12 obsolete technologies Americans still use

I personally don't consider landline phones nor vinyl records to be obsolete technologies.

Landlines give you an emergency link out when the power is out and cell phones aren't working. Plus, in areas with uneven cell reception, landlines are essential.

Vinyl still sounds the best, especially on a tube system. There are new LPs being produced and remastered and whatnot. They're gorgeous sound.
 
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tekkychick said:
I personally don't consider landline phones nor vinyl records to be obsolete technologies.

Landlines give you an emergency link out when the power is out and cell phones aren't working. Plus, in areas with uneven cell reception, landlines are essential.

Vinyl still sounds the best, especially on a tub system. There are new LPs being produced and remastered and whatnot. They're gorgeous sound.
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I have a landline and an old rotary phone to use in emergencies, I also still play my vinyls, they are the best!
 
I would like to add Windows XP to the list. Thirty-eight percent of Americans are still using this 12-year-old operating system.
 
Kane said:
Well when their options are Vista and Windows 8, what do you expect?
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I did like XP 64 bit, but there were just too many items that didn't have drivers for it. So went to Win7 64 bit.

Win8 -YUCK. Hope my company doesn't push us there.
 
Crutmauler said:
4 of my computers run Windows 98. I don't think it's obsolete. The system runs fine so there's no need to replace it.
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"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"! we know what happens when things get upgraded... those computers might not have enough memory/disk space for newer o/s's anyway. But yeah, if they are working and you don't need new features or new drivers, why not leave them alone?
 
tekkychick said:
I personally don't consider landline phones nor vinyl records to be obsolete technologies.

Landlines give you an emergency link out when the power is out and cell phones aren't working. Plus, in areas with uneven cell reception, landlines are essential.

Vinyl still sounds the best, especially on a tube system. There are new LPs being produced and remastered and whatnot. They're gorgeous sound.
Click to expand...

Not many landline phones work when the power is out these days.
 
tekkychick said:
I personally don't consider landline phones nor vinyl records to be obsolete technologies.

Landlines give you an emergency link out when the power is out and cell phones aren't working. Plus, in areas with uneven cell reception, landlines are essential.

Vinyl still sounds the best, especially on a tube system. There are new LPs being produced and remastered and whatnot. They're gorgeous sound.
Click to expand...

Some people believe that analog, which tries to record a literal analog of the actual sound wave onto a surface, is somehow superior than digital, which splits it into discrete bits. But, in practices, attempting to record a direct analog is impossible, and inevitably introduces errors, and it's much easier to avoid introducing such errors with digital technology. As well, the discrete bits are so small, the resolution so precise, that it's pretty much beyond human perceptibility. Some people think they can tell the difference, however, if you do a double-blind test, you will inevitably find that they are full of shit. If you can hear a difference where I can't, it's not because you have awesome ears, it's because you're a victim of the placebo effect.

As well, almost everyone masters and produces on digital equipment these days anyway. It's just way, way easier and more practical to edit in protools than to edit analog tape. So, that means that any LP is usually an analog of a signal that's already been broken down into pieces anyway, rendering the entire effort just pointless intellectual masturbation.
 
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Rationalist said:
I would like to add Windows XP to the list. Thirty-eight percent of Americans are still using this 12-year-old operating system.
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A lot of people didn't like Vista, a lot now don't like Windows 8, but Windows 7 was an excellent operating system in all regards, and there's really no excuse not to upgrade at least to it for consumers.

For businesses, I suppose, they may have older systems and not feel the cost of upgrading is really worth it, as well, they'd have to spend a lot on upgrading any systems that depended on the older hardware. I imagine, honestly, that's why there are any people still using Windows 98 and 95, some businesses have developed software that works perfectly fine for their purposes on that operating system and see no reason to upgrade. Hell, my dad's company still uses Dos. I don't think people are actually using it as a consumer OS.
 
Panda Hugger said:
Some people believe that analog, which tries to record a literal analog of the actual sound wave onto a surface, is somehow superior than digital, which splits it into discrete bits. But, in practices, attempting to record a direct analog is impossible, and inevitably introduces errors, and it's much easier to avoid introducing such errors with digital technology. As well, the discrete bits are so small, the resolution so precise, that it's pretty much beyond human perceptibility. Some people think they can tell the difference, however, if you do a double-blind test, you will inevitably find that they are full of shit. If you can hear a difference where I can't, it's not because you have awesome ears, it's because you're a victim of the placebo effect.

As well, almost everyone masters and produces on digital equipment these days anyway. It's just way, way easier and more practical to edit in protools than to edit analog tape. So, that means that any LP is usually an analog of a signal that's already been broken down into pieces anyway, rendering the entire effort just pointless intellectual masturbation.
Click to expand...

Nonetheless, having worked with both analog and digital recording equipment, I can say that I generally prefer the sound of analog. The sound of analog is "warmer," for lack of a better term.
 
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