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 Message Boards » » What's the oldest piece of technology you use? Page [1] 2, Next  
neodata686
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Computer that is. I just realized the Logitech Laser MX1000 wireless mouse I'm using at work just hit 10 years. Shit is quality. The battery still way outlasts my desktop Razer Mamba at home.

2/25/2014 5:34:06 PM

0EPII1
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Not computer tech, but my phone is from 2008.

2/25/2014 6:05:53 PM

stowaway
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currently working on getting files off of my parents P3 866mhz dell and onto an old workstation, 2.8ghz p4. They don't do anything but check email and a few websites, but the old computer couldn't even do that very well.

2/25/2014 6:07:38 PM

neodata686
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Wow my parents still have a Dell Pentium 4 at the house but they don't really use it anymore. I doubt the 486 in my parents attic would boot.

2/25/2014 6:17:53 PM

Nighthawk
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My grandfather has a Tandy 1000 TX which is sitting in his office on a desk and he does fire up and use it sometimes.

2/25/2014 6:55:55 PM

carzak
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I have a Pentium II PC from 1998 that I used to back stuff up on as of a few years ago. I think it's a 450 MHz. Probably still runs.

[Edited on February 25, 2014 at 7:13 PM. Reason : .]

2/25/2014 7:11:28 PM

dweedle
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Paint Shop Pro 5 (1998 or so release)

it fits on a USB stick and doesn't require installing, so I can take it and use wherever

2/25/2014 7:24:49 PM

qntmfred
retired
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TWW

2/25/2014 7:50:06 PM

richthofen
All American
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No question--my HP LaserJet 5M printer. Datecode July 1996. Still prints dead reliably and I picked up a new high-capacity cartridge recently (8000 pages) off Amazon for $40.

I had to replace the rollers last year and it'll still pull multiple pages occasionally, but that printer is easily the best $50 I ever spent. (Bought it in '05. It was probably over $2000 new in '96!)

[Edited on February 25, 2014 at 8:03 PM. Reason : d]

2/25/2014 8:02:55 PM

Axelay
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Hardware - There's an old Pentium II machine running Windows 2000 down in the first floor server closet. The only thing which that machine does is interface with the bell/intercom schedule. We don't have any other copies of the software, the manufacturer folded years ago, and I'm just praying that that machine doesn't keel over before we can afford to buy a whole new intercom system.

Software - I still run the Sonique .mp3 player. Oh yeah, and I sometimes break out Callus to play some old school Capcom CPS1 arcade games. The Punisher game is still a fantastic beat-'em-up.

2/25/2014 8:51:51 PM

puck_it
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Laptop, 7 years old
IPod, 6yrs old
TV, 5.5 years old
Ps3, 4.5 years old

I think everything else is under two years old at this point... Phone, tablet, other random electronics.

WAIT.
the wheel.

[Edited on February 25, 2014 at 9:14 PM. Reason : .]

2/25/2014 9:13:25 PM

neodata686
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Quote :
"TWW"


heh

2/25/2014 9:24:00 PM

JeffreyBSG
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this, which I've had since 2001



an Altec Lansing Multimedia Computer Speaker System atp3

it's served me very well...it plays music and the quality still seems reasonably good. I'm not sure replacing it has ever crossed my mind, even.

2/25/2014 10:39:05 PM

seedless
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Lexmark X4690 All-in-one printer. Its like 7 years old or so. My TV, which is a Sharp Aquos (I think like the first gen) and its like8 years old. Both are still rocking for my standards and don't plan on replacing or upgrading either anytime soon.

2/25/2014 10:55:49 PM

theDuke866
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Maybe an old Denon record turntable?

2/25/2014 11:16:04 PM

moron
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My alarm clock is probably 13 or 14 years old.

2/26/2014 12:13:10 AM

richthofen
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Quote :
"t's served me very well...it plays music and the quality still seems reasonably good. I'm not sure replacing it has ever crossed my mind, even."


That reminded me of what takes second place after the LaserJet. I still have and use the Boston Acoustics MediaTheater 2.1 speaker system that came with the computer I got when I came to NCSU. So those date from fall '98. Still sound great and get more than loud enough to annoy the neighbors.

2/26/2014 1:36:24 AM

Noen
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That I actually use is a Japanese Famicom. Oldest I have used in the last year would be an Atari 2600

2/26/2014 1:48:10 AM

FroshKiller
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Language.

2/26/2014 8:34:07 AM

stevedude
hello
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maybe 80gb 5th gen ipod, gamecube, older panasonic stereo system

2/26/2014 10:07:57 AM

Sayer
now with sarcasm
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I'm pretty sure that my Hoover vacuum is from the 1980s, and has already outlasted several newer vacuums, including another Hoover.

I have a DVD player that still works from 1999 or 2000.

The oldest computer I have is a IBM laptop from 2001, but I haven't tried to boot it in a while.

2/26/2014 10:55:54 AM

djeternal
Bee Hugger
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I have a 10 year old Dell desktop that I just put into storage a few weeks ago.

My wireless router is at least 8 years old.

My DVD player was a Christmas gift in 2003.

Up until last month (when I switched my home phone service from TWC to Verizon) I used an answering machine that was probably 15-20 years old. Time Warner wanted to charge me $5 a month for Voicemail, so I dug the old answering machine out of my Mom's attic.

And yeah, my GF uses an Electrolux vacuum cleaner that her Mom gave her in 1990.

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 11:36 AM. Reason : a]

2/26/2014 11:34:42 AM

rjrumfel
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Frosh beat me to it.

The wheel would be the next oldest piece of tech I use.

2/26/2014 12:17:09 PM

JeffreyBSG
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Quote :
"Language."


I don't really regard language as "technology"....for me, technology necessarily involves the construction of physical tools

wikipedia doesn't quite agree with me, though

Quote :
"
Technology (from Greek t????, techne, "art, skill, cunning of hand"; and -????a, -logia[1]) is the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a pre-existing solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction technology, medical technology, and information technology."


Wikipedia isn't the end-all and be-all, but still, I don't want to debate this...it's ultimately a matter of definition, I suspect

2/26/2014 12:54:17 PM

FroshKiller
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Yes, it is a matter of definition. And by definition, I am right. You may have some ignorant shitheel idea to the contrary, and you may think that saying something is a matter of definition is sorry-not-sorry method of sidestepping the fact, but technology is the practical application of knowledge. Language itself is one of the oldest if not the oldest of human technologies. Where do you think the -logy bit comes from? I'll give you a hint: It isn't Ancient Greek for "plastic gadget."

"I don't want to debate this" is a bullshit thing to say. "I disagree but don't want to talk it out." Fuck out of here with that. The entire point of my post was to remind people that technology is an incredibly expansive concept that applies to more than hundred-dollar agglutinations of glass and rare earths. Get your head out of your materially obsessed ass and embrace the wonder of the countless methods humankind has applied our collective learning beyond shit sitting in an aisle at Best Buy.

And before any bright-eyed bastard takes further issue with it by pointing out neodata686's specification of computer technology, the essential utility of the general computer derives from what? Language. Not fucking screws and pulleys, not fucking transistors and diodes, the concept and application of programming languages.

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 1:27 PM. Reason : ...]

2/26/2014 1:23:48 PM

puck_it
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my tools are metaphors

2/26/2014 1:28:06 PM

JeffreyBSG
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Quote :
"technology is the practical application of knowledge"


this is your definition, not mine, and it's not widely accepted. it's also pretty useless, B

by it, when a lion returns to a pool where it has encountered gazelles before, it's using technology

when a bear pulls down a beehive and claws it open to get at the honey, it's using technology

when a fish flees from a shark because it's seen sharks eat other fish, it's using technology

technology is a LOT more than the "practical application of knowledge"

2/26/2014 1:34:39 PM

FroshKiller
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You're right, I literally defined "instinct" which is exactly the same thing as "knowledge," and "acting on instinct" is exactly the same thing as applying knowledge practically.

2/26/2014 1:39:41 PM

LoneSnark
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The word "piece" in the thread title implies "artifact" or physical manifestation of the application of knowledge, a thing bigger or smaller than a bread box.

My car is 19 years old and still runs perfectly, just missing air conditioning (1995 model year). At this point, I keep it around out of shear curiosity for how it is going to die. I want to be there, to take its last picture, on the side of some road somewhere. I feel I've had it my entire life, and I'd hate to abandon it before its time is up.

Do I win?

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 1:42 PM. Reason : ^]

2/26/2014 1:40:24 PM

JeffreyBSG
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^^

when a lion returns to a pool where it has encountered gazelles before in the hopes of encountering gazelles again, that's NOT instinct. rather, it's the application of acquired knowledge to the current problem of finding food. this seems pretty plain to me.

2/26/2014 1:43:39 PM

FroshKiller
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You think like a child.

2/26/2014 1:44:40 PM

JeffreyBSG
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So, the first time anybody raises an objection to your position, you ignore it and fall back on insults.

It's possible that your definition is wrong, you know.

2/26/2014 1:51:05 PM

FroshKiller
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All things are possible with God.

2/26/2014 1:52:33 PM

cyrion
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whether or not i agree with him, i do so miss reading Froshkiller posts. My co-trainer here (at work) is an acceptable analogue though.

I've got all kinds of limping equipment at home though. My phone is many years old, my only printer is from high school, my mp3 player is from 2002 or so, etc.

[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 2:14 PM. Reason : im cheap, that's why]

2/26/2014 2:13:49 PM

Førte
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I don't use it, but we still have a rotary phone that's probably 60 years old

oldest thing I still use regularly is my Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)

my clock radio is from the early 90s, so it's up there too

2/26/2014 2:33:13 PM

RedGuard
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I also have a set of old Boston Acoustics 5.1 speakers that I have continuously used since I went to NCSU in 1997.

In my office, I also have a really old Sharp COMPET CS-2115 dating back to 1979 that I use occasionally. I feel bad though, since I suspect it probably consumes an inordinate amount of power for the basic arithmetic functions it does however.

2/26/2014 4:05:37 PM

Igor
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I got a Bose Acoustic Wave system from mid 90's that I use almost daily. It still looks and sounds better than 90% of tabletop systems out there. Every once in a while I shoot with a Canon AE-1 film SLR from early 80's. I daily drive a 17 year old car with the original Panasonic head unit with tape and CD decks, although I hacked an AUX input into it for teh iPhones and replaced speakers/added a sub to bring on da bump. This is as far as the original purpose use. I also have a 10MB (!) hard drive from the 80's the size of shoebox, re-purposed as a clock.

Once you look past computers and most battery-powered devices, there is a ton of good old battle-tested tech out there.






[Edited on February 26, 2014 at 7:28 PM. Reason : .]

2/26/2014 7:22:27 PM

skokiaan
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thewolfweb.com

2/26/2014 11:08:16 PM

AndyMac
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I have some nice Logitech surround sound PC speakers from around 2001.

2/26/2014 11:27:37 PM

richthofen
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FroshKiller won (in fact I don't think I've ever seen him lose an argument). Lock, we're done here.

2/26/2014 11:44:18 PM

Smath74
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I still have the same mousepad I got my freshman year at NC State.

2/27/2014 8:37:52 AM

Wraith
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Quote :
" I just realized the Logitech Laser MX1000 wireless mouse I'm using at work just hit 10 years."


I've got that very same mouse! Got mine in 2005 though so only 9 years for me. It doesn't hold a charge as well as it used to but I can usually go at least a week before needing to recharge. The only problem my has is that the on/off button slips every now and then but other than that it is great. There are spots on it where my hand/fingers have worn it really smooth .

Also, Frosh seemed really pissed off in his post.

[Edited on February 27, 2014 at 2:12 PM. Reason : are]

2/27/2014 1:52:20 PM

neodata686
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It's better than my 1st gen Razer Mamba which last like 8 hours on a charge.

2/27/2014 1:57:57 PM

ncsuftw1
BEAP BEAP
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^^ I'll join this party, just realized I also have the same... battery has only recently started sucking, but still good enough.

3/1/2014 8:55:17 PM

quagmire02
All American
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purchased in the spring of 1999 and still in use every weekday

3/1/2014 9:38:12 PM

tchenku
midshipman
18586 Posts
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VHS player from sometime in the 90's

it's hooked up to my TV in mono composite but I haven't used it in a while

3/2/2014 10:21:02 PM

ssclark
Black and Proud
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^^ purchased mine spring of 2000 ... fucking love that trackball. my mom uses it now on her home computer to play doom and doom 2

3/3/2014 12:28:23 AM

afripino
All American
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Logitech dinovo edge keyboard and mx1000 laser mouse

3/3/2014 1:42:24 PM

evlbuxmbetty
All American
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Does this count? My work computer...


[Edited on March 5, 2014 at 11:03 PM. Reason : .]

3/5/2014 11:02:36 PM

PaulISdead
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Quote :
"FroshKiller won (in fact I don't think I've ever seen him lose an argument). Lock, we're done here."


Do you want to be inside him?

I enjoy his typical conjecture but the reliance on insult was excessive for such a subjective argument. Greek roots dont define modern usage and opening a concept to its most broad metaphorical sense makes for a chaotic read.

3/6/2014 11:05:02 AM

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