Nostalgia for obsolete technology

[grydth]

AAAhhhhh, phone booths! People actually cared about keeping their personal conversations private, back then. How nice it must have been to not hear all the one sided gossiping and drivel that fills the air in public now.

Alas, phone booths had to be discontinued for the most part, as people had such trouble fitting them into their cars so they could talk while driving...

The few remaining booths today bear signs: For Drug Deals Only!

 

[seasoned]

Back in grade school we had ink wells on our desks. Every few days the teacher would pick someone to go around and full them. Thank goodness for ballpoint pens.

Back in the good old days you could go to a place called carols drive-in and buy .12 cent burgers and .10 fries.
And talking about drive-ins, we had some awesome times on a Saturday night. We would pull in and have people hiding in the trunk so they could get in free.
Back then it was 2 full featured films with cartons and a news reel. Would you believe a buck.
"Those were the days my friend, I thought they'd never end".

 

[Steve]

We still have a drive-in theater down the hill. The only difference between now and then is that you now get the audio via AM radio transmitters rather than crappy speakers.

I miss reel to reel tape recorders.

Books made of paper. Oh, wait. I'm 10 years too early on that one. We should enjoy our books while we can before they're all ipadded and kindled away.

 

[Cryozombie]

The Case For Cold Water Shaving (Yeah, I'm not yet brave enough for this one either but here it is:

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/03/24/cold-water-shaving/

Dude... after I read that last week, I tried it, and I wont go back.

Check this... I use Hot lather with my Brush and soap, then I turn the water on as cold as it will go, run the razor under it, and then shave. I rinse the razor between swipes with the icy water... the most comfortable shave I have had in a long time... it actually shaved several days growth off with almost no pulling of hair, even in my sensitive upper lip area.

Don't be scared, try it, you may be surprised.

 

[crushing]

Books made of paper. Oh, wait. I'm 10 years too early on that one. We should enjoy our books while we can before they're all ipadded and kindled away.

What was old, may become new again:

Introducing the new Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge (BOOK)

BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology; no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere, even sitting in an armchair by the fire, yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc.

Here is how it works: BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of recyclable paper, each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. The pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder, which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs. Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of your finger takes you to the next sheet. BOOK may be taken up at any time and used merely by simply opening it.

BOOK never crashes or requires rebooting. The Browse feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an Index feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval. An optional "BOOKMARK" accessory allows you to open BOOK to the exact place you left it in a previous session, even if the BOOK is closed. BOOKMARKS fit universal
design standards; thus, a single BOOKMARK can be used in BOOKS by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKMARKS can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited by the number of pages in the BOOK.

You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, named: "Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus"-or-"PENCILS."
Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the precursor of a huge entertainment wave. BOOK'S appeal seems so certain that thousands of content-creators have committed to the platform and investors are reportedly flocking to the new phenomenon. Look for a flood of new titles soon.
　
BOOK TECHNOLOGY REBUTTAL

RE: The new Bio-Optic Organized Knowledge device, trade-name "BOOK."

You should be warned that, re: the message quoted above, this BOOK technology has serious shortcomings in user outcomes which, while not apparent from an immediate usability analysis, seriously impair its market desirability. Research shows that prolonged and repeated exposure to this BOOK technology causes users to become contemplative, reflective, and, in severe cases, it can induce bouts of concentration and focused thinking, with common side effects that include swelling of the imaginative and/or analytical portions of the brain. Such swelling can impede market-critical emoto-cognitive functions like the impulse-purchase quadrant of the cerebellum.

In one overlooked period of history, the installed user base of this BOOK technology spread with almost epidemic speed. This period, known in BOOKish techno-jargon as the Renaissance, saw that after the introduction of BOOK there were unpredictable outbursts of individual and collective creativity. But, as the record clearly shows, this BOOK technology has no useful market outcome, in that during the entire period of the Renaissance, historians can find no evidence of a single IPO.

Initially taken from: http://www.attrition.org/attrition/book.html (but the link doesn't work anymore)