“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On

The world is accelerating fast and we — the consumers — are playing catch-up. New gadgets and software updates promise to make our lives better, so we follow the latest innovations with anticipation, hoping to find a way to integrate them into our daily routine.

But as the trends march onward, some people choose the opposite approach and reject them, opting for things they have already been using for years. So when a thread emerged on Reddit, asking everyone to share the "obsolete" piece of technology they refuse to relinquish, many had their say.

From vinyl records to physical maps, here's the list of "relics" that still have their place in our hearts and homes.

This post may include affiliate links.

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On I’m a school librarian - print books are nowhere near as obsolete as people seem to think. Kids still devour them!

jayhof52 , Abby Chung / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

265points

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Canandelabra 8 months ago

A book has a certain feel, a smell, and is an experience of its own. Coffee/tea, candle, blanket, book 💜

124points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Regular buttons in a car instead of touch screen everything.

bahamapapa817 , Breakingpic / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

264points

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And i was like WTF!! 8 months ago

This, touchscreens are just a distraction in driving. In our company car, just to enter in the aircondition/heating meny, you need to go thry 2 or 3 buttons on touchscreen and it is distracting. Give me a k**b so i can regulate fan and temperature and the direction of the air ffs i dont want touchscreen

102points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On I want my physical media. When all these companies start pulling licenses, selling them to new people, making it harder to access content, I want to be able to pull my Blu-ray, DVD, CD, or whatever other media it’s in off the shelf and watch it.

fuzzypyrocat , Julian Bracero / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

233points

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Tams21 8 months ago

If a streaming service suddenly decides to take away your favourite movie (or fill it with ads), there's nothing you can do. Despite appearances, physical media is not obsolete.

74points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On USB drives for data storage.

I have trust issues with cloud servers, and dislike the idea of personal data being stored on file servers that I do not own and control.

"The Cloud" is nearly impossible to avoid entirely; I just minimize my use of it in favor of local backups with planned resilience and redundancy.

RichardBonham , Karolina Grabowska / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

214points

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Robert T 8 months ago

USB keys are not great for long term storage. An external hard disk is generally a better idea. A NAS with redundant drives is even better. I don't trust "the cloud" either, at least not for anything of any value!

8points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Paper maps are considered by many to be obsolete, but they are essential for hiking or just being in an area away from civilization where cell service can be unreliable to nonexistent.

Edit: I've had about 100 replies informing me that maps can be saved so they work offline. I am aware of this. However it doesn't do much good when hiking on remote trails that aren't marked in any online maps. It doesn't help when you've unexpectedly driven into a large dead zone and didn't know to save maps in advance. And it doesn't help when leaving the phone behind for an overnight kayaking trip because of the risk of dropping the phone in the river. .

deliveryer , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

188points

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Daya Meyer 8 months ago

"As long as the battery works..." is not long enough sometimes.

122points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On A notebook and pencil. I find writing down lists, making plans or doing financial analysis on paper so 'clarifying'. The pencil must have an eraser on the end.

Holiday_Newspaper_29 , Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

177points

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Auntriarch 8 months ago

Yes. When I was studying, paper and pencil. Stuff you write down sticks better, and the soft feel on pencil on paper I find strangely soothing

55points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Regular, non smart watches.

scoobyboobiemoo , Mister Mister / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

169points

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Javelina Poppers 8 months ago

I regularly carry an old Hamilton 21 jewel mechanical pocket watch. My father-in-law was a 55 year watch repairman and taught me how to regularly service and repair them too.

45points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Cast iron cookware. My $15 pan will outlast any nonstick pan you can buy. I can burn it, scrape it, and rust it out, and still recover it into new condition.

jwr410 Report

Final score:

161points

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Auntriarch 8 months ago

And then bequeath it to your descendants.

75points

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Keys for opening my car door/starting the car.

I'm not down with the whole push-to-start/keyless entry thing.

Quercus408 , Erik Mclean / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

146points

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SaMoPlaya 8 months ago

I Effing hate key fobs. Bulky in pocket. Battery issues. Expensive to replace. (My Frenchie chewed up 2) And you can't hide a spare cuz car won't lock.

38points

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#10

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Manual gearbox. Because it allows me to feel more involved in the driving process.

ellenmachine , Irhad Barucija / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

142points

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Premislaus de Colo 8 months ago

Saying that manual gearbox is obsolete because of automatic is like saying tea is obsolete because of coffee

101points

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#11

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On I prefer to spend cash. It helps my brain process the spending. I'm still bad with money but I got tired of swiping and praying.

A lot of venues are cashless now - hate it.

dballz12 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

136points

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DrBronxx 8 months ago

I pretty much only use a card if I'm shopping online, or in a situation where I don't have enough cash on me. It's for the same reason as OP - it's easier for me to keep track of/control my spending.

33points

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#12

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Handwritten agendas/planners. Writing s**t out by hand in general.

Comfortable_Bad_4843 , Lisa Fotios / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

123points

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Canandelabra 8 months ago

The act of writing is cathartic idk why. Helps me remember things better too.

53points

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#13

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Books vs ebooks.

stormyknight3 , Yaroslav Shuraev / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

118points

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kissmychakram 8 months ago

Both have their place. With ebooks I can take a dozen on holiday with me but I can't lend a favourite one to a friend. Much prefer print and browsing in book shops but also love the immediacy of being able to instantly download when I was stuck in hospital bored out of my mind!

61points

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#14

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Manual can openers. I hate the electric ones.

dmriggs , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

114points

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ZGutr 8 months ago

None electric, manual only. AND I have openers like the us army p38 folding can opener in my holiday gear and as backup in the kitchen drawer. Those types are the best by far

22points

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#15

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Hand held compass. Never runs out of battery and has saved my bacon many times.

SixicusTheSixth , Anastasia Shuraeva / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

109points

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Huntress 8 months ago

Saved ur bacon??

2points

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#16

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Any non-smart device other than a smartphone. To hell with those devices collecting my data, serving me ads, and being a pain to maintain.

Cyclone9232 , Oladimeji Ajegbile / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

106points

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90HD 8 months ago

I hate smart appliances. They never work properly and they require a degree in computer science to set up

38points

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#17

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Notepad and txt files!

They have no formatting and work in all situations. Across every device and every piece of software. And by every, I mean that you can easily hit a txt file with a hex editor and fully understand and manipulate it. The file size is small.

Since notepad has no formatting options, you can paste in any modern day c**p and it will strip out the annoying bits. It kills things like hypertext, color, italics bolding, size, and other font changes. It even does a pretty good job of ignoring non human readable characters.

In other words, it works 100% of the time and returns only the content that you actually want with exactly nothing else.

Red__M_M , Skylar Kang / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

104points

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Rocket Surgeon 8 months ago

2 things I have open on every computer I use: Notepad++ and a DOS prompt.

28points

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#18

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On It is not obsolete really. But my 1999 VW Golf.

I despise new cars and refuse to get one even if I had the money for it.

All these mandatory driving assistance features you cannot permanently turn off like lane keeping assistance combined with the f*****g subscription s**t they are putting out and the fact that you cannot repair your car unless you have the software for it.

I want a car to be able to do 3 things. Have AC, have good sound system, be able to get me from point A to B without breaking down. I neither need nor want all these extra system and they'd be fine if I could disable them and never worry about them again. I cannot so I refuse to get any new car until I can.

Mad_Moodin , lil artsy / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

97points

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Libstak 8 months ago

My soul twin, I have a 2001 Corolla I call the beast cos it would survive an apocalypse.

33points

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#19

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Magnifying lenses. Why use a digital camera when you can use a magnifying lens that doubles as a solar death ray?

ThickerSalmon14 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

91points

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Auntriarch 8 months ago

Never be without your solar death ray

57points

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#20

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Wired headphones.

wildddin , Hatice Baran / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

87points

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Zelda McLink 8 months ago

I HATE wireless earbuds; they fall out of my ears above a brisk walk.

46points

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#21

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Are wallets and billfolds becoming obsolete? I have friends who make fun of me for not just using a phone case that holds everything.

24Wolves , Vlada Karpovich / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

80points

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SaMoPlaya 8 months ago

Idiots bundle their life in a cell phone case. I use a wallet for cards. A money clip with cash in separate pocket. Chances of losing all 3 are less.

75points

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#22

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Records. I still love the sound of them better than anything I've heard.

Robby777777 , cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

79points

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Kristy Marion 8 months ago

I don’t think vinyl ever became obsolete. Vinyl sales have increased 17 years straight. There was a point in the early 2000s where record players outsold guitars. And now even CDs are making a comeback. Apparently we like ownership of things after all.

34points

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#23

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On CDs. I don’t pay for satellite radio so I just play them on repeat in my car.

Freeiheit , Wellington Cunha / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

77points

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Javelina Poppers 8 months ago

I bought a 1999 Jeep Cherokee to off road in and discovered a 5 CD disc changer in it. It gets used.

32points

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#24

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Wired mice on my PC. No need worrying about a battery dying and it’s not like I need to walk around the room far away from my keyboard carrying my mouse. Alas, they’re becoming less common. 😕

(Wireless headphones are useful though.).

bodyknock , Ryutaro Tsukata / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

75points

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DrBronxx 8 months ago

Well yeah, no need to worry about a battery dying, but I've had my wireless mouse for just over 2 years now; I use it extensively 5 days a week, and literally today I changed the battery for the second time.

27points

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#25

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On My 20 year old TI-83 calculator. So many good features.

Oilers1970 , Dione Neris / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

63points

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Glasofruix 8 months ago

At least put the right picture that is related to the text...

56points

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#26

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Fountain pens. I take a lot of notes because I do a lot of research and writing. I mean hours at a time. Featuring details I have to learn as I go. Fountain pens are the only kind of writing instrument I can use that doesn't tire out my hand. Or my brain. It gets out of my way and stays out of my way.

Initial-Shop-8863 , energepic.com / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

63points

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Blue Bunny of Happiness 8 months ago

Gel ink means less drag and tiredness in your hand than a standard biro, so I can imagine a fountain pen would help.

29points

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#27

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On I wear a wristwatch. Not only is it not a smartwatch, it's not even quartz! It's mechanical, full of gears and springs and stuff.

dplafoll , Chandri Anggara / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

62points

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Someone_from_the_Netherlands 8 months ago

I still wear the pocket watch from my grand father from time to time.

19points

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#28

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Typewriters because they're just so beautiful.

definitelynotadhd , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

60points

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Ace 8 months ago

Awful machines to use. Heavy, clunky, prone to jamming, slightest mistyping means getting the tippex out or redoing a whole page. Naah, no thanks.

4points

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#29

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Ipod Classic. 160GB with a clicky wheel.

King_Everything , Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

54points

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Sandy D 8 months ago

My hubby still used his. Only real negative is, at least with big old ipod is that you can't use bluetooth with it

11points

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#30

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On The Bialetti moka pot. Hard to beat, unless you have coffee shop grade espresso machine.

gerdez , Gary Barnes / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

52points

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Snorkeldorf 8 months ago

Thank you so much for this info! My daughter would love an espresso machine but she can't afford a good one and I can't afford to buy one for her. Just checked online and these are affordable. I plan on gifting her one for her birthday.

37points

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#31

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Wired headset, keyboard, mouse. Not interested in charging or needing to change any batteries.

Disastrous_Visit9319 , Huy Phan / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

49points

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RabidChild 8 months ago

I am sick to death of having to sync, link, charge each and every f***ing thing I need to use. When I try to do something, I end up having to reconfigure, pay to subscribe, check for updates, wait for downloads, re-establish connection, and then restart the app. FFS I just wanna switch it on and have it work,

41points

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#32

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Oh man I am a total retro grouch. Vinyl records, old steel bicycles, safety razors, film cameras, the whole hipster gamut.

behemoth2666 , Beyza Ünlü / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

44points

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Someone_from_the_Netherlands 8 months ago

Looking at a black and white picture derived from Ilford HP5 400 is so much better than digital photos

15points

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#33

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Physical game cartridges.

total-immortal , MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

42points

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James016 8 months ago

Don't forget to blow into them every once in a while

19points

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#34

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On My landline telephone. It always works. No need to worry about a getting a, signal or needing a charge. I even have one corded one so I never need electricity. I did just get upgraded to fiber from copper however, not VOIP though so I'm certainly hoping all the same benefits are there. AT&T is deprecating the copper in the area and said "switch or be cut off." The technician made the switch and ran off before I got to really ask him anything!

Gibbie42 , Erik Mclean / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

38points

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Robert T 8 months ago

I have a landline which still runs on copper. My broadband is fibre-to-cabinet and copper for the last few hundred metres. This will change before long as everybody moves to fibre-to-premises. I don't make calls, but I do receive calls regularly on it. It never runs out of charge and works in a powercut. I feel for some of my elderly neighbours who rely on theirs. If it is your only phone, when you switch to VOIP, you will need a battery backup on it.

11points

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#35

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Analogue Mixer. I've had an all digital mixer (X-Air XR12) and it stressed me out. I play in a duo and it's much easier for me to just reach to the fader half blind than trying to move a line on a touch screen.

horschdhorschd , Lukas / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

29points

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keyboardtek 8 months ago

Digital mixers are fine when scenes change and one needs to quickly recall a microphone configuration, like in live stage and live performance shows. But they do need a dedicated sound man to run them. Good sound men are hard to find. I stopped going to live concerts because the sound was almost always mixed with too much bass, like they want it to sound like a hip-hop car stereo going down the street.

9points

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#36

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Winamp. Still my favorite audio player.

raven-ai , Vlada Karpovich / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

16points

POST

Tee Pussi 8 months ago

It really whips the llamas a*s

11points

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#37

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Wired headphones. They're superior.

I will not be taking questions at this time.

RobotStorytime , Towfiqu barbhuiya / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

16points

POST

Adrian 8 months ago

Nope, they're not! No question! I don't mean airbuds, I mean over the head Bose noise cancelling headphones.

6points

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#38

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Love my dad's 100 year-old hand drill. Much better control for small jobs like putting anchors in drywall or making pilot holes for wood screws.

p38-lightning , Ksenia Chernaya / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

12points

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David Bramhall 8 months ago

With authentic picture of 100 year old cordless hand drill ....

49points

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#39

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Cassette tapes. Recordings (of music specifically) sound so much better. Hard to re-create that lo-fi sound.

Final_Pomelo_2603 , CARTIST / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

12points

POST

keyboardtek 8 months ago

As a musician and recording engineer I find it ironic that the audio electronics industry keeps trying to improve the recording technology to be as perfect a recreation of the original sound as possible and many people prefer the noisy compressed scratchy dropout ridden sound of analog media. Hearing hiss on cassette tape always drove me nuts.

16points

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#40

“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On Windows XP.

Veritas3333 , MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo) Report

Final score:

6points

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RabidChild 8 months ago

The last time Windows didn't suck.

14points

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What do you think ?

Papa 8 months ago

I have one that I don't think was mentioned above (at least not specifically). When I go to the grocery store, I still prefer a written grocery list instead of a list on my phone. The written list is always right there. My phone keeps shutting down, so I have to enter my password every time I want to check the list.

censorshipsucks 8 months ago

yes. I tried this and gave up. Also, you're likely to have it snatched in some areas.

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Will Cable 8 months ago

I don't know if what I'm about to say really fit shere but..... my mum doesn't have internet connection, she barely has a phone signal but every medical appointment, referral to some medical service, access to local government etc requires that she needs an internet connection, just phoning someone to make an appointment or speaking to a human is now impossible. How long before they start adding other things you 'need' in order to do anything making accessing service impossible for so many people.

DB 8 months ago

Catalogs. 35 years in auto parts. When the kids can't find it in the computers grandpa and his ancient technology come to the rescue.

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“It Works 100% Of The Time”: 35 “Obsolete” Things These People Haven’t Given Up On

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