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[deleted] t1_j6i6dg7 wrote

[removed]

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mbrady t1_j6ixuy5 wrote

And the headphones worked like stethoscopes. They were hollow tubes that channeled the sound from the jack (which was basically just a hole) and the sound came through into your ears.

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zulmirao t1_j6j571e wrote

Yeah, and you could mute the sound by squeezing the tubes.

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SelectTadpole t1_j6jdcfu wrote

Please send me an example this is so interesting but Google hasn't helped

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gordone1 t1_j6jhfbk wrote

See https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/auavkd/remember_when_airline_headphones_were_just/

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SelectTadpole t1_j6jhk88 wrote

Thank you!! How well did these work??

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KeetoNet t1_j6jk4up wrote

Terribly.

Of note, these are still used in MRI machines. Presumably because of the whole 'no metal in the giant magnetic field' thing.

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SelectTadpole t1_j6jkk1f wrote

Oh shit. I've used them before, then! How fun. I don't remember it sounding too bad but I wasn't really thinking about it, either. Nor did I have much of an ear for music quality at the time.

On the other hand I do remember thinking "so this is how they invented dubstep" when 80's pop was playing at the same time as the very loud machine making crazy noises.

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KeetoNet t1_j6jq40x wrote

Haha - yeah, my experience was similar. There was music, but I was in no position to assess the sound quality other than to think 'that sounds tinny' as they shoved my head into the loud clanking machine.

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chriswaco t1_j6jmgof wrote

They were fine. Not high fidelity or anything, but fine. The noise of the engines was the biggest drawback and the earplugs weren't always comfortable.

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AntarcticanJam t1_j6k79ry wrote

I remember when I first discovered that as a kid. I declined to buy their "headphones" for $5 and just stuck a couple of free straws together to reach from the holes to my ears.

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stephenph t1_j6jabk8 wrote

I actually have a set of commercial headphones that have that technology.

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mbrady t1_j6jxydv wrote

"technology" may be too strong of a word for those!

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faaizk t1_j6jjz2l wrote

that’s incredible! i find this kind of analog tech just so fascinating

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BizzyM t1_j6jqa8x wrote

I thought this was what OP was talking about.

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mbrady t1_j6jxrly wrote

No, they have electronic ones but are essentially a separate plug for left and right audio.

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BizzyM t1_j6jyfsi wrote

Yeah, i have a similar setup for my dispatch console except they are dual 1/8" plugs. 1 for incoming, 1 for outgoing.

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saberline152 t1_j6jeqmz wrote

I flew in 2005 to the states as a young boy, they screened movies for everyone on a large screen and some foldable screens in the ceilings, flying long haul as a kid was soooo boring back then.

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stephenph t1_j6jjyqs wrote

I remember a cross country flight in late 90s (I think maybe a bit later) that had a crappy VHS player for the movie, the kind that had the jitter noise on the bottom. it was unwatchable, but they would not turn it off as the flight was billed as showing a movie.....

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koolguykris t1_j6jk1zs wrote

I flew in 98 from France to the states as a.... 4 year old? And all I can remember from that flight was a large screen where they played flubber on repeat.

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grahamsz t1_j6jytpr wrote

I flew from Germany to the US sometime around 2002 and they showed a movie with breasts in it on the huge projector screen, about half the parents on the plane scrambled to cover their kids eyes.

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Likes_The_Scotch t1_j6ixgf5 wrote

Well, not that it wasn't allowed per se, but wasn't available. And yes, I remember scrolling through the 10+ channels they had and would listen to Classical Music between movies they put up on the public screens.

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HimikoHime t1_j6k9oy0 wrote

I remembered flying when they showed 2 movies on an 10h flight. On a pull down movie screen somewhere in the middle of the plane. Movies only had English language tracks which didn’t help me as a kid from a non English speaking country. My in flight entertainment was a Walkman and a Gameboy. I’m old.

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explainlikeimfive-ModTeam t1_j6l83np wrote

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