Technologies We Grew Up With That are Now Obsolete

[KGIII]

Non-syncro transmissions.

Maybe an exception would be that a few race cars still have them and you can buy an aftermarket dog box just for that purpose. Man, could you imagine our current driving population trying to rev match to shift?

And, along the same line (and well and truly dead in the automotive world) non-freewheeling transmissions.

And the world is better for it... Well, the world is a bit less unique without them.

 

[Brickwizard]

Non-syncro transmissions.

3 on the floor 4on the floor synchro on 1 to 2 only crash boxes. In my last job driving for GME one of our younger drivers was sent to collect a early 1950's car belonging to the heritage fleet from a show, he could not drive it. I got diverted over 100 miles to pick it up [My early driving lessons around the fields was in a 1934 Ford 95e]

 

[KGIII]

In my last job driving for GME one of our younger drivers was sent to collect a early 1950's car belonging to the heritage fleet from a show, he could not drive it.

That doesn't surprise me.

I mean, people today could learn and figure it out well enough, but they just don't have the experience. They don't really need the experience.

It's still a good idea to heel-toe down through the gears when you do so as it's easier on your clutch, but it's not really necessary. You can get a hundred thousand miles (easily) with a modern clutch.

If you get a modern car with flappy paddles, it may 'throttle blip' for you when you downshift. Not all OEMs do that, but some will do so.

Generally speaking, my fellow Americans do not do manual transmissions at all these days. Finding a new car with a manual transmission will leave you looking at just a few options.

 

[truckerDave]

Just an FYI for the youngsters here that are at least half a century old. I made my biannual trip to Wally World the other day. And while looking for a corded keyboard noticed that one can buy a brand new Polaroid camera. They even have a Polaroid mini camera.

(And no, I didn't find a corded keyboard at Wally World. Had to order it from Amazon. Yup. Call me old. But I don't want to deal with recharging or replacing batteries. Corded mouse too!)

 

[wendy-lebaron]

The MiniDisc-Player, technology of the 1990s!

Ha ha yes! (Shakes fists at Sony.)

This year I took away the final remnant of it, which was a single-disc record and playback deck with poor pitch control. The darned thing developed problems with recording. I hoped MD's helped me get away from cassettes. To make a long story short, I have lost many songs I recorded only on MD. Including those I composed on my own on 16-bit computers. You guys have no idea how much money I invested in this... joint.

I saw another Sony device, a CD-MP3 player it was? I bought one of those babies at Sears for about 120USD back in the day. Worked well only for six months unfortunately. Later (at least 10 years ago) at Walgreens bought another "ordinary" Sony portable CD player for 40 bucks. The darned thing sometimes decided what CD's it would play. One day while I was playing MMORPG and listening to music the thing simply decided to quit.

Which reminds me. I have had Sega Genesis and Saturn. With the Saturn I played a few music CD's. Seems to have been better for doing that than for dealing with any DVD or game disc. I only got it to play one game that I liked, and also bought an expensive save-game cartridge with it. A few months later that cartridge bombed. Made me wish I didn't get Saturn to begin with.

 

[The Duck]

Just an FYI for the youngsters here that are at least half a century old. I made my biannual trip to Wally World the other day. And while looking for a corded keyboard noticed that one can buy a brand new Polaroid camera. They even have a Polaroid mini camera.

(And no, I didn't find a corded keyboard at Wally World. Had to order it from Amazon. Yup. Call me old. But I don't want to deal with recharging or replacing batteries. Corded mouse too!)

I agree corded is the only way to go last thing I want or need is another electronic device to have to replace batteries in.

 

[Diputs]

Non-syncro transmissions.

Maybe an exception would be that a few race cars still have them and you can buy an aftermarket dog box just for that purpose. Man, could you imagine our current driving population trying to rev match to shift?

And, along the same line (and well and truly dead in the automotive world) non-freewheeling transmissions.

And the world is better for it... Well, the world is a bit less unique without them.

When I hear non-synchro, I think of Word War II era, so ... nothing I have personal experience with

 

[wendy-lebaron]

And while looking for a corded keyboard noticed that one can buy a brand new Polaroid camera. They even have a Polaroid mini camera.

I remember at least 10 years back I bought a camera for about 100USD and brought it to work with me. It broke there.

Back then I would have never imagined it was enough to use a portable phone to take pictures and then print it out somehow via Bluetooth or something else. (I'm sorry, not familiar with the procedure today.)

How the routine changed, for example, for the disposable cameras Walgreens and other stores used to sell, then have to return the used-up things to get a CD or DVD filled with JPEG's. Only ten years have passed!

 

[KGIII]

I remember at least 10 years back I bought a camera for about 100USD and brought it to work with me. It broke there.

The missus is significantly younger than I am. She does a great deal on her phone. I suspect that it's an age thing, as we each have different expectations from our online experience. She's a consumer of content, while I am a creator of content.

She just picked up a new phone the other day. I think she paid like $1500 for it, without any incentives.

It has a higher MP camera than my DSLR has. It doesn't do everything the DSLR does, nor does it have the ability to add a true telescopic lens to it, but it takes very good pictures in all sorts of environments.

Come to think of it, I think that's about what I spent on my DSLR - sans lenses and the likes.

 

[camtaf]

Talking about cameras, I used to use a manual SLR, set film speed, no built in (light)meter, set aperture & shutter speed, then take film out & use chemicals in a darkroom to develop the film, & print on photo paper using an enlarger, & develop that, before you could see how well your photos looked....... those were the days!

 

[KGIII]

those were the days!

Yup. I still have old gear. I've developed my own film but only in black and white.

I got into photography when I was paying some bills with journalism.

That sounds like a geeky hobby to get into these days. Or maybe it's more of a 'hipster' hobby to get into these days. I don't have time for that.

 

[Hillbilly H]

Pneumatic windshield wipers
Party line telephones ( NO it was not old school tinder )
Voltaic pile batterys
Plug Fuses
crystal radios

 

[Hillbilly H]

Knob and tube wiring

 

[gvisoc]

That doesn't surprise me.

I mean, people today could learn and figure it out well enough, but they just don't have the experience. They don't really need the experience.

It's still a good idea to heel-toe down through the gears when you do so as it's easier on your clutch, but it's not really necessary. You can get a hundred thousand miles (easily) with a modern clutch.

If you get a modern car with flappy paddles, it may 'throttle blip' for you when you downshift. Not all OEMs do that, but some will do so.

Generally speaking, my fellow Americans do not do manual transmissions at all these days. Finding a new car with a manual transmission will leave you looking at just a few options.

It's funny, because in Spain (and probably in most European countries), manual cars are the normal. And with regards to the clutch, I myself drove my first car (first car ever, newbee driver!), with manual transmission, for over 210,000 km., and the clutch was in per-fect shape when I sold it, 2016, to come to Australia.

 

[KGIII]

It's funny, because in Spain (and probably in most European countries), manual cars are the normal.

Yeah, it's kind of weird. I'm not sure why my fellow Americans avoid a manual gearbox.

There's a subset of us who prefer them. It can actually be difficult to find them for sale. They're actually rare outside of heavy commercial vehicles.

I confess I've grown fond of the DCT automatic-manual (flappy paddle shift) in my M6. It even blips the throttle to rev match on downshift (in sport or track mode). It can be a good technology, though the transmission is pretty much unserviceable.

You can keep it alive by maintaining it properly but it will eventually die and, as it stands, they're not really something you can send out to be fixed. When they fail, your only option is to replace it. Fortunately, BMW is good about making parts. They even make parts for classic BMWs.

But, it's a 2019 and has low mileage. I'll be replacing it as my 'daily driver' before next spring. I'm not sure if I'll keep it or sell it on. It's a great car but it's time for something different as my 'daily'.

 

[Brickwizard]

Yeah, it's kind of weird. I'm not sure why my fellow Americans avoid a manual gearbox.

Yes a strange one, over the years I have driven everything going from crash boxes to full synchro and tiptronic [DCT or computerised clutch], from 3 on the floor to 8 on the floor, from 2 on the tree to 4 on the tree, and I loved my PRND123 [volvo 850 estate{station wagon}] Although less fuel efficient given a choice I would go for a new PRND any day, but alas there are very few companies in the UK who can service them, and new vehicles just don't come with them any more.

 

[KGIII]

new vehicles just don't come with them any more.

If EVs are the way of the future, we probably won't need any clutch at all.

I was in a wreck in 2018 that made using my left leg quite difficult and painful, which was when I decided to add a paddle-shifted vehicle to the stables. I fell in love pretty quickly. I still love the third pedal, but the transmission in that car is a marvel of technology.

Now if only I could get it serviced when it breaks...

 

[gvisoc]

My love goes for these. This one is almost the same model I have when I was 9, but it has issues in the video output that I have to fix:

And this one is my new hobby for the meanwhile:

 

[Diputs]

It's funny, because in Spain (and probably in most European countries), manual cars are the normal. And with regards to the clutch, I myself drove my first car (first car ever, newbee driver!), with manual transmission, for over 210,000 km., and the clutch was in per-fect shape when I sold it, 2016, to come to Australia.

Here (a country in Western Europe), in 5 years we have changed from an 80% manual market, to a 20% manual market.

The cars on sale are mostly only available in auto, even at major brands (BMW for example, #1 selling brand in this country in 2022).

For decades (basically since WW2), manual cars were majority, but it is now changing ultra rapidly. Thanks to (or because of) EV's, the trend is changing. A contributing factor is also different kind of new drive-assist functions, some of which are badly compatible with manual gearboxes. Like for example the ulimate function "self-driving cars", which can't work with a manual. But, adaptive cruise control also can't. I would trust neither of those systems, I refuse to use any kind of cruise control. The concept is dangerous, and that will never change.

 

[Diputs]

My love goes for these. This one is almost the same model I have when I was 9, but it has issues in the video output that I have to fix:
View attachment 17255
And this one is my new hobby for the meanwhile:
View attachment 17256

Nooooooo .... aaaaaargh .... the memories !