Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Old School

Earlier this month, "New York Magazine" ran a list of items that have become obsolete over the past ten years.

And, zoinks, I need to catch up with the times!

1. Answering machines

Yep, we still have one. It's currently not working since the power went out last week and no one wants to record a new message.



2. Lickable stamps

Thank goodness they don't have these anymore--and let me just plug self sealing envelopes while I'm at it. Love them.


3. Foldable maps

Have a whole storage container I call the "Map Bin" filled with foldable maps. I can't imagine ever getting rid of them, GPS or no.


4. Cathode ray tube TV's

Yes, yes. Still have one or two (or four) of these around with their sad little antennas and digital converter boxes.

5. Incandescent light bulbs

Guilty.


6. Smoking in bars

I don't smoke and am very glad smoking in public places is banned in Ohio.

7. Fax machines

Don't have one, never had one, and can't foresee ever getting one.


8. Hydrox cookies

I so remember these from my childhood, the knockoff Oreos. They were such a treat!


9. Cassette tapes

We finally, finally, got rid of ours two years ago.


10. Floppy disks

Still have them. Don't use them, but still have them.


11. Phone books

I have about four or five in the front closet, and yep, still use those too.


12. Polaroid photos

So fun when we were younger! And our kids loved them, too. But yeah, our Polaroid camera is long gone. Did you hear they have a modern version now, one that prints digital pics as you take them? I wonder how the quality is.


13. Bank deposit slips

I must really be old school because I always use bank slips--never the ATM for deposits. Surely, I can't be the only one.


14. Subway tokens

I don't live near a Subway, but it's so strange to go to DC and swipe a card now, ditto with Boston.


15. The Rolodex

It's currently sitting on the desk behind me.


How do you fare? Are you going into the 2010s completely modernized?

7 comments:

  1. My parents turned obsolete a few years ago, but he haven't gotten rid of them yet.

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  2. Okay I must have oversleep the past decade. Why are answering machines and rolodex obsolete? Cassette tapes I know vanished. I have lots of information stored on floppy disk and zip drive disc. Try to find some way to convert that over to DVD is a nightmare. I liked the polaroid camera. And yes, I still use bank deposit slips too.

    I'm not a be fan of change. I guess it because most of the time we don't have a choice, we just have to change (example cassettes to CDs, VHS tapes to DVD).

    Okay I've got to rest now. I feel really, really old.

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  3. I still have an answering machine.

    I still have foldable maps. I love them because you just follow your fingers anda you're at your destination.

    I still have incadescent light bulbs because my lamp shade doesn't fit those new fangled ones.

    Thank goodness smoking was banned here. Wish they could be banned from smoking directly in front of office buildings.

    We still use it in the office, but not as much.

    Now that DVDs are the media of choice, it wouldn't surprise me when CDs become obsolete.

    I remember Hydrox cookies..they were good.

    I got rid of floppys a long time ago. I remember the bernoulli tape. Hmm, did I just aged myself?

    Gave up phone books a long time ago and I never had a polaroid camera.

    My bank does not accept deposit tickets, neither does my bank's ATM.

    I have a collection of old subway tokens when they were the size of a dime to the size of a quarter. Now we're using metro cards that you swipe through the turnstyle.

    I still use my rolodex, at least in the office.

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  4. Oh these are funny. The lickable stamp thing makes me a little sad, though. My kids never have to lick anything and I remember licking envelopes, stamps, Green Stamps, etc.

    Wonder why fax machines are obsolete? I still get some faxes. I guess we're supposed to just scan and email?

    Elizabeth
    (Who is behind the times)
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  5. Congrats to you for managing to get rid of your cassettes- I still have a huge pile of albums and mixtapes somewhere just collecting dust... but I can't bear to part with them. Nostalgia, you know? :P

    Just stopping in to say I acquired an advance copy of Truly, Madly and am looking forward to reading it. It sounds like such a fun, cute read! :)

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  6. Mason, I'm with you. I must have missed most of the last decade. And you're right--VHS will be long gone soon.

    Dru, what do you use for banking if not deposit slips. I'm totally missing something with this. I have a couple of T tokens around here somewhere...they're a nice keepsake.


    Elizabeth, I was always convinced the glue on stamps was bad for us (hello, Seinfeld episode)! I think my Christmas card envelopes are the lick kind--which just makes me want to procrastinate MORE on sending them out.

    Jen, it was SO hard to get rid of those cassettes. Like parting with friends or something. We did keep a pile of albums--just couldn't part with them. I hope you enjoy Truly, Madly! Let me know if you do!

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  7. The teller just takes my money and/or check as does the ATM. I know, I was surprised when the ATM counted my money and gave me the total correctly on the screen. I do get a paper receipt.

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