# What are some good examples of recent buggy whip \[manufacturer\] obsolete items/jobs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897 "2008-05-19T21:14:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/101 "2026-05-25T10:45:54Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > You want to make a call you put on the headset and dial through TEAMS. We ended up with Teams too. The chat function or whatever was great, but then some people used the Teams calendar, some people used Outlook. So now you had to check in both places. Anyway, I think pen and ink drafting is long gone. Doing it on a computer is so much better. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/102 "2026-05-25T12:22:25Z")
Actually, I think that slide rules are probably cheaper than electronic calculators again. This past year, I made a class set of 24 of them, for much cheaper than I could have gotten 24 calculators (there was some of my labor involved, too, of course, but even valuing my marginal labor cost at $30 per hour or so, they were still cheaper than calculators). The difference is that, in the 1970s, precision tools of the sort needed to make slide rules were a rare thing, but now, they’re commonly found in all sorts of places. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/103 "2026-05-25T13:46:27Z")
I’m a little amused to see the turntable stylus as an example in the OP. You can go on Amazon and buy a whole array of them, there’s various audio stores with wide selections (LP Gear, Crutchfield, etc), local sellers include Best Buy, Micro Center, local record stores and others. Manufacturers include Audio-Technica, Ortofon, Jico, Grado, Sumiko and more – it’s not one joint out there making them. Sure, it’s not 1979 any longer, but declarations of Buggy Whip status back in 2008 may have been premature. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/104 "2026-05-25T15:02:26Z")
Gastric bypass surgery is essentially non-existent these days according to a surgeon (different field) I was with yesterday. It’s all Ozempic now. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/105 "2026-05-26T01:02:12Z")
And GBS replaced “Having your jaw wired”. I actually had my jaw wired (after dental surgery), and yes, it really was an effective means for loosing weight. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/106 "2026-05-26T04:48:28Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > and rotary phones Late reply to an ancient post, but I had a boss who purchased a fully functional rotary phone that he attached to his cellphone to make calls the old way. Obviously some modern technology was hidden inside, and he probably had an app on the cellphone to handle the I/O… This was in the advertising industry, which does attract eccentrics and jokers. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/107 "2026-05-26T04:58:27Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > This was in the advertising industry, which does attract eccentrics and jokers. Speaking as an ad industry veteran…you are not wrong. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/108 "2026-05-26T04:59:36Z")
That typewriter Tom Hanks gave to Colbert on his show recently? That came from a small typewriter repair and sales shop here in Portland, Type Space. A little closer to where I live is Ace Typewriter and repair. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/109 "2026-05-26T04:59:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Actually, I think that slide rules are probably cheaper than electronic calculators again. Good to hear. I’m actually looking for an inexpensive slide rule to give as a birthday gift to a friend who’s pining for one for nostalgia’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/110 "2026-05-26T10:47:25Z")
“Inexpensive” does not mean that you can actually find one. You did catch the part where I had to make them myself? ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/111 "2026-05-26T16:29:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Here in the U.S., impact / dot-matrix printers – and fan-fold paper – aren’t quite extinct. This was probably over a decade ago now, but that reminds me – After a flight once my checked bag didn’t show up on the carousel, so I went to the airline’s baggage office. The agent took some information and then handed me a printout of my claim – printed on a dot matrix printer, complete with the little holes on the edges of the paper. (I note that Epson still lists airlines as one of the industries using them). My bag got delivered to my house the next day, if anyone’s wondering. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/112 "2026-05-27T04:13:34Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > Actually, I think that slide rules are probably cheaper than electronic calculators again. > > Good to hear. I’m actually looking for an inexpensive slide rule to give as a birthday gift to a friend who’s pining for one for nostalgia’s sake. A brand-new HP-15c was $130 last I checked. Slide rules… Faber-Castell had some 2/83N’s for 89€, but that could have been new old stock. I honestly am not sure who is manufacturing new, good, slide rules. This might be weak evidence in favor of slide rules being cheaper, or at least not more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/113 "2026-05-27T04:17:36Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > This might be weak evidence in favor of slide rules being cheaper, or at least not more expensive. I think I’m more likely to find a decent used one inexpensively on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/114 "2026-05-27T10:49:53Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > A brand-new HP-15c was $130 last I checked. Last you checked must have been a while ago, given that that calculator was last made 37 years ago. I’m not sure what the modern equivalent (scientific but not graphing) would be, given that TI so dominates the standalone calculator market now, but they push their graphing calculators so hard. A used HP-15 probably would still be better than whatever TI is making, but we’d be looking at long-past-used prices for both the calculator and the slide rule, and both probably vary wildly. There probably are a lot of high-quality used slide rules that are owned by people who’d be willing to part with them cheaply, given that most people nowadays don’t even know how to use them. Heck, a couple of folks have given them to me for free. But by the same token, because they don’t know what they are, it probably wouldn’t occur to most people to offer them for sale. On the other hand, most people who still own an HP-15, even if they think it’s obsolete (it’s not), would at least know what they have. Another confounding factor is that if a calculator was stored for decades with batteries in it, the batteries might have corroded enough to ruin the calculator. But there’s no equivalent failure mode for a slide rule. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/115 "2026-05-27T11:10:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Last you checked must have been a while ago, given that that calculator was last made 37 years ago. Give me _some_ credit: when I say “new”, I mean that HP/[HP-authorized official licensee] is still making them (it is a good model and gets revived periodically). The latest ones are not more than 2–3 years old: [HP 15c Collector's Edition - HP Calc](https://hpcalcs.com/product/hp-15c-collectors-edition/) [a brief search suggests that the new ones are manufactured by Moravia as a brand licensee, as in today they “continue the development, production, distribution, marketing and support of any HP-branded calculators”, and also that an HP-15C from the original run (1982–1989), in good condition, will cost you over $350 today.] ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/116 "2026-05-27T18:41:27Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Good to hear. I’m actually looking for an inexpensive slide rule to give as a birthday gift to a friend who’s pining for one for nostalgia’s sake. In the sixties, my dad bought a high-end one for his kids to take to college. He got one with bamboo sliders because it was touted as “self-lubricating”. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/117 "2026-05-27T19:03:27Z")
It’s not exactly a huge trend sweeping the nation, but there has been a small resurgence of interest and use of typewriters of late. This site has info [https://typewriterrevolution.com](https://typewriterrevolution.com) and I am part of a tiny movement called SLOCOM, for Slow Communication, that types and mails letters and newsletters. The Revolution Lives. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2026, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/118 "2026-05-27T19:10:13Z")
Sort of like vinyl records I guess. I’m done with that. We have three Alexas. Now we nick name them ‘Henry’ so it won’t pop on when we say ‘Alexa’ Honey, what would you like Henry to play? I’m getting off toppic again. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/119 "2026-05-31T01:39:23Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Good to hear. I’m actually looking for an inexpensive slide rule to give as a birthday gift to a friend who’s pining for one for nostalgia’s sake. Have you looked into getting an abacus? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2026, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897/120 "2026-05-31T04:34:54Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > Good to hear. I’m actually looking for an inexpensive slide rule to give as a birthday gift to a friend who’s pining for one for nostalgia’s sake.  > > Have you looked into getting an abacus?  Lol! I can tell him I misunderstood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-good-examples-of-recent-buggy-whip-manufacturer-obsolete-items-jobs/449897.md?page=7)