The Daily Ping

The Ping is self-aware.

December 29th, 2002

2XL

I remember being fascinated as a kid by the 2XL, a little robot-looking device that acted as your own quiz show host. Interestingly, the original 2XL ran on 8-track tapes, fast-forwarding and rewinding depending on the answers that you gave. The smart-alec voice was actually pretty cool because it didn’t sound like a synthesized robotic voice, but more like a guy selling pizzas in Brooklyn.

I had a 2XL for a short time, but it broke pretty quickly, probably due to its reliance on the notoriously short life of 8-track tapes. Later on, a cassette version of the 2XL was released and presumably had a longer shelf-life.

Anyone else have memories of this cool, but generally forgotten, piece of eduatainment history?

Posted in Childhood Memories

What is this then?

The Daily Ping is the web's finest compendium of toilet information and Oreo™® research. Too much? Okay, okay, it's a daily opinion column written by two friends. Did we mention we've been doing this for over ten years? Tell me more!

Most Popular Pings