Christmas bling from Network Solutions in the kitchen.
posted by tapir-whorf at 2:11 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Netscape
posted by fuse theorem at 2:14 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by fuse theorem at 2:14 PM on December 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
Rearview monitor mirrors. O'Reilly books. Palm Pilots. Wired magazines.
posted by xyzzy at 2:18 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by xyzzy at 2:18 PM on December 1, 2012
A belief that one will actually benefit from the job.
More narrowly, I'm going to go with traditional copper pots phones and 100Mbps ethernet.
Physical jacks for networking purposes are getting progressively rarer and 100meg isn't all that common (there's a fully loaded Cat6500 at Weird Stuff for $600), most people have moved to gigE and most places now use PoE IP phones.
posted by rr at 2:20 PM on December 1, 2012
More narrowly, I'm going to go with traditional copper pots phones and 100Mbps ethernet.
Physical jacks for networking purposes are getting progressively rarer and 100meg isn't all that common (there's a fully loaded Cat6500 at Weird Stuff for $600), most people have moved to gigE and most places now use PoE IP phones.
posted by rr at 2:20 PM on December 1, 2012
Best answer: PCMCIA ethernet dongles.
Less cubicle than "BOFH ghetto", but the basement office in The IT Crowd was actually stocked with tech detritus from people's offices, and reflects the way that BOFH ghettos tend to become museums of obsolete technology, because nobody's brave enough to ask them to clean it up.
Late 90s startups were a bit less subject to this, but more established business would still have their bookshelves of manuals for obsolete OSes and applications.
posted by holgate at 2:51 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Less cubicle than "BOFH ghetto", but the basement office in The IT Crowd was actually stocked with tech detritus from people's offices, and reflects the way that BOFH ghettos tend to become museums of obsolete technology, because nobody's brave enough to ask them to clean it up.
Late 90s startups were a bit less subject to this, but more established business would still have their bookshelves of manuals for obsolete OSes and applications.
posted by holgate at 2:51 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Physical calendar on the wall?
I still have one, but it's for the pictures, not for actual use.
posted by sarah_pdx at 2:51 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I still have one, but it's for the pictures, not for actual use.
posted by sarah_pdx at 2:51 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
A millennium countdown clock.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 2:56 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 2:56 PM on December 1, 2012
Yeah, the IT Crowd set is pretty great. I don't think it's a good example of late 90's, per se, because the place is plastered with EFF stickers and references to memes beyond the wildest imaginings of 1999, not to mention way too much tech that is far beyond that period. And not much stuff, culturally, that belongs to the world pre-internet.
But it's definitely true that there seemed to be this period from about '97 through the mid 2000's where there were always piles of vaguely obsolete tech that "somebody might need someday!" Even though it was, like, boxes of dot matrix paper, and bricked Jaz drives nobody would want to use even if we got them working again, and shells of old iMacs (though the latter two of those would have been current in '99), and tangles of cables nobody remembered the function of.
posted by Sara C. at 2:59 PM on December 1, 2012
But it's definitely true that there seemed to be this period from about '97 through the mid 2000's where there were always piles of vaguely obsolete tech that "somebody might need someday!" Even though it was, like, boxes of dot matrix paper, and bricked Jaz drives nobody would want to use even if we got them working again, and shells of old iMacs (though the latter two of those would have been current in '99), and tangles of cables nobody remembered the function of.
posted by Sara C. at 2:59 PM on December 1, 2012
Those ergonomic shoulder rest things attached to the handsets of landline phones.
posted by embrangled at 3:16 PM on December 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by embrangled at 3:16 PM on December 1, 2012 [4 favorites]
15" monitor sitting on top of pizza-box PC. Monitor is running the aquarium screensaver
posted by Thorzdad at 3:20 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Thorzdad at 3:20 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
I had a green fluffy Y2K bug with fangs on top of my monitor.
posted by cantthinkofagoodname at 3:25 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by cantthinkofagoodname at 3:25 PM on December 1, 2012
CD-RWs
posted by Obscure Reference at 3:26 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by Obscure Reference at 3:26 PM on December 1, 2012
Nokia cellphones, the Motorola StarTac, Sun/HP workstations (maybe old SGI but I think they were on the way out then). Modems. Zip drives.
I don't know what you call them, but leather paper holders that hold a legal pad, business cards and other stuff.
File folders and other paper based things. Yes, businesses still have them but not as much as in the past.
I actually have pictures of my desk from 2000 when I worked for a web hosting company if you want them.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 3:59 PM on December 1, 2012
I don't know what you call them, but leather paper holders that hold a legal pad, business cards and other stuff.
File folders and other paper based things. Yes, businesses still have them but not as much as in the past.
I actually have pictures of my desk from 2000 when I worked for a web hosting company if you want them.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 3:59 PM on December 1, 2012
Oh yeah, and Nerf guns of all types.
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 4:02 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by DrumsIntheDeep at 4:02 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
One of those little Intel fire suit Shake Your Groove Thing Inferno plush dolls sitting on top of someone's monitor.
posted by blueberry at 4:06 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by blueberry at 4:06 PM on December 1, 2012
Dot matrix printers with feed tabs that sit at an accounting desk to print checks.
Garfield bullshit was in its final throws.
Hunky firemen calendars
A general aura of static electricity in the air and the scent of burnt cheap coffee
Plug-in electric Mug warmers
Palm pilots
Pleated dockers khakis for the men, scrunchis for the women
The actual Oxford dictonary sized boxes for the $1000 software that was being used (Lotus notes, File maker pro, autocad, ms dos 6.22) as some sort of trophy on the bookshelves.
Ditto goes for shelves of software manuals.
Intel inside stickers on the desktops
People have said CRT monitors but more importantly they had a refresh rate of 60hz that was on the cusp of noticing flickering with peripheral vision.
posted by wcfields at 4:28 PM on December 1, 2012
Garfield bullshit was in its final throws.
Hunky firemen calendars
A general aura of static electricity in the air and the scent of burnt cheap coffee
Plug-in electric Mug warmers
Palm pilots
Pleated dockers khakis for the men, scrunchis for the women
The actual Oxford dictonary sized boxes for the $1000 software that was being used (Lotus notes, File maker pro, autocad, ms dos 6.22) as some sort of trophy on the bookshelves.
Ditto goes for shelves of software manuals.
Intel inside stickers on the desktops
People have said CRT monitors but more importantly they had a refresh rate of 60hz that was on the cusp of noticing flickering with peripheral vision.
posted by wcfields at 4:28 PM on December 1, 2012
Staplers, tape dispensers, and grid paper.
We used to need them, as half our work still required paper. Now it's all "Email me the doc."
posted by IAmBroom at 4:38 PM on December 1, 2012
We used to need them, as half our work still required paper. Now it's all "Email me the doc."
posted by IAmBroom at 4:38 PM on December 1, 2012
Oh yeah, those crappy infrared "wireless" keyboards that only worked if they had uninterrupted line of sight to their transmitters.
posted by embrangled at 4:41 PM on December 1, 2012
posted by embrangled at 4:41 PM on December 1, 2012
Beige computers. Today's computers are not beige.
posted by crazycanuck at 4:55 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by crazycanuck at 4:55 PM on December 1, 2012 [2 favorites]
Parallel port accessories. Like the above mentioned Zip drive, and say a community backpack CD drive that got shared between the techs.
A "lanalyzer".
An IBM type 1 MAU port resetter. (I believe I still have one, just in case.) And other token ring detritus.
10base2 connectors and wires.
Separate sound, modem and CDROM adapter cards. Weird "SCSI" cards that only worked with the scanner it came with. Newer, cheaper scanners worked over the parallel port. USB accessories existed, but they never worked right.
PS/2 cards and drives.
Dymo labeler.
An Epson FX-something loaded with pinfeed labels for labeling backup tapes and whatnot.
Old, giant Compaq server drives.
A collection of drive rails for all the different manufacturers' computer cases.
An HP Journada that some exec bought that nobody could figure out how to fix.
Twinax baluns!
Simms rather than dimms in a coffee can.
Novell servers. Groupwise. The magic floppy that could boot a computer and allow you to map drives from said server.
Alpha pagers.
The one computer that was hooked up to the internet.
The Apple II GS that controlled the keycard access system.
posted by gjc at 5:02 PM on December 1, 2012
A "lanalyzer".
An IBM type 1 MAU port resetter. (I believe I still have one, just in case.) And other token ring detritus.
10base2 connectors and wires.
Separate sound, modem and CDROM adapter cards. Weird "SCSI" cards that only worked with the scanner it came with. Newer, cheaper scanners worked over the parallel port. USB accessories existed, but they never worked right.
PS/2 cards and drives.
Dymo labeler.
An Epson FX-something loaded with pinfeed labels for labeling backup tapes and whatnot.
Old, giant Compaq server drives.
A collection of drive rails for all the different manufacturers' computer cases.
An HP Journada that some exec bought that nobody could figure out how to fix.
Twinax baluns!
Simms rather than dimms in a coffee can.
Novell servers. Groupwise. The magic floppy that could boot a computer and allow you to map drives from said server.
Alpha pagers.
The one computer that was hooked up to the internet.
The Apple II GS that controlled the keycard access system.
posted by gjc at 5:02 PM on December 1, 2012
Best answer: interoffice mail envelopes.
paper menus for takeout.
tacked up list of phone numbers
people used computers older than two years old
word art
bad powerpoint transitions
posted by sciencegeek at 5:09 PM on December 1, 2012
paper menus for takeout.
tacked up list of phone numbers
people used computers older than two years old
word art
bad powerpoint transitions
posted by sciencegeek at 5:09 PM on December 1, 2012
Beanie Babies?
(And, yes, phone books).
posted by Mezentian at 5:15 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
(And, yes, phone books).
posted by Mezentian at 5:15 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
In a Mac office, multitudes of Apple models and colors (mostly beige) of various ages. A smattering of the fruit color iMacs.
A few lingering AOL new user CDs still shrink wrapped.
posted by lampshade at 5:38 PM on December 1, 2012
A few lingering AOL new user CDs still shrink wrapped.
posted by lampshade at 5:38 PM on December 1, 2012
Loud M style keyboard. Beige of course.
That's probably a bit late for the time period; anyone who had a loud clicky keyboard would have been holding on to it, and won office battles against the noise. The ubiquitous keyboards of the late 90s were the squishy beige ones that came in bulk with identikit Dell/Gateway/HP PCs. Or the MS Natural Keyboard, as mentioned upthread, for people on the cusp of carpal tunnel.
posted by holgate at 6:07 PM on December 1, 2012
That's probably a bit late for the time period; anyone who had a loud clicky keyboard would have been holding on to it, and won office battles against the noise. The ubiquitous keyboards of the late 90s were the squishy beige ones that came in bulk with identikit Dell/Gateway/HP PCs. Or the MS Natural Keyboard, as mentioned upthread, for people on the cusp of carpal tunnel.
posted by holgate at 6:07 PM on December 1, 2012
Blood, where I beat that guy with the Diamond Rio player to death with his Diamond Rio player.
NT4 boxes and manuals.
But mostly blood.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:42 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
NT4 boxes and manuals.
But mostly blood.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:42 PM on December 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Seconding anything from Office Space (1999). Lots of spiral elastic phone cords and cables which used two small screws to attach to the tower.
Metal filing cabinets!
Cork-board with a few color(!) printouts.
posted by BigJen at 6:55 PM on December 1, 2012
Metal filing cabinets!
Cork-board with a few color(!) printouts.
posted by BigJen at 6:55 PM on December 1, 2012
Discman for personal music.
Post-it notes everywhere.
Dead tree magazines, newspapers.
posted by mdn at 7:03 PM on December 1, 2012
Post-it notes everywhere.
Dead tree magazines, newspapers.
posted by mdn at 7:03 PM on December 1, 2012
Dotcom schwag like a pets.com puppet, a black rocket or bobble heads.
posted by chillmost at 2:40 AM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by chillmost at 2:40 AM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Not just CRTs, but CRTs with a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768... sometimes at the cost of a 60Hz refresh rate. Brrr.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:40 AM on December 2, 2012
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 3:40 AM on December 2, 2012
Calendar
In and Out Boxes
Stacks of paper files and folders
Ashtray (Thank God!)
posted by Mertonian at 4:39 AM on December 2, 2012
In and Out Boxes
Stacks of paper files and folders
Ashtray (Thank God!)
posted by Mertonian at 4:39 AM on December 2, 2012
Ashtray (Thank God!)
In 1999?
I think you're misreading 1989, and not even then.
The US may be different, but I would be surprised.
posted by Mezentian at 5:04 AM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
In 1999?
I think you're misreading 1989, and not even then.
The US may be different, but I would be surprised.
posted by Mezentian at 5:04 AM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Mice without scroll wheels. I still rocked my old 3 button Logitech Mouseman until very recently myself...
posted by thefool at 5:58 AM on December 2, 2012
posted by thefool at 5:58 AM on December 2, 2012
Photos not printed on a printer.
posted by blue_beetle at 6:25 AM on December 2, 2012
posted by blue_beetle at 6:25 AM on December 2, 2012
I have in my hands a Compaq Armada 1750 laptop computer. I have it for interfacing with some old legacy hardware. Key features:
* Don't like carrying around a power brick everywhere? Compaq have you covered, the mains cable plugs directly into this baby.
* Enterprise-class connectivity includes a docking station, serial and parallel ports, PS/2, monitor AND composite tv out, and IdDA you can use to connect wirelessly to a printer OR mobile phone.
* Built in dial-up modem so you can communicate on the move.
* A single USB port.
* There's no ethernet or WiFi but that's no problem - you can just slot cards into the two PCMCIA slots.
* Choose between two batteries (so you can hot-swap on the move) or a single battery and a floppy disk drive - or even a ZIP drive!
* CD-ROM drive (doesn't support DVDs, recordable CDs or rewritable CDs)
* Designed for Windows NT or Windows 98.
* 8.5 lbs
posted by Mike1024 at 7:20 AM on December 2, 2012
* Don't like carrying around a power brick everywhere? Compaq have you covered, the mains cable plugs directly into this baby.
* Enterprise-class connectivity includes a docking station, serial and parallel ports, PS/2, monitor AND composite tv out, and IdDA you can use to connect wirelessly to a printer OR mobile phone.
* Built in dial-up modem so you can communicate on the move.
* A single USB port.
* There's no ethernet or WiFi but that's no problem - you can just slot cards into the two PCMCIA slots.
* Choose between two batteries (so you can hot-swap on the move) or a single battery and a floppy disk drive - or even a ZIP drive!
* CD-ROM drive (doesn't support DVDs, recordable CDs or rewritable CDs)
* Designed for Windows NT or Windows 98.
* 8.5 lbs
posted by Mike1024 at 7:20 AM on December 2, 2012
Yeah, I entered the workforce around '99 and never saw any evidence of smoking in the office. Like, not even a vestigial ash tray or the smell of long-stale cigarettes. And I grew up in a rural area where people still smoke much more than coastal urban parts of the US. If we're talking late 90's silicon valley dotcom-era work environment, there's just no way.
posted by Sara C. at 10:44 AM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Sara C. at 10:44 AM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
power brick
Yes! All laptops, and a little later, all external hard drives, have a HUGE power component that is half the weight of the whole thing, and which you must find space for in the gigantic tangle of ethernet cable, AC cord, and various sorts of tower component cables on the floor between your tower and the wall.
posted by Sara C. at 10:47 AM on December 2, 2012
Yes! All laptops, and a little later, all external hard drives, have a HUGE power component that is half the weight of the whole thing, and which you must find space for in the gigantic tangle of ethernet cable, AC cord, and various sorts of tower component cables on the floor between your tower and the wall.
posted by Sara C. at 10:47 AM on December 2, 2012
If it's a 1999 era Dotcom, you're likely to see Sun workstations, and Sun-branded Sony Trinitron monitors.
posted by thewalrus at 5:09 PM on December 2, 2012
posted by thewalrus at 5:09 PM on December 2, 2012
Software manuals and libraries of software on CD
MSDN binders
External CD burners
Tape backup drives
Magnetic word art on metal filing cabinets
Converters for peripherals, SCSI terminators, etc
Late 90s is a little late for the flying toasters screensaver, I guess.
posted by webwench at 5:49 PM on December 2, 2012
MSDN binders
External CD burners
Tape backup drives
Magnetic word art on metal filing cabinets
Converters for peripherals, SCSI terminators, etc
Late 90s is a little late for the flying toasters screensaver, I guess.
posted by webwench at 5:49 PM on December 2, 2012
Late 90s is a little late for the flying toasters screensaver, I guess.
The hell you say. Win98 was barely out of shrink-wrapping, and the flying toasters were rocking my world in '99.
That said, depending on the workplace/environment, some sort of bikini-girl slideshow might not have been out of the question.
posted by Mezentian at 5:56 PM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
The hell you say. Win98 was barely out of shrink-wrapping, and the flying toasters were rocking my world in '99.
That said, depending on the workplace/environment, some sort of bikini-girl slideshow might not have been out of the question.
posted by Mezentian at 5:56 PM on December 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Windows Solitaire.
And all Aeron chairs, if it was fancy.
posted by Mchelly at 8:42 PM on December 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
And all Aeron chairs, if it was fancy.
posted by Mchelly at 8:42 PM on December 2, 2012 [2 favorites]
White out bottles and pens
Paper clips and binder clips
Note pads
posted by rmless at 7:46 AM on December 3, 2012
Paper clips and binder clips
Note pads
posted by rmless at 7:46 AM on December 3, 2012
Best answer: Not just any screensavers: seti@home.
posted by tangerine at 2:14 PM on December 4, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by tangerine at 2:14 PM on December 4, 2012 [2 favorites]
Depending on what city you were in, orange wrappers, packaging, and other detritus from random kozmo.com deliveries.
posted by mumkin at 12:56 AM on February 12, 2013
posted by mumkin at 12:56 AM on February 12, 2013
Late addition: Louis Rosetto's Remembering HotWired has this panorama of the office, which got recirculated on Twitter recently.
posted by holgate at 5:39 PM on April 28, 2013
posted by holgate at 5:39 PM on April 28, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by hhc5 at 1:28 PM on December 1, 2012 [7 favorites]