What Old Technology Has Been Replaced by Modern Innovations?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around various old technologies that have been replaced or significantly transformed by modern innovations. Participants share personal anecdotes and memories related to outdated technologies across different domains, including household items, entertainment, transportation, and communication.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants recall metal toothpaste tubes as a past technology.
  • Pull tabs on Coke cans are mentioned as an example of replaced technology.
  • Radios with vacuum tubes that required warm-up time are discussed.
  • Eight-track tapes that would change tracks mid-song are noted as an outdated format.
  • One participant humorously mentions the internet being steam-powered.
  • Memories of cars with unpadded steel dashboards and no seat belts are shared.
  • Handheld calculators are recalled as a technology that did not exist in the past.
  • Participants reminisce about programming using punch cards and waiting for print-outs.
  • Typewriters and the issues with type bars getting tangled are discussed.
  • Old cigarette lighters that required naphtha and flints are mentioned.
  • Remote controls for TVs that were connected by wires are recalled.
  • Memories of early TV viewing experiences, including black and white broadcasts, are shared.
  • Some participants discuss the evolution of record players and the use of 78s.
  • There are mentions of nostalgic experiences related to food products and local stores.
  • Several participants reflect on historical events and societal norms from their childhoods.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share a variety of personal memories and experiences related to old technologies, but there is no consensus on specific items or the accuracy of certain recollections. Disagreements arise regarding the timeline of technological advancements and the accuracy of memories related to television broadcasts.

Contextual Notes

Some statements contain assumptions about the timeline of technological changes and personal experiences that may not be universally applicable. There are also references to specific historical events and societal practices that may not be fully explained.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in the history of technology, nostalgia for past innovations, or personal anecdotes related to technological change may find this discussion engaging.

  • #31
jimmysnyder said:
This is either a backward town, or a garbled memory. Disney's "Wonderful World of Color" started broadcasting in 1961. Flipper began in 1964.
Yep, our neighbors had a color tv and that was the only show in color.
 
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  • #32
jimmysnyder said:
This is either a backward town, or a garbled memory. Disney's "Wonderful World of Color" started broadcasting in 1961. Flipper began in 1964.
It could be a garbled memory, but not all the NBC/CBS affiliates started broadcasting in color at the same time, so who knows? Very rural area, and we had NBC/CBS years before we had an ABC affiliate in the area. When I was a kid and we got our first TV, there were only two broadcast channels At any rate, the very first TV show I saw in color was Flipper.
 
  • #33
I remember turning in bacon fat to get ration tickets(WWII). Never knew why as a kid.
Turns out munitions (propellants) can be made from triglycerides. An interesting note - you needed ration tickets to buy bacon. Or gasoline.:-p
 
  • #34
I remember there was a leaded gasoline as well as unleaded.
 
  • #35
I remember ducking under my flimsy little desk at school in response to air-raid sirens. This despite the fact that our elementary school was less than 1/10th mile downstream from a huge hydro impoundment that would have swept away the whole town (and lots of others) if the dam had been breached.
 
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  • #36
turbo-1 said:
...the only show broadcast locally in color at the time was Flipper.

Hahaha...the first show in color featured a large GREY animal...
 
  • #37
I remember reading the pamphlets to have a fallout shelter installed in our backyard. My parents decided against it.
 
  • #38
turbo-1 said:
I remember ducking under my flimsy little desk at school in response to air-raid sirens. This despite the fact that our elementary school was less that 1/10th mile downstream from a huge hydro impoundment that would have swept away the whole town (and lots of others) if the dam had been breached.
What a memory this evokes. I was in kindergarten and we were marched to the basement of the school where we stood with our faces to the wall and our arms wrapped around our heads. We were told that this would protect us from bombs. The image that formed in my mind was that of cannon balls coming though the walls at all angles and leaving holes in the exact shape of the ball like in a Saturday morning cartoon.
 
  • #39
I remember my wife and I lying on the floor while the SWAT teams shot it out with gangs who were returning fire with machine guns.

Oh yes, that was just LA.
 
  • #40
I remember when we had rotary dial telephones, and we had to call the operator, who had to call an operator, who had to call an operator, who had to call our relatives to make an international call. It took about an hour to set up an international call.

I remember coke in bottles for a nickel.

Certainly vacuum tube HiFi amplifier.

Steam engines in revenue service.

Cooking on a wood stove.

Setting the choke on the car, to start it.
 
  • #41
Evo said:
I remember reading the pamphlets to have a fallout shelter installed in our backyard. My parents decided against it.

Our landlord filled in the fallout shelter with sand. I had the best, deepest sandbox, er... litterbox in the neighborhood. I tried to dig to China once.
 
  • #42
I remember when we only had playstation 2's life was hard looking back.
 
  • #43
Vacuum tube test machines at grocery stores.
 
  • #44
Hand crank coffee grinders.
 
  • #45
non-HD tv's
 
  • #46
_Mayday_ said:
I remember when we only had playstation 2's life was hard looking back.

non-HD tv's
:biggrin:
 
  • #47
chemisttree said:
Our landlord filled in the fallout shelter with sand. I had the best, deepest sandbox, er... litterbox in the neighborhood. I tried to dig to China once.
At least it was useful.
 
  • #48
I remember having a telephone with a hand-crank (for years). You would lift the handset, crank the magneto to send a signal to the operator, tell her the number you wanted, and listen carefully to the clicks after you were connected. One click meant the operator jacked out. Two clicks meant that she jacked out and back in so she could monitor everything in your conversation. When I came back on my first freshman break, my parents had a dial phone. Woot!
 
  • #49
I remember the only portable hair dryer was a large round plastic box that you could sling over your shoulder and it had a hose that went to a plastic bonnet that inflated on your head.
 
  • #50
Evo said:
I remember the only portable hair dryer was a large round plastic box that you could sling over your shoulder and it had a hose that went to a plastic bonnet that inflated on your head.
Ooh! My mother and sisters had one of those.
 
  • #51
I had a slip that had an inflatable tube around the bottom. You would inflate it to keep the bottom of your dress poofed out in a circle.
 
  • #52
Tuning the TV using the UHF dial. You'd get it perfect, and as soon as you let go of the dial (or the rabbit ears) it would go snowy.
 
  • #53
I remember when juke boxes had 45's in them. Now it's all CD's.

(What's that you say? There are no more CD's in juke boxes? It's all touch screen now?)

OK, I remember when jukes boxes had CD's in them.
 
  • #54
I remember when they used to drive through the neighborhoods fogging for mosquitos with DDT. It was so fun chasing that truck...
 
  • #55
lisab said:
Tuning the TV using the UHF dial. You'd get it perfect, and as soon as you let go of the dial (or the rabbit ears) it would go snowy.
:smile: Oh, that's a good one!
 
  • #56
chemisttree said:
I remember when they used to drive through the neighborhoods fogging for mosquitos with DDT. It was so fun chasing that truck...
We would all chase the trucks! We'd tie a handkerchief over our nose and mouth so we could breath better. :rolleyes:
 
  • #57
I remember when MTV played music videos.
 
  • #58
Tom Mattson said:
I remember when MTV played music videos.

Whoa, you're really showing your age! :wink:
 
  • #59
I remember R12. It is ironic that as a devout environmentalist, I have dumped hundreds of pounds of freon into the atmosphere. Of course we all thought it was safe back then.
 
  • #60
I remember when the only snowmobiles around had engines in the back, and a simple metal shield in the front to protect the driver. Everybody else had to snowshoe out onto the lake, and drill an ice-fishing hole with a hand-auger or a chisel.
 

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