# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/81 "2014-09-03T18:16:09Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Well…[except maybe for Brazil.](http://assets.survivalinternational.org/pictures/670/braz-unc-gm-10_screen.jpg) :eek: Neolithic stuff or better, I’m sure. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/82 "2014-09-03T18:16:36Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > 1. Chimney sweeps - needed for fireplace safety. My retired brother works part time as a helper to a guy who cleans chimneys. Sometimes we serenade him with _Chim-chim-cheree_. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/83 "2014-09-03T18:35:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I can still get a Shure V15 Type III phonograph stylus, not that I need it every day . . . or every month . . . or every year. But it’s nice to know I can still buy one if I ever need it. I have one of those! And not long ago I needed to get a new drive belt for my 36 year old turntable - and I was able to find one pretty easily. I bought three, just in case! ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/84 "2014-09-03T18:52:28Z")
Around here, it’s pretty easy to find cobblers and seamstresses, mostly in ethnic neighborhoods. I’ve used both. Another item that is still being produced (albeit in limited quantities) is wooden orchard and shipping crates. My workplace receives some equipment in the latter and my father still takes custom orders for the former. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/85 "2014-09-03T19:08:32Z")
Real finger-dirtying, clothes-staining, shit-I-put-it-in-backwards carbon paper? Or those three color (white, yellow, pink) NCR forms? As for clocks, I haven’t seen a digital wall clock outside of an airport terminal in years. I imagine they still make digital wall clocks, but outside of terminals, cell phones, and alarm clocks, I think most stick with analog. I haven’t even seen a digital watch on a person in a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/86 "2014-09-03T19:11:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Another one that comes to mind: I don’t know if physical slide rules are still made, but you can get a slide rule app for your phone. Admittedly it’s mostly for the novelty value, like many of these other items, but I have actually put my real physical slide rules to practical use in situations where the modern equivalent was unusable. [http://www.concise.co.jp/](http://www.concise.co.jp/) ---
**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, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/87 "2014-09-03T19:18:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And there are some neighborhoods (mostly the downtown area of smallish towns) where the arrangement of shop on the bottom level with apartments above is quite common. Yes, but that’s a small area within the town (and I wouldn’t call, say, Philadelphia or the Miami conurbation smallish). In Spain, Italy or Portugal it’s pretty much the default design for any place with more than one traffic light and not designed as “suburbia” - to the point where I’ve heard southern European visitors mention that one of the things which surprised them on their first trip to the US was that “most places are Sim-City style! Homes here, malls there, offices there, factories there…”. And I did mention that I had seen some seamstresses - never said they don’t exist. After that one time I was told that my inability to find certain tomato preparations in large supermarkets after asking the people working there was evidently a personal fault of mine, and that the things we did find that did not meet our specs were clearly what I’d been looking for, I’m extremely cautious when describing what I saw, did not see, found or did not find in the US. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/88 "2014-09-03T19:33:56Z")
I’m sure many people consider paper road maps obsolete. In fact, when I used one recently, my daughter’s friends said in awe, “You can read a _map?_ I wish I could.” I think that pinball machines are in a slightly different category than many of the other things mentioned here. Computers, for example, do everything a typewriter does. But although pinball machines are not popular, no video game I know of can truly duplicate the experience of playing a pinball machine. (Yes, there are some very realistic pinball simulators, but it’s still not the same.) Along the same lines… drive-in movie theaters (at least [for the moment](http://www.theawl.com/2013/06/drive-in-theaters-in-america)). ---
**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, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/89 "2014-09-03T19:33:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Another one that comes to mind: I don’t know if physical slide rules are still made, but you can get a slide rule app for your phone. Admittedly it’s mostly for the novelty value, like many of these other items, but I have actually put my real physical slide rules to practical use in situations where the modern equivalent was unusable. I keep one in the bathroom. In case of constipation, I can work it out with a slide rule. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/90 "2014-09-03T19:36:27Z")
There is a mail order company in Germany which sells all sorts of really old-fashioned stuff like shaving knifes, firelighters, hand-operated bread slicers and tooth powder: > **[Manufactum. Skillfully-crafted Products Made of Premium Materials](https://www.manufactum.com/)** > > Manufactum · Skillfully-crafted products · Made from sustainable and traditional materials · Long-lasting and repairable ---
**Author:** ![EdwinAmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5fc32e/32.png) [@EdwinAmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwinAmi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/91 "2014-09-03T19:41:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Some people still engage in sex–even though artificial insemination has been available for decades. Just because a technological substitute exists, doesn’t mean the old-fashioned way is economically preferable. Cost is an issue. Artificial insemination services costs thousands of dollars, sex is free… or the cost of a date and some booze. There are a million jobs robots could be doing that they don’t because a few ten grand to buy a robot is damned expensive. ---
**Author:** ![EdwinAmi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5fc32e/32.png) [@EdwinAmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwinAmi)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/92 "2014-09-03T19:43:11Z")
the horse carriage rides in NYC? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/93 "2014-09-03T19:45:37Z")
You can still [lease a house phone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QLT_Consumer_Lease_Services). There’s absolutely no reason to, and it’s almost exclusively one of those things to bilk the elderly because they don’t know any better, but still, it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/94 "2014-09-03T19:47:07Z")
I have a couple slide rules, and I use carbon paper fairly regular … Alchemists are hard to come by anymore. How about the guy who carries the pee bucket at fancy parties. Riggers for square-sailed ships. Scribes are pretty obsolete in literate societies. Finally, my grandest entry: Electronic Technicians !!! ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/95 "2014-09-03T19:51:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Another one that comes to mind: I don’t know if physical slide rules are still made, but you can get a slide rule app for your phone. Admittedly it’s mostly for the novelty value, like many of these other items, but I have actually put my real physical slide rules to practical use in situations where the modern equivalent was unusable. My dad has a nice collection of slide rules, including little tiney pocket "calculators and one that was (maybe) 3 feet long. Also a small mechanical adding machine (which I saw featured in Scientific American a few years back). He said that HIS father did so much slide rule work that he could estimate large multiplications in his head by visualizing the logarithmic scale. But we have no new ones. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/96 "2014-09-03T19:57:26Z")
> [@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. Looking around the office I cannot find one person wearing a digital watch. So no, the traditional circle watch with arms is in no way obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/97 "2014-09-03T20:00:20Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I keep one in the bathroom. In case of constipation, I can work it out with a slide rule. Did you hear the one about the constipated mathematician? He worked it out with pencil and paper. On that note, my wife tells me that at back to school night, a parent was lamenting at length that penmanship was no longer being taught. The principal explained that this was no longer a very important skill in today’s digital age. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/98 "2014-09-03T20:13:15Z")
> [@BeeGee](#): > > Real finger-dirtying, clothes-staining, shit-I-put-it-in-backwards carbon paper? Or those three color (white, yellow, pink) NCR forms? At Daley Center? Both. The clerk supplies various three-sheet carbonless fill-in-the blank forms for routine matters, but every courtroom has a box of blank\* order forms and loose sheets of carbon paper. Many of the carbon sheets are severely over-used before they’re finally discarded, contributing to the illegibility of orders :mad:, so some experienced attorneys bring their own carbon paper to court. In 2014 in a first-world nation. ☹ \*Not completely blank, of course, but blank between the caption at the top and the place for the judge’s stamp and to identify the party who prepared the order at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/99 "2014-09-03T20:20:31Z")
A friend is a teacher at a school built within the past five years, and they have synchronized analog clocks in the classrooms. A shop two blocks from my office does photo and slide (remember those?) processing in-house, and there’s a cobbler not far away as well. One of the grocery stores near my home sharpens knives for free. No idea if they’re any good or if they grind off 1/8" while making a passably sharp edge. Apparently, there are still some devoted adherents to Telex and TWX still out there, and if you insist, you can generally still get ISDN service from your phone company. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307/100 "2014-09-03T20:25:16Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Electronic Technicians !!! What are you referring to here? These exist in many high tech companies that do research and development. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-obsolete-services-and-or-products-are-still-available-today/697307.md?page=6)