Defunct technology....

[Miss Chicken]

Anyone think the wrist watch has peaked? I know I stopped wearing one about 5 years ago. Who needs it when you have a cellphone in your pocket?

Oh, definitely. But like Holdfast, I can't see them disappearing entirely. They'll just become a luxury item--a piece of jewelry, really. Conspicuous consumption--just like a fountain pen.

I too stopped wearing a watch about 5 years ago--not because I had a cellphone in my pocket, but because I couldn't find one that fit my big fat wrist. But I recently tracked down a specialty clock and watch shop, and bought a nice big new one.

The annoying thing about the decline of the wristwatch, for me, is that for years I've used it as an example of the cultural impact of the First World War. Before 1914, only women wore wristwatches: a man who wore one would have been considered effeminate. But pocket watches just were not practical in the trenches.

I thought that men, at least Frenchmen, started to wear the wristwatch after Cartier made one for the aviator Alberto Santos Dumont in 1904.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

For that matter, when was the last time you saw a regular, everyday use 35mm camera for sale anywhere?

I was surprised to see a bin of disposable 35mm cameras for sale at my local supermarket last week. I was confident those were long gone.

When I was flying regularly earlier this year, I was really tempted to buy one of those simply because I wanted to take some pictures when I was still close to the ground, and they don't allow any electronics on at those times. The quality would have probably been crap though, plus there's the fact that they can't zoom.

Fully manual, fully mechanical (no electronic parts) small and medium format SLRs are still manufactured by certain companies, though its a very small market at this point. If you can't find one new, you can pick them up for next to nothing on Ebay and the like.

You have to understand how exposure and the controls of a fully manual camera work, however.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Oops, almost forgot another defunct technology:

Subway tokens.

Not just in New York City either. Does any major transit system *not* use some form of smartcard? NYC has the MetroCard, Boston has 'Charlie', London has Oyster...

 

[Goliath]

I thought that men, at least Frenchmen, started to wear the wristwatch after Cartier made one for the aviator Alberto Santos Dumont in 1904.

I hadn't heard that, though it wouldn't surprise me if that was true as well.

Every source I've read has agreed that mass wristwatch-wearing, like mass cigarette-smoking, was a product of the First World War.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I thought that men, at least Frenchmen, started to wear the wristwatch after Cartier made one for the aviator Alberto Santos Dumont in 1904.

I hadn't heard that, though it wouldn't surprise me if that was true as well.

Every source I've read has agreed that mass wristwatch-wearing, like mass cigarette-smoking, was a product of the First World War.

I only know about it because I have read biographies on Alberto Santos-Dumont (fascinating man). I found a site on the history of the Cartier wristwatch which says

Although Cartier might be better known for its finest jewelry, the Cartier wristwatch has also made a huge footprint in the history of global watch market. In 1904, Louis Cartier met the Brazilian aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont, who complained how unreliable pocket watches were during his long flights. This inspired Cartier to design a flat Cartier wristwatch with a distinctive square bezel - the 'Santos' was born. This was the first man's wristwatch, which influenced the Parisian aristocracy into accepting the idea of wearing wristwatches instead of pocket watches. In 1907, Cartier signed a contract with Edmond Jaeger, who agreed to solely supply movements for Cartier's wristwatches.

SOURCE

But you are right - the wristwatch for men became popular as a result of WWI.

 

[scotpens]

I thought that men, at least Frenchmen, started to wear the wristwatch after Cartier made one for the aviator Alberto Santos Dumont in 1904.

It took a bit longer for men's wristwatches to be accepted in America. Outside of the big cities, it was considered effeminate for a man to wear a wristwatch until the 1920s. Real men carried big, fat pocket watches!

 

[Warped9]

Oops, almost forgot another defunct technology:

Subway tokens.

Not just in New York City either. Does any major transit system *not* use some form of smartcard? NYC has the MetroCard, Boston has 'Charlie', London has Oyster...

It's been awhile since I've been on the TTC subway (Toronto), but I think they still use tokens.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

So they do. Interesting. I wonder why Toronto still uses them. They're too easy to fake (i.e. 'slugs'), are inefficient to use (nowhere near as flexible as a card - no volume discounts), and who wants to carry all those things in their pocket?

 

[Warped9]

I wonder if the Montreal Metro subway still uses tokens also.

 

[GMac]

Landlines may be on the decline in the US but not here in the UK. I (and many others like me) rely on it for my broadband (ADSL), as fibre optic cable services are only available in a limited number of areas (mainly urban conurbations, although the cable feed that serves towns further down the valley to me actually reaches all the way to the edge of my town - however our town council refused to let the cable installation company in after they made a horrible job of laying elsewhere and left the roads in a poor state of repair!). Likewise mobile/cell phones are popular but not entirely ubiquitous yet, mainly due to high call charges.

GM

 

[UssGlenn]

Pilot actually makes a disposable fountain pen, It's called the Varsity. costs $3.00. I switched over to them entirely since I found out they existed. I always used Pilot's needlepoint pens since they write without the pressure required from normal ball points (since they use liquid ink). A very similar writing experience to the fountain pen, so when I found out they made fountain pens the switch was easy.

I also have a circa 1940 rotary phone on my desk at home, just because I can. I think it's cool rotary diling still works. The phone cpmpanmy has no incentive to remove the function, costs more to do that than to leave it alone. Rotary phones don't work on VOIP systems however.

 

[Mary Ann]

The fountain pen. Until modern pens with a built in ink supply and particularly the cheap disposable pen (popularized by Bic) this was the way to write...unless you used a pencil.

Far from defunct, and if anything, currently experiencing a revival.

Fountain pens have a tactile quality that is entirely different to other forms of writing implement, and the script is also differently visually, so they will always have a niche. Just as vinyl's auditory quality means it retains a musical niche, so fountain pens will retain a writing niche.

My two older children are in secondary school and they are not allowed to use rollerball pens. They must use "handwriting pens" (like very fine felt-tips) or fountain pens, which my daughter loves using. I'm not sure if this only applies to their school, but my kids prefer using these better pens.

Oh, and my husband's LP collection is quite impressive.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Landlines may be on the decline in the US but not here in the UK. I (and many others like me) rely on it for my broadband (ADSL), as fibre optic cable services are only available in a limited number of areas (mainly urban conurbations, although the cable feed that serves towns further down the valley to me actually reaches all the way to the edge of my town - however our town council refused to let the cable installation company in after they made a horrible job of laying elsewhere and left the roads in a poor state of repair!). Likewise mobile/cell phones are popular but not entirely ubiquitous yet, mainly due to high call charges.

GM

I would actually distinguish landline telephones from, say, dry-loop DSL lines (like what I have.) My phone line is being used for DSL but not phone service. I reserve that for my cell.

 

[RJDiogenes]

My grandparents still had a rotary-dial phone in the late '80s. I thought it was funny.

The first person I knew to get a Touch Tone phone was my Uncle Ken, around 1970. I remember asking him what the extra buttons were for, and he said, "Nothing-- but someday they'll do something."

What about answering machines?

I just finally switched to digital phone with voice mail about a month ago. I miss the blinky light. How hard would it be to put a blinky light on the modem?

 

[Holdfast]

Overhead projectors and transparencies are now obsolescent, if not actually obsolete.

Same with microfilm, microfiche, and (especially) microcard.

Here's a truly defunct piece of technology: the opaque projector. I actually used one of these in class, to make a presentation after I forgot to make transparencies, in the autumn of 1996. The damn thing looked like it was a hundred years old, but it worked.

I seem to recall my old school having one of those lying around and getting it working one day. Cool stuff. IIRC, the bulb was insanely hot.

Fountain pens have a tactile quality that is entirely different to other forms of writing implement, and the script is also differently visually, so they will always have a niche. Just as vinyl's auditory quality means it retains a musical niche, so fountain pens will retain a writing niche.

Damn it--now I want a nice fountain pen.

They do make writing a pleasure. My dad has a small collection of nice pens and when he retired he didn't need as many so let me pick out a couple for myself. I chose one Montblanc rollerball which I thought would be the most frequent pen I'd use, but also made sure to pick a decent fountain pen, a Parker 75 gold/silver cisele. Turns out, that when choosing what pen to wear on any given day, I actually pick out the Parker way more often than the Montblanc rollerball (or indeed, a Montblanc Meisterstuck 149 I got a bit later which always fucking leaks a little).

My two older children are in secondary school and they are not allowed to use rollerball pens. They must use "handwriting pens" (like very fine felt-tips) or fountain pens, which my daughter loves using. I'm not sure if this only applies to their school, but my kids prefer using these better pens.

I was taught the same way. I wasn't allowed to use a rollerball (or ballpoint) until I had completely mastered using a fountain pen after first training on those Berol "handwriting pens". Now that you've reminded me of them, I can almost taste the plastic caps on the Berols... I used to chew the hell out of them!

Like your daughters, it means that I tend to prefer using a fountain, if given a choice.

 

[StarCruiser]

The fountain pen. Until modern pens with a built in ink supply and particularly the cheap disposable pen (popularized by Bic) this was the way to write...unless you used a pencil.

T-square, set squares, french curves, compass, mechanical pencils and pens. Today everything is designed and drawn up or modeled on computer. But before that for the longest time were the tools to draft things by hand on multiple sheets.

Sorry - I disagree on this one - not defunct. You can still find them in many different stores and they are still useful, for those of us stubborn enough (or old enough) to want them... (Drafting and Design Technology - Technical Illustration, graduated in 1985 from TSTI-Waco TX).

 

[scotpens]

As for laptops: No way could I ever use one as my main system. The screens are too small, and I hate trackpads.

Same here. I've just never been able to get the hang of using that mouseless mouse. Anyway, since I use my computer for graphic design and Photoshopping, I guess I qualify as a “power user.”

Currency. It will be a while yet despite numerous predictions otherwise, but how much life is really left in hard currency such as paper bills and coins.

For more than half a century, futurists and sci-fi writers have been predicting the death of coins and paper money. It hasn't happened yet. There will always be a need for currency in places without access to electronic information networks. And because it's almost impossible to trace, cash will still be the preferred medium for certain transactions, especially if they're illegal. (Although many hookers take credit cards these days -- or so I've been told.)

 

[Holdfast]

Split Flap Displays

I really, really miss the sound of these in airports.

For about a second or two, anyway. Then I'm grateful for the relative peace and quiet. But the lack of their familiar noise in airports, train stations, and the like is so noticeable when you think about it for a moment.

My grandparents still had a rotary-dial phone in the late '80s. I thought it was funny.

I think we still had one in the late 80s too, at least in one room, anyway.

I have a feeling desktop computers will fall out of mainstream use before too long. Everybody's switching to netbooks and laptops and iPads and whatnot. It seems like desktop units will become the purview of businesses and power users.

That's an interesting one, and probably true. I haven't owned a desktop for years, come to think of it - between my laptop and my smartphone, there just isn't a need for a desktop for an average user. And they're really bulky/space-consuming.

Here's a really controversial one: the web browser, and by extension, the web as we know it

OK, not quite yet, I admit, but we're getting there. But I read an article about this a few weeks ago and it struck home. Think about this: most people access only a tiny fraction of the web on any given day, instead visiting the same few websites. Whatever else they look at, it's via a search engine like google.

And those few websites that they DO visits (facebook, twitter, youtube, bbc, weather, share prices, whatever) are now often accessed through specific apps/buttons/or other site-specific portals on their smartphone, without opening a generic web browser to navigate there via a bookmark. This is a massively different user experience compared to, say, browsing 5 or so years ago.

I'm way behind this curve personally, but I can definitely see it happening.

 

[bluedana]

The "Walkman." This portable cassette tape recorder with headphones was all the rage when I was in high school. Now my kid has an iPod Shuffle the size of his thumb that can hold hundreds of songs.

 

[scotpens]

Flashbulbs. Gone the way of the icebox and the wringer washing machine thanks to electronic flash. Good thing, too -- look what happened when all those flashbulbs pissed off King Kong.