Things that have become obsolete in our lifetime

[bhoferp]

Cursive is still being taught around here. My grandson was pleased to learn f in cursive so he could write "fart". My daughter-in-law was somewhat dismayed by this, but my son reminded her that there is art in fart. I love my quirky family.

 

[calmloki]

Man, I loved reading Penrod as a kid! Quite politically incorrect, but in the same way Huck Finn is. The joys of fresh tar and all a young boy could do with it......

 

[meierlde]

How about film-based cameras? Though I would say that many of them still take better pictures than digital ones.

35 mm based slides as a subset of the above and projectors to show them. Digitizers are still going strong as folks digitize the sets they have around the house. (Note if you purchased color slides before the 1980s they likely have faded to a very red tint, that in some cases even photoshop can't fix). This was because the purchased slides likley were printed off negatives using eastman color film, which was also used in theatrical movies and is known to be subject to very bad fading.) Kodachrome and Ektachrome from even 1958 still has good color however.
As another data point the bulbs for most slide projectors are no longer made (of course because of the way they are used they have a short life)

 

[gettingthere]

CoBoL

I remember learning it at University as part of my finance major. Never used it in the real world.
It was such a pain having to punch holes on the cards, only to have the computer spit out a huge report with all my errors. That put me off computer programming for good

COBOL is still very much alive.

 

[Badger]

roller skate keys
TV test patterns
National Anthem sign off on TV
Library paste

 

[W2R]

Remember these?

 

[REWahoo]

Are you referring to the unwrapped drinking straws?

 

[gettingthere]

Mechanical calculators

Eating/chewing tar from the streets

Eeww. Really?

 

[Surewhitey]

Film cameras?
Sony Walkman (tapes & CD's)
8 track converter to tapes for the 70's cars that still had 8 track
Same for cassettes to CD player in your car (before they were standard)
Cigarette lighters in cars
Smoking section anywhere in-doors
Parachute pants
Members Only and Zipper jackets

Sorry, child of the 80's here...

 

[easysurfer]

Speaking about film cameras, I remember when digitals were just getting popular and readig an article with the question if a photograph was digital enhanced, would that qualify as a real photograph? How things have changed as now when seeing a photo the first thought is that may have been enhanced or altered digitally.

 

[ERD50]

Remember these?

Barely. I recall one on a vacation out west when I was a kid. Maybe another one in Kentucky in the 90's?

Ironically, that picture could include a recording by Michael Bloomfield (Guitarist with Paul Butterfield, Dylan, and others) and the straw dispenser and/or salt & pepper shakers are likely from his father's restaurant supply business, which he was supposed to go into.

Mike Bloomfield - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


-ERD50

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Cursive is still being taught around here. My grandson was pleased to learn f in cursive so he could write "fart". My daughter-in-law was somewhat dismayed by this, but my son reminded her that there is art in fart. I love my quirky family.

That is a cute grandson story!

 

[KingB]

Cursive writing. (It's not being taught in school any more).
omni

I wonder how their signatures will look like.

 

[heeyy_joe]

Automobile ash trays.
Transistor Radios
Sony Walkman
Atari games
Betamax VCR
AMC Pacer

 

[CoolChange]

COBOL is still very much alive.

...and likely will be long after I am not.

Seems like yet another category of obsolescence: Stuff that nobody really wants to use but too much legacy/history/entrenchment/etc. to really fade away at this point.

Copper wire as a communications conduit is rapidly getting there for me.

 

[omni550]

I wonder how their signatures will look like.

Maybe they'll go back to using an "X" like illiterate people used to do?

omni

 

[photoguy]

I'm kinda pleased that there's very little on these lists that i've actually seen or used. I guess film cameras, vhs, and cassette players are about it for me.

 

[Moemg]

Blue hair dye
Girdles
Hula hoops
record players
Hibachi's
Bell bottoms
Party Lines

 

[HighRoller]

Things that have become "almost" obsolete in our lifetime :

Trusted politicians

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Eeww. Really?

Yep! I remember as a kid chewing street tar (it had to have zero other ingredients, such as gravel). Maybe this was only a Los Angeles area thing.

Bike & car tire innertubes: we used to love floating down the river or flying down snow banks on the fat car tire ones:

Telegrams
Pull top soda/beer cans (a variation of this has made a comeback in the form of soup can pull-off lids)
Paper drinking straws (got soggy & useless after a few sips; replaced in time by plastic straws)
Brick and mortar travel agent
45 RPM record adapters:

Car fenders: the detached chrome ones
Baby moon hubcaps/white wall tires (maybe more out of fashion than obsolete, except for retro car enthusiasts):

 

[ls99]

Fondue.

 

[HighRoller]

Automobile ash trays.
Transistor Radios
Sony Walkman
Atari games
Betamax VCR
AMC Pacer

I still have an ash tray in one of my cars (a 2009 model) and I still have several transistor radios that I use regularly. Also I have a working Atari (but haven’t used it in some time) and I have a working Betamax which I still use once or twice a year to play some old Beta tapes. (yes they are still viewable) I also have a Sony Walkman but haven't used in in a long time but it still works. The only thing on your list that I don't have is an AMC Pacer (Thank God for that)

But I'd agree, while they still work, most are now obsolete

 

[Live And Learn]

Great thread but I can't figure out if it's making me feel old or young ! One thing I do know is that I'm not obsolete (yet !).

 

[Walt34]

Whitewalls are not entirely out of style but admittedly the bike does have a bit of a retro look to it:

 

[sengsational]

I miss the 35mm canisters that the film used to come in. There were aluminum ones with screw-on caps, and "modern" plastic ones. Both were awesome to store all kinds of things in. The kinds of things changed for me as I moved from an elementary school photographer through teen high school photographer until digital (almost) has killed emulsion on celluloid.