Strong Bad's Technology
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Strong Bad shows a strong preference for out-of-date technology. Sometimes his feelings are so strong they lead to a state of denial, in which he describes such outmoded technologies as cutting-edge. Similarly, the company Videlectrix, which Strong Bad endorses, seems to embrace a mission plan of releasing 8-bit and 16-bit "video computer games on TV" which they consider to have "good graphics". Strong Bad continually remains adamant that his computers are high tech. In animal however, Strong Bad mocks The Cheat's use of "new computers".
Contents |
Appearances
- Strong Bad Sings-Strong Bad appears to think that a record holds more than a CD, as the announcer states that the collection is available on 3 records or 7 CDs. Also, he claims that it's available on 8-track cassettes.
- An 8-track tape could also have more songs than a record, depending how long the songs are and if the record is 33, 45, or 78 rpm.
- Several occasions - The only telephone that Strong Bad ever seems to answer is an old fashioned mounted telephone, with the headpiece attached to the base by wire.
- Although the headpiece should be attached to the base, Strong Bad's appears to be disconnected from the base.
- Almost every Strong Bad Email - Strong Bad uses outdated computers, and praised the Compy 386 and Lappy 486 as state-of-the-art computers with awesome features. The Paper, as well, appears to come from a tractor-fed dot matrix printer. In home use, such printers are now nearly non-existent.
- Almost every Strong Bad Email - The operating system that Strong Bad uses on all three of his computers is DOS, which is never used as the primary OS for modern home computers.
- Email duck pond - Strong Bad says that the Atari version of Duck Pond has state-of-the-art graphics.
- Email gimmicks - Despite Strong Sad's claim that he could replace the Tandy 400 with a comparable computer "at a yard sale for, like, fifteen dollars," Strong Bad asserts that he "liked that computer." He evidently disregards Strong Sad's encouragement to get a modern computer when he chooses the Compy 386.
- Despite the accurate price description by Strong Sad, he still asks to borrow 900 dollars, most of which was presumably not spent on a new computer.
- Email weird dream - Strong Bad is unaware of how to use The Cheat's iMac's Mac OS.
- Email lures & jigs - Strong Bad refers to Fishing Challenge '91 as "the pinnacle of graphics".
- Email 50 emails(Easter Egg) - Old Timey Strong Bad used a "telegramaphone" more commonly a telegraph, although by the 1930's, they had been almost completely replaced by the telephone.
- Email website - Strong Bad's Website is similar to many other outdated ones created during the '90s.
- Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon(Easter Egg) - Strong Bad and The Cheat constructed a working telephone from the canister marked "eww" in the cardboard box prison.
- Email video games - Strong Bad considers the SNES-style RhinoFeeder to be on a brand new and super-photorealistic system.
- He also thinks that the individual red pixel that represents the player in Secret Collect looks "kinda like [him]".
- Email haircut - Strong Bad edits a Polaroid picture of Strong Mad with a marker, claiming that he's using a light pen to edit a scanned picture.
- Here, he also refers to the tech as "Cutting art, state-of-the-edge".
- Teen Girl Squad Issue 9 - Strong Bad is irate that Babbages has no Turbografx games. (which today are next to impossible to find)
- Real-Live E-Mails - Strong Bad is unaware of the term "burning DVDs" and sets fire to a spindle of them using the BMW Lighter.
- Biz Cas Fri 3 - Strong Bad fails to back up his files, and then seems to think he can do so by keeping some of the ashes of his exploded computer.
- Strong Bad's computer is unable to open the 3 gigabyte attachment entitled "catonfire_fallingfromanairplane.exe" and thus explodes.
- Email extra plug - Not only are the 'lectric boots low tech, taking up all the house's electricity, but the TV that Strong Sad and Homestar are watching is very old and outdated.
- Email lady...ing - Strong Bad uses a Laserdisc and sings a brief, nostalgic tribute to the medium, saying that "everything is better on Laserdisc".
- Email animal - Strong Bad scoffs at The Cheat for using new computers.
- Email long pants - Strong Bad deems the email "too long" and proceeds to edit it with a white-out pen, which he calls a "light pen" with "expensive electrons". When the plan backfires on him, though, he refers to it as "stupid made-up technology that I made up".
- Email highschool - Baby Strong Bad describes the video games of his earlier era as "better."
- Email portrait - Strong Bad is shown holding a "re-eally o-o-ld ce-e-ll phone".
- Email technology - A whole email on the subject; Strong Bad makes numerous references to older technologies being state-of-the-art. He also claims that he prefers early floppy disks over diskettes, erroneously stating that "they have more memory".
- Email alternate universe - The Game Boy that Strong Bad uses to make his high tech "alternate universe portal" is an original monochrome model, which is highly outdated and no longer produced.
- Email senior prom - Strong Bad pretends to get a message on his "answering machine" from "Delilelia", when it's actually a clock radio with a paper reading "an answering machine (trust me)" taped to it. Strong Bad himself provides "Delilelia's" voice.
- Email isp - Strong Bad's computer, besides having a ridiculously slow Internet connection, uses an icon of a 5-1/4-inch floppy disk on its download-progress screen.
- Strong Bad claims his internet connection potentially runs at "1200 baud" – while it is impossible to say how fast this really is without knowing the standard the modem uses to connect, describing the speed in baud typically was only used with older modems (1980s and earlier), so the modem is probably encoding around 2 or 3 bits per symbol, thus achieving transfer rate of either 2.4kbit/s or 3.6kbit/s. Note however that no ITU-T standard transferred at 1200 baud, jumping from 600 baud in V.22 to 2400 baud in its successor, V.32.
- Email redesign - Strong Bad thinks that the flatscreen monitor on The Cheat's new computer had the backside sliced off, and he refers to his wireless mouse as a "plastic bar of soap." He also believes that the scroll ticker replacement for the NO LOAFING sign has "advanced animation."
Fun Facts
- Most of the graphics that Strong Bad refers to as "good" are from an Atari 2600 or from a Super NES, which is what made the first H*R cartoon.
- Although the Tandy 400's video capacity seems low, as evidenced by the Bad Graphics Ghost and Bad Graphics Homestar from butt IQ, it shows an extremely photorealistic image of a Hairstyle Runner in the email homestar hair.
- Although Strong Bad seems to have a preference for low-tech devices, he must have had a digital camera or scanner to upload pictures of The Cheat onto his website.
- Despite having enough technical knowledge to do this, he needed to call tech support in order to remove the "light pen" markings from the Lappy's screen.
- The DOS command "dir/p", the command used on the Compy 386 Email Menu, would display the contents of the current directory and pause after displaying each screenful of information.
Strong Bad's Computers etc
Besides his outdated computers, Strong Bad uses several other low-tech implements. He so often uses these, it is almost impossible to find an implement of technology that Strong Bad has that is not outdated.
Computers
- Tandy 400 - Strong Bad's first computer. He used it to check emails 1-40. It exploded due to random malfunction.
- Compy 386 - Strong Bad's second computer. He used it to check emails 41-118. He was so distraught when Bubs shot it in virus, he was unable to compose himself enough to yell and argue with Bubs.
- Lappy 486 - Strong Bad's current computer. To date, he has used it to check all emails since 119. He claims that it is portable, weighing in at 42 pounds. Also appears in female form.
- Block - Its only appearance is in other days. Strong Bad uses it to check his Polish emails. Although it appears to be in the same room as his other computer, it is never visible on his desk.
- Office Computer - It appears in the Biz Cas Fri cartoons. It is obviously outdated as it runs on DOS like SB's home computers, and is unable to open a 3GB attachment.
Software
- Edgar The Virus Hunter - Strong Bad's virus protection software was programmed by only one person, is apparently never maintained, and also seems to only have a scan function.
- Edga Jr. - A simple piece of software that automatically deletes emails of a certain length.
- Edgar's Baby's Daddy - Another simple application that removes and archives all emails with the sender named "Homestar Runner".
- The Operating System - Although this is often overlooked, the operating system Strong Bad runs is DOS, which is almost never used in modern day life.
Other
- The Paper - The Paper is apparently a dot matrix printer that for some reason can never be seen on top of Strong Bad's computer, even though it always feeds from the top of the screen.
- The light pen - Used in haircut to edit the hairstyle of a "scanned" picture of Strong Mad. It was later used in long pants to make the email shorter.
- Floppy Disk Container - Strong Bad still uses floppy disks to store information and games. It was revealed in technology that he preferred them over diskettes.
- Telebision - An old-fashioned TV, complete with knobs and dials.
- Cakkalate - Strong Bad's simple solar calculator that is "the future of technology" since it is wireless (according to him).
