How One Small Company Saves Retro Tech

We've got another mid-week bonus episode for you! This week, Ellis talks to the owners and founders of a company out of Milwaukee that is fighting to keep old tech alive. Retrospekt started out selling Polaroid cameras and quickly expanded to include all kinds of neat tech. It's definitely a fun conversation with people who are clearly passionate about what they do. Enjoy!
Chapters
00:00 Intro
15:40 Impossible Project
35:20 What is the CP-81?
49:38 Digicams
01:02:49 The People
01:25:47 Fighting Obsolescence
Links:
Retrospekt: bit.ly/3UjukrD
Shop the merch:
shop.mkbhd.com
Socials:
Waveform: / wvfrm
Waveform: www.threads.net/@waveformpodcast
Marques: www.threads.net/@mkbhd
Andrew: www.threads.net/@andrew_manga...
David Imel: www.threads.net/@davidimel
Adam: www.threads.net/@parmesanpapi17
Ellis: / ellisrovin
TikTok:
/ waveformpodcast
Join the Discord:
/ discord
Music by 20syl:
bit.ly/2S53xlC
Waveform is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

[@Shagnick07]

Trivia question 2030 : ‘when was the first time Ellis appeared alone on the thumbnail of the waveform podcast’ Andrew’s kid : ‘Dad carry the one’

[@jangamnaveen154]

It's 2020 right😂

[@kenibarwick]

Not the greatest thumbnail. But a great episode, more of this long form niche product stuff please

[@alexjamesbilodeau]

@@kenibarwick would you prefer a more click-baity thumbnail fellow youtuber? In my ideal world, youtube removes custom thumbnails, so you never get misguided.

[@UnpossiblePOG]

I must say, Marques found some talented people who work with him.

[@Jezee213]

I know right, he has such a stacked team of employees!

[@cheskafayatola]

They seem to have a fun working environment too 😊❤

[@blacknbone]

Ik, I wish I could work with such a tech team

[@peekabooicancu]

I think this all the time! What a leader

[@prafullarora]

Andrew is not one of them :D

[@travisauruss]

BONUS EPISODE HOSTED BY ELLIS?! BLESSED

[@JunkfoodJunction]

Maybe he wanted to prove that nerds like us can find the girl (she just has to be into geeky stuff too) 😅

[@aidandrew4636]

Ellis needs to feature more prominently on all of your channels

[@IanTheWonderDog]

It's wild hearing Ellis talk about this company, and and interviewing these people, then realizing their store is 20 mins from me.

[@jangamnaveen154]

A bonus episode!😮 Hosted by Ellis ....? Let's gooooo boys !!!!!!🤯

[@christianbarrios4416]

More ellis!!

[@jasontamer]

As a Polaroid photographer....I'm so happy to see retrospekt to get some love and exposure (pun intended)

[@Lun4rVisi8n]

The way she looks at him when he talks…you can just see the love & admiration there ❤ beautiful episode & I actually got an Impossible Project Polaroid not too long ago, still fully boxed!

[@tmsmqwx]

Fascinating how they seem to know intuitively when to pass the story off to the partner.

[@matthewblackwell284]

Two intros for the price of one! And Ellis hosting both!

[@tekmepikcha6830]

This focused interview added so much more variety to what the podcast usually focuses on.

[@ElliotGoodwin]

This pod came in SO CLUTCH you have no idea!

[@christianbaird8800]

Guests from Appleton?! And an Ellis episode?! What a midweek episode!

[@sidenote1459]

A bonus episode about one of the coolest topics out there? LETS. GO.

[@DiamondMaster115]

Its actually incredible the fidelity of lots of 1980s and '90s formats, like film cameras and cassette tapes. I guess the trade off of convience for fidelity won out, but many audiophiles and retro-enthusiasts find happiness even in the old and gold products. And people like these are incredibly crucial to the restoration and preservation of these awesome inventions. Great episode Ellis!

[@prafullarora]

Additionally, Thank you so much for covering this. This was a very inspiring podcast. Please bring more business owners. These people were honest and I don't know they seems great to be around. I love their gut. Thanks again for bringing them over. Ellis please do more!

[@dylansteward]

I like their idea that it’s not just a trend of retro technology, but it’s an entire segment of the industry for people who enjoy retro technology.

[@santiagotoyama1091]

Great to see Ellis hosting the podcast, also pleased to see Retrospekt getting more recognition and attention. Been a fan of the company for some time!

[@ninaadadhvaryu1603]

What an excellent couple of people and what an excellent podcast. I know very little about repair or the products talked about but I was consistently interested!

[@Shagnick07]

This is the best thumbnail of the waveform podcast so far, of course after the apple vision pro

[@JaceKeller]

That AVP thumbnail was cursed lmao

[@user-ii7xc1ry3x]

Love myself some Ellis but I gotta disagree. I think it was awful, because of the Gameboy which - pretty much - got nothing to do with this episode, they should have used something more fitting to the conversation.

[@meskin84]

Dawg, I’m only 5 minutes in to this video and I’m fuggin diggin it. I love these damn episodes

[@kaeekelih5484]

when ellis asked what kind of tech Marques and David think of as retro, I immediately thought of the iPod nano. It's kind of insane how much tech has changed in such a short amount of time. Like the hit clips were 90s and the nano was early 2000s

[@benjaminmuller3289]

Hell yessssss! I had a similar excitement when discovering that Retrospekt exists (and adjacent companies making retro tech new again). Awesome to hear their backstory. Midwest, represent. Thank you for making this happen Ellis. 🤘

[@malegazeofficial]

this is no new information by any means, i just have to point out how well-made the intro-jingle is. you'd think the playfulness makes it cringy, but it's surpirsingly catchy and uplifting, it genuinely hits me every time. (also it's 2:43am here so I'm probably operating on a foggy brain, but i've had this thought multiple times, so.)

[@GeorgeMonsour]

I had a similar thought. As a senior I'd place its influences from the mid fifties or early sixties. It may be that developing media enterprises have a certain wisdom and art.

[@kushagrachaturvedy2821]

Love it when these bonus episodes drop

[@timfrias477]

God I love how passionate they are about what they do, and you can clearly see in how they speak how much they love working together. Great job Ellis putting this all together for us!

[@JackE.Johnson322]

Marques did a hell of a job hiring! He has an amazing staff

[@alexdylan04]

Gotta love a bonus episode

[@S.Kottearachchi]

I'm 17 and when I was little I had an obsession with some old tech like polaroids and various film cameras. I can remember having a half-functional polaroid as a kid and disassembling the whole thing because I had another one in better condition. I remember me taking the flasher module out and shocking myself from a considerable amount of electricity even when it was off. I reassembled it, put the battery in, disassemble it again and did the same thing again and again, shocking the hell out of me every time I touched the board to find the invisible energy source( I was a kid and didn't know about capacitors) the powerful battery inside the flasher to power up my rc car which needed fairly regular battery replacements. I lost both of my cameras around the start of my teenage years and never really thought about old tech again. This just took me right to the times where the flasher gave me electric strokes. No offence to previous eps but I've never loved a waveform ep this much. Thank you Ellis for bringing this episode into life.

[@brandonsbillings]

This is one of my favorite episodes ever. SUCH a fun conversation, and I loved learning about Retrospekt and their mission, vision, operations, and really cool workplace culture practices. Great work, Ellis!

[@MostlyReading]

Ellis is such a wonderful interviewer, this was such a great watch

[@jaceshelton6111]

Amazing episode, as a retro tech enthusiast and avid Ellis enjoyer this one checked all the boxes for me

[@rener.s.6477]

Ayo, S/O to David remembering Hitclips! What a throwback 😅

[@iluvmarvel252]

WE GOT BLESSED WITH AN ELLIS EP

[@tituswillb]

Literally just finished "Why Vision Pro Rules with Hugo Barra" and now i'm right on time for the next episode of WVFRM :)

[@DoubleVGames]

Dangit Ellis. Why did you introduce us to this website? Now my wallet is going to cry

[@rubenmoreno407]

Oh man, I had to do a double take on the notification, always a great day with a bonus episode, and retro tech?! Awesome!!! Can't wait to watch it.

[@karasekjh]

It's beautiful how she looks at him when he talks.

[@photowalkmyworld]

Love this video, I was there the first time for most of this kit, it’s great to hear about passionate business

[@shortymcshort4608]

BONUS EPISODE AND ELLIS??? NO STOP!!!

[@grandchester]

Ellis is the smartest guy in the room. Big fan!

[@GrevMarkussen]

Great interview, and great episode! Wholesome vibes all around, but still great, insightful content. More of this!

[@nissearmentv5769]

I love the format and I would love to see more episodes where you guys zoom into other niche companies or startups with a cool mission! It would be a beautiful symbiosis with the nerdy approach of the channel and all the meaningful entrepreneurs out there! Tech, science and entrepreneurship is a golden triangle that I think a lot of your viewers are loving. Anyway, I really enjoyed this video and even though I'm no retro-head, I was intrigued and now I consider to buy my first Polaroid haha

[@GlobeSync1]

Good morning/afternoon, THE WAVEFORM UPLOADED!!!

[@CoIIecting-Dust]

Bonus episodes are the best gift

[@esaedvik]

Ellis and David might be interested in a local camera store that refurbs old cameras, Kamerastore. Destin from Smarter Every Day made a few videos with them a while back on his second channel. You two probably ran into those already though...

[@thecreativespreadsheet4180]

This was awesome to get an insight into this type of work/business. Great video!!

[@edwindungdung1998]

y'all gonna spoil us with these pods. I can't get enough!!

[@leovalde7z]

Ellis is the best, more ellis shows pleasee

[@IAmTheScience17]

I saw the podcast and was completely convinced it was Friday until he said bonus episode 😅

[@Beartato1989]

As a Midwesterner from Nebraska, stopping at Iowa hurt! But what a wonderful episode Ellis!

[@heyheybobbyj]

Huge shoutout to Brooklyn Film Camera! Great people and really fun place they have there.

[@tralfazz6810]

I recently got the retrospekt cassette player! it’s great I love it

[@chrisprimeaux665]

This is great! It's a love story to retro tech. The care they take is amazing.

[@adriendesentenac]

Fascinating, thanks for sharing this!

[@bommidikarthik1753]

Refreshing episode, actually found a free Polaroid in my neighborhood after watching this 😅

[@ihawk1984]

Really awesome interview. Great job Ellis. 🎉

[@nikitabaryshnikov1739]

How is this channel is getting better and better every week? Great job Ellis! Great interview 🥳🎶📼❤

[@theyjustwantyourmoney4539]

As a kid in the 80s my sister had a walkman which you could only play one direction and had to rewind the cassette manually using a pen or pencil, those of you older, you know what I mean 😂😂😂😂

[@JulioAguilar01]

The fact that even Nintendo DS is retro tech now, appreciate this!

[@stay_rad]

Why do David and Ellis look like brothers?😭

[@McNetDeck]

White + hair

[@just_mdd4]

Thought there was going to be a season 3 of Retro Tech lol

[@yukiotachibana]

Ellis joins as host again!! let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RETRO VIBES !

[@PinkPopcorn999]

I really enjoyed this interview, thank you so much!

[@percisilverwish]

I love it when Ellis gets excited about something, it's so damned cute!

[@ajpetix]

Well, these guys just got a huge influx of business. Haha I fully expect this shop to be sold out of the majority of their stock within 24 hours. Also, good on Ellis for calling out not to mess with high-voltage capacitors. Very important not to mess with those if you like living.

[@PokhrajRoy.]

I love the title of this episode! Also, I love recommending ‘Retro Tech’ by Marques. It’s brilliant!

[@Zastrutzki]

To think the student debt could've been completely avoided.

[@ram07ish]

$312 for a gameboy color is wild

[@dcassus]

And yes, 4-head VCRs were a thing and these were indeed of higher quality. I edited a home made documentary in high school using 2-head VCRs and it was complete crap. With one day left before showing it to the class, I bought a -head one and redid everything and I had a clean cut fina version.

[@carlover4239]

30:01 HitClips were so cool

[@adnanbhamra3444]

Each channels of MKBHD are best to have ❤

[@TheRealStructurer]

Love it! I don't want to be restricted to old tech, but is sure brings back good memories. My HP calculator is the same as 40+ years ago (even if I also have an app of it on my phone).

[@munkeee420]

petition for more ellis hosted episodes

[@me9061]

This was great. More of these please!!

[@EsotericLeo89]

1:02:00 I learned something new. Legit had no idea you could still be electrocuted even if these items are unplugged. Never have an intention to do it, but still good to know. This was a kick ass episode!

[@ccosephvv]

Phenomenal. Ellis is not the weakest link, but we all knew that (also that thumb nail did him dirty)

[@stevesstuff1450]

Wonderful mid-week bonus! Thank you Ellis... 👍 Retrospekt seem like a great company; just what we need to try and keep there older technology alive and relevant today.... It's sad that there are no other companies other than little Chinese companies copying the Tanashin mechanisms for cassette players in this day and age; how soon all that technology from the key manufacturers was filed away and forgotten; a decent quality cassette deck was capable of recording an LP or CD onto a good quality tape, and having it sound virtually as good as the original. 20 years on where are we? No-one makes 'em anymore, and no-one knows how, or can afford to get the old machinery up and running again! Sad. 😞 And yes, likewise with Polaroid film.......there's a company nowadays making 'Polaroid' cameras and film, but it isn't the same company as it was 20+ years ago - it's a nameless Asian manufacturer under a holding company that now owns the name - for now......Possibly even the same manufacturers who make the Fuji Instax camera and film. Much respect to Retrospekt for trying to keep the quality old engineering and technologies alive today. 👏 👍

[@mrgarywong]

I am in Minnesota and I know how they feel about. Lol. This was great. I love vintage stuff.

[@nancyvlld]

I see Ellis. I click.

[@mrennie25]

These are my kind of people. Retro tech people are so cool

[@Kikibrat2]

I loved this interview. I have lived in the Midwest for all my life and I am proud to be right in the middle of the US. I forget that we really don't know where the 'midwest line' ends and begins 🤣. I just know Illinois is definitely midwest.

[@CreaminFreeman]

I JUST thinking to myself, "Self, I really would like a surprise WVFRM episode drop" ...Now I'm not saying I have magical powers, but I'm not NOT saying that...

[@LeonNeuton]

😂💯🔥

[@carlover4239]

Thanks man 😂

[@Mobik_]

Fixing yellow-ish plastic is possible and many youtubers do it repairing retro consoles as, for example, the SNES ALWAYS ended up like that.

[@Jezee213]

Retro bright

[@Midwestmikey]

👀 oh snap, episode on a Tuesday!

[@justinberken]

Great interview, I wish it was longer 😀

[@kreigerbailey3550]

Portland, JAMAICA in the Building!!! 🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲

[@rushja]

I'd love to see you guys reviewing a selection of their products

[@brandknewme]

Great episode! More like this. Retrorespect, Ellis!

[@AydenGuitar]

Glad to see Wisconsin get some rep! I love WI and where I am in it there actually are quite a few factories that do a lot of injection molding. I just toured one for college 😂

[@loganmanderle8572]

Live in Milwaukee, I’ll have to go check this place out!

[@prafullarora]

This episode is a great one! Ellis' views are interesting, they're positive and not particularly punching down/shaming someone. I hope Ellis replaces Andrew forever. And since Andrew wasn't there I didn't need to wish for an auto-mute feature from youtube that mutes a speaker. Thanks Andrew.

[@cmmartti]

I like Andrew. I find him to be very pragmatic and I always appreciate his views.

[@DiamondMaster115]

Bonus episode les goooo 😂

[@eveninacrowdedroom]

I need to know Ellis reaction to the new audiophile MIAD-01 phone

[@rcarmack]

58:15 it would be so cool for a company with an auto picker robot to show off their skills and sponsor these guys with a robot to sift through all of the tens of thousands of organized, Walkman‘s cassette players, etc. that they have in their warehouses and probably overtime and up. Saving them a lot of timeto be able to focus other things

[@hilliard665]

Retro tech! Just picked up an N64 like a week ago 😁

[@PhilKnall]

Can't wait for them to get around to minidisc recorders in a few decades 😅

[@unkowndata2338]

Awesome episode Ellis!

[@thelampman8192]

Dream team line up, please make this permanent! And let’s get Mariah involved too ❤

[@ThelordOmega-kw6mg]

yooo looks like its gonna be a lit one... retro tech is the key to the future