Preference for outdated technology

cliveh · Aug 13, 2015

How does film photography sit with other outdated technology you use? For instance I still like to use a fountain pen.

gzinsel · Aug 13, 2015

well, i still listen to vinyl over cd's and mp3's. I prefer pencil to pen. laces over velcro, buttons over zippers, lithographs over xerox, rag paper over the other crap, and as far as a telephone. . . . I prefer a stamped/mailed letter. candle light over halogen, bicycle over a car. the list goes on and on.

Nodda Duma · Aug 13, 2015

I went a winter wearing portyanki instead of socks. Surprisingly comfy.

Peltigera · Aug 13, 2015

Like Clive, I still use a fountain pen and my notebook is made from paper. I also like hardback books rather than han paperbacks - or Kindles.

MattKing · Aug 13, 2015

I believe there is a difference between outdated technology, and technology that isn't "cutting edge".

There is nothing outdated about the technology behind Kodak Portra 160.

The technology behind Kodacolor-X is outdated.

And there is certainly nothing outdated about a fountain pen for which you can still obtain new ink and nibs.

cliveh · Aug 13, 2015

MattKing said:
I believe there is a difference between outdated technology, and technology that isn't "cutting edge".

There is nothing outdated about the technology behind Kodak Portra 160.

The technology behind Kodacolor-X is outdated.

And there is certainly nothing outdated about a fountain pen for which you can still obtain new ink and nibs.

Tell that to a Biro user.

pdeeh · Aug 13, 2015

Like Gargantua, I prefer always to wipe my arse with a goose's neck, well downed,

spiceminer · Aug 13, 2015

Interesting point cliveh,

For myself, I recently completed an electron tube amplifier project and I use and collect home computers (like commodore C64) from the 80s.

Xmas · Aug 13, 2015

I prefer a quill from a gooses right wing, can't stand new fangled pens.
My style is an early chancellery cursive.

It is easy to read.

railwayman3 · Aug 13, 2015

I have a large collection of classical music on mini-discs. Sounds fine through my top-end hi-fi, and I have two spare players in case of irreparable breakdown. Why should I be expected to throw all this out, just because some random people say that it's an obsolete system.

railwayman3 · Aug 13, 2015

Just received a "holiday postcard" from a friend currently away in foreign parts. Sent through an online service, printed and mailed from the UK, with preprinted postage!

I appreciate the thought, but I miss receiving the proper local postcard, bought and written there (and probably a B&W "real photograph" print), with an exotic postage stamp and a postmark from somewhere you had to look up in the atlas!

summicron1 · Aug 13, 2015

cliveh said:
How does film photography sit with other outdated technology you use? For instance I still like to use a fountain pen.

i think "mature technology" is the term you should be using.

Nothing outdated about film.

railwayman3 · Aug 13, 2015

MattKing said:
I believe there is a difference between outdated technology, and technology that isn't "cutting edge".

There is nothing outdated about the technology behind Kodak Portra 160.

The technology behind Kodacolor-X is outdated.

And there is certainly nothing outdated about a fountain pen for which you can still obtain new ink and nibs.

Agreed entirely...I wouldn't now use Kodacolor-X for my daughter's wedding pictures when better technology film is available. OTOH, a lot of our analog photography still uses technology "outdated" for mainstream purposes, simply because we want the effects and results given by older processes......depends on the purpose, of course-making bromoil prints of my daughter's wedding might raise a few eyebrows, but a couple of framed bromoil views currently on my wall attract a lot of interest,

Sirius Glass · Aug 13, 2015

cliveh said:
How does film photography sit with other outdated technology you use? For instance I still like to use a fountain pen.

Wow! This is news to me! I did not know that photography is outdated technology! When did that happen?

Please advise! Interested readers want to know.

BrianShaw · Aug 13, 2015

I stay rather current but there are two new-fangled things I refuse to use: computers and the Internet.

ic-racer · Aug 13, 2015

cliveh said:
How does film photography sit with other outdated technology you use? For instance I still like to use a fountain pen.

Film photography is out dated?? No more so than oil painting.

John Koehrer · Aug 13, 2015

BrianShaw said:
I stay rather current but there are two new-fangled things I refuse to use: computers and the Internet.

Ummmm, OK, if you say so.

Ken Nadvornick · Aug 13, 2015

Just yesterday afternoon a coworker was extolling to me the virtues of his brand new WiFi-enabled (or was it Bluetooth-enabled, who knows?) barbeque grill. He can now control his cooking using his iPhone. Really.

Digital fire...

Yeah, that's the ticket. Analog fire is just so... two hours ago. He was absolutely certain that his food was going to taste better with programmable fire.

I felt so naked and inadequate that my own cooking fire has never been upgraded and is now hopelessly obsolete and on the verge of being discontinued. In fact, when I looked it up I found that my fire has been marked as deprecated for some time. I now fear for my own starvation.

God help me I'm not making this up.

Ken

Sirius Glass · Aug 13, 2015

Is amateur radio outdated? I just got my Extra Class license.

Dan Fromm · Aug 13, 2015

Ken, I know you're not making it up.

My son-in-law is a barbecue nut, will rattle on for hours about controlling temperature and so on. He has a nice wood/charcoal cooker/smoker that needs constant stoking and adjusting to keep the temperature just so. I think all that's an excuse to sit out in the backyard absorbing beer.

Your cow orker isn't alone. There's a variety of automatic cookers, gas-fired, I think, whose proponents say get as good results as the obsolete manual ones that burn solid fuel. But what about the beer? Isn't it all about the beer?

Son-in-law isn't convinced and isn't starving. You shouldn't starve either but you and son-in-law may work harder than absolutely necessary if it isn't all about the beer.

removed account4 · Aug 13, 2015

i use charcoal and hardwood over gas for my cooker/grill ( used in summer as well as winter ), and a pressure cooker for the range,
and i have a hand cranked crapola ( a rebuilt victrola from india ) and a 78rpm disk ( i need a cactus for needles )
... a straight razor when i decide to shave a fermentation pot for making pickled-things ( pickling 10lbs of sauerkraut as i type this )
a nipping press and a hammer and a hand made sewing rack, needle+thread for making books by hand
knives and axes for chopping and cutting things, flour for making wheat paste and flour for making pizza, wind watch and a dictionary
and an embosser and a reel mower, a hand crank "boston" pencil sharpener, and make my own beer.
... i wish i had a sickle and an adze.

Roger Cole · Aug 13, 2015

cliveh said:
Tell that to a Biro user.

What's a Biro?

Ah, the inventor of the ballpoint. I know what a ballpoint is of course (I have a fountain pen and rather like them, but admit I almost never use it and use ballpoints) but never heard it called a Biro before.

Roger Cole · Aug 13, 2015

MattKing said:
I believe there is a difference between outdated technology, and technology that isn't "cutting edge".

There is nothing outdated about the technology behind Kodak Portra 160.

The technology behind Kodacolor-X is outdated.

And there is certainly nothing outdated about a fountain pen for which you can still obtain new ink and nibs.

I think this is spot on, as well as calling them "mature technology."

And the answer is - I often, not always but often, prefer such "mature technology" for my hobbies that I engage in for the sheer pleasure of it. I usually prefer the most modern and efficient I can use for things that are "mere work" and that I need to get done. So I enjoy film, and vinyl records, and have two cars both with manual transmissions (but with multi CD changes - well that's getting old fashioned too - and one with Bluetooth connection to my phone which also serves as music player so the ONLY thing old fashion about it is the transmission/clutch part of the drivetrain, but still...) and when I get back into ham radio my focus will be on tube gear, because I just like it and think it has a personality that's missing from modern digitally controlled solid state stuff. Discrete solid state circa late 70s to early 90s or so is kind of in between. By "personality" I think I mean mainly the fact I can understand the circuit and work on it at a component level and it isn't just LSI flat pack ICs and such. Of course that part applies to discrete solid state transistors/FETs as well, thus the "somewhere in between" but there's something cool about radios that heat up and glow in the dark.

I have a friend, long time radio friend, who combines very old and very new in an interesting way. One of his hobbies is collecting and restoring very old (1920s and 30s) broadcast radio receivers. He also collects old time radio shows - on mp3. He has built a very excellent quality (all solid state) AM transmitter of allowed power that covers his house with a good signal, and he uses this to play his collection of mp3 old time radio through his antique receivers, usually in another room so it looks and sounds absolutely authentic.

Truzi · Aug 13, 2015

MattKing said:
I believe there is a difference between outdated technology, and technology that isn't "cutting edge".

There is nothing outdated about the technology behind Kodak Portra 160.

The technology behind Kodacolor-X is outdated.

And there is certainly nothing outdated about a fountain pen for which you can still obtain new ink and nibs.

I agree. I do not think "new" makes something else "outdated."

I have a fountain pen. I don't consider it "outdated," but special. It is a nice instrument to use for certain purposes. I use cheap gel pens for daily scribblings, and the fountain pen for more enjoyable experiences. The gel is something that is cheap and I don't care if I damage or lose it - while giving feel that is vaguely similar to the fountain pen (in my opinion). To me it's the experience and qualities of an item, regardless of it being "new" or "old."

Yesterday I was having a similar conversation with a friend at work, who was extolling virtues of modern digital photography (he does a little film). I asked why he owns a stove, since microwaves are newer and more modern, as well as inductive cooking. Apparently, the argument only counts for "modern" things one likes.

Surely the wheel would be considered outdated tech, considering how old it is

Theo Sulphate · Aug 13, 2015

Aside from film cameras, I'm fond of and own:

- Mechanical watches and have a small collection.

- Old computing devices and early electronic calculators and computers
(I have a Curta II, a DEC PDP-11 with switches and lights,, and old-but-working HP calculators)

- Manual gearboxes (co-worker: "my auto-transmission can shift in milliseconds",
me: it's not the speed of shifting that's important to me, it's the involvement and technique.").

- Books, magazines, old manuals, old maps and atlases

- Single shots and bolt actions.

- Tube (valve) radios; ham radios

I've never owned a DVD player, but I think an 8-track would be way cool. Generally, things from the 1970's (*) appeal to me (except cars); perhaps that's because I was in my 20's then.

As for the iBBQ, about 25 years ago I wrote in an alt USENET forum that someday people would be able to log on to their toothbrush. I wrote that as an absurdity - a reaction to people expecting computers in everything. Well, today there are WiFi enabled toothbrushes.

(*) an old APUG thread had many people saying the 70's was the best decade for cameras.

Preference for outdated technology

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