# Yestertech **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 25, 2011, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047 "2011-11-25T15:29:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/21 "2011-11-25T23:32:57Z")
Almost all my test equipment is ancient. I have a Sorenson Q-Nobatron QR40-2A power supply which Is probably close to 50 years old. I use it almost every day. My favorite 'scope is a Tektronix 468, which at least 30 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/22 "2011-11-25T23:33:24Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I keep thinking that there’s a T-shirt in my future with the word ‘yestertech’ on it. Time to fire up Illustrator, I guess… I’d buy one or more. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/23 "2011-11-25T23:44:05Z")
My daughter just bought a beautiful loom - I had to go help her move it, as it stands about five feet high and can produce 45-inch wide cloth. In addition to being a thing of beauty in its own right – it was, as far as she can tell, made in the '60s and the wood has a marvelously rich patina – it incorporates some amazingly clever technology. Our ancestors were no dummies. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/24 "2011-11-26T03:40:15Z")
I’ve got a Charlie’s Angels-style Western Electric speakerphone on my desk that still works splendidly. Elsewhere in the house, we have some dial phones plugged in. Think the oldest one that’s plugged in is from 1936. At work, I use all sorts of tech that requires the services of blacksmiths to maintain. Some of our core mainframe code is 30+ years old. It still understands checks and deposits just fine, and was apparently quite well designed as it’s had no trouble assimilating things like debit cards and mobile banking over the years. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/25 "2011-11-26T03:52:27Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Let’s see… > > My weaving looms are a bit newer, but the tech ranges from around 1400 for the jack loom to a couple thousand BC for the backstrap looms. What, no drop spindle? Now that is something I should look for at auction, an antique spindle whorl … I did almost buy a 3000 year old chinese bone needle in needle case once, but I got out bid by a museum. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/26 "2011-11-26T03:53:07Z")
Up until last year I was still using a Sony TCM400 tape recorder on a weekly basis. > **[Sony TCM-400DV](https://www.mediacollege.com/equipment/sony/walkman/cassette/tcm400dv.html)** > > Information about the Sony TCM-400DV Pressman Standard Cassette Recorder. The machine itself was new, I only bought it back in 2008 or so, but I think the cassette recorder and cassette tapes are well on the way to being Yestertech. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/27 "2011-11-26T04:00:31Z")
> [@Hilary\_Algar](#): > > I’d buy one or more. Working on it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hilary\_Algar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilary_algar/32/4282_2.png) [@Hilary\_Algar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilary_Algar)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/28 "2011-11-26T04:12:34Z")
> [@Suil\_Dubh](#): > > Up until last year I was still using a Sony TCM400 tape recorder on a weekly basis. > > [Sony TCM-400DV](http://www.mediacollege.com/equipment/sony/walkman/cassette/tcm400dv.html) > > The machine itself was new, I only bought it back in 2008 or so, but I think the cassette recorder and cassette tapes are well on the way to being Yestertech. I, too have a cassette deck, a circa 1998 Pioneer home component stereo dual cassette deck that I hadn’t used in at least 10 years. I did have reason to use it recently,though, but it was dead. My experience with cassette decks has been that if you don’t use them frequently, they die. The cassette tape medium for new music was virtually dead until very recently when there was a mild resurgence of a very few artists releasing their new music on cassette tape. [www.clatl.com/atlanta/cassette-tapes-are-the-new-vinyl/Content?oid=1431689](http://www.clatl.com/atlanta/cassette-tapes-are-the-new-vinyl/Content?oid=1431689) ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/29 "2011-11-26T04:26:16Z")
> [@Hilary\_Algar](#): > > I, too have a cassette deck, a circa 1998 Pioneer home component stereo dual cassette deck that I hadn’t used in at least 10 years. I did have reason to use it recently,though, but it was dead. My experience with cassette decks has been that if you don’t use them frequently, they die. Yeah, both the MD player and the cassette deck on my stereo component crapped out on me after a year or so of no use. Although this may have more to do with the stereo being a cheap Sony, and the infamous “Sony Timer” product-dies-precisesly-one-month-after-warranty effect. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/30 "2011-11-26T04:33:46Z")
1975 Technic turntable, with a Shure V15 type III stylus. Still have lots of LPs, 45s and my father’s collection of 78s. A Singer treadle sewing machine from the 1800s. All sorts of art and drafting tools. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/31 "2011-11-26T06:11:20Z")
I have a gramophone that I use to play old 78s every now and then. Finding needles for it is a bit difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/32 "2011-11-26T08:03:05Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > The main ones are the old video devices wired into my ridiculously large and blingy 3D home theater set up. I have a laserdisc player (Pioneer CLD D504) and a JVC S-VHS VCR connected, both dating from the mid-90s. Routed through the VCR is a kluge of various adapters which allow me to connect older video game systems, and I have an Atari 2600 (1977) at the ready, with another 50 or so vintage systems (1976 to 1999) in boxes which can be hooked up as well. Party at **Student Driver** ’s house, this weekend! 😉 Not sure how old it is, but I do have an old rotary phone. Well, I have two. One is a cheap “cricket chirp” phone that I kept for when power goes out, and the other is a gorgeous thing from, I think, Germany, that’s all cream and gold that I bought a few years back. The seller kindly converted the old-style plug to a modular one, so I can use it, too. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/33 "2011-11-26T12:02:09Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Party at **Student Driver** ’s house, this weekend! Sweet! Hope you guys are in for a rousing game of _Cryptologic!_ on the Odyssey 2! I actually had a 3D movie party a while back, and we ended up playing Atari all night. Warlords and Video Olympics (Pong variants) are pretty awesome on the big screen. The blocky graphics of old systems work a lot better when blown up than the early 3D systems like 3DO, Saturn, or PlayStation. I completely forgot about telephones when replying. I don’t think any of my phones predate the 1960s, but I’ve got a couple of model 500s (one rotary, one touchtone) that predate the game systems, and are still in use on my landline (which is so cheap to keep that I’ll keep it until AT&T forcibly shuts down twisted pair phone systems). ---
**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:** [November 27, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/34 "2011-11-27T04:28:22Z")
I have a laserdisc player, and some discs to play on it. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/35 "2011-11-27T04:42:13Z")
While not especially old, I own a CRT television/VCR combo unit I got back in 1996 that I’d love to be rid of, but it’s the only thing than can play my VHS tapes that have a lot of home movies recorded on. Also it’s the only thing I can play my Wii on, until I can figure out how to make it work with my LCD monitor that’ll only accept HDMI inputs. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/36 "2011-11-27T14:46:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I have a laserdisc player, and some discs to play on it. So do we. Haven’t touched it since we moved into the house about 11 years ago. No freekin clue what we’re going to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/37 "2011-11-27T16:44:59Z")
We have an old time answering machine and my husband has his circa 1976 stereo system with enormous speakers. Room decor destroying speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/38 "2011-11-27T17:46:40Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > So do we. Haven’t touched it since we moved into the house about 11 years ago. No freekin clue what we’re going to do with it. Sell it to someone who has a laserdisc edition of _Star Wars_. There are people who consider the changes made to those movies in the nineties and later not to be improvements, and the laserdisc version is the highest-quality reproduction available from before the changes. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/39 "2011-11-27T17:57:01Z")
A clock radio, with a dial clock. From circa 1978. (I really like dial clocks.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047/40 "2011-11-27T18:02:43Z")
A rotary phone from the 1950’s that still works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yestertech/604047.md?page=3)