1980: A committee of dead-eyed engineers at General Electric gathered around a folding table in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and decided to build the worst alarm clock in the world. The result was the Model 7-4672A.
My parents had one of these in our house growing up, which is exactly what I told the guy who’d put a $5 price tag on it at the annual neighborhood yard sale. “You seem to have an affinity for it,” he said, “How about $2?” I should have just walked away, but nostalgia can make you stupid. Besides, I actually did need a bedside alarm clock.
What I got was a strong reminder of just how far consumer electronics have come in the last 40 years. The clock’s display is powered by a single light bulb that can easily be replaced from underneath, but it goes dark if you actually press a button or try to use the AM/FM radio. Perhaps the socket was worn out from having to replace so many burn outs over the years. Like magic, the radio reduces even the highest quality recording into a tinny, gray mush. But the nail in the coffin here is the maddening amount of patience required to reset the time. Its a marvel of minimalist cruelty.
The model 7-4672A is, in its own horrible way, a masterpiece.