Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Technological Artifacts

There's an overhead projector in my office. Really. It sits next to my fax machine.

Here's a list of other gadgets and technologies that just a few years ago were everyday signs of man's technological achievement. Now they are hopelessly obsolete and outdated.

  • Rabbit-ear television antennas - And tinfoil, lots and lots of tinfoil.
  • Fax machines - Can't we just scan and email?
  • Pagers - Two words: cell phone.
  • PDAs - An electronic address book in your pocket that can't make a call? Really?
  • Land line telephones - Admit it, have you ever looked up a number on your cell phone in order to make a call on your home phone?
  • Alarm clocks - Another casualty of the cell phone.
  • CB radios - And probably the 10-codes with them, are ten-seven, out of service.
  • Typewriters - really?
  • 35mm film and 35mm cameras - why not go digital?
  • Polaroid cameras - I can't remember when I last saw a polaroid.
  • Overhead projectors - Powerpoint for cavemen.
  • VCRs - But we'll still call the act of recording "taping."
  • Cassette Tapes - Remember winding a tape with a pen or your fingernail?
  • CD players and changers - Remember stacks and stacks of CDs in your car?
  • CRT computer monitors and televisions - Heavy TV screens used to be the norm, now they are flat and relatively light.
  • Dial-up modems and the funny little sounds they make - There was a time when you couldn't call someone because they were on the internet. And that was like three or four years ago.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Went to a conference a few weeks ago and there were no power point presentations - just overhead projectors. - not obsolete yet.

We JUST (during the summer) got off dial-up onto high speed, but will probably go back when my husband gets laid off again.

Still have the old CRT monitor.
Still use an alarm clock.
Still use the fax machine for health insurance paperwork.
Still use the land-line - cell phone minutes are more expensive at the moment. Though I do try to get to the "walk around" phone instead of the corded one.

Have only 2 CD players - one that came with the car and one in the house - no changers. Still have cassette tapes and still listen to them - the pickup came with a cassette player. No Ipod used here - my husband got one for Christmas last year from his old employer but we can't figure out what we would do with it so it is still in the box. No music downloads - can't hear it anywhere except the computer and can get online radio now with the fast internet. Radio though in the portable CD player or in the vehicles is much cheaper (don't have to buy anything).

We do not have cable or satellite TV. We use rabbit ears to watch the local stations. We got a digital converter box, but promptly unplugged it and stored it in the basement until Feb 09 because it has an annoying box that comes up every couple of minutes that says we need to upgrade our antenna. We mute the commercials instead of fast forward. We watch the show when it is on (if we remember) as we have no way to "tape" it. There is a show we like, but neither of us can remember whether it is on Channel 4 or 5, on at 7,8,or 9, or which night of the week it is on.

My address book is still kept via pen and paper. Guess we'll soon say that pens and pencils are obsolete and relieve our precious children from handwriting drills. For that matter, lets just quit teaching them math facts - it's all done in the computer/calculator. A calculator - oh, that is also on the cell phone. Why get a digital camera, it is also on the cell phone. Why buy books - they are all electronic. Hey, sounds like we ought to just sit in our chairs all the time like the folks on WALL-E did!

No video games at our house. A couple of preschool computer games and Hoyle Casino. Games here are played on the floor or at the table - we call them family games and we use board games and card games and dominoes. We also entertain ourselves with puzzles or other hands-on hobbies.

Guess I'm old - or too cheap. Technology is just plain expensive. What happens when the power goes out? Can you function without a computer and cell phone? Are these things tools or needs?

jayrod said...

Jared, two notes

1. Alarm clocks are not necessarily out, as "ihome" and other products like it merge clock with ipod...
2. 10-codes are still very much in use. Quick, Mike, what's your 20???

Thumper said...

Mimeograph machines, record players, and 8-tracks are some of the older gadgets that have been replaced with newer tech.

There's nothing personal meant by this. Only a recognition that as technology advances, some adopt it quicker than others.

None of it needs to define you or threaten you, whether you embrace it or eschew it. A person is not defined by the technology in his hand but rather the character in his heart.