What do you do with obsolete technology?

[RPinPA]

Just wonder what other people do to handle the sentimental-value-but-useless decisions.

I am attacking my attic this summer, one box at a time. A lot of those boxes are little time capsules, some of them going back years, when some surface or room or other was cleaned off by dumping a bunch of stuff in a box "to sort later". It's kind of embarrassing how many years "later" became, but at least I'm doing it.

So in the latest box, I found a couple items which I'm kind of stuck on: two iOmega Zip drives (one of which has a cartridge stuck in it), and a set of student French curves.

Most likely nobody anywhere is going to want a Zip drive unless somebody's running a museum of magnetic media. And yet it's a little hard to part with, and I hate to just trash them if there's somebody somewhere who actually wants one.

As for the French curves, that's a remnant of a time when you did plotting by hand on graph paper, which I'm not sure anybody ever does anymore. I certainly have no plans to. Yet again, maybe somebody would find them useful. When I googled "French curve" I got the impression that they still have uses here and there, in drawing patterns on cloth for instance.

Then there are the obsolete technological books, like Peter Norton's book that goes into the guts of PC-DOS and books on assembly language programming. I did some pretty cool stuff with those books, taking over the clock interrupt of a first generation IBM-PC and getting some pretty decent real-time signal-processing performance out of the thing. A skill set and application that is completely useless. Unless it's not for somebody.

I know if I donate these things to the thrift store or donate the books to the library book sale, they'll go in the trash. Even relatively recent textbooks tend to end up in the trash. Maybe I should just put it all up on eBay and accept any bid.

Anybody else deal with these issues?

 

[jedishrfu]

Be careful with data drives. I would destroy them and not give them away. Some folks relish the challenge of getting personal info from obscure places.

 

[strangerep]

student French curves

You really shouldn't lock up curvy French students in your attic. Your inevitable prison sentence will be quite long.

Anybody else deal with these issues?

Several times -- each time I moved house.

I used to give furniture and white goods to the Salvation Army, but they're becoming really picky and won't take anything unless it's reasonable valuable and not too old. So when I downsized back in 2015, all my large, perfectly good, furniture got broken up, tossed in the back of a truck and taken to the tip. After that insult, I began to care rather less about the "needy" members of society.

Books are easy: if they're still relevant, keep them, otherwise recycle mercilessly. Same with computers. The latter was really hard -- when I deposited my previous custom-designed and built computer at the local recycling station it was as psychologically difficult as dropping the One Ring into the Cracks of Doom.

I tried to make a resolution not to buy so much s--t in the future unless I really needed it. I've only been partially successful.

 

[256bits]

You could do a whole bunch of You Tube videos, make your own channel, on Ancient Technology, as you pull stuff from the archeological find, explain it and its uses, and hint that earlier civilizations were far more advanced technologically and culturally than we could imagine, and that some of their knowledge has been lost to the ages.

 

[Bystander]

I tried to make a resolution not to buy so much s--t in the future unless I really needed it. I've only been partially successful.

"Really, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY ..." Been there, done that, "many, many ..."

 

[member 656954]

You could do a whole bunch of You Tube videos, make your own channel, on Ancient Technology

That's a diabolical idea

Knowing the state of critical thinking people apply to social media, a whole family of conspiracy theories would arise based on this mythical 'ancient tech'!

 

[davenn]

Be careful with data drives. I would destroy them and not give them away. Some folks relish the challenge of getting personal info from obscure places.

zip drives used removeable media
I would dearly love a replacement IDE zip drive, have a bunch of disks I need to recover data from

IDE ? hmmm? maybe it went via the printer port ... It's been so long

 

[RPinPA]

You could do a whole bunch of You Tube videos, make your own channel, on Ancient Technology, as you pull stuff from the archeological find, explain it and its uses, and hint that earlier civilizations were far more advanced technologically and culturally than we could imagine, and that some of their knowledge has been lost to the ages.

I must say this is more than a little tempting. Although I was thinking of the Ancient Civilizations as the 1970s, and I would explain why that was a better and purer technological time in civilization.

"I reprogrammed a clock interrupt. Have any of you youngsters ever reprogrammed a clock interrupt? I'll bet you ignoramuses don't even know what a clock interrupt is! Dang kids today don't even <fades into incoherent mumble>"

BTW I also unearthed some "graphics" consisting of overprints on an ASCII printer, when that was a novelty. I've got Mona Lisa, printed from either punched cards or paper tape back when the idea of having a picture you could print on a computer was a status symbol and a treasure. And I've got a scanned image of myself. That was pretty wild in 1978, to have a video camera be able to print a picture of yourself on the line printer in real time. [*]

[*] note to youngsters: A line printer was a neolithic technique involving a guy tapping out characters on paper with stone tools in ASCII, which was the name of a pre-Sumerian script now lost.

 

[256bits]

Been there done that..
Even have a black rotary phone to go with it all.

 

[DaveC426913]

Based on the title, I thought this was a Sea Shanty.

What do you do with obsolete technology?
What do you do with obsolete technology?
Throw it in the bin with the Captain's plotter!
Throw it in the bin with the Captain's plotter!

 

[Mark44]

"I reprogrammed a clock interrupt. Have any of you youngsters ever reprogrammed a clock interrupt? I'll bet you ignoramuses don't even know what a clock interrupt is! Dang kids today don't even <fades into incoherent mumble>"

Never reprogrammed one of the interrupts, but I wrote lots of code that used the DOS (int 21h) and BIOS (int 10h) interrupts. I used one of the DOS interrupt functions as the basis for a C/assembly program to rename a directory, something that you couldn't do with the available DOS command line utilities. I still have between 15 and 20 assembly books, mostly x86, but one on M68000 and several on MIPS. All of the code I wrote using the DOS interrupts went out the window when Microsoft went to 32-bit OSes.

I don't have a French curve, but I have about a half-dozen slide rules. I also have an iOmega drive with about a half dozen of its disks. That drive is USB and still works.

Other obsolete tech includes film cameras -- I have a couple of those, including a Rollei miniature I bought using a large jar of change I kept for a couple of years when I was in grad school.

 

[jedishrfu]

Ive done screen refresh interrupts on the Atari using their antic chip for a college independent study in realtime programming. Also done mainframe and pcdos assem using interrupts and extended instruction sets for packed decimal.

Gagetwise
Addiator
ti sr50
hp rp calc
Slide rules deci trig,
circular slide rules
Thinkadot
Turing tumble
Altair 680 still works

 

[Nugatory]

but I have about a half-dozen slide rules.

My wife and I have two, both nice top-of-the-line bamboo ones. It’s two because we each brought one to the marriage... and remarkably, I still use mine occasionally. Woodworking only needs two or three significant digits of accuracy, a shop environment can be very hard on electronics, and the slide rule is actually faster than a calculator if you want to know $\alpha{x}$ for constant $\alpha$ and a continuous range of possible $x$ values.

 

[256bits]

note to youngsters: A line printer was a neolithic technique involving a guy tapping out characters on paper with stone tools in ASCII, which was the name of a pre-Sumerian script now lost.

I had to laugh at that.
The first time I saw a line printer, I thought "Wow, that is so high tech!" Buzz, buzz, buzz.
Carrying around a stack of that 16 x 11 folded printer paper screamed success and satisfaction.
Alternating shades of green and white. - beautiful.

 

[jedishrfu]

My best experience with fanfold paper was as a courier for A GE computer center. While driving from the main plant, the suburban backdoor popped open and the wind sucked the fanfold paper out the back. A beautiful ribbon of paper was seen trailing the truck for at least a couple of hundred feet while on the crosstown highway.

 

[strangerep]

What do you do with obsolete technology?
What do you do with obsolete technology?
Throw it in the bin with the Captain's plotter!
Throw it in the bin with the Captain's plotter!

...or, in the case of old MS-DOS diskettes,...

... Shred 'em in the dunny and pull the chain!
Stuff 'em in the dunny and pull the chain!
[...]

 

[symbolipoint]

Manual typewrites - and I still have mine.

Mark44, you can be in the antique sliderule trade or sliderule collector trade, at least briefly.
I lost track of the two that I had. Any slide rule that is not in some way broken, will still work so they are still fit to use.

 

[dlgoff]

I wrote lots of code that used the DOS (int 21h) and BIOS (int 10h) interrupts. I used one of the DOS interrupt functions ...

Been there, done that. Very handy those interrupts. You're my kind of man.

 

[dlgoff]

Just wonder what other people do ...

Here's what I've done that's still evolving: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/beauty-of-old-electrical-and-measuring-things-etc.755959/

 

[Mark44]

Been there, done that. Very handy those interrupts. You're my kind of man.

- in case you can't tell, my cheeks are red here.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

 

[davenn]

Just wonder what other people do to handle the sentimental-value-but-useless decisions.

well, Don, @dlgoff , does wonderful restoration of old technology

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/beauty-of-old-electrical-and-measuring-things-etc.755959/Dave

 

[RPinPA]

Here's what I've done that's still evolving: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/beauty-of-old-electrical-and-measuring-things-etc.755959/

Nice! And that reminds me that somewhere is my Dad's old multimeter that he used constantly, a big black thing like one of the meters on your middle shelf. There's no way I'm selling or discarding that beauty. So I guess I'm going to have to call it a "collection" and mount it in some way. Another project, sigh...

 

[dlgoff]

well, Don, @dlgoff , does wonderful restoration of old technology

Thank you Dave.

 

[dlgoff]

There's no way I'm selling or discarding that beauty.

I'd probably find beauty in all your goodies.

 

[rcgldr]

For particular items, such as old computers (Commodore, Atari, ...), see if there is a fan / forum site where you can list the items you want to get rid of. Either sell them or just have the buyer pay for shipping. Listing the item on Ebay is another option, you'll just need to charge enough to cover the Ebay fee (plus shipping costs).

 

[Rive]

I too have my attic-worth pack of old hardware - most of them has some unfinished story behind them.
The dual PPro server was my first 'serious' machine - I've saved it when I left that job, and after that I've packed up every possible extension, but never had time to install the 1M CPUs, the SCSI disk bank, the maxed out memory, the hard-to-get PCI bus GPU and such --- guess it won't be a big thing now, that 2X200MHz compared to my actual 4X2GHz+ thing... but even so, that was THE workstation! So I'll just keep it along the dual P1 WS motherboard, the IDE CACHE raid cards, the unique 386 motherboards, the TIGA card which I could never start up, the set of Voodoo boards I could never start together: they have their box near the PIII laptop which I had no time to modify for Tualatin CPU, the record thin HiNote P1 notebook which has dead battery pack and some stupid contact problem I could not find... Duh. They are without batteries and they don't ask for food

 

[MikeeMiracle]

I tend to keep anything that might be valuable in future. My only two items are:

Google Nexus 7 tablet: I think this will be valuable as it was Google first ever tablet.
Orchid Ritcheous 3D card: The very first dedicated 3D graphic accelerator crad for the general public.

Many years ago I had a change to buy an 086 PC for £20 and passed up on the opportunity which i regret being the first home computer.

We are probably looking at 20/30 years before they will have any real value though.

 

[russ_watters]

I hoard it, assuming often correctly that I will need it again someday, then I buy a new one on Amazon when I can't find it.

 

[Bystander]

I hoard it, assuming often correctly that I will need it again someday, then I buy a new one on Amazon when I can't find it.

Double ditto; have got easily two or three hundred "wall warts," and can't find the "appropriately rated replacement" ever. +4

 

[Tom.G]

My old functional PC's have gone to a local Senior Center, the local Historical Society, etc. The Senior Center was was especially grateful, it meant the part-time police officer that did local outreach could finally get on-line without 'borrowing' someone elses desk!

I do still have my Altair 8080-based computer though, circa 1975. Recently replaced the electrolytic filter caps and the thing still works. Peripherals unfortunately are no longer available so program input is flipping the front panel switches; much slower than a hard disk.

 

[Nik_2213]

When we first down-sized, I gave a dozen or so hefty crates of electronics books, magazines and 'stuff' to local STEM college. The lecturer almost burst into tears, but not from joy. "What am I supposed to do with all this ?"
Seems my 'amateur hobby' went rather beyond the curriculum, much of it far beyond the wildest ambitions of all but a very few, very rare students...
Typically, a handful a decade...
Oops.
Upside, my ~£1k boost to his subject's book-shelf wows every OFSTED inspector who notices it.
Downside, I gave away some 'Classic / rare / unusual' titles that I really, really should have kept...
Weep.

The second phase of our down-size saw half a dozen crates of classic computer books, hardware & accessories sent to a 'Retro-Computer' swap-meet. Thus went my beloved Apple][+ 48k, the UK's very first with FP Applesoft BASIC in ROM. In its original import case ! A BBC_B-128, an Archimedes A 410/1 etc etc etc.
Weep ^2...
---

Disclaimer: Do any of you remember 'Microdigital' or their short-lived 'Liverpool Software Gazette' ? I was their 'Hexadismal Kid' because I could not remember more than a few of the 6502's not-very-many op-codes. So, I invested in a full-on symbolic assembler to write fun one-page programs. Between crafting 'Stargate', my 3D-planetarium, in FP BASIC, of course, of course...

 

[nsaspook]

Dump it.

 

[JBA]

If anyone decides to become a slide rule collector, just let me know and I will be glad to contribute.
I still have my 1958 college Post Versalog slide rule in it original leather scabbard w/ snap-on belt loop in its original box, the snap-on magnifier accessory for the viewing glass to get that one more decimal point accuracy in its original box and the Versalog instruction book with its paper cover; and, there is no way I can bring myself to trash those things even though I can't remember how to use the slide rule and am too lazy to use book to learn since I still have my trusty HP RPN calculators.
(Except my HP-35 that I was stupid enough to store away without removing the rechargeable batteries that then leaked and destroyed it.)

NOTE: Remember to remove the batteries from any electronics you want to store away and keep for awhile or still cannot bring your self to part with.

 

[BillTre]

Some cool looking stuff I keep, but we have a recycler of electronics in town so I can get rid of old stuff.
I can also find some things that still work there (usually cables and power sources for me).

 

[davenn]

Being an amateur radio operator for more years than I care to remember
The hoarding of electronics is a given, specially for those of us that are active constructors
rather than an appliance operator
Even the thought of tossing a bit of electronics that could be scavenged for bits is a crime haha

But now at the tender young age of 60, I really do need to start sorting some stuff. The thought
of something happening to me and leaving the poor wifey to sort it all out would be a bit unfair.
I also have to realize, that with health not the best and eyesight getting worse, I am never going to
use all the stuff I have collected. My construction activities have declined rapidly in recent years.

I had one huge cleanout 20 yrs ago before I left New Zealand to come to Australia. Now 20 yrs later
and the accumulation in Australia has again reached excessive proportions haha

Dave

 

[anorlunda]

The hoarding of electronics is a given, specially for those of us that are active constructors

I used to be like you, but I discovered the cure. We moved from a house to a sailboat. Nothing left behind, even in storage. During the move all out possessions in the world had to fit in the airline checked baggage allowance.

I must admit that we retrogressed. After 13 years, we sold the boat. We now live in 2 RVs (one in Vermont, one in Florida). That's about 800 square feet, compared to 250 on the boat.

You could daydream of being a Mars colonist, with an allowance of 1 kg personal stuff. At least that puts a positive spin on it.

 

[Mark44]

Last week, my wife and I got new carpeting in our house, to replace the carpet that was laid down when the house was built in '98. We have a fairly large house, so the project took two and a half days to complete. Everything sitting on a carpet had to be moved -- beds, living room furniture, six bookcases, stereo equipment, etc.
This was an opportunity for us to get rid of lots of books that we didn't wish to keep, as well as my computer stuff that I will probably never use again, such as 5 1/4" and 3 1/2" floppy disks (neither of my two computers has a floppy drive). I did keep my slide rules, though.

 

[anorlunda]

I did keep my slide rules, though.

As did I. Even when living on the boat, my slide rule in its holster was always close by.

 

[BillTre]

Here is something that my wife pulled out of storage somewhere.
It used to belong to my dead father-in-law who used to make and fly ultralight airplanes.
It is some kind of slide rule-like think for dead reaconning navigation. My dad had a circular slide rule for use in flying, but not like this one.

 

[Nik_2213]

Wow !
IIRC, a simpler version was popular with Yachties. I've vague memories of my father trying to get to grips with something similar on a basic navigation course.
Must be said, that taught me a lot about vector sums...

Also, several charts he bought came rolled in 'discards', one for a fjord. My young brother and I arranged several large boxes and a periscope, navigated our 'X-Sub' to lay saddle-mines and sink the Tirpitz...

 

[anorlunda]

Here is something that my wife pulled out of storage somewhere.

Guess what? They are still for sale. Only $49.95.

https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/deluxe-color-coded-e6b-flight-computer.html

 

[JBA]

It has been decades since I flew a small single engine plane but I still have my a plastic version of that device with a fixed protractor and a separate circular calculator for determine ground vs flight speed. Seeing this made me wonder how wind drift was determined by using a GPS and, from the information at the below website,m the process hasn't really changed much, except that GPS's indicate your actual flight path vs path to target by either a map display of the two paths or by a display of the compass angle of each path. Basically, even with a GPS, it is still the pilot's responsibility to establish the necessary flight angle to correct for drift, so don't be too quick to state those items you have as "obsolete".

www.takeflightsandiego.com › assets › documents › FlyingGPStheRightWay

 

[symbolipoint]

Now the Thomas Guide Maps are becoming obsolete technology. One of my relatives still uses them, and so did I up to about a few years ago. These days Google Maps seem easy enough to use.

 

[gmax137]

Here's a nice general purpose circular rule. The circular ones don't have the "problem" where the result goes "off the edge" of the stationary part. Companies used to give things like this out to their customers.

I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe I should start a collection? There is a slide rule community, the Oughtred society, after a Rev. Oughtred.

 

[Nik_2213]

"... where the result goes "off the edge" of the stationary part. "

Would have loved a circular slide rule, but scales on my mid-range stick were arranged such I could just turn it over and continue...