Enjoy a Look Back at History at the Extinct Media MuseumEnjoy a Look Back at History at the Extinct Media Museum

This Tokyo museum is collecting cool old gadgets you’ll want to see.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

January 21, 2025

30 Slides
1949 Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter.

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1949 Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter.Extinct Media Museum

At a Glance

  • The museum showcases obsolete technology types to remind visitors that current tech will soon be old-fashioned.
  • Visitors can pick up and handle the objects to see how they feel to hold and use.

Tokyo’s Extinct Media Museum is a private collection of obsolete media and media equipment such as video cameras, photo cameras, typewriters, personal computers, recording media, music players, cell phones, and personal digital assistants.

The exhibits are not precious, factory-fresh examples, so museum visitors can pick them up and potentially be reminded of how their own example felt to use back in the day.

Home-use movie cameras are a particular focus for the museum, and its exhibits lead visitors through the evolution from 8mm film cameras (9.5mm, Double 8, Single 8, Super 8) to video cameras (Betamax, VHS, VHS-C, 8mm video, DV), and memory cameras.

Unlike some museums, photography is not only permitted, it is encouraged. The thinking is that if the collection is photographed by visitors and documented by media and blogs around the world the knowledge of these devices will last forever.

Japanese filmmakers will also appreciate that items in the collection are available for rent to help set the appropriate scene in a movie set in the past. Click through the slideshow to remember a device you remember using or wish that you had.

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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