Tuesday, January 22, 2013

50% Out of Touch


The other day I was doing a seek-a-word puzzle. The list of words was things that don’t get used very often anymore. And at that moment I realized that I have no chance of ever being cool again. (Um, not that I was ever cool, exactly, but I did get a computer before anyone else in my family. I think.)

Here’s the list. The things I still use are in red:

Bobby pin (yeah I use those sometimes)
Fax (We still fax at work)
Floppy disk
Ice tray (Dr. M & I don’t have no fancy schmancy refrigerator)
Landline (For now anyway)
Maps  (I LOVE maps! Which is good because I don’t have a GPS or a fancy schmancy phone)
Pager
Pay phone
PDA (I still listen to music on my PDA)
Phonebook (Admittedly, this is pretty rare & only at my dad’s house)
Tape deck (Every single day – it’s the method I use to listen to my MP3 audio books through my car speakers)
Typewriter
VCR (Well, we would if we had one that worked)
Wake-up call
Walkman
35 mm film

So, I’m over 50% out of touch with current technology. I’m cool with that.

16 comments:

  1. I still use a FAX, maps, and a wake-up call when I'm in a hotel. That's good, right? So does that make me a neanderthal...lower case "n"?

    S

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  2. I'm guessing I'm at about 50%, too. The last time we moved and had to pay by the pound, I got rid of the typewriter and my 35 mm film.

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  3. The only thing I use on your list is a land line, but I still consider myself a fossil. Tape deck? Really?

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  4. Bobby pins are still very useful. I can't believe people still fax. One of my suppliers still faxes, can't email. What's up with that? We used ice trays always until we moved to the country and the refrigerator here has an ice maker. I don't do GPS so I like maps a lot. And I think phone books are still useful. Not everybody has a computer or Internet access. Not yet. No tape deck in the truck and we have a VCR but we hardly ever rent movies.

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  5. Bobby pins remind me of my grandmother! She used to put them in her hair, and they'd fall out and get tangled up in the vacuum cleaner.

    We still use ice-cube trays, and we have a landline (for Internet only). That's about it for me. I love paper maps, but I almost never use them any more.

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  6. Where do you get 35mm film processed?

    My daughter is taking photography right now and it's all digital. I think it's sad they don't get the chance to develop film and make prints in a dark room.

    I have a tape player sitting by my night stand which I use often. We still use our VCR. Here at work I'm about to use a typewriter and fax. And when we go to Disney World I use their wake-up calls. Who doesn't want to be woken up by Mickey Mouse?

    I will say I was at my parent's house the other day and we needed a phone number. I pulled out my (fancy) phone, found the number and called before he could open the phone book.


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  7. Wow. I have about five phonebooks but don't use any of them. I have a VCR but can't recall the last time I used it. The rest of that stuff...nope. I love my GPS! It makes me so adventurous. You should get one and see if it doesn't make you a Pathfinder as well. Sometimes I just turn it on when I'm out someplace and hit the "home" button just to see if it takes me on a different route.

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  8. I love my landline but I know I should give it up. It's just that my cell is always upstairs when I'm down and vice versa. I can't keep up with it and everyone gets mad at me when I don't answer. :(

    Interesting list.

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  9. My copy of "Joe Versus The Volcano" is on VHS, so obviously I have a player ("Dogma" as well). I have two tape decks, each with only one working channel, but I can't bring myself to get rid of them.

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  10. Aw well. Once you've hit your twenties it's hard to keep up with what's in all the time!

    I still use some of that stuff too, although a bit less than you, it's not by much!

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  11. actually landlines are here to stay - if only for your broadband supply. The phone shaped piece of plastic on the other end is probably doomed

    My VCR is pre-digital and therefore useless, but to be honest digital TV repeats everything about four times a week and there's the internet for TV catch-up

    i much prefer GPS to maps especially when driving alone as otherwise you have to keep stopping to check the page etc

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  12. Nothing can replace some of these items. I still use bobby pins, a fax machine (though I'm considering a fancy scanner), and maps. I have a landline, so to speak, but it is cable. I have a fancy fridge, whose motor conks out at least once a year and usually right before a party, and Rachel has a VCR. she is unkind to dvds, but ok with vhs. She owns every single disney VHS recording known to mankind, if I had to start over in another technology, it would be an awful day.

    I just bought myself a new Rand-McNally Road Atlas last year, and have to find it for my trip to Cali next week. Planning, the actual pouring over maps, will bring me hours of joy. A GPS will go with us, too.

    If I'm out of touch, so be it.

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  13. Still use a FAX (occasionally at work, though we do a good bit electronically now) and a landline, but that's about it on the list. Have to admit that I love putting in a location on my phone and pressing a button and instantly I am told where to go!

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  14. I'm even worse than loving maps...I love my NC Gazeteer! And hey...isn't a smart phone also a PDA? I'm laughing at the 35 mm film. We are digital but still have three very expensive 35 mm cameras. Just can't part with them I suppose.

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  15. I still use maps, phone books and wake up calls. That's it.

    The thing is, I haven't replaced most of those with any modern techie stuff. I just quit using it. Well,except computer for typewriter.

    The biggest problem I've found with no landline is that I used to use it to find my cell phone when it had disappeared here in the house. Now, I just have to hunt.

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  16. Bobby pins--used to use to secure my cap during ceremonies requiring faculty regalia
    Maps--along with GPS, very useful.
    Phonebook--occasionally
    Typewriter--in my dream last night!
    ;-)

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