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kwassa

(23,340 posts)
Fri May 27, 2016, 09:19 PM May 2016

What technology has not changed the slightest bit from when you were young?

I am .... along in some years .....

and despite the rapid pace of technological change, some areas remain totally untouched, or relatively the same.

Bic ball point pens. I love them, they haven't changed in 40+ years. Elmer's Glue bottles are still a trial to keep working, no change, either. Someone who could invent a self-closing, non-jamming glue bottle could make billions.

Pencil sharpeners. Most electrics can't handle heavy use. We recently stayed in an old resort that had a Boston hand sharpener from the 1920s that was both elegant and did a great job.

Most hand tools are exactly the same.

I have nail clippers I stole from my parents decades ago that still work perfectly. I have a radio from 1985 that I listen to every morning. It plays cassettes, too.

What are some of yours?

64 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What technology has not changed the slightest bit from when you were young? (Original Post) kwassa May 2016 OP
Crayons. rug May 2016 #1
exactly the same. Crayola. kwassa May 2016 #2
The smell is eternal. The colors and names sometimes change. rug May 2016 #4
But thankfully GulfCoast66 May 2016 #61
But now there's something called "inch worm". rug May 2016 #62
Letter openers. Texasgal May 2016 #3
A lost art form. kwassa May 2016 #6
I'm not sure all mail will go away. Texasgal May 2016 #12
Pencils Adsos Letter May 2016 #5
though I've discovered that manufacture has moved offshore ... kwassa May 2016 #8
The Slinky pinboy3niner May 2016 #7
My daughter grew up with plastic Slinkys. kwassa May 2016 #9
That was my very first thought when I read the question! angstlessk May 2016 #10
The lawn mower (the push kind). The Velveteen Ocelot May 2016 #11
Do people still use fountain pens? kwassa May 2016 #14
You can get them easily, and some people collect them - The Velveteen Ocelot May 2016 #18
Friend just bought a new Lamy this week unc70 May 2016 #19
All I use GulfCoast66 May 2016 #63
Outboard motors are a LOT different now jmowreader May 2016 #49
I wasn't aware of that. The Velveteen Ocelot May 2016 #50
New motors are REALLY high tech jmowreader May 2016 #56
Toilet paper? teach1st May 2016 #13
"You find this fascinating, don't you?" kwassa May 2016 #15
Except the rolls are an inch or two narrower. Gidney N Cloyd May 2016 #21
Irons. noamnety May 2016 #16
exactly the same. kwassa May 2016 #17
Damn irons. zanana1 May 2016 #57
US Made Spew May 2016 #20
I read somewhere (maybe even somewhere on DU) that the caps to Bic ball point pens have changed. Gidney N Cloyd May 2016 #22
Farrier tools csziggy May 2016 #23
Actually, I'm hard-pressed to name any. kentauros May 2016 #24
There is technology that made the tool. kwassa May 2016 #32
And that also changed incrementally over time. kentauros May 2016 #35
Fans 47of74 May 2016 #25
That staple remover TexasBushwhacker May 2016 #26
Actually, I have discovered a type of towel that beats terrycloth kentauros May 2016 #27
We moved several times when I was a kid, and my Dad's first priority in any new home Rhiannon12866 May 2016 #28
Internal combustion. Aristus May 2016 #29
I've been driving a Volt for the past four years now 47of74 May 2016 #39
WD-40 and Duct Tape. hobbit709 May 2016 #30
Vacuum cleaners, washing machines, can openers n/t sarge43 May 2016 #31
New washing machines are very different now. The Velveteen Ocelot May 2016 #52
And the hotel I stayed in on my last trip to Tokyo Lydia Leftcoast May 2016 #60
Rocks. hunter May 2016 #33
mouse traps jpak May 2016 #34
The Best Kind Still Purr and Wolf Frankula May 2016 #36
The self-propelled organic mousetrap is the best, The Velveteen Ocelot May 2016 #53
I switched to glue traps. kwassa May 2016 #38
and very very cruel nt LiberalElite May 2016 #40
What form of death is not cruel? kwassa May 2016 #42
A quick one! Glue paper is horrible. nt Laffy Kat May 2016 #47
I'm with you on that one n/t TexasBushwhacker May 2016 #48
vegetable peeler. Chan790 May 2016 #37
... Major Nikon May 2016 #43
That's a Y-peeler. Chan790 May 2016 #44
My dishwasher is still as loud and slow as they were 30 years ago. Boomerproud May 2016 #41
Toasters, Kitchenaide, horse equipment of any kind, envelopes with that icky glue riderinthestorm May 2016 #45
typing keyboards LiberalEsto May 2016 #46
Doorlocks. jmowreader May 2016 #51
Meat grinder. madamesilverspurs May 2016 #54
the Free (Freak) Republic Skittles May 2016 #55
Fire. WinkyDink May 2016 #58
The wheel frogmarch May 2016 #59
Spoons MrScorpio May 2016 #64

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
2. exactly the same. Crayola.
Fri May 27, 2016, 09:26 PM
May 2016

though they come up with all kinds of crazy combination things they want art teachers like me to buy.

Texasgal

(17,045 posts)
3. Letter openers.
Fri May 27, 2016, 09:29 PM
May 2016

I still have my grandmothers letter opener from the 1930's. It's beautiful with mother of pearl inlay and works quite well still as I open my mail daily.

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
6. A lost art form.
Fri May 27, 2016, 09:39 PM
May 2016

A very functional tool with a beautiful inlay.

and as surface mail disappears ....

kwassa

(23,340 posts)
8. though I've discovered that manufacture has moved offshore ...
Fri May 27, 2016, 09:41 PM
May 2016

and the quality has really dropped. I am talking to you, Ticonderoga!

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,755 posts)
11. The lawn mower (the push kind).
Fri May 27, 2016, 09:54 PM
May 2016

The piano - no significant change since about the 1880s. Most other non-electric musical instruments haven't changed much either.

The fountain pen.

The drip coffee maker.

The outboard motor.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,755 posts)
18. You can get them easily, and some people collect them -
Fri May 27, 2016, 10:54 PM
May 2016

the really expensive ones. You don't see them being used a lot because of the ink mess, but it's maybe a bit of an affectation for some people. Actually I like them too but dealing with the ink is a bother.

unc70

(6,115 posts)
19. Friend just bought a new Lamy this week
Fri May 27, 2016, 10:59 PM
May 2016

Got a new limited edition purple one with purple ink. Actuall quite nice. Can use cartridge ink or bottled ink.

GulfCoast66

(11,949 posts)
63. All I use
Mon May 30, 2016, 07:47 PM
May 2016

My handwriting leaves much to be desired. Fountain pen makes me slow down.

Plus it gets positive attention in meetings😎

jmowreader

(50,560 posts)
49. Outboard motors are a LOT different now
Sun May 29, 2016, 11:49 PM
May 2016

Lots of four-stroke outboards on the water...if you buy a Honda 75hp or larger, it contains a car engine.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,755 posts)
50. I wasn't aware of that.
Sun May 29, 2016, 11:53 PM
May 2016

The one we use on our sailboat is a little 8.5 hp Yamaha and it's at least 15 years old. It does have electric ignition, at least.

jmowreader

(50,560 posts)
56. New motors are REALLY high tech
Mon May 30, 2016, 01:04 AM
May 2016

The EPA figured out how much pollution a 2-stroke boat motor can create, and they're working hard to stop it. Naturally, all the "real men" bass fishermen were up in arms until they tried the new motors...people like 'em a LOT.

zanana1

(6,122 posts)
57. Damn irons.
Mon May 30, 2016, 07:06 AM
May 2016

I know that we can "steam" wrinkles out now, but that is a project. There has got to be an easier way.
Also, washing the floor. Mop and bucket still the standard. We can send text messages with our cell phones, but we still have to use irons and mops. WTH?

Spew

(17 posts)
20. US Made
Fri May 27, 2016, 11:05 PM
May 2016

Made in USA from basically the same design as from the 1930s...

The ones you get at home improvement centers are filled with cheap Chinese plastic gears that break after a few years. Spend the extra bucks to get a US-made sprinkler that will last generations.

http://www.nationalwalkingsprinkler.com/

Bedsheets grown & sewn in the US, old school style... Better and often cheaper than expensive luxury sheets at department stores, any color you like as long as it's white:
https://authenticity50.com/

Gidney N Cloyd

(19,842 posts)
22. I read somewhere (maybe even somewhere on DU) that the caps to Bic ball point pens have changed.
Fri May 27, 2016, 11:16 PM
May 2016

They now have holes in the tips to prevent choking problems. (I guess people swallow the caps)

csziggy

(34,136 posts)
23. Farrier tools
Fri May 27, 2016, 11:35 PM
May 2016

Hoof knives, hoof nippers, horse shoes and the nails to hold them on the horses' feet - all of that technology probably hasn't changed in the last 150 years. "Keg" shoes - pre-made shoes commercially available - are more common than they were a hundred years ago, but the technology for making shoes from bar stock iron is the same as it has been for hundreds of years.

The forges have changed, though. When I was a teenager the farrier that came every six weeks used a coal heated forge. Most of us couldn't afford shoes and our horses really didn't need them in the Florida sand so I only saw him use the forge a few times. It was a production - he had a big stump to put the forge on (and another for his anvil), a big coal hod, and one of us kids had to work the bellows for him.

By the time I had my own farm and performance horses that needed shoes, farriers had propane powered forges which were easier to get hot, to keep at temperature and that cooled off faster. While that is more efficient and therefore cheaper, it is just not the same as seeing that old style forge in operation!

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
24. Actually, I'm hard-pressed to name any.
Fri May 27, 2016, 11:52 PM
May 2016

After reading through this thread, I am seeing people naming old tools and tech that they still use, not the same tools as made today in comparison to those made in their childhood. So, yes, the Slinky has changed because of advances in materials science that has allowed them to make them out of plastic and it still works like one made out of metal.

Pencils have changed technologically with the invention of the mechanical pencil, as well as the disposable mechanical pencil. Yes, you can still buy 2mm pencil leads for such holders (and the sandpaper flats to 'sharpen' them.) Go to an art supply store if there are any near you and have a look at how pen and pencil technology has changed since you knew them however many decades ago. Some are the same, while others are unrecognizable. (Watercolor-pigment pencils, anyone?) For that matter, I don't use a mouse on this desktop computer; I use a Wacom tablet with a stylus so that I can also draw and paint with specialized software

Even books have advanced technologically. We've got eBooks now, and print-on-demand. No one offered POD forty years ago (or not without taking an order for a thousand books at a time.)

You can get nail-clippers made out of ceramic because the ceramic will never dull or rust.

And I'm not going to name something like a chef's knife or a vegetable peeler, because is it really "technology" or simply a tool?

kentauros

(29,414 posts)
35. And that also changed incrementally over time.
Sat May 28, 2016, 10:51 AM
May 2016

Factories change, become more efficient, become technologically advance including with robotics.

Perhaps the better question would be what technologies have not changed drastically since their invention even with incremental changes overall. Chef knives would be a good example there. Different forging technologies, yet it's still just a knife

 

47of74

(18,470 posts)
25. Fans
Sat May 28, 2016, 12:08 AM
May 2016

I was thinking most fans haven't changed in their basic design and operation since I was a kid. Box fans from this year basically operate the same as those of 30 to 40 years ago. They're a bit lighter now because of the materials used - plastic instead of metal - but I don't think the basic design has changed too much otherwise. We had an old Lakewood box fan from K-Mart that lasted a good 15 years.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,204 posts)
26. That staple remover
Sat May 28, 2016, 12:32 AM
May 2016

Jaws of life thingy.




Terry cloth cloth towels. They've tried to improve on them, but nothing beats a 100% cotton terry cloth towel for drying off. The smooth velour type look pretty but don't dry well on the smooth side.


Zippers! Although they have the plastic kind now and invisible zippers, good old metal zippers are still the best.


kentauros

(29,414 posts)
27. Actually, I have discovered a type of towel that beats terrycloth
Sat May 28, 2016, 01:43 AM
May 2016

for liquid absorption: medical towels

I use those in the kitchen (managed to buy about fifty of them surplus because they all have a hole in the middle for thumb surgeries.) They absorb better than any terrycloth towel I've ever used. The runner-up for the same uses in the kitchen are towels made from bamboo fibers. They're also softer than terrycloth.

In the bathroom, I do still use terrycloth, mostly because of the size needed. Plus, I've discovered that organic cotton terrycloth is superior to any other fiber, at least for the towels I bought. And I love the colors (lime green, and royal purple.) I don't think either of them are of the colored varieties of organic cotton, but it would be nice if someone made towels out of those fibers, too.


Naturally-pigmented organic cotton:

Rhiannon12866

(205,552 posts)
28. We moved several times when I was a kid, and my Dad's first priority in any new home
Sat May 28, 2016, 01:58 AM
May 2016

Was to find just the right place for the pencil sharpener. LOL. It's still there and still works just as well as I remember. No matter where we lived, that was something we could always depend on.

Aristus

(66,405 posts)
29. Internal combustion.
Sat May 28, 2016, 02:08 AM
May 2016

No matter what frills, bells, and whistles we hang on a car, every time we start one up, we're using 140 year-old technology.

Looking forward to the day when Tesla takes over the world...

 

47of74

(18,470 posts)
39. I've been driving a Volt for the past four years now
Sat May 28, 2016, 04:50 PM
May 2016


I might get a Chevy Bolt later this year or early next year, those are the cars with no fuel tanks and about 200 miles of range.

I've driven a Tesla Model S a couple times, if I could afford one of those I'd probably get one tomorrow.



The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,755 posts)
52. New washing machines are very different now.
Sun May 29, 2016, 11:55 PM
May 2016

The front-loading ones know figure out how much water to use depending on the load, and they use a lot less water than the old ones with the agitator in the middle. They are hugely improved.

Lydia Leftcoast

(48,217 posts)
60. And the hotel I stayed in on my last trip to Tokyo
Mon May 30, 2016, 07:26 PM
May 2016

had a combo washer-dryer in the room. It washed the clothes like any other washer, but then it drained out all the water and started air-drying them. (A lot of budget hotels in Japan have laundromats onsite or washer-dryers in the room).

To my amazement, the clothes came out perfectly dry.

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,755 posts)
53. The self-propelled organic mousetrap is the best,
Sun May 29, 2016, 11:56 PM
May 2016

although it's been around for thousands of years. It is impossible to improve on this kind of mousetrap.

 

Chan790

(20,176 posts)
37. vegetable peeler.
Sat May 28, 2016, 03:38 PM
May 2016

I don't think it's changed a bit in about 100 years. I bought two identical ones, the same brand, about 20 years apart and other than one being shiny and new...they're identical.

 

Chan790

(20,176 posts)
44. That's a Y-peeler.
Sat May 28, 2016, 10:25 PM
May 2016

They're not new, rudimentary ones have been used in restaurants since Napoleon was alive...it's just the last 15-20 years that they've been available or common to the home-market.

It's like 35 years ago when my Aunt bought an espresso machine before anybody really made them for home use...it cost her several hundred dollars (like $800-900) and was difficult to use. She'd grown up in the Little Italy section of Hartford and couldn't imagine life without her daily doppio at breakfast.

Boomerproud

(7,958 posts)
41. My dishwasher is still as loud and slow as they were 30 years ago.
Sat May 28, 2016, 09:06 PM
May 2016

I hand-wash because it's just not worth it.

 

riderinthestorm

(23,272 posts)
45. Toasters, Kitchenaide, horse equipment of any kind, envelopes with that icky glue
Sun May 29, 2016, 01:02 AM
May 2016

Fireplace tools, fans, speculums (shudder), needles and syringes, vinyl records, bongs and pipes, curling irons...

...I am way too tired for this fun exercise. Great post!

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