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Vintage Design: Sony Portable TV Designed by Hartmut Esslinger

Here's what "portable streaming" looked like in 1977

By Rain Noe - February 10, 2023

in Object Culture

In case you ever forget that livestreaming content to a flat glass rectangle is a miracle, have a look at what portable video used to require.

In the 1970s, Sony hired the now-legendary industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger to revamp their global design direction. One of the numerous objects Esslinger designed was this Sony TV-501 "Mr. Nello," a portable television released in 1977.

Image: Junichi Matsuzaki / Fabcross

The technology of the era required the object to take the rough form of an oscilloscope. A decision had to be made: Do we orient the rectangular face of the object in portrait, with the screen up top? Or do we orient the rectangle in landscape, with the screen on the side?

Image: Junichi Matsuzaki / Fabcross

The answer became: Both. Esslinger designed the screen to rotate so the object could be used in either orientation. Amusingly, the bezel has both internal detents and external markings at every 10 degrees, in case the user preferred to view images at say, a 50° angle.

Image: Junichi Matsuzaki / Fabcross

Here's what it sounds like to rotate the screen:

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As the object antedated the mass-market uptake of VCRs, there was no video input. "Streaming" (i.e. antenna-based receiving) only.

Your smartphone's weight is measured in ounces. The Mr. Nello's weight, in pounds. I couldn't find the precise figure, but consider that it requires nine D-batteries to power, meaning the batteries alone would weigh nearly three-and-a-half pounds. (Alternatively, you could plug it into mains power.) And that vacuum tube probably isn't light!

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Ben Greenfield

a year ago

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I actually have an original. The crazy thing is that it was stolen from my apartment in Brooklyn in the 90's and bought back a couple years later at the 26th street flea market seen.

I had no idea it was a Frog design. My school hosted the Frog Design show in '89-'90.

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Ben Greenfield

a year ago

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Mine is grey and has no mr.Nelllo on it.

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Michael DiTullo

a year ago

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Love this! We didn't have this in the frog archive when I was there! Wish we did, this would have been a nice one to have on a pedestal in the lobby. Thanks for sharing it, loving the vintage finds!

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