Puzzling Gadgets from Past and Present

Can you tell what is it for?

No, it's not the Doomsday Device launch key
from the "Dr. Strangelove" movie :)





SOLUTION:

This is a USB self-destruct switch, also known as the "USB Data Shredder".
Thanks to T, here is a link,
and I found another page with a few more pics:




"Despite the skull and crossbones that cover the bright red button at the center of this Self Destruction USB Hub and give it the aura of impending doom if you get anywhere near that button, the device is actually just a four-port USB hub. But in those moments in front of your computer when you lose a ton of work, get fired via email, or slow processing simply breaks the camel's back, sometimes a resource for even merely mimicking your own self-destruction can provide relief. You'll be happy when you wake up the next morning that it wasn't real."

More wacky USB devices: Link 1, Link 2

Other favorites:

Stick your USB memory stick into the bowels of this key-chain doll.



Power your hamster wheel with USB: The faster you type, the faster the wheel spins.

via TechnaBob



MYSTERY DEVICE #2

If the previous puzzle got solved relatively quick, this mammoth contraption proved to be a harder nut to crack:



SOLUTION:

Found on this site

Its a COLOR TV CAMERA!

"This picture shows an RCA color TV camera installation at at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. in the 1955-56 period. This system was used to televise operations for instructional purposes. The round object in the center is a high-intensity lighting fixture with an opening in the center. The mirror above the lamp allowed the TV camera to focus on the operation as it proceeded. This picture was probably taken just after the installation was completed. It might be safely assumed that the patients were not expected to lie on the floor." (Reverse Time)

Seen on the same site:

"Magic Brain" installation 1939:





"This wondrous innovation is neither magic nor is it a brain. It is, merely, the tuner portions of the radio mounted on a subchassis."

Early "digital" communication:
tele-typing the news (1939)



Early RCA music synthesizer:



GE Electric Lamp Heater
or, Radiator Glower. I'd get this for my art-deco office, if I had one.



Check out this page full of the UNIQUE unrealized designs for Art Deco Radios: Click Here