# Technology that died in your generation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2010, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888 "2010-04-04T04:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/82 "2010-04-05T03:02:26Z")
Most of what has been mentioned already. Rotary phones 8 track tapes LPs (not the retro stuff-the real deal, like 78s and 45s as well as 33 1/3s) Beta and now VHS cassettes (I still have a tape deck in my car, though–it’s a 1998 model) answering machine 8 mm home movies–we got them transferred to VHS, but haven’t made the switch to DVD yet. Laser disc I just got rid of the floppies at work–they were used for a program from 1987. Some of the IT guys refused to believe I still used floppies (IT is off site). :rolleyes: Well, I don’t anymore! It was my predecessor who did. I still use the electronic typewriter upon ocassion, though. It weighs a ton. Those machines that used to run over your credit card and make an inked imprint of the card numbers etc. Haven’t seen one in years. Cordless phones with antennae mercury thermometers at my other work (RN) black and white TV as the standard AC as a “luxury” feature in hotels, restaurants, and cars mimeographs --I loved the smell of them. Probably caused 6 kinds of cancer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/83 "2010-04-05T03:14:25Z")
The credit card imprinters are still around, they get used if there’s trouble with the phone line or scanner. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/84 "2010-04-05T03:18:02Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Those machines that used to run over your credit card and make an inked imprint of the card numbers etc. Haven’t seen one in years. The retailer who employs me still uses them, for backups when the touchscreen PIN pad dies. Here’s one no one has mentioned: CB radios. In cars. (Okay, they’re not _technologically_ obsolete - I think truckers still use 'em - but they are _culturally_ obsolete.) ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/85 "2010-04-05T03:26:03Z")
My mother had a CB in her Rabbit (another obsolete thing). Remember those Instamatic cameras that had those funny flashbulbs-you got 4 flashes in one “bulb” and it would rotate around to the next “bulb” when you wound the film. Turntables, and large speakers (for some reason, the larger the speaker, the better the sound or such was the thinking–or maybe it was the larger the speakers, the larger the penis. I don’t recall–it was the late 70s and the stereo “systems” came with “wood tones” and very large headphones). I remember when calling after 10 pm meant a huge drop in rates (phone). ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/86 "2010-04-05T03:29:14Z")
They were still common when I attended graduate school in the early 00s, but it looks like [overhead projectors](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overhead_projector) are being phased out as well. Sigh, the lowly underappreciated overhead projector: it ought to have its own space in a museum somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/87 "2010-04-05T03:31:48Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Remember those Instamatic cameras that had those funny flashbulbs-you got 4 flashes in one “bulb” and it would rotate around to the next “bulb” when you wound the film. We always had the bulb “strip” that would plug in the top. I had the impression they were pretty expensive, too, though I certainly wasn’t paying for it out of the pockets of my Toughskins at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/88 "2010-04-05T03:38:36Z")
Usenet. “At the tone, the time will be…” One thing that’s not quite dead yet: Manual car windows. I was in a cheap rental car recently, and when I pulled up to the exit and went to open my window, I had to do a double-take, and it took me a moment to remember that I had to crank the handle in a circle. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/89 "2010-04-05T03:42:42Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Here’s one no one has mentioned: CB radios. In cars. > > (Okay, they’re not _technologically_ obsolete - I think truckers still use 'em - but they are _culturally_ obsolete.) They’re still popular here with truckies (as you mention) but also campers, hunters, hikers, 4WDers, and petrolheads use them quite extensively. The difference is that instead of having a head unit mounted on the dashboard (although they are still available and quite popular, especially with 4WDers) most people have hand-held units instead. You’re right though, culturally they’re obsolete (people don’t generally use them for idle chit-chat these days) but they’re still around and still fairly popular. “Cassette Tapes” definitely belong on the list, though. They were still very popular when I was in high school (most people’s cars had cassette players in them until surprisingly recently, at least in NZ), and new “mainstream” albums and things were still being released on cassette until not all that long ago either, IIRC. But nowadays, music comes on CDs or MP3, cars can play MP3 CDs or have USB or Aux Inputs in them, and cassettes are generally now a niche thing for the alternative/indie music scene. Unless they’ve got a (even semi-) decent stereo, I doubt many people even have a way of playing audio cassettes anymore anyway. ---
**Author:** ![wombatinspats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@wombatinspats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombatinspats)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/90 "2010-04-05T04:06:50Z")
Cassette tapes. Walkmans. (Walkmen?) Discmans/men, too. VHS. Umm…floppy discs. I remember having a rotary phone, too! It’s one of my earliest memories. I also actually remember the two BBC computers in my Year 3 classroom, but I think they were already obsolete by then. My school was pretty far behind the curve. Hmm. How adorable the past was! ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/91 "2010-04-05T05:03:53Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > ftp sites and archie to search for them. Gopher and Veronica are pretty much gone too. > > It has to be at least 12 years since I used ftp. > > Most ftp sites can be brought up with a browser like IE. It’s not the same experience as a real ftp client. > > I used WAR to host a ftp site for a couple years in the late 1990’s. > [War FTP Daemon - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_FTP_Daemon) We still use ftp all the time at work. We use it as a place to put very large files (several gig for one file, for example) on a server that anyone in the world can have access to, if they have the correct permissions and passwords. We are a multinational company with offices all over the world, so it’s common for me (in California) to put a such a file here than someone in our German office can pick up. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/92 "2010-04-05T05:19:43Z")
> [@hellpaso](#): > > Corded phones, I have several in my home and office in daily use, along with an answering machine. > [@](#): > > “ditto” papers, mimeographs, Obsolete years ago > [@](#): > > typewriters, I have one (electric) in my office. It’s much easier to make a single mailing label with a typewriter than use a computer. > [@](#): > > reel to reel tape recorders, I use one when people give me open real tapes to copy > [@](#): > > "hi-fi"s, All good modern music systems are “hi-fi” > [@](#): > > 10-key adding machines, all pocket calculators are 10-key adding machines, and more. > [@](#): > > push-button transmissions (hey–I was a little kid, but I remember them in cars), Last seen on a Rambler or Edsel > [@](#): > > transistor radios–hell–boomboxes, In daily use many places and sold at Wal-Mart > [@](#): > > cassette tapes, In daily use in my car > [@](#): > > “air popcorn poppers”, The only one I have. What’s obsolete about pop corn? > [@](#): > > “hot-combs” (hair styling devices), Dunno about this one. > [@](#): > > telex, agh! Dead. > [@](#): > > I could go on and on! Please don’t. You must live in a much more advanced environment than I and it’s making my head hurt. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/93 "2010-04-05T05:23:39Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > ftp sites… > > It has to be at least 12 years since I used ftp. I use FTP for controlling our TV station and for uploading/downloading video files and web site data daily. Filezilla is my right-hand program. What is the substitute? I know of no other way to communicate in this manner remotely. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/94 "2010-04-05T05:24:55Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > You must live in a much more advanced environment than I and it’s making my head hurt. Most of the rest of the Western world lives in a more advanced environment than you, from the sounds of it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/95 "2010-04-05T06:06:33Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > Paper maps. Can’t remember the last time I tried to fold one of those #&_$^_)!'n things up. Nah, they’re still a consistent bestseller. Mind you, nowadays they often come with a CD/DVD/download key. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/96 "2010-04-05T06:18:33Z")
> [@hellpaso](#): > > Corded phones, “ditto” papers, mimeographs, typewriters, reel to reel tape recorders, "hi-fi"s, 10-key adding machines, push-button transmissions (hey–I was a little kid, but I remember them in cars), transistor radios–hell–boomboxes, cassette tapes, “air popcorn poppers”, “hot-combs” (hair styling devices), telex, agh! I could go on and on! I wouldn’t call 10-keys dead yet. Most of the job applications I fill out ask if I know how to use one, and I do, since I took 10-key accounting in my freshman year of high school in 2002-2003. The ladies in the front office for my local parks and rec department use them sometimes, there was one in the cash-handling office when I worked seasonally for a big box electronics retailer, and all of the deposits at my college food court were calculated on 10-key. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/97 "2010-04-05T08:18:14Z")
> [@auRa](#): > > MiniDisc players. I got one for a graduation present 2001 and thought it was pretty cool and “the future”. One year later, no one was talking about them anymore because the iPod had come out. I thought the same thing at around the same time but MiniDisc players have been around since 1992. That’s a lot of ATRAC re-re-re-encoding. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/98 "2010-04-05T11:37:00Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > My first VCR was Beta, not VHS. When I bought it both formats were available and Beta seemed to me to be better than VHS. Beta? Bah… new, trendy stuff!! Some of us can remember as far back as ‘ **Philips 2000** ’ VCRs. By the way, Beta _was_ technically superior to VHS in many ways. I worked in the video production industry at the time. More than one engineer told me that in technical terms, such as how much information is actually stored per frame of video, Betamax was the superior format. The eventual dominance of VHS had everything to do with good marketing and zilch to do with technical supremacy. And so back to newly-dead technologies… A significant one is any non-digital form of either audio or video editing. It’s not so long ago that editing involved actually cutting up pieces of shiny brown tape. Today if you ask for a ‘splicing block’ not many people will know what you’re talking about. Kettles that _don’t_ automatically shut off at boiling. Several people have mentioned the death of Polaroid film (and its more recent partial resurrection, making it a highly suitable thread for Easter). But there were many other ‘instant photo’ technologies that came along just before Polaroid. You took the photo, then extracted the photo ‘packet’ from the camera, placed it between two metal plates for a minute or so while it developed, and then peeled off a few layers of chemically-saturated paper to reveal the actual photo. The photos themselves were generally disappointing, unless you happened to like the unevenly saturated, anaemic trout look. The pictures were of a unique size and shape, carefully designed to be neither use nor ornament. The thick payers of chemical junk you peeled off looked like something scraped off a wall in Chernobyl, and could probably give cancer to a brick. Apart from all that, it was just _great_. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/99 "2010-04-05T12:29:22Z")
I have to believe I’m the only one here to have encountered a record player in an automobile. This was in the late 60s. My older sister’s boyfriend had an aftermarket, under-dash record player that played 45s. Imagine the inconvenience you would encounter just to play one freakin’ song. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kyrio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@kyrio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kyrio)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/100 "2010-04-05T12:57:59Z")
The better question would add the year you were born in. I have or have used or have experienced almost everything listed in this thread and I was born in '84. Some of the replies though… listing things still in wide use today. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888/101 "2010-04-05T13:57:49Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Most of the rest of the Western world lives in a more advanced environment than you, from the sounds of it. 😉 Smiley noted. But I fail to see why I should jump on a new technology just because it is a new technology if it offers few if any advantages and it may offer disadvantages (the learning curve is one). Example, answering machine..my micro-cassette based unit does everything a voicemail does – I can access and control it remotely and have done so for 20 years. Why should I change? Car audio player…cassette or CD. All my recordings are on CD or cassette; I transferred them from LPs years ago when cassettes and CDs showed considerable advantages over LPs. Anything new, I can just as easily put on CD as on a digital file storage device like a flashdrive. There’s very little reason for me to throw out a working car player. Corded phones…celphones work poorly in my area due to tower locations, and celphone transmission often has poor audio quality with echoes and worse. My corded phone (with a long cord) reaches anywhere I need to reach, the audio quality is very good and phone calls cost me nothing, unlike celphone minutes. Why should I want to pay more for less? Hot air popcorn popper…what’s better? Is there some kind of popcorn that doesn’t pop in it? I should rush out and buy another popper to use twice a year? Why? I’m the first adopter if there is something priced right and has features and functions that are beneficial, but just because something is old doesn’t make it useless. And I look at others who buy some new gadget and can’t figure out how to fully use it, so it goes to waste. This happens often where grandchildren buy something for grandparents who might be grateful, but see no reason to change or adopt a new technology that they can’t operate or see no benefit from. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technology-that-died-in-your-generation/534888.md?page=6)