# Lifestyles & Discussion > Science & Technology >  Share your favorite old technology and explain why it was and is a good invention

## CaptainAmerica

I like going to thrift stores and looking at old technology, a lot of it I grew up with but was too young to take it apart and think about all the neat little moving parts . I collect records and cassette tapes for the purpose of rediscovering old music on the medium it was originally recorded, analog and tangible. What kind of technology do you like from the 20th century? Post a picture and share why and what memories you have of it .

I remember my first cd player in 1991 , I was 6 years old and I was obsessed with classical music cds since my dad had a record club membership and bought lots of records and cds.I no longer had to rewind or fast forward to my favorite songs . I had a 4 disc set of classical masterpiece composers : Vivaldi;Bach:Beethoven:Schubert...and it was my life blood. I also had a cassette tape player before the discman and I remember listening to Leonard Bernstein's "Rhapsody in Blue" and Gustav Holst "planets" but my sony discman was what I used mostly after it came out in 91.

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## nayjevin

Wood planer


Cause it starts with a tree and turns the curls into garbage and turns the flat parts into a boat that people will pay to see 500 years later.

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## Bryan

Great thread. 

HP 15-C Calculator. They were made from 1982 - 89 with a rich engineering feature set, including the use of complex numbers and matrix math. They also used the Reverse Polish notation input processing method, which at first will drive you nuts but once you get it, it's a thing of beauty. As a simple example, with RPN, to add 4 + 3 you press "4", "Enter", "3", "+". The 15C also has a very nice form factor, big enough to use easy but very compact as well. Oh, and the batteries last forever. 

The 15C was so popular that there was a campaign to have it brought back, which HP did, 20 years later. Originals are going on ebay for up to $300, well over the original price. 

Some links I just dug up:
http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp15.htm
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmi...data_sheet.pdf
http://hp15c.org/
http://www.ebay.com/ctg/HP-15C-Scien...ator-/92845674
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Polish_notation

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## oyarde

I like lamp oil , matches ( invented after the cigarette lighter , if I recall ) , the Atlatl , flexible filet knife , wheel ,, flint fleshing tools, hand drill  , wrist watch , too many things to mention .

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## tod evans

Simple ignition systems...



Handtools..



Sailboats..



Horses...

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## Suzanimal

Our Polaroid camera, we kept it right next to the Atari so we could take pics of our high scores in Pitfall. When I was cleaning out my parents house there were more photos of the TV than there were of us.



And our Atari





Oh, remote controlled TV's....I got so sick of being the remote.



And last but not least...
my Holly Hobby portable record player.



My favorite (and only) record...

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## Ronin Truth

I choose fire.  

It provides heat and light at night. It cooks food and makes it taste better and makes it easier to digest.

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## Zippyjuan

The bicycle.  Still the most efficient machine in terms of effort to output man has invented. http://www.copenhagenize.com/2009/01...-invented.html

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## juleswin

Electricity, I cannot say enough how much I love this invention. Without it, I wouldn't have meet all you lovely people

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## presence

Because it sings.

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## heavenlyboy34

The pickup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_pickup  With this, man has made some of the most interesting and awesomest music EVARRR...sounds which had only been dreamed of before.

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## buenijo

The steam engine. The invention itself powered the industrial revolution. The impetus behind its development laid the foundation for all the engineering disciplines.

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## CaptUSA



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## Suzanimal

What's that? I should probably know but I don't.




>

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## presence

> What's that? I should probably know but I don't.


The original Telsa Induction Motor.

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## thoughtomator

The aqueduct. Made city life a lot less $#@!ty.

Also, numbers. Can't count how many times I've needed them for something.

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## Suzanimal

> The original Telsa Induction Motor.







> *The aqueduct. Made city life a lot less $#@!ty.*
> 
> Also, numbers. Can't count how many times I've needed them for something.


That's pretty important too, I'm starting to kind of embarrassed about my choices.

Zero my Hero

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## mad cow

The 100 watt incandescent lightbulb.

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## presence

> The 100 watt incandescent lightbulb.


Earth hating, smuggling, black market terrorist funding criminal!

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## tod evans

> Because it sings.


That's an "off switch" for lippy people..........

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## amy31416

Toilet paper and toilets!

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## donnay

And roller rings.

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## heavenlyboy34

> Toilet paper and *toilets*!


Bah humbug, I say!  The world is my toilet, for I am not burdened with a vagina.   (I am selective about exactly where to pee though...gotta be polite...)

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## specsaregood

I'm pretty fond of my cast iron pan.

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## heavenlyboy34

> *I choose fire.  
> *
> It provides heat and light at night. It cooks food and makes it taste better and makes it easier to digest.


d00d, people didn't invent that.  Prometheus stole it from Mt Olympus.

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## georgiaboy

I've always thought the sextant was a cool old technology.  Also the slide rule.

Two things I've never used but thought it would be cool to know how.

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## buenijo

Language... 'Nuff said.

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## oyarde

> Language... 'Nuff said.


You are not married ?

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## fisharmor

I was going to skip this, not being from the 20th century, but since other great 20th century inventions like fire and language have showed up here, I'll add this too.

As much as it pains me to admit this - seriously, like getting run through - this is, actually, old technology, and the market shows no sign of even entertaining this idea again.



The Google G1.
The very first Android phone, ever.

Google knocked it out of the park with that one.  They defined what an Android phone should be and they got it perfect the first time.
Not even the G2 was as functionally perfect.
Every other Android phone since then has been an exercise in throwing more raw power into an increasingly dumbed-down device.
It was the perfect size and weight.  Every button was exactly where it was supposed to be - and did exactly what was expected.
I remember the first time I held one - I picked it up, and started using it, sight unseen.
Never in the entire time using it or my G2 have I ever had an autocorrect problem - because, keyboard.
I'm right on that score, and the world is wrong.

Since then, we've gotten devices which are increasingly and intentionally chomping Apple's jock.

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## acptulsa

Trains.

'Cause the CIA can't shoot 'em out of the sky and blame it on the Russians.

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## Acala

Some great choices.  I will add the vacuum tube because it is extremely clever, I can actually understand how it works, it resists damage from electromagnetic pulse, it requires high voltage and gets super hot, it sounds good in audio equipment, you can see its cool innards, and it glows in the dark like a tiny campfire.

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## CaptainAmerica

> Wood planer
> 
> 
> Cause it starts with a tree and turns the curls into garbage and turns the flat parts into a boat that people will pay to see 500 years later.





> Great thread. 
> 
> HP 15-C Calculator. They were made from 1982 - 89 with a rich engineering feature set, including the use of complex numbers and matrix math. They also used the Reverse Polish notation input processing method, which at first will drive you nuts but once you get it, it's a thing of beauty. As a simple example, with RPN, to add 4 + 3 you press "4", "Enter", "3", "+". The 15C also has a very nice form factor, big enough to use easy but very compact as well. Oh, and the batteries last forever. 
> 
> The 15C was so popular that there was a campaign to have it brought back, which HP did, 20 years later. Originals are going on ebay for up to $300, well over the original price. 
> 
> Some links I just dug up:
> http://www.hpmuseum.org/hp15.htm
> http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmi...data_sheet.pdf
> ...


awesome, I am going to be looking for a good calculator on the market soon !

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## Bryan

> The Google G1.
> The very first Android phone, ever.


 I was thinking about adding one of the early Android phones here myself. I actually passed on the G1 but got the second every Android, this was long, long before most anyone knew what Android was. What was great about these old phones is that they were really optimized for user experience- today's Androids are more optimized for revenue generation, with a healthly dose of privacy loss to go with it. A new Androids can blast you with marketing and make you agree to a dozen non-privacy policies. It's sad.... but I guess that's why more root them.

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## Bryan

> awesome, I am going to be looking for a good calculator on the market soon !


You can't go wrong with a 15C. Really, think about how crazy this is- a calculator that is over 30 years old (in design) selling at all, much less for such a premium.

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## green73

Information connection.

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## heavenlyboy34

Gutenberg and other groundbreaking 1st millenium presses-the interenetz of their day: 


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printin...ntingPress.JPG


  The Chinese invented movable type first, but that tends to be a footnote in history books.

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## nayjevin

Bells.

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## NorthCarolinaLiberty

Our basement freezer is well over 50 years old.  Pretty much pushing 60.  Also had an Oster blender from when I was little.  The motor died in 2006.  The thing was at least 33 years old.  Probably 35 or 36.

Well, maybe not inventions in the sense of this thread.  Okay, I like the wheel because it was good material for Johnny Hart's comic strip.

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## heavenlyboy34

> Our basement freezer is well over 50 years old.  Pretty much pushing 60.  Also had an Oster blender from when I was little.  The motor died in 2006.  The thing was at least 33 years old.  Probably 35 or 36.
> 
> Well, maybe not inventions in the sense of this thread.  Okay, I like the wheel because it was good material for Johnny Hart's comic strip.


I loved "B.C." when I was a youngster.

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## Henry Rogue

Marine Chronometer
http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Lo.../dp/B00450V1G8
Good book, get the illustrated version,  you won't regret it.

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## Natural Citizen

Typewriter.

NSA proof.

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## heavenlyboy34

> *Earth hating, smuggling, black market terrorist funding* criminal!


Those are the best types of criminals!   /terrorist

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