Susan's Place Transgender Resources

There are things that have become functionally obsolete because of "improved" technology or perhaps lower cost alternatives.  Some of these things might still be used, but not by large number of people in the modern world.  Perhaps some of these things you have never seen and just heard about from others.

What are some examples of things that maybe you have used or bought but no longer use?

Please feel free to post more than once as ideas may pop into your head later!


Here are a few items:

.VHS video tape recorders and players

.Full gallons of milk sold in paper containers in the USA (half gallons of milk sold in paper seem common)

.Typewriters


Chrissy

Manual can openers!

Manually opening a jar (B&D has a  wonderful little machine or this)
Cassette recorders and players

Work boots.

Floppy disks.

Quote from: Dietlind on December 28, 2018, 10:42:21 AM
Manual can openers!

Manually opening a jar (B&D has a  wonderful little machine or this)
Cassette recorders and players

I'll never give up my P-38! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener

Quote from: Devlyn on December 28, 2018, 02:22:24 PM
I'll never give up my P-38! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener

I would starve to death if I would have to get to my food with such a thing!  I'd rather would cut the top off with an angle grinder!

Quote from: Dietlind on December 28, 2018, 05:54:06 PM
I would starve to death if I would have to get to my food with such a thing!  I'd rather would cut the top off with an angle grinder!

Linde,

The P-38 works rather well and is easy to use.  You can put it on a key chain too!
It is compact and efficient.

Chrissy

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on December 28, 2018, 05:58:13 PM

Linde,

The P-38 works rather well and is easy to use.  You can put it on a key chain too!
It is compact and efficient.

Chrissy

I know how to use an angle grinder very well, and I don't need to carry it around, bcause I am at home when I want to open food cans!

I tried to operate this thingy you call P-38, and the only thing I achieved was spilled food all over the place, but I was still hungry!

The good Lord gaved us electric can openers, and I do not want to disappoint him  by not to use his gift!

TV antennas and Spiro, in that order. Jock strap lol  My old clothes.

We moved off-grid, so pretty much every major convenience is gone:
Microwave
Toilet (we have a compost toilet and an outhouse)
Hair dryer
Slow cooker (I can easily do most slow cooker meals on woodstove)
Washer and dryer
Iron
Vacuum cleaner
Coffee maker

That's just a few off the top of my head

Television

Oh man, there are SO many things I no longer use but have used in the past!

VHS tapes  But I still own quite a few.  The VHS player is currently in the basement gathering dust.
CDs and cassette tapes  I no longer have a CD player nor a cassette tape player, but I kept my CDs and tapes.
Phone books  Both the White pages and yellow pages.  When  get them now I simply recycle them immediately.
Physical Datebooks  But my boyfriend, who's into fountain pens, got me one this Yule to use with my fountain pens.  I'm only using it because of that reason.  I hope he doesn't get me one next year, I MUCH prefer my calendar app!
Phones with cords  No more tangled cords!
Photo albums  My pics are either on my laptop, my phone or the Samsung cloud.
TVs with dials  Remote controls are a wonderful invention!
Stereo speakers  I have a powerbar for sound.
Water filtering pitcher  Our refrigerator has a built-in water filter. 
Physical money  I use my credit/debit card for 99% of everything, including bills.
Brick and mortar banks  I pay my bills online.

:o WOW, that's some list, and I know that's not everything, just what I could think of off the top of my head.  I'm sure I'll think of more things later on.

Oh, one more thing.  Estrogen.  Not only am I FTM, I'm postmenopausal, so even before I started transitioning over two years ago, I didn't need it.

Ryuichi

Quote from: Dietlind on December 28, 2018, 06:08:26 PM
I know how to use an angle grinder very well, and I don't need to carry it around, bcause I am at home when I want to open food cans!

I tried to operate this thingy you call P-38, and the only thing I achieved was spilled food all over the place, but I was still hungry!

The good Lord gaved us electric can openers, and I do not want to disappoint him  by not to use his gift!

:laugh:.

Carbon paper.


Chrissy

Men's clothing - Donated all of mine months ago.
Wired computer mouse - wireless ones are so much nicer!
Incandescent light bulbs - LED bulbs are much more efficient.
Camera Film - I don't think I have used film since buying my first digital camera in 1998.
Vinyl records - My daughter loves them, but I got tired of the scratches an pops decades ago.

Bike jock strap.  George, steel roller skates, tighty whities.

I honestly wondered if this would ever come up ;-) Unfortunately, i still buy and use the following....


1. A functional 8-track player, with a large collection of tapes. I think it's still rather cool after all of these years.
2. A black and white television that contains vacuum tubes. It's very fun to watch old shows on.
3. Wood soled clogs (clomp clomp clomp) because i think they look seriously cute with jeans
4. Bell Bottom jeans (probably didn't see that one coming)
5. i have a functional 5 1/4" floppy drive. Windows 10 wants nothing to do with it
6. I recently purchased a copy of Windows 3.11

Quote from: DawnOday on December 29, 2018, 07:12:48 PM
Bike jock strap.  George, steel roller skates, tighty whities.

I know what the other things are, but what's a "George?"

Oh, and to keep things on track, urethane-wheeled roller skates.  I have a pair in the basement...somewhere, but my kid gave me their rollerblades.

And now I wouldn't rollerblade on a bet!  ;D

Ryuichi

CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors and televisions

Analog reception televisions

Raid Dinosaur Repellant.  ;D

Hair extensions X3

Quote from: Devlyn on December 30, 2018, 03:17:19 AM
Raid Dinosaur Repellant.  ;D

Devlyn,

I can't seem to find any of that in the stores nowadays.   :)

Chrissy

I dont use cash anymore. I always pay with cards or with my iphone.

They changed the looks of our money in my country a couple of years ago. I don't like that because now I don't know how our currency look like. Because I never use it. Very annoying. Well we are moving towards a cash-free society anyways.

My ex.  ;D

Ryuichi

I certainly don't buy or use them, but my dad loves books. Real paper books. He has books all over his bedroom, home office and our family room. Dirty, dust catching, germy books! I gave him a Kindle for his birthday once and he returned it. He said he likes reading actual books. He likes actual newspapers too and we get one every day. Any news worth reading will be on social media so newspapers are totally obsolete. My dad is only 40 but sometimes he acts like an old fart! It could be worse. My grandparents still have a landline and they have this old phone that stays on the wall. You have to stand there the whole time you talk. And all this "phone" can do is call people, no other functions!  And for her "contacts" she has this thing she keeps by her wall phone called a roller deck. Its this thing full of paper cards with handwritten names and numbers. It's just sad.

Jock straps.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 05, 2019, 10:01:16 AM
Jock straps.

What are they?  Sounds like something for sports?

Quote from: Dietlind on January 05, 2019, 10:41:21 AM
What are they?  Sounds like something for sports?
[/quote

They are. They are made to protect a mans testes during contact sports. My brother had them when he played football.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 05, 2019, 10:01:16 AM
Jock straps.

I ditched those long long ago in favor of compression shorts.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 05, 2019, 11:13:08 AM

Quote from: Dietlind on January 05, 2019, 10:41:21 AM
What are they?  Sounds like something for sports?
[/quote

They are. They are made to protect a mans testes during contact sports. My brother had them when he played football.

Thank you.  I never played any sports and did not need any protection.  I rather played with the girls, they did not try to hurt me!

Ok dont laugh.............I no longer purchase S&H green stamps.

All you young girls can go google it!!  LOL

I am the first one buy the latest and most up to date products but I do have one exception to the rule. An iron. I had a very expensive rowenta iron and it just died one day when I had a ton of stuff to iron. I asked my neighbor if I could borrow her iron till I could go out and buy a new one. My neighbor is a very cool older lady and like a lot of older ladies she has 2 and even 3 copies of household stuff. She had a new iron still in the box she said I could just keep. From the avocado green color and weird cloth covered cord I figure it must be from the 70s. I thanked her and figured I would go out in a couple days and get a new iron. I don't know if it's because the older iron is heavier than new ones or if it maybe gets hotter or makes more steam but ironing with that thing was way faster than my modern one. The difference in the time was significant. I kept the iron and still use it. If it broke I would hit the thrift stores and find another old one.

What's up with ironing anyway? I've seen old movies and heard old people talk about having to iron laundry after washing it. It's almost 2020 and I myself have to do that even still. We have awesome electronics and A.I.  So someone can't make men's shirts and police and paramedic uniform shirts that don't wrinkle?  That sucks!  Come on nerds, invent it!

Sorry, we're too busy figuring out cures and causes for cancer.

Do you really think we iron our clothes?  Scientists might be the most disheveled bunch out there.  :D

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 08:35:29 AM
I am the first one buy the latest and most up to date products but I do have one exception to the rule. An iron. I had a very expensive rowenta iron and it just died one day when I had a ton of stuff to iron. I asked my neighbor if I could borrow her iron till I could go out and buy a new one. My neighbor is a very cool older lady and like a lot of older ladies she has 2 and even 3 copies of household stuff. She had a new iron still in the box she said I could just keep. From the avocado green color and weird cloth covered cord I figure it must be from the 70s. I thanked her and figured I would go out in a couple days and get a new iron. I don't know if it's because the older iron is heavier than new ones or if it maybe gets hotter or makes more steam but ironing with that thing was way faster than my modern one. The difference in the time was significant. I kept the iron and still use it. If it broke I would hit the thrift stores and find another old one.

What's up with ironing anyway? I've seen old movies and heard old people talk about having to iron laundry after washing it. It's almost 2020 and I myself have to do that even still. We have awesome electronics and A.I.  So someone can't make men's shirts and police and paramedic uniform shirts that don't wrinkle?  That sucks!  Come on nerds, invent it!

I don't really know how to iron shirts or tops, so I buy only the wash and wear stuff.  I can iron pants, and if I need touch up for some of the tops, I use one of those steamer things, works well enough for me!
I have a brand new Rowenta sitting here, still in the box.  M ex would not want to have any other, after she fell in love with the brand while we were living in Germany for a while (my ex is an all American girl).  Still to day it is for her: Rowenta or die.  That is why I bought mine.

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 08:35:29 AM
What's up with ironing anyway? I've seen old movies and heard old people talk about having to iron laundry after washing it. It's almost 2020 and I myself have to do that even still. We have awesome electronics and A.I.  So someone can't make men's shirts and police and paramedic uniform shirts that don't wrinkle?  That sucks!  Come on nerds, invent it!

Can't the guys iron their own shirts and uniforms? :o

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 08:35:29 AM
What's up with ironing anyway? I've seen old movies and heard old people talk about having to iron laundry after washing it. It's almost 2020 and I myself have to do that even still. We have awesome electronics and A.I.  So someone can't make men's shirts and police and paramedic uniform shirts that don't wrinkle?  That sucks!  Come on nerds, invent it!

Some cotton fabrics will always wrinkle however wrinkles can be pretty well eliminated with the proper drying process. When you dry a load of laundry, set the dryer to the low, less dry setting. If you don't have that setting, you will need to pull the clothes while they are still a little damp. The idea is to get the clothes out of the dryer with a little moisture in them but they aren't very hot and then put them on hangers to finish the drying. Leaving warm clothes in the dryer will cause them to wrinkle every time.

I have dress pants that need to be touched up with an iron however most of the time my iron goes for a long time without being touched. I also have an old Black and Decker iron that must be 20 years old and it still works fine. I hope I never need to replace it because it looks like I might not be able to find a good replacement.

Quote from: Swedishgirl96 on January 06, 2019, 09:01:52 AM
Can't the guys iron their own shirts and uniforms? :o

Iron their own clothes? ?? Yeah, there's a better chance of me mastering cold fusion than these 3 ironing their own clothes. 😂😂  My dad can and will iron his own clothes but I don't mind doing it for him because he does a lot for me. Tristan says as his girlfriend I am supposed to do that stuff for him. Tyler just hates having to iron anything.  It's easier to just do it for him than listen to him try to con or talk me into doing it or to risk a disaster letting him loose with the iron. He has burned his clothes before and he once burned his hand after he repositioned the shirt and wasn't paying attention and grabbed the iron by the sole plate instead of the handle. I nearly gave myself a stroke trying not to laugh. It was such a blonde, dumbass  thing for him to do but he actually had burned his hand and hurt himself so I couldn't laugh at him as bad as I wanted to.

Quote from: Jenny1969 on January 06, 2019, 01:47:36 AM
Ok dont laugh.............I no longer purchase S&H green stamps.

All you young girls can go google it!!  LOL

This is what I remember about them.

You didnt buy them. Stores would give them out and then your mom made you stick them in books and then she took them somewhere and redeemed them for something.


Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 09:21:18 AM
Iron their own clothes? ?? Yeah, there's a better chance of me mastering cold fusion than these 3 ironing their own clothes. 😂😂  My dad can and will iron his own clothes but I don't mind doing it for him because he does a lot for me. Tristan says as his girlfriend I am supposed to do that stuff for him. Tyler just hates having to iron anything.  It's easier to just do it for him than listen to him try to con or talk me into doing it or to risk a disaster letting him loose with the iron. He has burned his clothes before and he once burned his hand after he repositioned the shirt and wasn't paying attention and grabbed the iron by the sole plate instead of the handle. I nearly gave myself a stroke trying not to laugh. It was such a blonde, dumbass  thing for him to do but he actually had burned his hand and hurt himself so I couldn't laugh at him as bad as I wanted to.

Wow, just wow. I'm amazed.
I guess it's a cultural difference between you and me. Things like that would not happened around here.

Quote from: TonyaW on January 06, 2019, 10:35:09 AM
This is what I remember about them.

You didnt buy them. Stores would give them out and then your mom made you stick them in books and then she took them somewhere and redeemed them for something.


Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I googled greenstamps. It's kind of the same principal as reward point cards stores have now. But I think the fact that they had actual greenstamps catalogs and stores really cool. What kind of stuff did they sell? Was it varied or just like specific items like for cooking?

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 12:09:04 PM
I googled greenstamps. It's kind of the same principal as reward point cards stores have now. But I think the fact that they had actual greenstamps catalogs and stores really cool. What kind of stuff did they sell? Was it varied or just like specific items like for cooking?

We also had 'Blue Chip' stamps that were used the same way.

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 12:09:04 PM
I googled greenstamps. It's kind of the same principal as reward point cards stores have now. But I think the fact that they had actual greenstamps catalogs and stores really cool. What kind of stuff did they sell? Was it varied or just like specific items like for cooking?

I think they were given out by multiple places, but otherwise pretty much like reward points. I really only remember sticking them in books for her and have no idea what my mom ever redeemed them for.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Quote from: Jenny1969 on January 06, 2019, 01:47:36 AM
Ok dont laugh.............I no longer purchase S&H green stamps.

All you young girls can go google it!!  LOL

I'm a man from Cleveland, Ohio (apparently they were popular there too), and I kind of remember them. 

But then again, at the time, my family didn't really shop at the May Company either.  I'm trying to remember if my Granny used them.  Perhaps she did.

Quote from: Swedishgirl96 on January 06, 2019, 09:01:52 AM
Can't the guys iron their own shirts and uniforms? :o

Julia1996, no offence, but your guys are LAZY!  I iron my own dress shirts and I also do the "pull them out of the dryer while still a bit damp" trick for them as well.  Sometimes, I can get away without ironing them if I catch the clothes damp enough.  :)

Since growing dreadlocks, I no longer buy or need a comb and hairbrush for my 'locs, unless I count the ones for my cosplay wigs.  ;)

Ryuichi

Quote from: Devlyn on December 28, 2018, 02:22:24 PM
I'll never give up my P-38! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener

I have a couple of those laying around. We used the P-38s in Boy Scouts and I have a couple of P-51s. All non-Military issue.  The Navy used to issue those, but soon learned that Navy ships were not actual tin cans, so they didn't work.  With 4 squared galley meals a day, there was no other need for them.

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 06, 2019, 12:09:04 PM
I googled greenstamps. It's kind of the same principal as reward point cards stores have now. But I think the fact that they had actual greenstamps catalogs and stores really cool. What kind of stuff did they sell? Was it varied or just like specific items like for cooking?

Actually, S&H Catalog looked like any department store catalog.  My Mother religiously filled her stamp books.  At times, she had to argue to get the appropriate number of stamps due to her cause the cashier miscalculated or teh store manager was being shifty.  She was able to exchange them for a sofa, loveseat and a heated/vibrating recliner.  They were nice and built really well.  All in all, in was a really swell shopper loyalty program that just could not compete with the ever changing nature of retail in the USA.

Quote from: BritneyX on January 09, 2019, 11:42:14 PM
I have a couple of those laying around. We used the P-38s in Boy Scouts and I have a couple of P-51s. All non-Military issue.  The Navy used to issue those, but soon learned that Navy ships were not actual tin cans, so they didn't work.  With 4 squared galley meals a day, there was no other need for them.

Haha, I think you'll need a torch to cut through that metal.

Lisa

Quote from: Julia1996 on January 05, 2019, 09:57:49 AM
I certainly don't buy or use them, but my dad loves books. Real paper books. He has books all over his bedroom, home office and our family room. Dirty, dust catching, germy books! I gave him a Kindle for his birthday once and he returned it. He said he likes reading actual books.

He's not alone, I own a couple hundred books and can't pass a used bookstore without stopping to take a look.


Yes, moving is a workout.

Quote from: KathyLauren on December 28, 2018, 02:16:34 PM
Floppy disks.

Compact Discs of various formats are rapidly coming to the same fate. As are cars with keyed ignitions.

I haven't used a pencil in ages. With kids going to school with computers and tablets I feel like pen and paper might as well be stone tablets.

Film for recording images taken by cameras!

Quote from: NatalieRene on January 27, 2019, 11:16:12 AM
Compact Discs of various formats are rapidly coming to the same fate. As are cars with keyed ignitions.

I haven't used a pencil in ages. With kids going to school with computers and tablets I feel like pen and paper might as well be stone tablets.

I use them constantly (ball pen and paper) to write quick notes, to write shopping lists, etc.  I don't write any communication with them, just for personal purposes.  A little piece of paper as a shopping list is way handier than using my cell pone for the same.  The work to do them is the same.

Rubber Stamps

Watermarks / computer generation of forms and documents seem to be used as computer printers provide documents such as receipts.  Rubber stamps are still used, but not as often as in the past.


Chrissy

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 27, 2019, 08:58:06 PM
Rubber Stamps

Watermarks / computer generation of forms and documents seem to be used as computer printers provide documents such as receipts.  Rubber stamps are still used, but not as often as in the past.


Chrissy

I have one of those automatic ones to stamp my return address onto outgoing mail.  And I have a date stamp to stamp important incoming mail

Address books.

My Mom still has a physical one. :o

I kind of have one...if you count writing down my passwords to all the websites I belong to as an "address book."  My partner is into fancy fountain pens, and I use the ones he got me to write down my webaddresses and passwords in.  I also keep track of my Asian Ball-Jointed Dolls (BJDs) information in it, and what color ink is in what fountain pen I own.  ;D

Ryuichi

Pay  telephones  ( not seen very often nowadays )

Cloth diapers are not often used nowadays.

I was born in England in 1955 and my first home was a post-war prefab.  I haven't seen one since childhood, although I gather that there may be a few left, all at risk of demolition.  When we moved out, we became the first occupants of a brand new council house with all mod cons.  Those didn't include central heating, telephone or refrigerator. 

We did have a b&w television (remember those?) but I subsequently spent over ten years of my childhood and teen years in countries without TV broadcasts, and eventually witnessed the first TV broadcasts in those countries.  We had a coal fire but I haven't seen one of those in use for many years.  Sometimes our beds were warmed with rubber hot water bottles (remember those?) but I remember that I was often shiveringly cold in bed.  The prayer with "If I should die before I wake" made sense to children in those days.  We often heard of acquaintances, mainly elderly,  dying of pneumonia.  When I awoke, there were sometimes pretty patterns on the windows that were said to be painted by Jack Frost.  I haven't seen those since I was a child, no doubt thanks to central heating, although I keep the house as cold as I dare (the heating is on to protect the plumbing, not me).  Instead of a regrigerator, we put foods and drinks on a stone slab in the pantry to keep cool.  I didn't see my first home refrigerator until we moved to what is now part of Yemen when I was between 7 and 8.  We got our first telephone when I was 13 and it was a dialled one (remember those?).

Our permanent homes had indoor toilets and modern baths but we had to use outside toilets when visiting relatives.  I still occasionally see what used to be outside toilets but they are no longer in use.  When visiting an aunt, and while renting a home while on holiday from Arabia, we had to use tin baths into which water had to be poured.

The toys children played with when I was small included marbles, yo-yos, hula hoops and whipping tops.  I haven't seen modern children playing with them.  Skill with yo-yos, hula hoops and whipping tops always eluded me.  Those toys all depend on the physical law of conservation of angular momentum, so I have a theory that I generate a force field that prevents that law from working in my immediate vicinity.  Bicycles also use that law to maintain balance and for good reason, I wouldn't let my father take the training wheels off until I was seven and even then I was very wobbly.  Boomerangs use the same law.  My grandmother brought me one after visiting Australia.  It didn't come back when I threw it, of course, but I did find it and now it is just an ornament.  I now try not to use anything that depends on the conservation of angular momentum. 

My father sometimes received telegrams but I haven't encountered them for a very long time.

Instead of choosing VHS, my family's first videotape player was Sony Betamax.  I can't remember when I last saw a Betamax tape. 

I bought my first cassette audiotape (remember those?) in 1969.  It was Swan Lake on one side and The Nutcracker on the other (I still have it somewhere).  My brother complained that if I played that kind of music, it would ruin our Hi-Fi.  My mother thought that I needed to become more normal so, still in 1969, and to my brother's disgust, she bought ME the Beatles Red and Blue albums, in good old fashioned vinyl.  I did enjoy them and I still have them too, although they became more scratched and worn from my brother playing them than by me.  I haven't bought vinyl records since the 1980s.

I haven't been to a drive-in movie, or a drive-in roadhouse where you would dine in your car, for many years.  I don't think that they ever existed in Britain, anyway.

I haven't used a cloth handkerchief for many years.

The computing tools I use have changed over the years.  When I first learned to program, I had to learn how to interpret and punch punched cards but I never used them professionally.  I also had to use COBOL coding forms when using the IBM System 360 mainframe.  Are any mainframes still in use anywhere?  I last worked on one in the year 2000.  Computer rooms used to have to be air conditioned to keep the beasts cool.  Floppy disks existed when I started but they were floppy and disk shaped, not stiff and square as they later became.  We had to use them when using Radio Shack TRS80s as they didn't have hard drives.  I haven't used a manual flowchart template for many years but I'm sorry I mislaid my IBM one, as I regarded it as the symbol of my profession, like a doctor's stethoscope. 

I programmed professionally in languages that I think are no longer used, e.g.  COBOL, Fortran, Datashare and Natural.  The good old days, when we wrote very long programs using a very small number of different instructions, instead of this object oriented nonsense using a large number of different instructions to write shorter programs.  The old way suited the way my mind works.  I didn't have a degree but finding work was easy in those days, as applicants with computer science degrees often failed the aptitude tests (lucky beggars, as they then became highly paid consultants).  I never programmed professionally with assembly language, sadly, although I wanted to, so that I could do things at the level of the operating systems.  I asked one of my managers whether the computer had an assembler and she replied "Yes and if you use it, you're fired!"  (O ye of little faith, I couldn't have done all that much damage :eusa_whistle:.)  I haven't heard of anyone programming with assembly language for many years.

     

I was born a decade after you and I think I'm the last of the kids who were taught in school how to program in assembly language using Hollerith cards!  The new dean of the Engineering School had a fit when he discovered they were still being used and had them taken out!  I also used the terminals that replaced them!

Quote from: Maid Marion on February 12, 2019, 05:34:31 PM
I was born a decade after you and I think I'm the last of the kids who were taught in school how to program in assembly language using Hollerith cards!  The new dean of the Engineering School had a fit when he discovered they were still being used and had them taken out!  I also used the terminals that replaced them!

Ah yes, the "dumb" terminals as they were called when desktop computers started to replace them.

Athletic Supporters

Quote from: MaryT on February 12, 2019, 05:17:50 PM

The computing tools I use have changed over the years.  When I first learned to program, I had to learn how to interpret and punch punched cards but I never used them professionally.  I also had to use COBOL coding forms when using the IBM System 360 mainframe.  Are any mainframes still in use anywhere?

I was an employee of BIG BLUE, and was one of the poor people who had to maintain and repair those babies!  Heat was one of our big enemies!
The first computers I worked on were of the 370 line, and the early ones were programmed with jumper wires on a programming board in the side of the unit!  There was a special way to write the  test program for this, and we called it X-Mas Tree.

What is old is new again.  Thin client computers are more advanced than a dumb terminal but the general idea is extremely similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

Quote from: Colleen_definitely on February 12, 2019, 07:34:14 PM
What is old is new again.  Thin client computers are more advanced than a dumb terminal but the general idea is extremely similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

Interesting.

Quote from: Colleen_definitely on February 12, 2019, 07:34:14 PM
What is old is new again.  Thin client computers are more advanced than a dumb terminal but the general idea is extremely similar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

There were some semi smart terminals around in the early 70's.  One of them was called Whisper Writer.  It was a semi smart Word Processor and could store up to 10 pages for editing.  I had one of those sitting on my desk at work.  For anything bigger, it connected to some kind of main frame which could support several dozens of individual terminals.
It had an email function that was handled by the main frame.

Quote from: MaryT on February 12, 2019, 05:17:50 PM
... My mother thought that I needed to become more normal so, still in 1969, and to my brother's disgust, she bought ME the Beatles Red and Blue albums, in good old fashioned vinyl.  I did enjoy them and I still have them too, although they became more scratched and worn from my brother playing them than by me.  I haven't bought vinyl records since the 1980s.
...
   

My memory failed me there.  My mother bought me the albums in 1973, not 1969.  1969 was the year that my brother endlessly played Abbey Road.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on January 31, 2019, 09:31:58 PM
Pay  telephones  ( not seen very often nowadays )

Oh man, does anyone remember how popular 976 phone numbers were in the 1990s? 

For those too young to know what those were, here is a brief wiki blurb about them. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium-rate_telephone_number#United_States_and_Canada)  I actually used to work a psychic line back then, (yes I'm a legit psychic, I used to freak people out with my accuracy) but I only did it for a few months, since it required a landline, and once I got my first cell phone, I got rid of the landline.

Ryuichi

I haven't encountered real rag and bone men since I was a child.  There are still people who ride around in carts pulled by horses but now they are only interested in scrap metal and they usually regard taking it away as payment enough.  You don't even get a "windmill" or a goldfish for a refrigerator, let alone for items of clothing anymore.

I haven't used a suitcase without built-in wheels for many years.  Where did we find the strength to carry the ones without wheels?  Or did taxi drivers and railway porters (remember them?) do most of the carrying?  Or were we all built like gorillas?  Or do we just put heavier things in suitcases now that they have wheels?

I don't think that anyone uses spirit duplicators such as Roneo anymore.  Remember the alcohol smell of the notes that the teachers rolled off for us?  When I lived in rural Natal, I went to a school where ballpoint pens were forbidden.  My mother gave me a fountain pen to start with but when that ran empty, I just dipped a nib pen into an inkwell (remember those?) like the other kids.  I suspect that the teacher roneoed notes a lot because she didn't believe that we could read the ink-soaked mess that we were writing.  It was supposed to develop handwriting skills but it didn't work for me.  My next school was a high school and I was caned a lot just for my handwriting.  (I have never seen quill pens in use but according to movies such as The Card, Kind Hearts and Coronets and A Place of One's Own, they were still in use for important documents in the early twentieth century.  I just read that they are still available for use in sessions of the US Supreme Court.)

Mustache trimmer and comb.

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on February 16, 2019, 10:31:42 AM
Mustache trimmer and comb.

Never had that stuff, because my facial hair growth was not enough for it.  I always hoped I could grow something like this, to show the world what a tough guy I was, but it did not work.  I guess, I saved some money no to buy it, and can invest that money in lipstick now?

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on December 28, 2018, 07:29:38 AM
...
.Full gallons of milk sold in paper containers in the USA (half gallons of milk sold in paper seem common)
...

That reminds me of the days when milkmen delivered milk in returnable glass bottles (remember those?).  They were nicest when the cream floated at the top but later nearly all milk was homogenised, to fit in to a world that values blandness, I suppose (sorry, just a little bitter). 

Quote from: MaryT on February 18, 2019, 06:00:24 AM
That reminds me of the days when milkmen delivered milk in returnable glass bottles (remember those?).  They were nicest when the cream floated at the top but later nearly all milk was homogenised, to fit in to a world that values blandness, I suppose (sorry, just a little bitter).

And my sister and I fought about whoof us will get this cream, because it was ever so delicious!

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on February 16, 2019, 10:31:42 AM
Mustache trimmer and comb.

I can't wait until I need these things!  ;D  I'm happy to need to use beard oil and the thin side of my mustache comb though. 

For me, lingerie.  Ugh.  Since (finally once and for all) accepting my maleness, lacy things are really not my style.  I'd rather have a nice comfortable pair of boxer briefs and a sleeveless undershirt.

Ryuichi

Coffe! I only drink tea since like a year ago. :)

9-track data tapes. 3480 and 3490 data cartridges. By the early 2010s you'd have a hard time finding local vendors who had equipment that could read a 9-track.

And then, inevitably, the data would come across in some stupid compressed format. Packed binary, anyone?


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Quote from: MaryT on February 18, 2019, 06:00:24 AM
That reminds me of the days when milkmen delivered milk in returnable glass bottles (remember those?).  They were nicest when the cream floated at the top but later nearly all milk was homogenised, to fit in to a world that values blandness, I suppose (sorry, just a little bitter).

Wow, they delivered milk? But if they just left it outside didn't it go bad by the time you found it and took it inside? Sounds risky.

Quote from: Julia1996 on February 26, 2019, 01:51:31 PM
Wow, they delivered milk? But if they just left it outside didn't it go bad by the time you found it and took it inside? Sounds risky.

Milkman were normally there before you were up, much like the newspaper delivery. The reverse was sometimes a problem. In Wisconsin if you didn't get the milk in soon enough during the winter, it might freeze and pop the top.

Quote from: Julia1996 on February 26, 2019, 01:51:31 PM
Wow, they delivered milk? But if they just left it outside didn't it go bad by the time you found it and took it inside? Sounds risky.

They very often came into the house (it was not common to lock the doors), and put it into the fridge when it was to hot outside

Quote from: Julia1996 on February 26, 2019, 01:51:31 PM
Wow, they delivered milk? But if they just left it outside didn't it go bad by the time you found it and took it inside? Sounds risky.

The first thing my mother did was bring in the milk.  We didn't have a refrigerator when we lived in England, though, so we put it on a stone slab in the pantry to keep cool.  It didn't go off if we drank it fast enough. 

If it wasn't brought in fast enough, though, tits would drink some of the milk.  (I think it's called getting your own back.)  Actually, it was the cream that floated on top that the tits liked but modern homogenised milk doesn't have floating cream. 

Where I lived, milk was delivered in slow moving electric carts but Ernie's cart was pulled by a horse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1xvyTdBZI

Quote from: MaryT on February 27, 2019, 04:38:44 PM
The first thing my mother did was bring in the milk.  We didn't have a refrigerator when we lived in England, though, so we put it on a stone slab in the pantry to keep cool.  It didn't go off if we drank it fast enough. 

If it wasn't brought in fast enough, though, tits would drink some of the milk.  (I think it's called getting your own back.)  Actually, it was the cream that floated on top that the tits liked but modern homogenised milk doesn't have floating cream. 

Where I lived, milk was delivered in slow moving electric carts but Ernie's cart was pulled by a horse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1xvyTdBZI

Can't see it in the US.  Darn limie's want to keep it for themselves!

We had the first milk man coming with a horse and wagon, and later they had those 3 wheeler mini trucks (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_Goli)

"Male" scented deodorant

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on April 02, 2019, 05:30:22 PM
"Male" scented deodorant

I continue to use my Old Spice, it was the first deodorant I ever used, and I never switched.  I think it smells pretty gender neutral, and I like the smell of it!

florescent light tubes
boxer shorts
10base t hubs
8 track tapes
6 volt lantern batteries
35mm film
flash cubes
video cassette camcorder

to name a few

C -

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on April 02, 2019, 05:30:22 PM
"Male" scented deodorant

Here's something to ponder: I absolutely hated the smell of it. I still do. I haven't bought "male" deodorant or toiletries for years because they smell vile. Brain wiring towards the female side i wonder?

Telephone booths - hard to find - Indoor or outdoor.

Some businesses are starting to put in indoor booths as an employee benefit to give employees privacy as closed door offices and even cubicles are fewer in number now.

Chrissy

Quote from: Dietlind on April 02, 2019, 07:59:39 PM
I continue to use my Old Spice, it was the first deodorant I ever used, and I never switched.  I think it smells pretty gender neutral, and I like the smell of it!

My daughter (cis) uses old spice deodorant.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

8" inch floppy disks

You are right Chrissy telephone booths are getting harder to spot

and then there was the old slogan for "Secret" deodorant "Strong enough for man, but made for a woman"

Then they later had to change that slogan because it was not PC, omg....

5.25 inch floppy diskettes

3.5 inch diskettes

Storage cases for any size diskette.

CD/DVD jewel cases (holders), as I probably have enough extras that I will not need to ever buy any.


Chrissy

Quote from: TonyaW on April 20, 2019, 07:48:54 AM
My daughter (cis) uses old spice deodorant.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Your daughter is a person who has an excellent sense of smell!

Slide rules.

35mm slides

Slide projector

Photography film

35mm photo prints

Carbeurators

"Jockey" type male underwear

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on April 20, 2019, 05:29:25 PM
Slide rules.

I still use them, I even have a circular one to put int the coat pocket!

Quote from: Dietlind on April 20, 2019, 07:52:10 PM
I still use them, I even have a circular one to put int the coat pocket!

Linde,


That is interesting.  Are you talking about lab coats?

Chrissy

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on April 20, 2019, 08:11:32 PM



Linde,


That is interesting.  Are you talking about lab coats?

Chrissy

Suit jackets or something like this.

Filing cabinets.

Ties (I had a job once that required wearing them)

Quote from: MaryT on April 21, 2019, 01:59:09 PM
Filing cabinets.

Pfft!  I wish someone would tell that to my partner!  He just spent days reorganizing his!

Bras and panties.  SO uncomfortable and dysphoric-causing for me!  Give me boxer briefs and A-style undershirts anytime!

Ryuichi

Quote from: CynthiaAnn on April 02, 2019, 08:18:58 PM
florescent light tubes
boxer shorts
10base t hubs
8 track tapes
6 volt lantern batteries
35mm film
flash cubes
video cassette camcorder

to name a few

C -

I found a box of flash cubes at my grand parents house. After my grandma explained what they were I must say I thought they were kind of cool. She still had a camera that uses flash cubes. Of course they no longer make film for that old camera. Why my grandma won't throw it away I don't know. It's kind of sad that before cell phones you h had to carry around an actual camera if you wanted to take pictures of anything.  I've never owned a camera. I take any pictures I want with my phone. I've also seen those old video cameras people used to take videos. My grand parents still have one of course. Life must have sucked before cell phones. You actually had to have separate devices to take pictures and videos. Very sad.

Quote from: Julia1996 on April 27, 2019, 12:04:37 PM
I found a box of flash cubes at my grand parents house. After my grandma explained what they were I must say I thought they were kind of cool. She still had a camera that uses flash cubes. Of course they no longer make film for that old camera. Why my grandma won't throw it away I don't know. It's kind of sad that before cell phones you h had to carry around an actual camera if you wanted to take pictures of anything.  I've never owned a camera. I take any pictures I want with my phone. I've also seen those old video cameras people used to take videos. My grand parents still have one of course. Life must have sucked before cell phones. You actually had to have separate devices to take pictures and videos. Very sad.

Oh man, now I really feel old!  :P

I still have a Polaroid camera, the ones that make the picture right away and you shook it to get the film to dry faster, like in that song.  ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw&ab_channel=OutkastVEVO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw&ab_channel=OutkastVEVO)

I can still find film for it on amazon, but now I too prefer my phone. 8)

Ryuichi

Quote from: Ryuichi13 on April 29, 2019, 02:43:42 PM
Oh man, now I really feel old!  :P

I still have a Polaroid camera, the ones that make the picture right away and you shook it to get the film to dry faster, like in that song.  ;D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw&ab_channel=OutkastVEVO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw&ab_channel=OutkastVEVO)

I can still find film for it on amazon, but now I too prefer my phone. 8)

Ryuichi

Want to feel young?  My first camera is that what was called a Box, some very early rendition of the point and shoot things!

Handkerchieves.  Remember those things that people filled with snot and then put back in their pockets?

I still have some unused ones with my initials, that were given to me many yeas ago.

TV and Radio tubes

recalling the drug store tube testers and the like...

and yes I had Polaroid film cam, it was really cool to peel the back off the film and see your picture come to life, like wow...

now Audio tubes are a specialty today and highly sought after...

C -

Quote from: Ryuichi13 on April 22, 2019, 02:38:20 PM
Pfft!  I wish someone would tell that to my partner!  He just spent days reorganizing his!

Bras and panties.  SO uncomfortable and dysphoric-causing for me!  Give me boxer briefs and A-style undershirts anytime!

Ryuichi

Oh I know! My dad has a filing cabinet in his office at home. I have told him all the crap he has in there can easily be put on his laptop. He also still gets paper statements in the mail for the electric bill and everything else. I told him to switch to electronic billing and he wouldn't have the clutter of paper statements. He told me that when I started paying bills I could do the electronic billing but that he liked the paper statements. Ugh, I try dragging him kicking and screaming into the 21st century but I usually fail. He is only 40 but I swear sometimes he acts like an old fart!

Encourage your Dad to get a VPN connection to protect his data being transmitted as  VPN is encrypted. I taught old people at Boeing who did not want to join the 21st Century. Guess what the number one question I got....How do you turn on the computer?

Quote from: DawnOday on May 04, 2019, 11:47:32 AM
Encourage your Dad to get a VPN connection to protect his data being transmitted as  VPN is encrypted. I taught old people at Boeing who did not want to join the 21st Century. Guess what the number one question I got....How do you turn on the computer?

Or when you ask someone what kind of computer they have and they say " a white one". 🤣🤣

Quote from: Julia1996 on May 04, 2019, 11:29:18 AM
Oh I know! My dad has a filing cabinet in his office at home. I have told him all the crap he has in there can easily be put on his laptop. He also still gets paper statements in the mail for the electric bill and everything else. I told him to switch to electronic billing and he wouldn't have the clutter of paper statements. He told me that when I started paying bills I could do the electronic billing but that he liked the paper statements. Ugh, I try dragging him kicking and screaming into the 21st century but I usually fail. He is only 40 but I swear sometimes he acts like an old fart!

You might change your tune if you have ever been through an IRS audit. I was and the trick is to bury them in paperwork. Everything they questioned I could produce the paper work for and the bundle I sent off to them included about 160 checks and some other assorted documentation. I passed the audit without any difficulty thanks to having all that clutter.

maxipads (they were only useful for a certain period of time post op)

breast forms (I grew my own)

Frilly panties (plain Jane for me now)

Short hem lines (I prefer knee length or longer now)

Excessive makeup.


Just a little goes a long way...    :)



Chrissy

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on May 24, 2019, 07:02:35 PM
Excessive makeup.


Just a little goes a long way...    :)



Chrissy

  @ChrissyRyan           
In mechanical terms, it is kinda like if one drop of oil is good then two drops of oil is excessive
Danielle

Quote from: Alaskan Danielle on May 24, 2019, 07:05:54 PM
  @ChrissyRyan           
In mechanical terms, it is kinda like if one drop of oil is good then two drops of oil is excessive
Danielle

@Alaskan Danielle

In mathematical terms, being a decimal point off can yield bad results.

Chrissy

correction fluid for manual typewriters

Quote from: Haley Conner on May 24, 2019, 07:21:42 PM
correction fluid for manual typewriters

typewriter ribbons / printer ribbons

Carbon paper.

Cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions and monitors.

My wired headset!  I finally got my AirBuds!  WOOT!  :D

Ryuichi

Daisywheel printers.  I still have paper for one, which I use for scribbling.

My dad stopped ordering/using checks quite a while ago thankfully. I mean who still uses checks? 😂😂  Oh, wait, my grandma.😫

Quote from: ChrissyRyan on May 24, 2019, 07:55:39 PM
Cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions and monitors.

I have no clue what that even is.

Quote from: Julia1996 on May 31, 2019, 08:07:03 PM
I have no clue what that even is.

You do, but only geeks regularly called them CRT screens. 

Justt your standard TV or computer monitor before flat screens.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Quote from: Julia1996 on May 31, 2019, 08:06:04 PM
My dad stopped ordering/using checks quite a while ago thankfully. I mean who still uses checks? 😂😂  Oh, wait, my grandma.😫

Some payments have to still be made with checks.  My life insurance is on of them.  Almost all gouvernemental offices around here, they don't take cash or credit card!

Sony Walkman for cassettes or CDs.

Can't say I don't keep paper books. I get new ones for Xmas.  Yet the rest of the year, <conspriatorial glance left and right> I use my Kindle readers.  I have a reader on my iPhone, and Oasiss, a Voyage, and my newest sparkling toy is a latest generation Paper White.  I simply love that I can keep a library full at my touch without carting them around to get rained on or spilled on, or ...

If you check the audiophile tag, you'd see I gave up on my component based stereo system and moved into the 21st century with wireless surround and a SONY soundbar system.  Simply amazing.

I just gave up my last Sony Trinitron flat screen CRT so Nintendo Duck Hunt is now relegated to my son's flat.  I have more for later.

I do not seem to use as many bills (currency) and coins nowadays.

However I still have bills, if you know what I mean!



Chrissy

VHS only buy DVDs now