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9 Pieces of Obsolete Tech That Just Won't Die
popularmechanics.com ^ | Aug. 4, 2016 | Rachel Z. Arndt

Posted on 08/06/2016 1:34:34 PM PDT by PROCON


Have you had to write a rent check lately? Or maybe fax some important documents? Despite things like Venmo and email that normal people use every day, these ancient bits of tech and culture just keep hanging on. There's clearly better technology, it's just that not everyone is using it.

Here are nine outmoded technologies that just won't disappear.

Fax Machine

When they were invented: 1843

Purpose: Sending copies of physical documents over phone lines

Where they're still used: Doctors' offices, lawyers, the CIA (which demands the FOI requests be faxed, rather than mailed or sent online), people in Japan

Why they're still used: Sometimes you have to send a paper document, and sometimes you have to send it where there is a phone line but no internet access. Faxing can also be more secure than email; faxes are hard to intercept because they are a direct communication from the sender to the receiver, while emails get moved through a central server. That means you need physical access to a specific phone line at just the right moment to intercept a fax instead of being able to just access the main server everything goes through. Though if it's just left on the machine, a fax is particularly easy for any random person in the office to pick up. Nowadays, fax machines are most widely used in Japan, where 1.7 million fax machines were purchased in 2013 for use in for business transactions, restaurant orders, and other communication.

(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: floppydiscs; obsoletetech; technology; windowspinglist
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To: Moltke; Delta 21

I kept all my turntables, including my linear.

I have software that plugs them into my PC so I can make MP3s of albums I can’t find on CDs.

It’s good to be a pack rat.

:)


161 posted on 08/06/2016 8:37:06 PM PDT by Salamander (I ride by night, and I travel in fear, that in this darkness, I will disappear...)
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To: Salamander

I have a Crosby turntable that does the same, but have never made any CDs out of my records.

My Pioneer turntable lasted me 30 years. It was not a direct drive either. That rubber band held forever.

My Disc Cleaner on the other hand; thank God for the internet or I would have never known how to make record cleaner.


162 posted on 08/06/2016 8:44:03 PM PDT by lulu16 (May the Good Lord take a liking to you!)
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To: ichabod1

A lot of early tech was bulky, expensive and affordable only to large institutions and corporations.

When that tech evolves to the point prices fall and the market is ready they are brought to the typical consumer level.


163 posted on 08/06/2016 8:59:12 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Trump IS the revolution)
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To: lulu16

Somewhere in this house, I have several of these, from the 80s.

http://www.soundstagedirect.com/Discwasher-D4%20Vinyl-Record-Cleaner.shtml

:D

I also have two ION turntables that automatically convert LPs to digital.

You can find them, weirdly enough, on clearance at BedBathAndBeyond, sometimes.


164 posted on 08/06/2016 8:59:44 PM PDT by Salamander (I ride by night, and I travel in fear, that in this darkness, I will disappear...)
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To: Salamander

Does it also come with the gun, was it for anti-static? I have the whole kit with the little cleaning brush, also from the 80’s.

I’ll have to look for it at Bed Bath and Beyond. Wish I could go shopping there right now, I could use a travel steam cleaner.

Sunday afternoon was traditionally the time I would play records after Mass as I cooked lunch. Once a neighbor dropped by and she found me playing my records on the front veranda. She thought I was a real character.

Here’s to the record player, long may it turn.


165 posted on 08/06/2016 9:04:52 PM PDT by lulu16 (May the Good Lord take a liking to you!)
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To: Delta 21

:o)


166 posted on 08/06/2016 9:36:38 PM PDT by Jmouse007 (Lord God Almighty, deliver us from this evil in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.)
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To: Mears

“When I sold my family home about 15 years ago we had lots of vinyl that went back to the 1950s.”

You’re talking about old vinyl house siding here or what?”


167 posted on 08/06/2016 9:52:57 PM PDT by steve86 (Prophecies of Maelmhaedhoc O'Morgair (Latin form: Malachy))
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To: PROCON

Uhh . . . . Fax machines were invented in 1843? Before the phone? Sending a fax by morse code must have taken hours if not days.


168 posted on 08/07/2016 2:02:35 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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bmfl


169 posted on 08/07/2016 3:18:43 AM PDT by Titan Magroyne (What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.)
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To: wally_bert

Last time I used a travel agent was in 1985 and it totally messed up my honeymoon. The agency used a company called Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, now known as Perillo Tours. We ended up in the Bahamas instead of Hawaii as originally planned, and had to pay penalty to boot. My wife and I have been to Hawaii three times since I retired in 2011.

Still have a Sony camera that uses a memory stick and ... a 3.5 floppy disk. Works great. My printer can fax.


170 posted on 08/07/2016 5:17:25 AM PDT by OrioleFan (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, Democrats believe every day is April 15th.)
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To: spel_grammer_an_punct_polise
Please take it from a former Sonarman and BSEE.

Take it from an old stew burner most of us can't hear all those sounds that vinyl claims to produce anyway. Sort of like the King's new clothes. We can't tell a thousand dollar bottle of wine from a cheap muscatel either.

171 posted on 08/07/2016 5:56:58 AM PDT by itsahoot (Trump kills PC--Hillary kills USA--Pick one.)
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To: spel_grammer_an_punct_polise

Saw the last reply was to your post so had to answer.

Agreed. I’ve always thought CDs are heavy on the treble side. And your analysis makes sense. We think of digital as superior, but it works in 1 and 0. Losing all the fractions in between.


172 posted on 08/07/2016 6:08:42 AM PDT by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMVs.)
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To: GingisK
I used then quite a lot with very few problems.

The first Mac with a 400k floppy contained the complete operating system along with MacWrite, MacPaint and had room left over for your documents. Incidentally those 400k floppy drives sold for about $400.00 as I recall.

My first 1gig hard drive set me back about $850.00, last week I bought an 8T WD MyBook for $219.00

173 posted on 08/07/2016 6:10:45 AM PDT by itsahoot (Trump kills PC--Hillary kills USA--Pick one.)
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
Are they speaking of the people that break into your home and steal your checks? How do you write a check without an account?

It may refer to people who don’t have bank accounts and so have to receive paper paychecks, etc. as opposed to via direct deposit.

174 posted on 08/07/2016 6:16:53 AM PDT by MD Expat in PA
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To: ClearCase_guy

In secure military locations, and I assume other similar nonmilitary facilities, the USB ports are filled with epoxy.

It would be very unlikely that a user would find an 8 inch floppy in the parking lot and put it in the computer to see what is on it. Based on actual user history, that would make the 8 inch floppy much more secure.


175 posted on 08/07/2016 6:19:20 AM PDT by dangerdoc ((this space for rent))
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To: exit82
The projector was practically brand new, so I’ll keep it and look for another one.

Invest in a slide scanner or pay to have someone do it for you, then you can view those pictures on a 4k big screen.

176 posted on 08/07/2016 6:27:54 AM PDT by itsahoot (Trump kills PC--Hillary kills USA--Pick one.)
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To: napscoordinator
Believe it or not they are godsends.

Find my Friends is cool too.

177 posted on 08/07/2016 6:33:05 AM PDT by itsahoot (Trump kills PC--Hillary kills USA--Pick one.)
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To: fella
Sending a fax by morse code must have taken hours if not days.

I think they used drum scanners.

178 posted on 08/07/2016 6:37:15 AM PDT by itsahoot (Trump kills PC--Hillary kills USA--Pick one.)
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To: NonValueAdded

Stand alone? Didn’t even know they still made them.

I have a printer/scanner/fax machine, hard to use the fax without a land line though.


179 posted on 08/07/2016 6:41:23 AM PDT by dangerdoc ((this space for rent))
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To: dfwgator

Best scene in the movie! In response to “PC load letter? What the f**k does THAT mean?!)


180 posted on 08/07/2016 6:43:21 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (McCain, Ryan, Cruz, Jeb, Kasich, etc., hate Trump more than they love America.)
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