Old tech you still use
Discussion
When I need to bash out some writing, I often fire up a VM with Wordstar or some other DOS based text editor. I find the stark white text on black background with no fonts, basic text editing, and the clicking of a mechanical keyboard conducive to bashing out the words in a minimalist fashion.
No updates, or other nonsense just me pushing simple ASCII round the screen and concentrating on the the content.
What old tech are you still using?
No updates, or other nonsense just me pushing simple ASCII round the screen and concentrating on the the content.
What old tech are you still using?
My treasured iPhone 5s is being retired this week, still works fine despite years ago flying from the top of my car at 60mph.
I’m bitter that I’m having to replace it because the latest versions of WhatsApp, YouTube, Outlook etc will no longer work.
Still use my 1970s valve amp though!
I’m bitter that I’m having to replace it because the latest versions of WhatsApp, YouTube, Outlook etc will no longer work.
Still use my 1970s valve amp though!
DickyC said:
It's the rate of change that I find difficult to manage. The crew of the Enterprise had hand-held communicators that weren't computers and only enabled them to contact the ship. Engineers at Apollo Mission Control used slide rules. The astronauts had clockwork watches.
It's the complications and dilution of the single basic task that I find hard to move away from. I don't need 4,000 options when all I want to use is the letters from the alphabet and the numbers to write content.
Still watch plenty of VHS videos of aviation tapes, some well made some not so good, an American Australian joint production.
Also have copies of the funny adverts from the 80’s hamlet etc cos they are funny!
Fed up with wall to wall sport, reality shows, murders, quiz shows, yawn!
Still use windows XP on an old computer cos I use ms office and the windows 11 laptop won’t let me load it up.
And a I phone 8 bought second hand cos the newer models are too big for my needs.
I love new gadgets if they are an improvement on the ones I have, but until they come on the market I will stick with what I know
Also have copies of the funny adverts from the 80’s hamlet etc cos they are funny!
Fed up with wall to wall sport, reality shows, murders, quiz shows, yawn!
Still use windows XP on an old computer cos I use ms office and the windows 11 laptop won’t let me load it up.
And a I phone 8 bought second hand cos the newer models are too big for my needs.
I love new gadgets if they are an improvement on the ones I have, but until they come on the market I will stick with what I know
2001 Dell Inspiron 4100 Laptop (Pentium III 1.3Ghz) with 32Gb IDE SSD running Windows 7 - can't remember how much RAM but I'm sure its maxed out, so 1Gb perhaps?
It has a serial port which none of my newer laptops do which allows me to run engine diags. I do (now) have a USD serial interface that works also, but only the 32bit version of Win 10 runs the software which I don't have on my laptops, only on Linx 10 tablets.
It has a serial port which none of my newer laptops do which allows me to run engine diags. I do (now) have a USD serial interface that works also, but only the 32bit version of Win 10 runs the software which I don't have on my laptops, only on Linx 10 tablets.
Still have my HP35 in the original hard plastic box, leather carrier, and instructions, which I bought for £116 in 1975! A bargain, as it was a 'group buy' before the term entered the language, and a one-off cost was £250!
It replaced the slide rule, which I also have!
History matters...
It replaced the slide rule, which I also have!
History matters...
Yep, still got my Faber castel 6” slide rule with an adding machine on the back, you insert a stylus into the number you want to add or subtract and move it to or away from the centre depending on the colour of the slot. This was in the late 69’s when comptometer operators did all the calculations.
One thing about a slide rule is you became good a mental arithmetic as you had to work out where to put the decimal point. I did a HNC at the age of 65 and took it into the class, the puddle jumpers looked amazed
At one point we were looking at four numbers with two decimal places, I had added and averaged them in my head when the lecturer said what is the average? So I said what it was, he smiled as the other classmates were all reaching for their scientific calculator. Mastering one of these I found to be the most difficult part of the maths module!
One thing about a slide rule is you became good a mental arithmetic as you had to work out where to put the decimal point. I did a HNC at the age of 65 and took it into the class, the puddle jumpers looked amazed
At one point we were looking at four numbers with two decimal places, I had added and averaged them in my head when the lecturer said what is the average? So I said what it was, he smiled as the other classmates were all reaching for their scientific calculator. Mastering one of these I found to be the most difficult part of the maths module!
Edited by Mercdriver on Monday 30th January 21:36
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