What older technology have you used?

[Gori the Grey]

But first the Indian-head test-pattern.

 

[amadeus]

Who here has used TV's with VHF and UHF dials? Extra point if it was black and white.

I had one of those.

We had them on our TVs

If I was going back even further, I could include a dedicated UHF tuner: in the fifties only a fraction of TV sets had them by default, it was by federal regulation in 1964 they became mandatory in all new sets.

 

[EvaDK]

The only really fascinating old tech I remember using myself once, was a sextant to roughly determine our position on a naval chart.

 

[Remorseless1]

Be kind. Rewind.

Another store put it a different way:

Please don't forget
Rewind your cassette

 

[amadeus]

I never had one of those chain video rental stores growing up, it was always a mom and pop shop. When I moved to college and there was a chain video store, I thought it sucked out loud: more expensive, smaller selection, surlier employees (and in video rental that’s hard to do.)

 

[Birdjaguar]

If I was going back even further, I could include a dedicated UHF tuner: in the fifties only a fraction of TV sets had them by default, it was by federal regulation in 1964 they became mandatory in all new sets.

The first TV that I actually remember was one we got ~1960 It was a "big" Zenith. It did have both UHF and VHF access.

 

[Hygro]

Another store put it a different way:

Please don't forget
Rewind your cassette

Other stores didn’t want you to do it because their machines preserved the cassette better.

 

[Quintillus]

Going by the votes, I'm guessing everyone else is also voting "have I used it?" rather than "do I use it more than infrequently?"

I've used more than I would have guessed of the options. The rarest ones I've used:

- Pager: Had one of these for work in a medical environment back in 2012. It worked effectively. Downside, you only knew you got paged. Upside, once you got to the paging station, someone told you what you needed to know in a clear voice, no issues with signal interference.
- Typewriter: We had one growing up. I never used it for anything more than maybe a one-page paper, as we also had a computer with word processors. But I know the basics.
- Dot matrix printer: We used them in elementary school.
- Rotary-dial phone: My grandparents had one. IIRC, it was their first phone, and it lasted for about half a century.

Conversely, I haven't used:

- Film at-home camera (aka camcorder). We had one, but I don't think I ever took a video with it, just my parents/older relatives. I did take pictures with a film camera.
- Computer cassette tape, and 5 1/4 inch floppy. We didn't get a home computer until the tail end of the 80486 era, with 3.5" floppies and even a CD-ROM drive.
- Electric Typewriter. I guess they must be nice if you type a lot, but the manual one makes such satisfying sounds when you press the keys.
- Reel-to-reel tapes.
- 8-track tapes.

The only one of those I could realistically see myself using in the future is the 8-track tape. My grandpa's old stereo system is still around, and in theory it can play 8-tracks, so if it still works in practice, I might pick up one of the schlager 8-track albums at the local music store; they're very inexpensive nowadays.

 

[Quintillus]

Here's another one that I've used, but haven't seen in a long time:

The Credit Card Imprinter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_card_imprinter)

I've only used one once, when the network wasn't working at the place I was eating in Los Angeles. They had an imprinter, so they brought it out. It got the job done.

I can see the point, as I can think of a couple other times when the credit card network wasn't working reliably where I was shopping. At the most recent one, this past summer in rural Kansas, it was a fortunate thing that I had a sufficient amount of cash with me, but I probably would have bought more had they had a way to accept credit cards via imprinter.

Best Buy announced they're dropping physical disc sales for movies and TV next year. Not exactly stoked for physical media disappearing from the market entirely, since streaming services can pull stuff you already paid for form circulation at any time.

I was in Barnes and Noble recently, and they still sell physical digital media (i.e. CDs/DVDs/Blu-Rays, not just books and vinyl). Not Towers Records level of selection, but not bad either, and some of the prices were pretty decent (although the just-released Blu-Rays were as pricey as you'd expect).

So, while there will certainly be fewer options in 2024, they might not be going away entirely. I agree that for content I plan to watch multiple times, not being reliant on a fickle streaming service is a good thing.

Ok, guys, hear me out. I once drew this beautiful piece of technology. Can you guess, what is it?

A whale oil lamp!

Or maybe it is kerosene... depends on which decade we are in.

My grandparents had a newer, electric lamp, that was built to imitate those lamps in style. Apparently it was stylish at a time to have a lamp which resembled a kerosene one, but which used electricity.

 

[r16]

have the kerosene thing in a bottle somewhere , possibly have the lamp , too .

 

[Darsnan]

I never had one of those chain video rental stores growing up, it was always a mom and pop shop. When I moved to college and there was a chain video store, I thought it sucked out loud: more expensive, smaller selection, surlier employees (and in video rental that’s hard to do.)

I was actually at the last Blockbuster in Bend, Oregon back in October:

My parents home still has the old black Ma Bell rotary phone, and I know it worked up till at least Spring of 2013: must've been something for the techs keeping that circuit going.

And way back in the early 1970's my parents had the big remotely controlled rotary antenna for the TV: the controller sat on top of the TV, and I remember during the winter when the temps got down to -20C the antenna would freeze in one position, which was quite devastating on Saturday mornings when I couldn't watch my cartoons. Once I was older I got pretty proficient with the remote controller rocking the antenna back and forth to unfreeze it and "dial in" the antenna so that I could watch my Saturay morning 'toons.

D

 

[Birdjaguar]

The Credit Card Imprinter

Or maybe it is kerosene

my parents had the big remotely controlled rotary antenna for the TV:

What great remembrances! All three have been part of my life. While living in Maine, kerosene lamps were necessary when snow brought down the power lines. My parents also had a rotary antenna for TV. CC imprinters were an everyday part buying things.

 

[aelf]

I use writing. That's Ancient era tech.

I mean, this is a Civ forum, so...

 

[Birdjaguar]

I use writing. That's Ancient era tech.

I mean, this is a Civ forum, so...

You mean this?

 

[aelf]

You mean this?

View attachment 680200

Indeed.

Writing is easy. All you have to do is cross out the wrong words.
~ Mark Twain

 

[amadeus]

My parents home still has the old black Ma Bell rotary phone, and I know it worked up till at least Spring of 2013: must've been something for the techs keeping that circuit going.

Are they still leasing the phone or did they buy it? Yes, AT&T still has to this day leasing services for the old Western Electric phones.

 

[Darsnan]

Are they still leasing the phone or did they buy it?

No 2013 is when I had to move my mother into a dementia care facility, and my father had already passed. I terminated the phone contract at that point.

Below is a pic of the phone at my parents house. I'm pretty sure its the original phone which was installed in the house when it was built in 1961:

 

[Birdjaguar]

Below is a pic of the phone at my parents house. I'm pretty sure its the original phone which was installed in the house when it was built in 1961:

I see that the number circle still has the neighborhood name prefix before the number. I grew up with ID5-5971 as the house phone number. ID = Idlewild.

 

[amadeus]

I still see KL5 prefixes on some TV, etc. even decades after name prefixes were discontinued. There was for a brief moment in time a group called the “Anti-Digit Dialing League” which sought to preserve the names. Really didn’t take off…

 

[innonimatu]

I used all but one of those. Stil use several. And came here wondering, as @aelf perhaps, if handwriting was already part of the list