“The Regency TR-1 transistor radio, made in 1954, had a decent claim to be a genuine piece of innovation… It was, by popular agreement, the world’s first commercially sold transistor pocket radio. Small enough to hold in your hand, and powered by batteries, it came in a variety of delicious colours, including green, pearlescent blue, lavender, white and red,” Susannah Cullinane writes for BBC News. “The device went on sale just in time for hip young gadget freaks to hear Elvis Presley singing That’s All Right – recognised by many as the moment at which rock’n’roll was born.”
Cullinane writes, “The TR-1 was marketed under the slogan ‘See it! Hear it! Get it!’ Hi-tech, trendy colours, rock music, punchy slogans… remind anyone of anything? When technology watcher John Ousby realised the modern day parallels, he knew he had to do something. ‘I did a bit of digging around,’ he says, ‘and found a good website on vintage electronics. I then matched photos of the transistor with photos of the iPod Mini.’ He then posted the above picture on the photo-sharing website Flickr. ‘Normally my photos there are viewed less than 100 times. But I was away for couple of days and came back to see there had been more than 15,000,’ he says.”
Cullinane writes, “The similarity between the two has ‘created quite a stir,’ he says, particularly in the Mac community. He is, however, at pains to point out that he believes the similarity between the 50s radio and the iPod mini is purely coincidental. Apple declined to comment.”
Full article here.
John Ousby Flickr posting here.
We don’t see it. 
