What's the oldest piece of technology you use everyday?

jaedaen

Stay a while, and listen.
Joined
Aug 16, 2022
Messages
129
Reaction score
310
Awards
76
I am wearing a mechanical watch that I like quite a bit, despite its ridiculous impracticality. I like to look at the gears spinning eternally in its clear caseback. I like to listen to it literally tick. A quartz watch would be cheaper and more accurate. I focus on practicality in most things in life, but for this, it's nice to focus on aesthetics above anything else.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

dorgon

Violently Peaceful
Bronze
Joined
Feb 28, 2022
Messages
337
Reaction score
2,904
Awards
189
Website
dorgon.neocities.org
i use a dvd player to play and rip DVDs. not that old but its nice to have. so far i ripped a couple of nirvana, Guns N' Roses albums, and some Jimi Hendrix and Bob Marley too.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

Theologian-kun

Pimp Shrimping M.D.
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Messages
7
Reaction score
19
Awards
6
Oldest peace of tech I use are 3.5in floppy drives. They are useful for storing encryption keys, installation software, books, save game data, and anything that you would want to load up onto a fresh install of a OS. You can also play old share-ware games, use old software, and even install operating systems off of them if you know how to convince the OS that your computer is infact at 1980s super computer.
 
I guess my oldest piece of technology Is a Dell latitude E6500. It's running a super lightweight version of Linux called crunchbang++, which allows it to boot up completely in about 8 seconds. It mostly of sentimental value to me, as when I was in high school It was given to me by my computer science teacher. He taught me everything about file systems, and was the one who got me into Linux and networking in the first place. He was also a really good friend because he was only 2 or 3 years older than me when he was working there.

It's just a neat laptop that has things that you don't find anymore like expansion bays, a physical internet on/off button on the side, and a phone line port. I especially love the tiny mouse in between the g and h keys that laptops used to have. When he gave it to me is was running a much older version of crunchbang Linux, so I reinstalled the OS and kept the system name as a sort of reminder.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

dorgon

Violently Peaceful
Bronze
Joined
Feb 28, 2022
Messages
337
Reaction score
2,904
Awards
189
Website
dorgon.neocities.org
ALso, another old piece technology is something called the "wheel" It's like a circle or something and helps you get from point A to point B quicker and I heard they were a thing since the copper age. So yeah, its pretty old and stuff.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

Brapuccino

Active Traveler
Joined
Feb 8, 2023
Messages
165
Reaction score
1,206
Awards
94
Website
www.zeropointfool.com
I actually have a very old Chinon Super 8 camera I bought off someone online and it actually works, I've shot a couple of videos with it. Probably 70s or 80s.
I love the super 8 look, I want to use it more often but it can get a bit pricey shooting on film, specially since each individual cartridge is only like 3 minutes of footage.
Looks great tho.
I could film flies on dung and it would be KINO.
4968195456_e8ff1c7ddb_b.jpg
 

Null043

Internet Refugee
Joined
Mar 9, 2023
Messages
20
Reaction score
89
Awards
12
i regularly use my yamaha CR-840 receiver alongside mitsubish dp-ec7 turntable from late 70s early 80s, they are connected to my old kirksaeter speakers alongside new sony and kenwood ones but i don't remember the exact model numbers. Other than that i regularly use toshiba satellite s1800 from early 2000s or late 90s dont really remember the exact date. 512mb ram 1ghz celeron, works like a charm with win2k and kernelex, but it started to give weird errors with its bios for some reason so im thinking of disassembling it and using its plastic parts and lcd screen to create a live console for weather and pihole i've set up.
 
My handwatch was a seiko. My grandfather bought it secondhand from a construction worker and gifted it to my father when he was 15 soo there is at least 30+ years of life in it. I broke the Cordon and the pin that changes the clock soo it isn't not doing well rn but just 6 months ago it was running perfectly fine and i had it on me everyday. The second oldest is a 2010 laptop.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

Duskwielder

Internet Refugee
Joined
Jun 3, 2023
Messages
5
Reaction score
8
Awards
2
Oldest thing I use is a dell optiplex gx 280. It's got an intimidating pentium 4 cpu, 4 gigs of ddr2 ram, then to exceed the limitations I've got it with an ol' I-RAM which has a 4 gig swap file; then lastly some simple amd gpu from 2010 maybe. I forget the specifics. Thing plays minecraft and osrs, other old games, but it rocks my music and lets me surf the web to this day.
 

vulonkaaz

Pure Love
Bronze
Joined
Jun 29, 2023
Messages
241
Reaction score
1,744
Awards
125
Website
vulonkaaz.zip
the oldest piece of tech is probably my keyboard, IBM SK-8820 with PS/2 connector, basically the most basic keyboard you would find in every (good) school or public library (it is branded as a Lenovo nowadays)

I have had this thing since my very first desktop computer and never ever felt the need to "upgrade"

apart from that my two LCD screens are kinda old Toshiba 19AV615DG and Asus VW193D-B they are fine but the CCFL backlight can get kinda hot in the summer and VGA on an LCD screen is really a meme and is hard to calibrate, I also have a plasma TV and it was the best TV I could ever find for the price that I paid for it (Panasonic TX-P42ST50E)

I also rip CDs on a regular basis to listen to them on my mp3 player but both my disk drive and my mp3 player have been manufactured less than 3 years ago so it doesn't really count
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

VOX_

Traveler
Joined
Jun 22, 2023
Messages
27
Reaction score
15
Awards
9
Got some Marantz speakers from '78. Sounds awesome. They're hooked up to a header that is probably from the same time period.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

starbreaker

over 9,000 gods rejected
Joined
Jul 10, 2023
Messages
154
Reaction score
346
Awards
53
Website
starbreaker.org
I typed up a letter to my reps in Congress this morning with an Underwood mechanical typewriter manufactured in the late 1940s, and I've been practicing the piano part to "Astronomy" by Blue Öyster Cult on a Winter & Company piano made in the early 1940s. Got it out of the house of an old lady across the street at an estate sale. The piano itself was free; I just had to pay to get the motherfucker moved and then tuned.
 

Elagabalus

Traveler
Joined
Oct 22, 2021
Messages
27
Reaction score
81
Awards
15
A few things, a microwave that's late 80's still working well. just recently had to change the light in it for the first time. My parents got it when they first moved in together.
An old technics 1980s stereo set. The newest old tech I still use is an iMac G4 that dual boots Mac OS 9 that I use for some old games.
 
Virtual Cafe Awards

starbreaker

over 9,000 gods rejected
Joined
Jul 10, 2023
Messages
154
Reaction score
346
Awards
53
Website
starbreaker.org
I can't even use words to express how based that is.
Thanks. It would be even more based if I could actually play it. Just need to practice more, I guess. And I got the piano for "free"; just had to pay to have it moved and then tuned (the F# below middle C was way out of tune).

I've found that learning piano is kinda challenging if you're left-handed. The left hand generally plays bass lines and harmony, while the right handles melody. But if your right hand isn't your dominant hand, playing melodies is a bit harder.

I've been having similar problems with the piano part to Iron Maiden's "Empire of the Clouds".
 

Similar threads