# What "obsolete" services and/or products are still available today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307 "2014-09-03T00:05:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/41 "2014-09-03T07:02:39Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > International travelers often use payphones, though not in actual booths. Their mobile plan often doesn’t work abroad, or only under considerable roaming fees. > > With the growing number of people traveling, I don’t expect payphones to disappear anytime soon. Also a good institution for cellphone-haters like me. Or roaming fees to drop considerably. I can still remember when cellphones charges were too expensive for the average person. Its possible that the increase in travellers will lead to similar drops. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/42 "2014-09-03T07:33:04Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > 1. Milkman - because people want fresh and local. There is also a nostalgia component to these things. I live in the UK and have my milk delivered by a milkman - it comes in 1 pint glass bottles with foil caps, just like it did when I was a child (although I am old enough to remember the controversial moment when the milk bottles were redesigned from ‘tall’ to ‘squat’). ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/43 "2014-09-03T07:36:26Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > For example, does your town (or, any old town) still have a photo development shop where you can get prints made off of pictures you took with grandma’s old camera? I don’t know of any place left around here that develops film in the building, but I think you can still take it to Walmart and have it sent away to be developed. (Also, I’m pretty sure that I saw a small rack of disposable cameras recently.) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/44 "2014-09-03T07:39:55Z")
Vacuum tubes are preferred in guitar amplifiers these days. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vegetable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Space\_Vegetable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vegetable)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/45 "2014-09-03T08:44:50Z")
Movie studios [made a deal with Kodak](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/07/30/hollywood-kodak-film-deals/13388807/) this summer, promising to keep buying certain quantities of movie film for the next few years. In return, Kodak, the last supplier, will keep making it, and the small percentage of directors who use it will be able to continue. ---
**Author:** ![cassicass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cassicass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cassicass)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/46 "2014-09-03T08:55:19Z")
CD’s ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/47 "2014-09-03T10:01:20Z")
My FIL, back in the mid-70’s borrowed some newfangled VCR like video equipment and videoed his family. A couple of years ago he wanted to get the old tapes converted to DVD. He finally found someone who did and a 30 minute tape ended up taking about 3 months and $700 to convert. That was the old video tape that predated even Betamax. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/48 "2014-09-03T10:09:42Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > In the little village where I now live (and another where I lived about 15 years ago), the local volunteer fire department sounds the local civil defense siren every day at exactly 12:00 noon. Tornado sirens are tested the first Wednesday of every month at noon here. (Town of 90,000 in Alabama.) ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/49 "2014-09-03T10:13:51Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Cooper > Fletcher > Smith > Thatcher > > Last I heard, there were still a few people in the known world expert in these. I’d say rather more than a few. There’s still demand for wooden barrels, even if production is partly mechanised. Archery is a very popular pastime, and an international sport. There are thousands of thatched buildings still (in the UK alone). Traditional blacksmithing is, I’ll grant you, probably less in demand, but there’s still a trade to be made in artisanal iron work - there are a lot of farriers still about as well, anywhere there’s horses. OB ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/50 "2014-09-03T11:18:17Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I bought a wristwatch a few months ago that had hands that went around and pointed at numbers. I wonder if any 12-year-olds would be able to tell time on it. Do you suppose they still teach that in school? So long as little boys stare at the clock on the wall in the classroom, counting the minutes until recess, kids will know how to read a clock. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/51 "2014-09-03T11:18:43Z")
Some more: One room schoolhouse teacher - Between those parents who choose private schools and those who homeschool there is another niche where parents will come together, hire a teacher, rent a building, and have a one room schoolhouse. With around 10-15 kids with each parent putting in around $2000-$5000 each. The teacher must teach multiple subjects across all grade levels. Shoeshine - There are a couple of upscale mens clubs I know of where getting there shoes shined is part of the service. I think some airports also still have them. They are kind of a tourist attraction. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/52 "2014-09-03T11:34:11Z")
A show I was working on needed old fashoned cannons made and we found a cannon maker, they needed a giant bow made to power a catapult and they found me. Shoe repair shops are getting hrder to find it seems. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/53 "2014-09-03T12:18:01Z")
Another vote that home milk delivery is hardly unusual in generic suburban USA. It was common where I lived in suburban St. Louis. Near where I now live we have a TV / VCR repair shop. \*There’s \*a dying service industry if ever I saw one. The last time I personally had repair work done on home electronics of any kind (or small appliances for that matter) was about 1980. From the street it appears chock-full of dusty old equipment. I often see what I assume to be the proprietor standing out in front smoking. Today I’ll make a point to go inside and talk to him & explore the place & report back my findings. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/54 "2014-09-03T12:20:51Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > So long as little boys stare at the clock on the wall in the classroom, counting the minutes until recess, kids will know how to read a clock. There are schools with digital clocks on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/55 "2014-09-03T12:27:33Z")
A guy knocked on my door a few weeks ago selling a milk delivery service. He still uses an ancient electric milk float [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Dairy\_Crest\_Ex\_Unigate\_Wales\_And\_Edwards\_Rangemaster\_Milk\_Float.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Dairy_Crest_Ex_Unigate_Wales_And_Edwards_Rangemaster_Milk_Float.jpg) I saw in the paper that some secret services are reverting to manual typewriters, Germany for one: [Germany 'may revert to typewriters' to counter hi-tech espionage | Germany | The Guardian](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/15/germany-typewriters-espionage-nsa-spying-surveillance) but also the UK. You can’t hack those. In the UK, if you pay for private medical services, home visits would be part of the expected service. NHS GPs will do home visits but more often than not you get a locum service. As for clocks with hands, I thought that they were more popular than the digital variety. I saw an explanation once: _When you look at your watch, for the most part, you do not actually want to know the time. What you want, is to know how long since something - How long have I been jogging? or how long it is to something - when will the train arrive?_ This is much easier to do with hands on a dial, than with numbers on a screen. If you see someone look at their watch and ask them the time, they will invariably look again, because they did not consciously take note of it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/56 "2014-09-03T12:29:51Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > As for clocks with hands, I thought that they were more popular than the digital variety. Maybe for dedicated clocks, but I really doubt it’s true for all clocks. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/57 "2014-09-03T12:31:54Z")
Carburetors and drum brakes ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/58 "2014-09-03T12:39:56Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Hell, the following surnames are derived form occupation. See how many you recognize: > > Cooper > Fletcher > Smith > Thatcher > > Last I heard, there were still a few people in the known world expert in these. > > Newspapers and there delivery persons. I just fletched a dozen arrows yesterday. It’s not my full time job, though. My contribution is the US Postal Service. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/59 "2014-09-03T12:45:09Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Some people still engage in sex–even though artificial insemination has been available for decades. Heh. More seriously though, I’m kind of amazed that phonesex services (both live and pre-recorded) not only still exist but make money hand over fist in our times of ubiquitous free Internet porn, sexchat, sex videochat and so on. [QUOTE=Senegoid] In the little village where I now live (and another where I lived about 15 years ago), the local volunteer fire department sounds the local civil defense siren every day at exactly 12:00 noon. [/QUOTE] Same here, first Wednesday of every month, regular. Now I don’t live in a little village, not exactly… but Paris does not lie on a fault line or tornado alley, there are no nuclear or any sort of power plants anywhere near (might still be some chemical or heavy industries left, but even that is doubtful), the river Seine doesn’t flood so much as sleepily ooze edgewise once in a blue moon - the last time it really did was in 1910 - and air planes or all kinds are strictly forbidden from flying over the city. I am therefore forced to conclude that we’re regularly making sure we’re all set for when Zee Germans come back. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/60 "2014-09-03T12:49:26Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Some more: > > One room schoolhouse teacher - Between those parents who choose private schools and those who homeschool there is another niche where parents will come together, hire a teacher, rent a building, and have a one room schoolhouse. With around 10-15 kids with each parent putting in around $2000-$5000 each. The teacher must teach multiple subjects across all grade levels. Several of the public schools close to my house are one-room. They’re in small valleys in the Pyrenees, where busing the kids over to a central location is considered impractical for the low grades in which every subject gets taught by the same teacher. The central, multi-room school gets a sudden influx of new students once there are subjects that get taught by different people. While seamstresses seemed to be rare in the US (or I just didn’t know where to find them), I see them often in European countries. The few ones I saw in the US were in “heavily ethnic” neighborhoods. Spanish UHC services are now managed at the regional level so they have different protocols for different locations, but I think all of them offer home visits. Several offer home hospitalization. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307.md?page=4)