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Hello all!
I got really interested in vintage tech lately, and I'd love to know what kind of older stuff people still use, and how they use it and why. You can interpret 'tech' as strictly or as broadly as you choose, I'm not necessarily talking only about computing but any kind of technology that most people would consider obsolete.
I recently bought an old laptop (a 2006 ThinkPad). I bought it on a whim out of nostalgia for those times when computing was new and full of potential and not yet completely taken over by corporations, but I was surprised at how usable it still is with the right software. I made it a challenge to upgrade it myslef and to see how much I could do with this limited hardware, and the constraints make me a lot more mindful of what I run on it and what kind of websites and content I access. I find myself using it more often than my main modern laptop, and I'm having a lot of fun.
I guess the oldest piece of tech I use regularly is my wristwatch. It's from the late 80s (in fact, it was manufactured in the same month and year that I was born), and it's one of the first analog quartz chronographs models, so it was pretty high-tech back in the day, and built to last. It's also a lot smaller than most modern chronograph watches, which aren't friendly for us twig-wristed folk.
I've given away some older computers, gadgets and consoles back in the day and now I wish I still had them (but I gave them away to people who couldn't afford them so that's good). I wish I'd kept a classic iPod, though, I miss that one a lot.
What about you, what kind of older stuff still has a place in your heart?
I wouldn't say I use it regularly, in fact, I would like to use it more! It's an HP-48GX calculator, an old, programmable, hackable RPN scientific calculator. It's just beautiful, and the documentation you can find on it's system and even it's processor and assembly language is quite abundant. I got mine in a pawn shop when I went through this phase of collecting cheap computer devices. It came with a thick manual on it's very many mathematical capabilities, from linear algebra, solving integrals, and even plotting functions.
I've always wanted to use it to do celestial calculations, I found myself a bunch of books (pdfs ofc) full of such celestial calculations, but I haven't put myself to the task of actually doing them on the calculator, or starting to actually program it.
I am worried because recently, for some reason, the display got burned. It's a superficial burn on the outer layer, but I don't know whether that can be polished off or if I'll have to find some kind of replacement, and how.
The thing has a slot for a sort of catridge that can be fin it to add memory (everything happens in it's own kind of not-so-volatile RAM) and load external programs, of which there's a variety online; I've found them on sale on the internet, used, but they are a bit expensive. It also has a serial port with a very specific plug. There are diagrams online mapping the pins so one can connect it to a serial port on a computer, and there is software (in DOS!) to communicate with it as well as assemblers for it's architecture.
It's a gem, and I should not let it sit there unused.
~bartender, another beer, please.
I still use an Atari STe from 1991 and an Akai S2000 from ~1995 on a daily basis for music production. If it's been in regular use for this long then I can surely count on it for another decade :)
I was trying to create a YouTube channel with Retro Repairs around 5-6 Years ago and had bought a couple old "home computers", like C64 and Sinclair's. I still have them in storage, but I don't really use them.
I have a 2007 mini laptop / eeepc that I use to debug network problems, i occasionally use it. But also not a daily driver.
There is a DSL Modem / Router from 2009 that still connects my home to the internet. I use it only as a modem and have a separate router / access point. I was just about to upgrade it 3 years ago, but my ISP told me that I am about to get fiber, so I ditched the idea. I have had Fiber for 3 months now and as soon as I find the energy to switch my access point to the new connection I will ditch the dsl modem. I have cancelled the dsl contract, just so that I don't keep procrastinating on it.
But the oldest item in daily use is a Toy. It is a penguin shaped music player that is from the 1980's. It plays a simple folk song and my parents used it for me, now I use it for my son. The interesting part is, the mechanism, although a simple wind up toy, is made in a way that the song plays slower and slower every time it repeats. It does not use batteries. Purely mechanical. I still have to come across anything similar in modern toys. It is pretty worn, I hope it holds up just a couple more months.
I'm going to interpret this a bunch of ways as a thought exercise:
- Oldest electronic is probably an 8 year old laptop with linux on it. I have much much older electronics I've collected but they don't see regular use. I kind of find this dismaying I'm not using any of my old game systems or cameras recently...
- Oldest model of electronic I regularly use is probably my classic g-shock watch. It's largely unchanged since the late 80s and still produced. I bought a couple years back one since it was the "cool" watch when I was a kid.
- Oldest obsolete tech I use is probably the dip pen. I regularly go to it for aesthetics and to slow down my process.
- Oldest thing I regularly use is probably my 1960s Delta Rockwell table saw I inherited from my grandfather.
- Oldest technology we all use is probably knit fabric, goes well back into prehistory/iceage.
I use the number zero and the wheel frequently. ;)
Probably my Raspberry 2B, or my Razer XBOX 360 controller. Both of them date from the time I was still a university student, and they still work!
I recently revived an old Kindle (gen 4, I think?) for reading e-books from the library. Very satisfying to find a piece of consumer tech that's a decade + old and still functioning just fine.
I've got an Underwood typewriter from the 1940s that I still use regularly.
I bash out shopping lists and love notes to my wife.
The latter can get pretty lewd.
Howdy ~fuka_eri, welcome to The Midnight!
Be sure to meet ~bartender (the most important person here, obviously) and Smudge (the most important bar cat, not so obviously).
~bartender? I shouldn't have coffee all day long, so maybe some lemonade? The watery version, with just a bit of lemon juice? Great!
The oldest piece of tech I use regularly is an Alfa Romeo 75 from 1991. And very occasionally I still use a Nikon F3 camera from maybe 1986. But film and processing have become quite expensive. I gave away my old turntable (from before 1986) recently, after I purchased a newer one --- second hand but still somewhat high priced. And I regularly use a (low tech, admittedly) tool box (ratchet, spanners, wrenches, whatever the correct words are) that I bought myself in 1983 (does this count as tech? No batteries involved? Not smart! :) Now that I think about it: the tabletop of my desk is from around the same time. It has passed all my tests of my time :-)
Cheers!
I have a small collection of Sega Saturn gamepads, because I've found them to be the best out there when it comes to anything that doesn't require analog sticks. Among them, a third-party one by Hudson called the SBom Joycard is my favorite (https://segaretro.org/SBom_Joycard) for how it feels to hold, along with its big flat buttons.
I still have my old PS1 as well, but I usually opt for emulation instead for space and convenience reasons (I don't actually have a TV anymore!)