People share 10 technologies that are nearly obsolete now but they still hold them very dear

Tech-nostalgia is real.

The boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials have a special place in their hearts for the old technologies that surrounded them while they were growing up. Many people still have fond memories of retro electronic equipment such as old stereo sets, wired telephones, MP3 players and much more. Film cameras and tangible images may have slowly started disappearing in the digital age but thankfully, there are people from the modern generation who still harbor a craze for polaroids, mechanical keyboards, cassette players and camcorders and they are keeping the trend of retro lifestyle alive on social media. So, u/biinroii01 asked the Reddit community: "What’s a technology that’s nearly obsolete yet you still use and hold dearly?" And here are some of the most interesting answers provided by people that evoke nostalgia. 

1. Audio CDs

Audio CDs. I can't hook up my phone to my car because my car is so old so I burn CDs and use that instead. u/Prestigious_Water336. You're so right. My first flat got burgled, and my entire CD collection was taken. It was the 90s and CDs were expensive, it was one of the things I was most upset by. I've still not been able to replace some of those compilations. Whatever new technology comes along, always have a backup of your music collection. u/OhHiFelicia

2. Mechanical watches

Mechanical watches. I have a smartwatch I use for workouts, but there’s something about the engineering and sweeping second-hand of the mechanical watches that I love. u/UsefulSchism. The Seiko 5. It’s been my daily driver for 10 years and if it dies it’s super easy to reset. The crown is geared for a lot of hand movement with just a little twist. I can’t say the same for my Omega Speedmaster. It’s way higher quality but resetting it is more of a pain. Damn, I should probably buy a winder huh? u/quirx90

3. Old cars

Manual transmissions driving. u/ElFeed. I was taught to drive with a standard transmission at 12. Lived in a somewhat rural area with my single mom, but she thought it was a good idea that I learned to drive in case something happened to her and I could get help. Little did she know that anytime she wasn’t home I was driving all over the place. u/Kerboros42. When I switched from manual to auto, the first time I went to brake hard I went to press my clutch down with my left foot but hit my brake instead. Needless to say, I braked hard. u/Swag92

4. Ethernet cables

Ethernet cables. The speed is still better than WiFi, especially in a crowded apartment building with overlapping WiFi signals. u/DeathSpiral321. Ethernet cables are not obsolete and will likely never be simply due to the laws of physics. Wireless signals can receive interference from many different sources ranging from the building materials in walls, electronic devices, and people themselves. In your average household, the number of interference sources can range in the hundreds. It's all low-level, but it can cause blips when things line up just wrong. u/TheLightningCount1

5. Alarm clocks

Alarm clock with red digital numbers. Louder than my phone. u/Somaninim0. When I wake up my first instinct is to see what time it is. Easier to do with an alarm clock than with a phone or watch. Plus I'm farsighted and the close-up numbers are hard to read. u/xkulp8. Right? The only improvement I have embraced since the glowing red numeral clock radios of the 1980s is the projector version. That allows me to just look up at the ceiling (or wall, or wherever I aim it) and see the time in monster-size characters. It really beats having to fumble for my glasses or squint like the dickens, before I can make out the time. u/putHimInTheColor

6. Old video game consoles

My Gameboy color! I miss playing Pokemon. u/I_am_Kami. I just picked up an analog pocket and have been loving getting back into retro gaming. Have barely touched my PC or Xbox since I got this thing and the nostalgia of cartridges hits so hard. u/EnforcedRug. I kept a GBA around for a long while but recently bought an RG35xx. Wow is that an amazing little unit? Everything you can do on your GBC but more and better. u/noisymime

7. Calculators

A handheld calculator. Still use it almost daily as opposed to the one on my laptop/phone. u/NougatRealHousewife. Miss mine. I lost it in a desk move and never got to replace it. Now I just do everything in Excel but there was something great about that calculator. u/yzerizef. They made us buy TI-89s for high school math. Do you know how expensive a graphing calculator is? They can pry it out of my cold, dead hands. u/just_robot_things

8. Wired mouse

Honestly, why would I want to recharge a mouse? It just sits on my desk, the wire is fine, don’t complicate it. u/thatsnotideal1. Amen. I had a fancy ergonomic wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. Got tired of replacing batteries and were very close to each other they both went out. So I dug out an Asus wired mouse from when I bought some computer in the past, and a very old Gateway (not even Gateway 2000) keyboard I had stored. u/jonrpatrick

9. Mp3 players

Winamp + mp3s and lossless audio. I hate streaming services and the insanely bad quality. I'd rather stab my brain with a Q-tip than listen to anything via Spotify. u/ComplexPackage117. Not only does Spotify sound bad their algorithms are bad the interface is bad and the amount of interesting music they have is bad. I've tried on 2 occasions to give it a try because of how much people talk about it but I just end up trying to find something I want to listen to only to find they don't have it, I know what I listen to isn't popular but I mean come on! u/100percenthappiness

10. Vinlys

Was already obsolete when I was young but once I rediscovered Vinyls for music in the 2000s and since then I actually really liked the sound quality they provide. Of course, it's for my home only and I also use MP3s for endless music playback but for some of my favorite songs and artists, I get their vinyls. u/RandHomman. I so desperately wanted to get into vinyl, but I just didn’t need another expensive hobby. My favorite band did live streams of all their albums during Covid and they released vinyl of each one, I desperately wanted to get them, but knew I would fall into an expensive rabbit hole. Most of my listening is done while driving and I drive/travel a lot, so I just couldn’t see myself sitting down to listen frequently enough to justify it. But man, I would love to have vinyl. u/rdhigham

This article originally appeared on 11.8.23.