# What old technology won't you give up **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 24, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811 "2018-09-24T03:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/41 "2018-09-24T17:05:04Z")
The Clutch. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/42 "2018-09-24T17:12:12Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > \ I can’t get my head around [stuff like this](https://www.guitarcenter.com/Warwick/German-Pro-Series-Corvette-5-String-Electric-Bass-Guitar.gc). \ How about Tom (Cheap Trick) Petersson’s 12-string bass? What’s up w’dat? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/43 "2018-09-24T17:15:11Z")
Tube Amps are superior. Many, many musicians have gone back to tube amps for their warm sound. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/44 "2018-09-24T17:15:55Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The Clutch. Yep. I’m driving a stick again, after years in the automatic transmission desert. Ditto what others have said about books, physical copies of recorded music and standard measurements (inches, ounces, pounds etc.). I switch back and forth between metric at work and non-metric at home, effortlessly. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/45 "2018-09-24T17:22:51Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Imperial measurements in the home. I’ve been using metric at work for several decades, but still make my coffe using tablespoons and cups. I understand you are far from alone, at least in the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/46 "2018-09-24T17:42:33Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Eudora. Real Eudora, before it got Thunderbird-ified? That might be good… ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/47 "2018-09-24T17:46:15Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Old-school machine tools. Some day I may dip my toe in the CNC world, but I don’t see myself getting rid of my traditional engine lathe and milling machine with the hand cranks. There’s something soothing about making a part by hand. > (of course, I will freely admit a bit of hypocrisy in my point of view, as I do have modern DROs on my machines–so much nicer than reading off of the dials and using dial indicators with mag mounts for everything). > Totally. > > I love trying out a new bass just like the next guy, but all I really want is a passive bass with a “make it louder” knob and “make it thumpy” knob. > And with 4 strings, as God intended. > > I can’t get my head around [stuff like this](https://www.guitarcenter.com/Warwick/German-Pro-Series-Corvette-5-String-Electric-Bass-Guitar.gc). > > Same for amps. Just the basics please, the fewer knobs the better. I’m not a bass player, but I take it one step further; electric doesn’t do anything for me either. I’ll listen happily if you’re playing, but I avoid playing in public anything that plugs in. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/48 "2018-09-24T18:06:24Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > I’m not a bass player, but I take it one step further; electric doesn’t do anything for me either. I’ll listen happily if you’re playing, but I avoid playing in public anything that plugs in. Practicality. [Here’s my fun bass](https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-xbLMC97/0/84d3f68c/X2/i-xbLMC97-X2.jpg). I use it for playing Bossa Nova with my wife on piano. But it’s not something I want to cart around. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/49 "2018-09-24T18:13:36Z")
I think books is about the only thing I’m old school about. Oh, and I like stick shift on my cars. I’m a photographer, and couldn’t wait till everything got all digitial. I mean, I like prints still, but for taking photos? Digital all the way for me. Music? I do prefer acoustic instruments, but they’re all too loud to play at any time of day, so I have some keyboards, digital drum set, etc. For recorded music, I am absolutely _done_ with physical media. TV, movies? Give it to me streaming or downloadable. Don’t want to deal with DVDs or Blu-rays or whatever they use these days. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/50 "2018-09-24T18:14:26Z")
Books, newspapers, and magazine I play chess with some of my coworkers on a traditional board with a timer. There is something about the look and feel of the pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/51 "2018-09-24T18:16:54Z")
Wristwatches. Yes, I know my smartphone has a clock. I also know that my smartphone’s battery lasts 12 hours, tops. If I spend a lot of time that day texting or web surfing, the battery goes flat real fast and I can’t tell the time. A watch battery can last up to a decade. The watch I’m wearing now? Sixty years old and still runs as a champ. ---
**Author:** ![Mumberthax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Mumberthax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mumberthax)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/52 "2018-09-24T18:18:54Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Books, newspapers, and magazine > > I play chess with some of my coworkers on a traditional board with a timer. There is something about the look and feel of the pieces. Oh, yeah…newspapers. Nothing beats sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee and the Washington Times. An iPad just isn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/53 "2018-09-24T19:12:52Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Imperial measurements in the home. I’ve been using metric at work for several decades, but still make my coffe using tablespoons and cups. Ah yes… the metric system. Fahrenheit temps are very well suited to weather, and that’s the way I like my temps. Miles are much more satisfying for distance than Kilometers. But if practicality asserts itself I happily use the other units–contrary to the belief of the rest of the world, most Americans know how to deal with metric units, especially when they are doing science. [minirant] The imperial vs. metric debate is a standard flame war in machinist circles, and a stupid one: I can’t change to metric without replacing tens of thousands of dollars in tooling and machines. I can’t find metric anything in local stores. We all make the same stuff given the same set of drawings–at the end of the day we are all measuring in hundredths (mm) or thousandths (in) of a base unit, far from the original units. So why am I inferior to a European machinist? Ugh! [/minirant] ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/54 "2018-09-24T19:14:37Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Eudora. I still know a couple people on Eudora, shame it isn’t being updated any more. It doesn’t display many emails properly any more, and when you reply the quoted text has a bunch of weird “A” characters in it. I’ve moved on to Thunderbird, which isn’t quite as good but gets me by. But it’s a dead program too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/55 "2018-09-24T19:25:37Z")
Pretty much covered by others… Print media (books, newspapers) Wristwatches. Persistently-recorded, as opposed to streamed, media on a dedicated format — which means, sure, CD/DVD/BluRay but also MP3 players/pods that actually contain the recording within them. The big point being “network connection not required”. And this ties in to… …Locally-resident software, licensed at purchase, not suscribed from the cloud. Again, so I can do things unplugged from the network. Where available, a twisted-pair copper wire telephone landline. Not even Hurricane Maria took that dial tone from me even as the cell network was dying. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/56 "2018-09-24T19:33:27Z")
I definitely agree on offline software and MP3 files. I won’t be giving up either willingly. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/57 "2018-09-24T20:18:48Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > The Clutch. This - and a pull starter. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/58 "2018-09-24T20:27:22Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > My Polaroid camera. I still use it to snap things I want to remember, artsy-fartsy wise. I know my phone and pad take pics and I do use them. But I want something to hold in my hand. I bought the lil’wrekker one of the new Polaroid cameras last year. She had fun with it for about a month, now not so much. I have been using up the film she had leftover. A photographer friend of mine has a neat little gadget. It’s a digital camera that spits out a little Polaroid instant pic kinda like a proof, and then you still have the digital image too. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/59 "2018-09-24T20:29:00Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Musical instruments. Electronic keyboards, even the wildly expensive ones, are still just toys. Maybe in another 50 years… I don’t understand what you mean about electronic keyboards being “just toys”. Some are, of course, but some are serious tools. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/60 "2018-09-24T21:35:49Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > A photographer friend of mine has a neat little gadget. It’s a digital camera that spits out a little Polaroid instant pic kinda like a proof, and then you still have the digital image too. We have one of those (Polaroid Snap Digital), and the problem is both the instant photo and the digital photo both stink. Our Fuji Instax does better instant photos (which are still a lot of fun with kids and at parties, etc…) and our Canon P&S and DSLR both take dramatically better digital photos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811.md?page=4)