What’s the Oldest Piece of Technology in Your Home?
Technology is becoming obsolete faster than ever before. As soon as something is introduced on the market, the race is on to fix the faults within that technology. It's not about reinventing the wheel, it's about building a better mousetrap. Vinyl records were great, but the slightest bump against the turntable skipped the song and scratched the record. The cassette tape and the 8-track tape, both released in the early 60s, made music portable, but the tape would get caught in the player and your pinky was in for a world of hurt if you didn't have a pencil handy. Then the compact disc hit the scene, and made it possible to skip songs and burn a mix tape in mere minutes, but they were easily scratched. Now we find ourselves in an era where music is digitized and lives on our phones. What a long, strange trip it's been...
Whether it's for nostalgia's sake or fear of needing it when it's gone, we hang on to outdated technology. A Reddit asked people to name the oldest piece of technology they have in their homes. Answers ranged from a top loading VCR to a rotary phone. Personally, I have a small Radio Shack (yes, Radio Shack) radio in my kitchen. It's just a radio; black box with antenna, no CD player, no jack for an mp3 player, no alarm clock action. And yes, it's analog; dials, no buttons. But it's not collecting dust. I use it every weekend. What is the oldest technology that you have in your house?