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Monday, August 18, 2014

If it still works



Early adopters are the first to try new technologies. That implies they are also the first to abandon older technologies. I'm not one of those people.

I'm the guy who owns a 5 year old cell phone that I paid $10 for. It still works. Two previous cell phones were working just fine but the cell phone tower system was upgraded so the phones no longer worked. That kinda ticked me off a little.

There's a working record player in my kitchen. My van sound system uses cassette tapes. There's even a working VCR in my living room. It cost $25 when new and we still use it. Some day hipsters will be knocking on my door trying to buy my retro electronics.

One thing I no longer have is a working 8 track player. Some technology deserves a quick death, and 8 track was one of them.

Years ago my lovely wife made me get rid of my cast iron Underwood typewriter and I still miss it. I learned to type on those old manual machines. That's why I have to keep replacing keyboards on my computers. Sometimes I forget myself and revert to the typing style needed to work those heavy iron behemoths. Plastic keyboards are not built for my heavy handed ways.

Some of my tools go back generations. There's quite a few wrenches in my collection that were originally used on steam locomotives. Those old tools were built to last.

I've nothing against new technology. After all, this is being written on a laptop computer. (no steam involved at all) However, I'm not going to abandon older tech if it still does the job.

-Sixbears

14 comments:

  1. I still have an 8 Track Player a 110 volt model for inside the home player. It sits on the shelf with a couple dozen tapes along with the LP record turntable, all the albums and tuner. None of it is used anymore. The turntable quit working years ago and if I try to play any 8 tracks the tape splice is so brittle it fails and the tape is ruined. So now it all sits there to remind me of yesterdays high tech stuff including my Mother-in-Laws Underwood manual typewriter, which still works! :-)

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    1. Those Underwoods were bullet proof. 8 tracks often failed when new.

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  2. I'm still carrying a 5 year old AT&T Tracfone whose only app is 'on' and 'off'. I don't miss not having internet EVERYWHERE I GO, and the reception is just as clear as the $300 plus smart phones.

    I too still have a pair of VCRs and a few cassette players, the CD player died in my 90's 'boom box' (waah! :^( but I haven't tried fixing it yet, hopefully its easy to do.

    I have a 36" high stack of old LPs, and a turntable / receiver that plays them, but they are all at Mom's house and I never have the time to listen to them. I miss the 'pops' and slight scratches, the sound quality (to me) sounds better on LP.

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    1. There's something lost in the transfer to digital music.

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  3. If it ain't broke don't fix it and definitely, don't through it away. That is my motto.

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    1. It's amazing the amount of perfectly usable stuff that end up in the dump.

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  4. You must have some Russian blood in you. The Russians never throw anything away as long as it still works or can be fixed.

    I hang on to old equipment as well. One of my scanners is a crystal set that must be 20 years old. My CB base unit is one I bought in 1985. It still works but I need a new mast antenna. Dizzy Dick has it right, if it works, keep it.

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    1. In Russia everything is broken, but the Russians can repair anything. They've had to.

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  5. From one Progressive Luddite to another, and a few others too... life is all about choice and having the ability to choose...

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  6. I'm with you, especially on the tools some of the best ones I have were my grandfathers, or maybe older.

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  7. I was a somewhat early geek and started building home PC's in the early 90's. I had an IBM keyboard that had a the feel of the IBM Selectric typewriters. Gosh I loved that keyboard

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    1. I had one that I kept getting adaptors to fit a variety of computers until it finally wore out. Great feel.

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