Speaking of obsolete technology: Circular slide rule
I really liked circular slide rules—I had one that was 8″ in diameter, which produced a VERY long scale compared to the regular slide rules. I just listed one on eBay, but it’s a pocket model and just chockablock with useful constants and tables (on the back and on a two-sided pull-out). Quite cute, but I think their day may have passed. As with the pocket chess set, modern technology offers other solutions. But I do like the little guy.
Man, do you sound like me. I have an FM radio habit, and just can’t persuade myself to fool with an MP3 player, because I don’t want to spend all that time downloading or whatever those young whippersnappers do, and then spend hours sorting out playlists and remembering what ….. you get the idea.
Took an internet survey on my degree of techno-savvy. I turned out to be hopelessly Neanderthal, and I began to think the next question in their assessment would be whether my domicile had electric service. The only thing I ever holler at to get off my lawn is the deer family that savages my garden, so does that make me a little bit less backward?
I do have a Kindle Fire, satellite TV, a bunch of twisty light bulbs, three HDTV sets, a DVD player, as much Internet service as you can buy out here in the woods, and no VHS. However, my cell phone is such a dumb phone that I don’t know anybody under 80 who has a worse one. Maybe not texting is the giveaway.
bill bush
31 August 2012 at 4:30 am
I also never text, but other aspects of modern technology—the computer, for example—are mainstays. Social networks, not so much. I do appreciate the convenience of modern calculators, though—still, the little circular slide rule is cute. And, of course, I shave with a safety razor and a double-edged blade.
LeisureGuy
31 August 2012 at 7:32 am
@Bill – I am also in the “late adopter” demographic. I get a new cell phone every time the old one can no longer hold a charge for more than an hour, which is a pretty long time actually. When I went to get a new phone a couple of years ago, I told the salesman that is time around, I’d like to get a cell phone with a camera. “Ma’am, they ALL have cameras now,” he explained, “they have had them for a looooong time…”
The Eldest
31 August 2012 at 7:34 am