The first thing I would be thinking of is sound. I’m an audiophile and I won’t hide that fact, but sound tech has been around since the dawn of geekdom and perhaps even before. How old is the gramophone for crying out loud! You may have already guessed by my forum posts and my latest review, but I’m going to go for a turntable. And not just any old turntable, the most out there turntable I can find. It’s got to make a fashion statement otherwise there’s no point. Such as this perhaps, the Michell Orbe SE with arm. Sure, it’s more than $7,000, but it looks so stylish it could possibly open a fissure in space, port itself to the future, and still look modern.

It doesn’t all have to be about old school when you’re talking retro. The iPod would have a well deserved place in my new room. But with the Orbe, there’s no way in hell I’ll be displaying the shiny goodness of iPod white in virgin form. No, it has to be accompanied by the Fatman iTube. Mixing old school valve amp technology with your iPod, you get luscious analogue sounds spilling out from it. If you can’t score with this pumping out tunes in the background, it’s time to consider the priesthood or a place at a Tibetan Monastery… or perhaps life as Guy Sebastien.

So the sound is set, but what about the PC. My MacBook Pro is going to look a bit out of place in this room. Time for something a little more on the classic side. The problem here is that you still want it to be something you can use to get on the Internet and do all your work, but something that keeps in the retro style. Step forward the first Apple iMac. These are so cool they are on display in MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York City. That’s right, they are art! And the best thing is they are still plentiful on eBay or second hand Mac stores like this one. Plus they are still fast enough to get your everyday work stuff done… for the most part anyway.



To go with the tech there has to be some solid furniture. Check this out for a desk, it’s so old school that it comes with 1960s Swedish school students in the box. I’ve named mine Tabitha and Tobias. OK, perhaps not, but it is cool. And with a cool desk like this comes cool desk accessories. How about this clock? It’s not strictly old school but it does have something 1960s about it, and best of all, you can tell world time on it just by turning it slightly. Low tech equals old school after all.

There are a few other retro wonders I would like, perhaps a Nintendo Entertainment System for some Double Dragon II and Excite Bike action, and a colourful bean bag, but before I get carried away and run out to buy a BMW 2002 from 1970 to go with it, I might stop writing now.