Internet forums typically dwell on the latest and greatest in technology. But there's always time to reminisce about how things were way back when -- whether it was just a few decades ago or more than a century.

Just watch the discussions generated on link-sharing sites such as Fark and Digg when someone posts a link to an old ad or an eBay photo. Even the state of gadgets from just 20 years ago, such as cell phones and computers, draws guffaws.

We've come a long way in a short time with modern technology. Some websites help keep that in perspective with their adoration of retro tech. Here are some goodies.

The sound goes round There are websites that cater to those who long for the days of LPs, such as Minneapolis' the Needle Doctor (www.needledoctor.com) and New Jersey's Forever Vinyl (www.forevervinyl.com). But for truly vintage vinyl, there's no better site than the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project (cylinders.library.ucsb.edu) -- even if the phonograph cylinders popular from the 1880s to the 1920s were actually made from tinfoil, wax or plastic. Recently selected by Time as one of the 50 best websites, the Cylinder Project offers about 8,000 recordings transferred from the obsolete format, from jazz to spoken word to the marches of John Philip Sousa's Band. Listen online or download the audio files to transfer to an MP3 player or burn on a CD. It's all free, thanks to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Lugging a cell phone Few things set off an online geek-fest more easily than when someone posts a link to scans of old Radio Shack ads. Invariably, the hoots and hollers home in on the mobile phone of the day, such as 1988's "transportable cellular phone," which was tethered to a power pack the size of a car battery and cost a mere $1,199 ("mobile antenna and portable adapter pack extra," plus service fees). No one site appears to be devoted to posting vintage Radio Shack ads, but they randomly appear. (See www.startribune.com/a/?4547 for scans from a 1988 catalog.) Radio Shack's megacell phone also appears in old TV commercials archived on YouTube (www.startribune.com/a/?4548). Enter the search words "Radio Shack commercial" to find more clips.

Could be just your type Finding information about old computers on the Internet is no trick; start with sites such as www.pc-history.org and www.apple-history.com. But for a site that glorifies the original devices that introduced the modern keyboard, try the indispensable Virtual Typewriter Museum (www.typewritermuseum.org). Aside from the expected historical notes and images of typewriters and classic advertising, the engaging site includes an odd section devoted to "typewriter erotica" -- 1920s photos of secretaries giving come-hither stares, baring their legs and occasionally doffing their garments, all tame by today's standards but still naughty nostalgia.

Going by the numbers Another device made virtually obsolete by computers is the calculator. Vintage Technology (www.vintage-technology.info/index.htm) obsessively covers more than 550 desktop models from the 1970s, boasting "LED, Panaplex and VFD calculators galore!" Oh, my!

Please insert a coin Long before Nintendo entered the home video-game market, kids flocked to arcades to plunk down their quarters for the latest time-wasters. The International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com) indexes them all, from the A.C. Multi-Bell slot machine of 1937 to the Zzyzzyxx video game of 1982 -- more than 13,000 coin-operated machines in all. But who wants just to read about them? Cyberia PC has modern emulations of some of the great early video arcade gems, such as "Pac-Man" and "Pong," that you can play online for free. (See www.cyberiapc.com/flashgames.php and www.cyberiapc. com/javagames. htm.) The Java version of the addictive vector-graphic classic "Asteroids" is out of this world.

Modern retro tech Some websites cover all kinds of retro tech, such as the gadget guide Gearlog (www.gearlog.com/retro_tech). Not only does it cover old technology, such as the last pinball machine factory, but also modern devices given a retro twist. They include a wristwatch whose face looks like an old cassette tape and a pen holder made out of old floppy disks. You can find more vintage gadgets and technology at Retro Thing (www.retrothing.com), where old news is always good news.

Randy A. Salas • 612-673-4542