The oldest Technology in your home...

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126589#Comment_121126589

you can't get film for those over the counter anymore - it's 620 and has been discontinued for decades. you can however apparently re-spool 120 on the 620 reels though.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126626#Comment_121126626

also, speaking of guitars and old school tech; i'm currently making an electric guitar and have made good use of some woodworking equipment which dates back possibly as far as the 30s or 40s. my dad thinks the spokeshave is probably as old as he is, it came from my grandfather's workshop. not sure about the planes, i bought them with no info as to age.

Gregor Samsa

I still regularly use my great-grandfathers's pig gut condom, that was passed down to my grandfather, father and then me.

Although reading that sentence back makes me wonder about its effectiveness...

seablue

I have a Sony Walkman that I've kept for nostalgic reasons.

I have a non-electronic pilot’s computer from 1981, used for navigation, fuel endurance and other calculations. Slide rule type thing. You could buy electronic ones, but they cost nearly quarter as much as the airplane.

The J Stands for Jay

I've a Sony Minidisc Walkman that I still use from time to time.

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121125359#Comment_121125359

I'm not jealous, not at all...😮

Ubbquittious

Clock from when my great granddad used to run a post office in Netherlands. It is mechanical but with a little motor that runs off the mains to wind it automatically

silliussoddius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126685#Comment_121126685

Are you Amish? If so, could you build me a barn?

Strumms

I also have a Sony Walkman from 1998… the sound was incredible… a live album I had by The Jam was a favourite to play and if you closed your eyes you could swear you were there. Hasn’t seen any action in 18-20 years I’d guesstimate. It’s around somewhere but I can’t put my hand on it… or find an accurate pic without knowing the model number.

That was replaced in around 2001/2002 by one of these…

sound was again unbelievably great but it absolutely chewed the batteries…

ottolwinner

I’ve a kenwood food mixer my parents got as a honeymoon present in 72. Still works perfect.

Speedsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121125383#Comment_121125383

I use my mother's Kenwood Chef every week. A wedding present in 1970, has been repaired twice in the electrical repair shop in Harold's cross.

I also use (though rarely) her Toyota sewing machine that was also a wedding present.

There's an iron around as well, but don't tend to use it... as someone else said very, very heavy. Have a 1940s toaster that I just wouldn't be brave enough to plug in (would have to replace the round plug first)

magicbastarder

that does say a lot about how repairable most modern goods are though.

the only time recently i've come across a repairable kitchen implement which is less than probably 10 or 15 years old, is a kenwood mixer, and that's because it was an expensive one; and thinking about it, being pedantic, it's not so much that it's repairable it's just that some common spares are available, due to it being a reasonably pricey one (my mother in law was given it when she was in the audience on the late late)

i also have a pair of headphones i bought in 1998 i think, for which replacement ear pads are still available.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121127328#Comment_121127328

Is the clock mounted sideways, the picture taken sideways, or the text on the clock printed sideways?

The ultimate mind melt would be if it was all three.

randd1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126846#Comment_121126846

Funny Post of the Year material that.

Kintarō Hattori

Having a very young daughter who's growing up in a digital age, I wanted something to show her that music didn't and doesn't just come from Google, so I bought a Teac CX-310 cassette deck, which I think came out in 1980. I love my HI-Fi and while I have plenty of CDs and there are various things around the house that can play CDs, they are hidden away whilst playing. With this she can see the cassette turning while the music is playing.

I just wanted her to understand that music was/is a physical tangible thing and not just something you asked Google to do.

I also have one of these which I haven't used in some years but it does still work and produces a lovely image. They were made sometime between 1967-1970:

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126393#Comment_121126393

I had a red one circa late 70s - very similar design -I still remember the light clunk sound of that dial as you switched channel and the hiss when there was no channel available

Oscar_Madison

Whilst I have a few cameras from the 1950s I also have a Kodak Disc camera- from early 1980s - anyone remember these?

I wonder can you get a disc film still? Would love to take a few photos with it but obviously then I’d have to find a place to develop that film/ probably no chance of that

Marlay

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126501#Comment_121126501

In case you're curious about trying out the C64 Google 'C64 brick of death' before you use the original power adapter. My own C64 is early 90s so not so old. Also a grim shade of yellow now unfortunately. Not going to be retrobrighting.

Igotadose

Air-driven aquarium tank ornament of a diver holding a chest. Probably from the 1940's. Made of lead, woot! With a dead coral bit as the base, to complete the eco-hostile ensemble.

A coconut (guess that's not technology) from the 1975 premier of Monty Python and the Holy Grail in NYC, handed to me by Graham Chapman. They were technology in the movie, at least.

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121128924#Comment_121128924

Lovely pieces thanks for sharing. I was on a ruthless clean out phase about 5 years ago- gave about 70 cassette tapes away to charity - kept about 6 which had sentimental value- honestly don’t regret giving them away as I no longer have a tape player - What I also had though in the late 90s was a Sony mini disk player- I found that great for recording shows on the radio - again long gone and much shorter lived than the cassettes

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121128361#Comment_121128361

My parents (long dead) 1962 Kenwood still works without missing a beat- built to last back then

Sleepy

I'd have some cameras from the twenties that are display pieces but in terms of regularly used tech, like @magicbastarder it'd be my hand tools.

I have a 1948 Stanley Bailey No 4 that my father snagged for me in a charity shop that came in it's original box and wrappings and a much older wooden jointer we believe is from the mid 1800's that still takes a good shaving. I also have a vintage brace drill and set of auger bits but I've no idea how old they are at best guess, they'd be a similar vintage to the Stanley No 4.

Cal4567

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126872#Comment_121126872

As I have with my Betamax video.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129061#Comment_121129061

i also have this, but don't use it - two reasons, one is that the steel in the blade is weirdly brittle and hard to get a good edge on; also, it's not nearly as easily adjustable as my baileys. i have more baileys i didn't photograph, the biggest being a more modern 5 1/2, and that's usually big enough for me.

Sleepy

Yeah, my jointer is very similar to that. The blade in mine is good steel but realistically I end up using the Bailey for jobs that the jointer would be more suited for simply due to how awkward it is to dial in the depth of cut etc.

Kintarō Hattori

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129007#Comment_121129007

Minidisc was a lovely physical format that just unfortunately crossed paths with MP3.

paddydriver

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121126061#Comment_121126061

This too... 2 x SL1210's and lots of vinyl! The wheels of steel are still going strong.

MrCostington

Great thread @fortwilliam !

Mine would be an 1991 Pioneer XD-Z54T Hi-Fi still in daily use. I was made redundant from a job and as part of the package we all got, I think, £1,000 in vouchers, I used £500 of mine to buy that. Must have been a huge sum back then!

There is still the odd tool from my grandfather knocking around my mother's house, he was a carpenter.

I have an 1983 car if that counts.

Just last week had to replace a 10mm 3/8ths drive socket from the 80's that had worn out.

If you like this thread you may also enjoy this YT channel, Techmoan, here's a sample

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBKTDlAizSk

o1s1n

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121129174#Comment_121129174

It didn't do quite as badly as folks make out, Sony still sold 22 million units. Still a bit of a household name as far as tech goes.

If you want to see a real failed (and quite interesting) recording format, check out Digital Compact Cassettes (DCC)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Compact_Cassette