# 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:** 4
**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, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/61 "2018-09-24T22:44:13Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I still know a couple people on Eudora, shame it isn’t being updated any more. ( Wow. I haven’t heard Eudora used in a conversation since, shit, 1998 maybe? Had no idea it had a following still. This is like “pine” level shit for email. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/62 "2018-09-24T23:55:26Z")
Paying bills with a check, through the mail. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/63 "2018-09-25T00:05:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wow. I haven’t heard Eudora used in a conversation since, shit, 1998 maybe? Had no idea it had a following still. This is like “pine” level shit for email. It’s the only mail app I’ve found that manages the UI in the way I want - no new windows for anything. It also handles multiple accounts like a dream. And moving it between different systems and/or restoring it from a dead hard drive or whatever is easy as pie. I tried Thunderbird within the past few decades but it couldn’t deal with it. Eudora has been my jam since 1997. That is, for my work email. Everything else is through Gmail. Can’t beat that spam control. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/64 "2018-09-25T00:09:11Z")
I write letters to my friends with a fountain pen. My youngest pen is from the 1940’s. Really it would be a much shorter list of modern technologies I have, reluctantly and long long after everyone else, adopted. Mostly I like doing things the same way I always did. A few things, like gps for the car, and a calculator, I think of as handicap equipment – I have dyscalculia --than great progress. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/65 "2018-09-25T00:53:28Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Real Eudora, before it got Thunderbird-ified? That might be good… Yep. It was about the time when the “emails should always be text only” crowd got drowned out, and then Gmail happened and madness ensued. There are certain modern technological shifts I embrace, and certain others I avoid as long as possible. I have one foot in luddite, one in technophile. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/66 "2018-09-25T02:56:12Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Yep. It was about the time when the “emails should always be text only” crowd got drowned out My emails are text only. I get sent all of these emails from mailing lists I’m on, and I have no clue what they say because all they have is a whole heap of boxes and stuff presumably linking to something else. I never know what they say. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/67 "2018-09-25T04:59:48Z")
Australia went metric the year I was born (1966) and I grew up in a half metric half imperial world. My dad always spoke imperial but my mum who came from Finland was already metric. So height for is always in feet/inches but I prefer metric for pretty much everything else. Oh and yes of course I still have vinyl, my then 18 year old son bought home a record player and a couple of his favourite bands records and when I heard the sound I walked (how retro of me) and purchased a nice record player and dug out my records in the basement. It doesn’t get used much but when I have the time to sit and listen with a nice glass of red I do. I also have a beautiful valve radio from the 1940’s (I think) that was my grandpa’s and nothing beats listening to the cricket on a lazy Sunday arvo on it. The warm sound takes me back to sitting in my grandpa’s shed as he tinkered away on something. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/68 "2018-09-25T06:34:11Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > So height for is always in feet/inches but I prefer metric for pretty much everything else. I’m also “broken” when it comes to height. I know what I am in metric, but if I hear a description on the tv of somebody in metric, I have no idea how tall they are, I only understand 5’10" or something in the “old money”. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/69 "2018-09-25T07:02:18Z")
My wristwatch. It has numbers and a dial and two hands, and I can tell the time without pulling my phone out of my pocket. Just like I have read dial clocks and watches for years. Newspapers and magazines. I have read them online, but having read them in paper format for so long, it’s just not the same online. I like having a hardcopy newspaper or magazine to read. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/70 "2018-09-25T11:55:04Z")
Watches always made me break out or got wet, smashed, or left behind on the sink, and I don’t miss newspaper ink at all. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/71 "2018-09-25T23:47:05Z")
Sex. I’m sticking with that man/woman thing. No Chinese robots for this guy. Maybe when WestWorld robots become a reality I’ll give them a try. ---
**Author:** ![PoppaSan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/poppasan/32/189_2.png) [@PoppaSan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoppaSan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/72 "2018-09-26T00:48:58Z")
OP chiming back in. Interesting read. I hadn’t considered the pre-electronic level of technology. I just wanted to see if there were still others like me when I couldn’t locate my Walkman when I wanted to mow lawn the other day. And as to the analog clock, I will look up from whatever screen I am using to look at a wall clock if there is one in the room. I realized I did that at work one day when I took off my cheaters to see the clock and I was wondering why I did that. ---
**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 26, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/73 "2018-09-26T03:39:43Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > This - and a pull starter. Let’s keep this clean. Get out of the gutter. > [@j666](#): > > Watches always made me break out or got wet, smashed, or left behind on the sink, and I don’t miss newspaper ink at all. Newspaper ink is the best thing ever for cleaning glass. Trust me. No, don’t trust me. Try it yourself. Streak free and shiny spotless! A little Windex and a sheet of newsprint. Bird killing recipe. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/74 "2018-09-26T03:46:59Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Let’s keep this clean. Get out of the gutter. > > Newspaper ink is the best thing ever for cleaning glass. Trust me. No, don’t trust me. Try it yourself. Streak free and shiny spotless! > > A little Windex and a sheet of newsprint. Bird killing recipe. It’s the paper, not the ink. You can get it at UHaul. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/75 "2018-09-26T07:04:42Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I don’t understand what you mean about electronic keyboards being “just toys”. Some are, of course, but some are serious tools. Compared to what you can do with real instruments, they are most definitely toys, in that their basic ability to play - the mechanics of their action - is ridiculously limited. They’re like sunroof, heated seats, leather everywhere, keyless entry, 12-speaker stereo, … and a Yugo engine. And no power steering. I don’t doubt that work gets done with those shitty tools, but they’re still shitty tools. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/76 "2018-09-26T07:13:19Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > 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. ☹ Gnus is working very nicely here - and there are even updates from time to time! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/77 "2018-09-26T07:21:55Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > 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] Fahrenheit is no more suited to weather than Celsius. Perhaps less, in fact, because Fahrenheit’s zero is meaningless in everyday life, while the zero in Celsius is freezing. For weather, 40 Celsius is damn hot, minus 40 Celsius is damn cold, everything else is in the middle. Sounds easy to me, and is in fact easy. Please cite the way in which miles have been discovered to be satisfying, for people who previously only knew kilometres. ---
**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 26, 2018, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/78 "2018-09-26T10:07:50Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Compared to what you can do with real instruments, they are most definitely toys, in that their basic ability to play - the mechanics of their action - is ridiculously limited. They’re like sunroof, heated seats, leather everywhere, keyless entry, 12-speaker stereo, … and a Yugo engine. And no power steering. I don’t doubt that work gets done with those shitty tools, but they’re still shitty tools. It’s true that the action of electronic keyboards has always been one of the toughest things to get right. It’s pretty good these days though, and electronic keyboards are used by a number of musicians who could afford to take a genuine grand piano, Rhodes, or B3, etc. out on the road if they wished. I understand the differences will always be there but to call these instruments “toys” when they are used by serious musicians is a bit beyond the pale. It’s also possible that I somehow missed the thrust of your posts. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/79 "2018-09-26T10:57:51Z")
I wear a pocket watch, I do maths in my head or with pen & paper, basic weights & measures are Imperial, not metric. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811/80 "2018-09-26T14:30:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Eudora. Me too. Have to run it in a virtual machine (MacOS 10.6.8 Server) but yeah still using Eudora for my email. ETA: > [@DavidwithanR](#): > > Real Eudora, before it got Thunderbird-ified? That might be good… ^^^ yeah, REAL Eudora. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-old-technology-wont-you-give-up/821811.md?page=5)