The outdated tech you use (and why)

hobbsyoyo

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So what kind of technology and stuff do you use that you consider to be outdated? How do you define the words outdated or obsolete? Why do you still use it?

I use snail mail because I like the post office and I want to support it. At first, it was mostly because I didn't feel like setting up auto-bill pay when I moved out (moving takes a lot of work and the temporary inconvenience of setting up bill pay was more than I could bear though it would have paid off). But now, with the Post Office in trouble, I don't mind paying what's essentially a $.45 tax on top of my bills to keep it running. I think snail mail is outdated for many things like paying bills because of the internet.

I still use cash occasionally because the washing and drying machines I use don't accept debit as do a few stores. Otherwise, I'd never use cash. I don't even use a local bank - I have a convenient and awesome internet one. Cash is pretty obsolete in my opinions but it still has a niche I suppose, as does snail mail. Similarly, I still use checks because I pay my bills through the mail and they are also obsolete because of Debit/Credit and the Internet.

I still use physical discs (blu rays and occasional dvds) to watch movies. I can't stream everything I want online and I can't stream hardly any 3D movies so I am basically forced to use discs. I think that as with snail mail, the internet has more or less obsoleted disc media. I almost exclusively download my PC games and my music (which I pay for, I don't steal).

I use a stand-alone GPS unit when I have to travel off major highways. I think they are obsoleted by smartphones. My smartphone and the GPS navigation app on it need a data (cellular) connection and the network I'm on sucks and doesn't extend off of the major highways. This means the GPS on my phone won't work off the highway or out of town so I have kept my old stand-alone GPS unit.

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I don't use a landline though which is obsolete in my opinion. I don't make enough calls period or long-distance calls in particular to justify a landline phone when I already have to have a cellular.

Does anyone still use fax machines or pagers?

I think PC's will be obsolete for all but niche applications and extreme power users as the chips keep shrinking and getting more powerful. The biggest drawback to mobile devices is really the batteries but I think that too will be sorted out sooner or later.
 
Let's see. My keyboard is an old IMB model from October 1993 (two months younger than me). I keep it around and use it extensively because the tactile response is the best I've found. The keyboard on my laptop is almost as good, but it is just a tad too small. I still use a VCR occasionally as the local library hasn't completely cleared out their VHS collection yet and they still have some good stuff there such as Dune (new and old), Hunt for Red October, and Dr. Zhivago.

Beyond that, I haven't really had enough time to accumulate old tech. It isn't tech, but a lot of my sci-fi books date to the seventies from when they were my dad's.
 
Oh yeah I have a VHS I bust out every once and a while. I'm too cheap to replace the videos with BD's and DVD's so I keep the VHS player too.

I still subscribe to physical print magazines because I just like holding them more than I like reading on a laptop. If I got a tablet I'd consider changing, but probably not because I don't think that would save me any money (you typically get the digital edition for free).


I don't get the newspaper though; most of the news I get comes from online. I don't live in a big enough city to care enough about local issues and I won't be here long enough to care either. When elections come, I go to the newspapers websites for candidate info but that's about it.
 
I use a flip phone and make up for its deficiencies with an iPad.
 
Well there's that whole dos machine that I bragged about in the computer subforum a bit ago. I've got my USB 100MB Zip drive for my main computer so I can transfer files to my dos computer. While i don't really use it anymore, I do still keep my Palm Tungsten T3 charged and hooked up to my system (no idea why, really, but it's there). I still have a use a fax, but I personally don't consider them outdated though most do. I have a typewriter. Oh! I even have a reel to reel player!
 
Why do you consider fax machines not outdated? Just curious. I do get that many business still rely on them, but usually the factor there is reluctance to change and not any superiority or abilities that the machines have that scanners and the internet lack. But I'm not sure on that.

Edit: Kennigit - they still teach Fortran here because some places in industry use it. Not sure why they do though
 
They're fast and efficient and unless you need a hi res copy of some text, they're really great for instant transfers.
 
When I took my dogs out I looked down and noticed my shoes were coated in chalk dust. Black boards can die in a fire. Even though we are a university of science and technology, we still rock the black boards like it's 1830. They found money for a geothermal plant that won't pay for itself in decades and multiple expansions to the chancelors house but we still have stupid chalk.

There is nothing a chalk board does better than a white board except ear-splitting screeches. Smart boards and touchscreen computers are ideal but they have their issues.
 
I use an alarm clock that has bells. It doesn't wind up, but I'm looking for such a one. Working in a library, I send a LOT of faxes for people, and I'm told the demand for it has been rising sharply in the last couple of years.

I'm actually trying to make my life technologically more simple, because I've realized the more complicated a thing is the more likely it is to break.
 
I still use cable news to find out what's going on in the world.
 
My Cell phone is like a 2004 era sort of thing, Tracfone is what it's called? It's just... I dunno. It's just what I have. I mean my mom bought it originally for all the children, but the 3 of us kids don't go out much, but I started going out more and more, and by the time I left for college, the phone pretty much just kind of became mine.

We get our clothes at goodwill, so we do things cheap.
 
I exclusively use cash.

Oh, How I hate cash only shops. My friends work at a cash only coffee shop. Any time I stop by in, I always forget and I can never buy anything to drink. He does give me free stuff, but I'm 30+ years old, I shouldn't have to have my friends give me free food anymore.
 
I have a ten dollar Tracfone and all it does is be a phone.

It even has actual buttons.

You cannot take me. I refuse to leave the 1900's. It's my phone, I'll do what I want. Whatevah!

If someone gave me an iPhone, I would sell it and buy a 10 dollar tracfone. I want a phone where all it does is be a phone. That's the kind of phone I want. I don't even like the fact that it can send a text message. Screw that! If I want to talk to you, I'll call you. Want to talk to me, call me. Texting is beyond asinine.
 
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