22 'Obsolete' Technologies That Are Still Useful

Daniel Bonfiglio Published 02/06/2024 in ftw

Just because it's newer doesn't mean it's better: Just ask anyone whose Tesla Autopilot feature has failed to notice a rapidly approaching construction zone. New technology is nice and usually changes whatever industry it's a part of, but for some things, the old way is still better.

Even though everyone has a cell phone, and cell phones are more than capable of doing what walkie-talkies and pagers used to, plenty of worksites are still doing things the old-fashioned way. Why? As one Reddit commenter put it, "There is still no better tool for self to group messaging than a radio." If you need a bit of instant and simple communication without fear of cruddy cell service or occupied hands, you can do no wrong with a pager, walkie-talkie, and earpiece. One person here even described his job site reverting to the older tech, after "just texting" woefully failed to get the job done in an emergency.

Speed is a common factor among many of these devices, including a good old-fashioned calculator; especially the graphing ones. Why should I have to open an app on my phone or type a complex equation into Google when my Ti-83 can do it instantly on the same original batteries it was using in the 90s? Here are 22 "obsolete" inventions that still get the job done.

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1.
“I've changed the batteries in my calculator once in 30 years.”
2.
“Walkie talkies are still very useful, despite cell phones existing with a seemingly similar function.”
3.
“Mechanical buttons in car dashboards. I don’t know why every control has to be accessed via touch screen.”
4.
“I have oil lamps and boxes of kitchen matches in five rooms. Besides being pretty antiques, they are good for power outages.”
5.
“Pager. Still used by the medical profession because it’s more reliable in the hospitals where cellphones get no reception.”
6.
“Wired headphones. Zero interference and no need to charge. Just have to find a phone or device that has a jack. There's a reason why every professional studio headset is still wired. Not about to deal with latency issues when I need top quality results.”
7.
“My 1996 Kylie Minogue calendar can be used this year. Every 28 years the days match up.”
8.
“As a student pilot: maps. So far in my training, we've been using maps as our main source of navigation and gps as a sort of backup. This could just be because I'm a student, and this might change when I'm a licensed pilot.”

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9.
“I still borrow DVDs from my local library. Cheapest streaming service there is, and with infallible quality control. They don't have bad movies.”
10.
“Analogue radios.”
11.
“DVDs and Blu-Rays. They’ll never get switched to a different streaming service or taken off-line.”
12.
“COBOL - all the folks who know it are dying off and banks still run on it. So do nuclear silos.”
13.
“Microfilm and microfiche. I work at a public library reference department, and every day I'm showing somebody how to use these beauties. Some of our holdings, particularly our microfilmed scrapbooks and defunct newspapers, aren't practically available in any other medium.”
14.
“Mechanical clocks. Power does go out now and then.”
15.
“I have my grandmother's hand crank meat grinder from Germany. I use it only occasionally to grind actual meat, but it saves a lot of time for other things too.”
16.
“Ipod/Mp3/Mp4 player. Phones can work in a similar way, but with their battery capacity, it's better to have a separate device for music or audio books.”
17.
“Physical paper calendars. Nothing beats the feeling of having a physical calendar on the wall which you can write on and check in an instant without having to pull out your phone. It's even better if you grew up with physical calendars.”
18.
“Zune! I can leave it anywhere and no one will steal it. Of course they don’t know what it is either.”
19.
“Don't know if it counts as technology but double-edged safety razors. The shaves are so much better and a lot cheaper than the multi blade cartridge razors. You can get a whole box of blades that will last a year for like 10 dollars. Unlike the $30 or more it costs for 3 replacement cartridge blades.”
20.
“Books. Actual printed books.”
21.
“Years ago, in Kabul Afghanistan, I did business with two Afghan Jews purchasing maybe 20 or 30 bolts of material at a time. I had my trusty Bowmar calculator, rechargeable and everything. The old guy had an abacus. He was faster than me and he never once made a mistake, ever. The abacus is almost instantaneous.”
22.
“Not really technology but I find it amazing that we still use dogs to sniff for drugs and other bad stuff. Crazy to think that in this day and age, with all of our scientific advancements, we haven't been able to invent a machine that can out-sniff a canine.”

1.
“I've changed the batteries in my calculator once in 30 years.”
2.
“Walkie talkies are still very useful, despite cell phones existing with a seemingly similar function.”
3.
“Mechanical buttons in car dashboards. I don’t know why every control has to be accessed via touch screen.”
4.
“I have oil lamps and boxes of kitchen matches in five rooms. Besides being pretty antiques, they are good for power outages.”
5.
“Pager. Still used by the medical profession because it’s more reliable in the hospitals where cellphones get no reception.”
6.
“Wired headphones. Zero interference and no need to charge. Just have to find a phone or device that has a jack. There's a reason why every professional studio headset is still wired. Not about to deal with latency issues when I need top quality results.”
7.
“My 1996 Kylie Minogue calendar can be used this year. Every 28 years the days match up.”
8.
“As a student pilot: maps. So far in my training, we've been using maps as our main source of navigation and gps as a sort of backup. This could just be because I'm a student, and this might change when I'm a licensed pilot.”
9.
“I still borrow DVDs from my local library. Cheapest streaming service there is, and with infallible quality control. They don't have bad movies.”
10.
“Analogue radios.”
11.
“DVDs and Blu-Rays. They’ll never get switched to a different streaming service or taken off-line.”
12.
“COBOL - all the folks who know it are dying off and banks still run on it. So do nuclear silos.”
13.
“Microfilm and microfiche. I work at a public library reference department, and every day I'm showing somebody how to use these beauties. Some of our holdings, particularly our microfilmed scrapbooks and defunct newspapers, aren't practically available in any other medium.”
14.
“Mechanical clocks. Power does go out now and then.”
15.
“I have my grandmother's hand crank meat grinder from Germany. I use it only occasionally to grind actual meat, but it saves a lot of time for other things too.”
16.
“Ipod/Mp3/Mp4 player. Phones can work in a similar way, but with their battery capacity, it's better to have a separate device for music or audio books.”
17.
“Physical paper calendars. Nothing beats the feeling of having a physical calendar on the wall which you can write on and check in an instant without having to pull out your phone. It's even better if you grew up with physical calendars.”
18.
“Zune! I can leave it anywhere and no one will steal it. Of course they don’t know what it is either.”
19.
“Don't know if it counts as technology but double-edged safety razors. The shaves are so much better and a lot cheaper than the multi blade cartridge razors. You can get a whole box of blades that will last a year for like 10 dollars. Unlike the $30 or more it costs for 3 replacement cartridge blades.”
20.
“Books. Actual printed books.”
21.
“Years ago, in Kabul Afghanistan, I did business with two Afghan Jews purchasing maybe 20 or 30 bolts of material at a time. I had my trusty Bowmar calculator, rechargeable and everything. The old guy had an abacus. He was faster than me and he never once made a mistake, ever. The abacus is almost instantaneous.”
22.
“Not really technology but I find it amazing that we still use dogs to sniff for drugs and other bad stuff. Crazy to think that in this day and age, with all of our scientific advancements, we haven't been able to invent a machine that can out-sniff a canine.”

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1. “I've changed the batteries in my calculator once in 30 years.”

2. “Walkie talkies are still very useful, despite cell phones existing with a seemingly similar function.”

3. “Mechanical buttons in car dashboards. I don’t know why every control has to be accessed via touch screen.”

4. “I have oil lamps and boxes of kitchen matches in five rooms. Besides being pretty antiques, they are good for power outages.”

5. “Pager. Still used by the medical profession because it’s more reliable in the hospitals where cellphones get no reception.”

6. “Wired headphones. Zero interference and no need to charge. Just have to find a phone or device that has a jack. There's a reason why every professional studio headset is still wired. Not about to deal with latency issues when I need top quality results.”

7. “My 1996 Kylie Minogue calendar can be used this year. Every 28 years the days match up.”

8. “As a student pilot: maps. So far in my training, we've been using maps as our main source of navigation and gps as a sort of backup. This could just be because I'm a student, and this might change when I'm a licensed pilot.”

9. “I still borrow DVDs from my local library. Cheapest streaming service there is, and with infallible quality control. They don't have bad movies.”

10. “Analogue radios.”

11. “DVDs and Blu-Rays. They’ll never get switched to a different streaming service or taken off-line.”

12. “COBOL - all the folks who know it are dying off and banks still run on it. So do nuclear silos.”

13. “Microfilm and microfiche. I work at a public library reference department, and every day I'm showing somebody how to use these beauties. Some of our holdings, particularly our microfilmed scrapbooks and defunct newspapers, aren't practically available in any other medium.”

14. “Mechanical clocks. Power does go out now and then.”

15. “I have my grandmother's hand crank meat grinder from Germany. I use it only occasionally to grind actual meat, but it saves a lot of time for other things too.”

16. “Ipod/Mp3/Mp4 player. Phones can work in a similar way, but with their battery capacity, it's better to have a separate device for music or audio books.”

17. “Physical paper calendars. Nothing beats the feeling of having a physical calendar on the wall which you can write on and check in an instant without having to pull out your phone. It's even better if you grew up with physical calendars.”

18. “Zune! I can leave it anywhere and no one will steal it. Of course they don’t know what it is either.”

20. “Books. Actual printed books.”

22. “Not really technology but I find it amazing that we still use dogs to sniff for drugs and other bad stuff. Crazy to think that in this day and age, with all of our scientific advancements, we haven't been able to invent a machine that can out-sniff a canine.”

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1 Comments

eBaum's Picks

1.
“I've changed the batteries in my calculator once in 30 years.”

2.
“Walkie talkies are still very useful, despite cell phones existing with a seemingly similar function.”

3.
“Mechanical buttons in car dashboards. I don’t know why every control has to be accessed via touch screen.”

4.
“I have oil lamps and boxes of kitchen matches in five rooms. Besides being pretty antiques, they are good for power outages.”

5.
“Pager. Still used by the medical profession because it’s more reliable in the hospitals where cellphones get no reception.”

6.
“Wired headphones. Zero interference and no need to charge. Just have to find a phone or device that has a jack. There's a reason why every professional studio headset is still wired. Not about to deal with latency issues when I need top quality results.”

7.
“My 1996 Kylie Minogue calendar can be used this year. Every 28 years the days match up.”

8.
“As a student pilot: maps. So far in my training, we've been using maps as our main source of navigation and gps as a sort of backup. This could just be because I'm a student, and this might change when I'm a licensed pilot.”

9.
“I still borrow DVDs from my local library. Cheapest streaming service there is, and with infallible quality control. They don't have bad movies.”

10.
“Analogue radios.”

11.
“DVDs and Blu-Rays. They’ll never get switched to a different streaming service or taken off-line.”

12.
“COBOL - all the folks who know it are dying off and banks still run on it. So do nuclear silos.”

13.
“Microfilm and microfiche. I work at a public library reference department, and every day I'm showing somebody how to use these beauties. Some of our holdings, particularly our microfilmed scrapbooks and defunct newspapers, aren't practically available in any other medium.”

14.
“Mechanical clocks. Power does go out now and then.”

15.
“I have my grandmother's hand crank meat grinder from Germany. I use it only occasionally to grind actual meat, but it saves a lot of time for other things too.”

16.
“Ipod/Mp3/Mp4 player. Phones can work in a similar way, but with their battery capacity, it's better to have a separate device for music or audio books.”

17.
“Physical paper calendars. Nothing beats the feeling of having a physical calendar on the wall which you can write on and check in an instant without having to pull out your phone. It's even better if you grew up with physical calendars.”

18.
“Zune! I can leave it anywhere and no one will steal it. Of course they don’t know what it is either.”

20.
“Books. Actual printed books.”

22.
“Not really technology but I find it amazing that we still use dogs to sniff for drugs and other bad stuff. Crazy to think that in this day and age, with all of our scientific advancements, we haven't been able to invent a machine that can out-sniff a canine.”