The estimated reading time for this post is 10 minutes
Do you get excited about a new, shiny phone, tablet, TV, or other tech device? When you get a new device do you ever find yourself missing your old tech?
While we often get a thrill about the latest and greatest new gadget, we also may mourn the loss of the gadget it’s replacing. Outdated tech that’s gathering dust in our closet or mounting up in landfills may harbor memories of time gone by.
Few people want to return to the days when mobile phones weighed more than a phone book, but some retro tech may bring up feelings of nostalgia for you or served a function that you find is lacking in modern tech.
Take a trip down Memory Lane and revisit classic tech that may be obsolete but not yet forgotten. Are there some features you miss? Do you wish we could return to the days of simpler tech?
[note] Check out Could You Live with Tech Like It’s 1986? to see how one family tried to live with only retro tech. [/note]
Telephones
Rotary Phones
Dialing a phone number could take quite a while on a rotary phone if that number contained a lot of zeros. Yes, people actually had to dial phone numbers on a dial one number at a time, instead of just selecting a favorite contact to auto-dial.
No caller ID, call waiting or voice mail. You had no idea who was calling when you picked up the phone. If you tried to call someone who was already on a call, you got a busy signal. You had to call back again and again until they hung up the phone.
Check out these kids when they see a rotary phone for the first time:
Answering Machines
With the advent of voice mail, many household got rid of their answering machines. In fact, many households don’t have a landline at all, relying on their cell phones instead.
If you were expecting a call from that special someone, returning home to a flashing light on your answering machine could bring a smile to your face. Of course, that smile might be wiped away when you actually listened to the message…
Pay Phones
If you’ve ever been caught without your cell phone or had your battery die when you needed to make a call, you may have had difficulty finding a pay phone in a pinch. When was the last time you saw a pay phone?
While London, England still has attractive phone booths, very few still exist in the US. See, NPR, Some Brits Not Ready To Say ‘Ta-Ra’ To Iconic Telephone Box.
In 2000 the US had over 2 million pay phones. By the end of 2012, only 243,487 pay phones were in use in the US. See, USA Today, As pay phones vanish, so does lifeline for many.
Flip Phones
There’s no more satisfying way to end a phone call than snapping a flip phone shut. Ending a call on a smartphone doesn’t seem as final as physically closing a flip phone. Somehow pressing your finger to a glass screen just doesn’t deliver the same sensory experience.
Flip phones also had the advantage of hiding the keypad when the phone was closed. No accidentally calling your boss when you sat down with a flip phone in your pocket!
QWERTY Keyboard on a Smartphone
If you ever had a smartphone with a physical keyboard, you may miss the feeling of the keys on your fingers. Physical keyboards made it possible to type without even looking at the screen.
Typing on glass is a challenge for many, with auto-correct leading to humorously erroneous messages being sent. Apps such as SwiftKey and Swype on Android make typing on a glass screen much easier, much to the envy of many iPhone owners.
See, Mashable, 9 Old-Fashioned Tech Terms You Still Use Today
Music
Tech has dramatically changed the way we listen to music in just a few generations. We’ve moved from vinyl records to tapes to CD’s to digital files to streaming music. Imagine what the next generation will bring…
Vinyl Records
They were subject to scratching, warping and breaking but vinyl records still hold fond memories for many. The sound of records dropping onto a turntable or the needle gliding over a scratch could be as satisfying as the music being played.
Some audiophiles still prefer listening to music on vinyl and rumors of a comeback for vinyl abound. See, The New York Times, Weaned on CDs, They’re Reaching for Vinyl.
45 RPM Singles
45 RPM single records cost about as much as a single song does now on iTunes or Google Play, but 45’s gave you the freedom to purchase a single song if you didn’t want to invest in an entire album. You had to supply the adapter so the record could be played on your turntable.
As a bonus, you got a second song on the B side of the record, which was a great way to discover new music from your favorite band. Many B side songs became bigger hits than the A side songs they were paired with. Queen’s We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions were paired on a 45 record.
See, Yahoo Music, 25 B-Sides That Became Hits.
Cassette/8-Track Tapes
The idea of portable and recordable music became a reality for consumers with the advent of music available on tape. The debate between cassette vs. 8-Track tapes resulted in a short-lived victory for cassette tapes. The CD took over the top spot for the preferred music format for many just a few years later.
TV
Video Cassette Tapes
Time-shifting TV shows began with video cassette recorders (VCR’s). No longer did you have to panic at the thought of missing your favorite TV show because you couldn’t be sitting in front of the set at the scheduled broadcast time.
That panic was quickly replaced by the realization that your favorite TV show/wedding video was erased by your roommate/mom/little brother who unintentionally recorded over your show.
Like cassette and 8-track music tapes, VCR tapes were convenient and portable. You could pop your tape out of your VCR and bring it to a friend’s house so you could watch your show together.
VCR tapes were replaced by digital video recorders that could store TV shows in digital files, eliminating the fear of a show being recorded over as well as the need to rewind the tapes.
Computers
Monotone Computer Screens
When personal computers first became available, people were so excited about having a computer in their homes that they didn’t notice the screens were the equivalent of having a black & white TV in their house.
Fortunately, living color soon came to PC’s and people soon replaced their old monitors with color ones.
DOS
Before Windows, you had to enter commands to a computer to tell it what to do. While that may sound onerous and confusing (and you’re right, it certainly could be), there was something very satisfying about having a computer do exactly what you commanded it to do.
Floppy Disks
With early PC’s data was stored on a floppy disk you would take with you. Best for text documents, floppy disks didn’t store much data and were soon replace by hard disks, thumb drives and now the Cloud.
Film Cameras
In the good old days, a point-and-shoot camera meant taking pictures was a financial gamble. You had to invest in the cost of film, flashbulbs and developing the pictures. After you dropped off your film at a camera store, you would wait a week or so for your pictures to be developed.
The anticipation of seeing your photos grew throughout the week until you opened that envelope to see the fruits of your labor. Only then did you realize that your skills as a photographer might not be as professional as you had imagined.
My Picks for Tech I Miss
As much as I enjoy getting new tech, there are some devices I still miss using. Trading up to new tech generally gets you new and useful features but the tech I miss had features I wish were still in newer devices.
Garmin iQue
What it is:
Garmin is now known as a company that makes GPS/Sat Nav devices but in 2003 it began selling a device called the Garmin iQue that was a combination PDA/GPS unit. The iQue could keep your information organized and guide you where you wanted to go, all without a connection to the Internet.
To get your contacts, calendar and other information on the iQue, you would “Hotsync” it to your computer so you could have that information on your computer as well as your PDA.
The iQue contained a satellite antenna, computer processor, music player, voice recorder and ran on Palm OS software. The iQue used voice guidance and maps to get you to your destination. You could load the maps onto SD cards to switch regions as you traveled. The iQue could also display your photos stored on an SD card.
As long as you had a view of the sky you could figure out where you were, without worrying about cel phone signal strength. If you had a window seat on a plane or train the iQue could tell you how fast you were going.
Why I don’t use it anymore:
I used my iQue, whom I affectionately named “Bess”, for six years, from 2003-2009, until I got my first iPhone that was able to do almost all the things, and more, that the iQue could do. But the iPhone still can’t guide me when I have no Internet signal tell me how fast I’m going in an airplane.
The iQue weighed 3 lbs/1.36 kg, so wasn’t an insignificant device to take along with me. The battery life was also short, especially when using its navigation features. If the battery died, you lost your information and would have to Hotsync the iQue with your computer to get it back on the device. Not ideal for travel.
ReplayTV
What it is:
ReplayTV is a DVR (digital video recorder) that was an early competitor of TiVo. What made ReplayTV so special was its advanced features. ReplayTV had Commercial Advance, the ability to detect and skip commercials automatically so you have a seamless experience watching a show, as if the commercials didn’t exist.
You could also share recorded shows with other ReplayTV owners over the Internet and network your ReplayTV’s within your house so you could record a show on one ReplayTV and watch it on another.
ReplayTV’s other advanced features included being able to skip to a specific time in a show, program shows to record according to keywords, filter show recordings by whether they were new shows or repeats, and play only the commercials of a show (for the Super Bowl).
ReplayTV’s Commercial Advance and show-sharing features gained the attention of network television companies who filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of ReplayTV who soon declared bankruptcy, unable to fight the lawsuit. Subsequent versions of ReplayTV didn’t have the Commercial Advance or show-sharing features, eliminating its two primary advantages over TiVo.
See, Wikipedia for a detailed explanation of the ReplayTV lawsuit history.
Why I don’t use it anymore:
While I still miss Commercial Advance and the other features of ReplayTV, I also realize its limitations. ReplayTV can’t record HD programs and can only record one show at a time.
SlideShare
Enjoy this SlideShare presentation of Nostalgic for Tech!
Your Thoughts
What tech of days gone by do you miss? Do you have a favorite device you wish were still around? Do you still use any retro tech? What features of classic tech do you miss most? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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- Rotary Phone image by Nate Steiner
- Answering Machine image by Dave Chamberlain
- London Phone Booth image by Sami Pyylampi
- Flip Phone image by Aaron Vince
- Turntable image by Katie Mollon
- 45 Record Adapters image by Leo Reynolds
- Music Cassette Tape image by Ani-Bee
- Video Cassette photo by anankkml, courtesy of Free Digital Photos
- Floppy Disk image courtesy of Wikipedia
- Instamatic Camera image by Collecting Cameras
- ReplayTV image by Brent Evans
I do know a lot of this stuff; I have used them (well, when I was young…I am not sure whether I could say I use them….I was so young, and my memories of them are too ‘blurry’).
Note: Another thing I see that I have seen a lot of old movies…and they tend to use this technology (particularly rotary phones…so it makes it easy for your brain to play tricks on you!).
One of the few things I still miss is my walk man (not mine, my uncle’s..but I got it. And it was great. I no longer had to use my grandfather’s tape recorder….and it’s much easier to carry the walk man around).
What else?
Oh, yeah. Cassettes…they go along with the walk man 😀
And, don’t forget floppies (it’s easier to remember floppies….since I have personally used them to store stuff. I used to love ‘playing’ with floppies…locking and unlocking the floppy 😀 Yeah, it’s a weird game…but it was interesting).
VHS tapes are also great (old movies…a lot of them don’t have CDs…I bet things are different now. I have seen a few of them uploaded to Youtube).
That’s all I have 😀
Anyways, interesting article Carolyn 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Hi Jeevan, Yes, all of these really did exist and were used at one time in daily life. Some are still used!
You’re right, the tech used in movies can really date the story. I wrote a guest post on Start Your Novel called Is Tech the Villain of Your Story? http://www.startyournovel.com/2012/02/is-tech-villain-of-your-story-guest.html pointing out the dangers of incorporating tech into your story line.
I had a Walkman too and I almost put that in this article. It actually was difficult to pick which tech to include in this article, there was so very much I could have included!
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us, Jeevan.
Well, I have used pretty much everything on this list, which really ages me.
I still use an answering machine, but it is digital. This means that I also have a home phone. I am looking to buy an old traditional (non-portable) phone so that way I can call if the power goes out. I find that during a power outage the number of cellphones flood the network, making it very difficult to make a call. Plus, if the power is out for over a day, I don’t have to worry about battery power with a non-powered, traditional phone.
Hi Paul, Many of these devices were used fairly recently so I don’t know how much it ages you. We forget how quickly tech advances, soon we’re accustomed to the conveniences that seemed novel only recently.
We experienced four days without electricity recently and didn’t have any Internet, cell phone or landline service, water or heat either. Having a wired landline phone would have been great then but we ended up leaving our house as it got too cold to stay here.
You’re right, having a corded landline phone can be extremely useful during power outages and other emergencies. They’re very inexpensive and a good investment for peace of mind.
Hi Carolyn,
I definitely don’t miss the old instamatic cameras! I do miss the old computer games like icicle works, I was a master at that one. Scorched Earth, Aquanoid, Xenon 3 and even Lemmings were great games. I thought Simcity, which must have been the forerunner of all the Zynga games was far better thn the modern games.
Those red telephone boxes now cost a fortune, people buy them for their gardens. I tried to sleep in one once, in the middle of nowhere. It was pouring with rain at at 3am someone woke me and wanted to use the phone!
The other thing I would like to see back is BASIC programming. It was really useful and we wrote complex programs with it. I think Microsoft saw amateur programmers as competition to it’s own professionals and so got rid of the compilers as compatible with Windows. Now no one follows in Bill Gates footsteps (he started with BASIC).
I tried to use my Galaxy S2 at the hospital the other day. I switched on data and it found a wifi hotspot. I still couldn’t use Facebook or Twitter. It only seems to work at home! It’s too slow too. I hate voice mail where they put you on hold or ask you to press 1 or 2 and take you though multiple menu systems. My local council had a 300 million pound contract for it’s phones. That is ridiculous.
Hi Mike, Yes the Instamatic cameras were supposed to be much easier as you merely had to pop in a film cartridge as opposed to trying to thread the film through the camera. The picture quality left a lot to be desired though.
Yes, when I was researching English phone boxes I found a lot of pictures of how people had re-purposed those into other uses. I even found one that had been converted into a sofa. That would have been more comfortable for you to sleep in!
Yes, classic video games bring back fond memories for many people. When you beat your high score or beat a game completely there was a great sense of accomplishment.
Yes, some places block social media sites on their networks. I’m not sure whether that’s the case with your phone, but it’s possible.
I agree with you about the phone menus that make you navigate through different numbers. That’s one of the reasons I’m a fan of Ting, a cell phone carrier that has a live operator answer every call with a no-hold policy. Why can’t every company have that?
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I was laughing so hard because I remember all of the above.
Because I’m a mid century buff, I STILL have a rotary phone. And guess what? I actually use it because I’m on the phone most of the day. The rotary has the best sound ever! Plus it’s so much fun to see my nieces and nephews coming over and sticking their fingers in the holes and asking why it doesn’t work. What a hoot!
I do have my IPhone now, and use it a lot with Facetime and speaker. But nothing compares to the rotary he he.
That flash camera made me so grateful that I don’t even use cameras anymore, just my phone.
As for Vynil Records: I still have a collection and purchased a mid century console. I do like that sound, with the scratches on it. Although it is like a hobby of sorts, it is a distinct sound that I still enjoy.
When using my Records, I have to get up and change them. Yes it is time consuming, but it kind of focuses me to really listen and pay attention to. Something about that gets me in the “zone” of music because you just can’t do much while tending to it.
So there you have it! This mid-century crazed woman that loves and appreciates old things, but runs with new technology too!
Thanks for this wonderful trip down memory lane,
-Donna
Hi Donna, So this article is about your life more than a trip to the past for you! I know someone who only got rid of his rotary phone recently when the phone company eliminated rotary service to his area.
That’s really funny that your niece and nephew didn’t know how to dial a phone. My daughters didn’t know what a busy signal was recently. You must have difficulty with calling customer service numbers that require you to dial a number to continue the call.
That’s great you still listen to vinyl records. You’re getting a lot of satisfaction from retro tech, Donna!
Hi Carolyn,
Well, I have used pretty much everything on this list, which really ages me.
Just like Paul mentioned, I also use an answering machine still (digital version of it) which is my home phone obviously.
Traditional phones are now like antique items and therefore I still have preserved some of my flip phones, wired phones and even floppy drives from my college days. It’s kind of fun to show it to our children and tell them the stories of their use. They look at these objects with amusement 🙂
Wow! You have put together such an awesome post which triggered so many old memories of using these devices and sometimes, driving to a distance to make a phone call because we didn’t have a home phone yet. Amazing, how much change we have come through in last 15-20 years!
Thank you for sharing!
Regards,
Kumar
Hi Kumar, Yes, it’s interesting to think that someday the tech we use now will be considered retro tech. How long before I could write a follow up article about the days when we used to use smartphones, stream music and used computers? It’s amazing to think of what the future much hold!
I love that you keep retro tech around to show younger kids who might not have seen them otherwise. It’s like you have a tech museum in your home!
Oh that’s great Carolyn and I only wish I could say I don’t know what some of those are.
I was over at Arleen’s blog on Saturday and she shared a great video of a Dad showing his kids some things from the past and asking them if they knew what it was. They were so confused and clueless and I was laughing because I remember them all.
I think he showed them a 45 record, a floppy disk, a roll of film, an older Nintendo box, a VCR tape, a cassette tape, etc. We had a rotary phone and I still have a landline. It’s only because my service is so cheap and I need it for three way conference calls. Can’t do that on a cell but you probably will be able to in the future.
I never had one of the Reply boxes but boy I’d love one now. I fast forward through all commercials but it would really be nice if I didn’t have to.
I still have some vinyl records and I have a player as well but what I did a number of years ago is I transferred them all to CDs. Oh yeah, wanted to be able to play them before the record player went out some day.
I still have a digital camera but it’s really old and is on it’s last leg.
What do I really miss from the old days. Nothing that’s coming to mind since most everything is being replaced by something better. I did love simple though but I’m getting use to things with your help. 😉
Thanks Carolyn.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Wow, that video sounds great! My girls were confused by the sound of a busy signal the other day. They thought the phone was broken!
Yes, ReplayTV was great. I know a couple of people who still use them even though they have to record low-def shows and can only record one show at a time. Giving up Commercial Advance was too much of a leap for them. I still wish I had the features of a ReplayTV on my DVR though at least Directv lets me network my DVR’s in my home.
I’ve been planning this article since before I started The Wonder of Tech but never had a chance to write it, there were too many tech topics to cover. Well, Adrienne, you just inspired me to write another article: how to make a 3-way conference call on an iPhone. Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech!
I’m glad you are finding cutting edge tech simple, Adrienne. That’s great news! No need to look to the past if you are enjoying today’s tech. :-bd
Hi Carolyn,
Sorry for being a little late this time – just catching up with work after Dad’s sudden visit, which of course is always a welcome change 🙂
Your post surely brought back good old memories, and you won’t believe it, but I still have a few of the mentioned things with me. Perhaps things our end will fizzle out with time as they are yet around as I’ve seen them in a few places. Some of the things I’ve kept with me because they are working perfectly, and for sentimental reasons as my Mom loved them, like the Vinyl Records along with a few old records too, and old tapes as well. Yes, even the rotary phones and answering machines are very much a part of many households our end and they work well too, though the versions change a little.
I think it depends a lot on what all you use and are attached to, and what all you’ve let go, isn’t it?
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, Always a pleasure to have you here at The Wonder of Tech! Yes, from the comments it appears that some of this tech isn’t retro but current for some people. I always say if tech is still working well for you, no need to update it!
Yes, some tech is kept for sentimental reasons too. Record albums can bring back strong memories of music and special times. I’m so glad you still have your mom’s favorite albums, Harleena. That’s such a lovely reminder of her.
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experiences with us, Harleena!
Hi Carolyn,
Think I miss the old 45 records. One song on each side and
that was it!
Don’t know where my Elvis Presley and his “Love Me Tender”
went to!.
I bought two..one the first time it was released and let my
best friend talk me out of it. (she offered me an outfit she owned
that she knew I coveted!),
Bought another when it became available (music store ran out and
we had to wait!)…but it seems to have faded into the past, along
with the player with the big drum changer which would automatically
play records til it ran out of records!
Thanks for the memory lane! 🙂
C.
Hi Cararta, What a great story! Imagine standing in line to buy a record and find that it was sold out. Neither one of those things would happen these days. But you also don’t get the physical sensation of holding the record in your hand, seeing the gleam of the light on the grooves, and checking out the album cover photos as you rip the cellophane off of the album.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful story with us, Cararta!
Wow, great blast from the past Carolyn! I do still have an answering machine. I don’t miss floppy disks, but I do miss those flash cubes – such a frivolent waste of materials though!
Hi Jon, Flash cubes were pretty cool, until you wanted to take a flash picture and ran out of flash cubes. Then you were stuck. It’s easy to forget how much went into taking a photo before the days of smartphones.
Yes, floppy disks could be lost or damaged so they weren’t the best resource for storing data. I don’t miss them either.
The transition to voice mail isn’t as complete as the transition to digital music. Perhaps I was a bit premature in calling answering machines “retro tech” as they still seem to be a popular device!
Hi Carolyn,
You brought back the old times…funny though!!
What fascinated me most was the Cassette/8-Track Tapes and the TV-Video Cassette Tapes;
As a Nigerian, all other ones does not exist in Nigeria; and my dad still has the old Cassette/8-Track Tapes.
Thanks for sharing!!
Hi James, So none of the other tech exists in Nigeria? Wow, that shows how geographically dependent tech can be!
Does your dad still listen to music on his tapes or does he keep them as a memory of how music used to be played? Quite a few readers who commented are keeping old music formats because of fond memories.
How did you remember all that info?
Hi Jerry, Well, I grew up in a home that had all of this tech. Yes, it’s true, the home I grew up in had video cassette tapes, an answering machine, rotary phones, floppy disks , vinyl records and a mobile flip phone. Yes, Jerry, I’ve lived a life of retro tech!
Of course, most of the tech wasn’t retro at the time. Just think, today’s current tech is tomorrow’s retro tech! :-bd
Hi Carolyn
I remember most of these, although we never had ReplayTV in the UK I don’t think.
What I miss most is my Commodore Amiga which is a computer I had in my teens and through University.
I absolutely loved it and thought it was much better than a PC or a Mac!
Hi Tim, Yes, ReplayTV was US only. I stopped using mine when I moved to the UK and never went back to it when I returned to the US.
Very cool that you remember a favorite computer, Tim. What made it better than a PC or Mac for you?
In it’s day, the Commodore Amiga had better graphics and sound than both the PC or the Mac at that time, in my opinion!
It was also one of the most popular home computers of its day in the UK (beating the Atari ST to that accolade).
I really miss the operating system from the Amiga as well. It seemed so easy to use!
Hi Tim, Those are good reasons why you would prefer the Amiga over a PC or Mac. Ease of use is a more highly valued feature now than it used to be!
Hi Carolyn, wow, this post brought back a lot of memories. The old rotary phone is one I sort of miss. But I don’t miss missing a call if I’m not home anymore 🙂 What do we do with all those all records and tapes? I’ve been cleaning house and am not sure what to do with them. The cassette tapes I’m really thinking of tossing out. The albums maybe sell or keep for a little while longer 🙂
I don’t miss have to use a phone booth either, it’s funny there are really no more around. I do remember having to use them many a time in all kinds of weather.
Thanks for bringing us down memory lane Carolyn!
Hi Lisa, You bring up a great point, what to do with older tech? Perhaps a library near you would be interested in your tapes and albums. At least digital files don’t fill up landfills!
Yes, pay phones could be essential if you needed to make a call on the go. Imagine, we used them before the days of anti-bacterial wipes!
Hi Carolyn,
I am having sort of feeling that while I do know many of these things, I feel many have just passed by.
For example, I have used rotary phone, flip mobile phone, cassettes and floppies but things like instamatic camera and replay TV never got in my sights at all. That means that technology really moved at very fast pace in certain cases and many of the things that were invented in USA never reached here in India before they were replaced.
Think about that :).
People say Apple created mp3 players but in 2001 I had an MP3 player from Philips and I never saw a second model of that.
Interesting times we live in . Great post. I enjoyed reading it 🙂
Hi Ashvini, Yes, Apple didn’t invent the MP3 player, tablet or smartphone but they did make those devices very popular with consumers.
The ReplayTV didn’t get very far before US television networks filed their lawsuit. The company that sold ReplayTV didn’t have the funds to fight the suit. The ReplayTV didn’t have a chance to expand beyond the US.
While some people may be still using retro tech, other people never had a chance to use these things!
Hi Carolyn
Great post taking us down memory lane. I remember we has a rotary Phone at home back when I was a little boy. It took forever to dial up someone. I love the video with the kids guessing what the busy signal means 🙂
Great post Carolyn. It is crazy how much technology has chanced in our lifetime..!
Hi Thomas, You’re right, dialing a phone number could take quite a while, especially if a phone number had a lot of zeros and nines! But then again, you wouldn’t have to press a bunch of numbers to navigate through a phone menu when you called customer service!
Yes, tech is advancing quickly, changing our lifestyle rapidly. Soon our computers, smartphones and tablets will be considered “retro” tech.
Hi Carolyn,
This post gave me a little chuckle and brought back memories for sure. I use to work at AT&T when we still had people leasing the rotary phone. My best friend’s mom still has one in her kitchen. We had sales contests and I won an answering machine, one of the first people I know to have one. My parents couldn’t believe it and thought it was crazy. Oh man, and those cassette tapes. I always tried to remember to keep them out of my car in the extreme hot and cold. Forget it if one of those or the VHS tapes got stuck in the machine. hahaha Thanks for the memories. Have an awesome day, Lisa
Hi Lisa, Wow, you’re right, people used to lease their phones from the phone company. Hard to imagine that before answering machines we had to keep calling people until they were home to answer the phone!
Yes, those cassette tapes could be ruined if you left them in a hot car. When I lived in Florida I once forgot to eject a tape and it got stuck in my cassette player in my car. Oops.
Carolyn,
Not only do I remember rotary phones, I remember party lines! (I wonder how many readers here know what that was.) When I was a teenager, we lived in a very rural town and shared a party line with three other families. The deal there was that you’d pick up the phone and if someone else was using it, you would hear there conversation. Only one connection could be made at a time. So, proper etiquette was to hang up and wait for your turn.
I confess. We still have an answering machine very similar to the one that you included here. It’s hooked up to our land line. (Yes, we still have one of those too.) We have the option of using a mailbox on our ISP but (for the few calls we get on that line), it’s sort of nice to come home and see the light flashing. (OK, so it’s almost always messages from either my 86-year old mother or mother-in-law but it’s sort of fun to have them.)
Not only do I remember DOS, I really was reluctant to adapt to Windows. DOS made sense to me and it made you think.
I hear vinyl records are coming back but I sure don’t miss those cassette tapes. Those things could really jam and break and be a major headache.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! That was fun.
Hi Sherryl, I never had a party line but it’s difficult to imagine how that would work. Imagine taking the risk that nosy neighbors would be listening in to your conversations with every phone call! That would be more challenging to me than having to wait to use the phone.
I might have been a bit premature in putting answering machines into the Retro Tech category. It seems to be the tech that many people are still using. I like the convenience of voice mail, especially since I receive an email with a transcription of my voice mail messages so I know if someone called when I’m away from home.
So true about DOS! Windows was very frustrating at first, it didn’t always cooperate. I would often go into DOS to use commands to make Windows behave properly. Now I don’t miss DOS but in the beginning phases of Windows I sure did!
The durability of digital files is certainly an improvement, though I have heard of people losing their music if their computers crashed and they didn’t have a backup. I guess nothing is 100% secure.
Carolyn,
The phone reception was so poor back then that you could tell if there was someone else on the line. The worse part about the party line was that if someone didn’t hang up their phone, there was no way to dial out.
It’s always good to hear from someone else who was reluctant to make the move to Windows. I used to have an “I love DOS” bumper sticker hanging near my desk and some of my co-workers thought I was nuts. 🙂
I’m glad others still use answering machines too. I was beginning to feel old reading this post and recognizing everything you were mentioning.
Yes, I probably should have waited a few years to call answering machines “retro”.
That would be annoying to be unable to make a phone call because one of your neighbors forgot to hang up the phone!
I’m thinking an I <3 DOS t-shirt would be a hit now...
Hello Ms. Carolyn
Those oldies but goodies!
Great post showing how technology has changed since my time.
I can remember most of all the techie items you have mentioned, but my all time favorite; the 45 small records. I had invested so much money in those songs that helped me to reflect on good times. (I still listen to the oldies)
My parents had the rotary for a long time and at that time we thought it was a great having one, because not many people had phones.
Now we are in 2014 and so much has taken place in the world of technology, but I can’t imagine what it will be like in 2019.
I use the IPhone and yes we can do so much with it. I love it, but still miss the oldies.
Thank you for taking us back to memory lane.
Gladys
Hi Gladys, I’m so glad you enjoyed this trip down Tech Memory Lane! Yes, I also invested mostly in 45 singles. My money went farther if I just spent it on the songs I wanted instead of buying entire albums. I always tried listening to the B side just to check it out. Sometimes the songs were actually good!
Our family had rotary phones until fairly recently. It wasn’t until I left for college that I had a push button phone. What a treat that was!
You’re right, but 2019, today’s tech will probably be considered “retro”. I wonder if the iPhone will still be sold then!
Sometimes I wish I could go back and relive the good ol’ days. I don’t really miss one thing in particular, but a combination of things. It seemed much simpler, and a slower paced world back then. That could be because I was young, and didn’t know any better though.
One thing I don’t like about most products especially technical gadgets is they are made so darn cheap now. Years ago they were solid. We had household things last for 20+ years like our TV and stove/range, washer/drier, etc. Now those same items barely last us 5-8 years if we are lucky. We recently bought a new stove (range, oven, or whatever you want to call it), and the sales person told us before we bought it that we would probably need to buy a new one in 7 or 8 years.
Hello Ray, I agree with you, appliances used to last 20+ years so people invested in them. I wish they still did because it’s a waste to replace them more often. While some appliances are becoming more advanced by connecting to the Internet, that isn’t the same as being durable. I would get a dishwasher that lasted 20 years over one that could read my email for me.