25 ‘Outdated’ Things People Refuse To Let Technology Replace
Technology is advancing at a pace we aren’t always ready to accept. When things like menus are replaced by QR codes at restaurants, for example, folks tend to baulk because what was wrong with the previous method anyway?
Recently, the Reddit community got together to discuss similar technological advances they are not on board with. From paper books to physical house keys to cash, folks named many things that may be considered outdated but that they don’t plan on stopping using any time soon.
#1 Menus. I immediately can’t stand the restaurant that makes me use a qr code.
#2 Physical calendar on our kitchen wall, with all our family and friends birthdays on it. We transfer the dates to the new calendar every year. Outdated yes, given our phone apps can easily remind us of important events, but the calendar is very visual and makes it easy for us to remember birthdays! Seeing who is coming up in the month, allows for better present organisation.
#3 Wired ear buds. Much cheaper, last for decades, don’t require charging, and much less likely to lose one. Only downside is cable management which is easy if you take 5 secs to properly bundle it up after use.
#4 A physical map when I want to look at countries
#5 Stick shift
#6 Doors with physical keys. I don’t like the idea of every door needing technology to open. It feels less safe.
#7 Line dried laundry. Not exclusively as it’s winter here and I have a dryer, but line drying is just so much better in every way.
#8 Desktop computers. Mouse and keyboard for life. It’s so much easier to be productive.
#9 Drawing with a piece of paper and a pencil. You just can’t beat it
#10 Writing letters. With paper & pen, through the postal service!
#11 Physical books. I tried to get into ebooks but it’s just not the same as a physical book. Plus books have that fresh paper smell that’s so nostalgic
#12 Physical media. Ain’t no copyright/license b******t can delete anything from my library.
#13 Cash
#14 CDs. Nothing beats having a physical copy of my favorite albums
#15
Corded tools and appliances. So many things I don’t use enough to make it worthwhile if it only lasts as long as the battery, and then I have to decide between spending to keep using something old or to just get something new.
That battery powered weed whacker I only need a few times year? The battery is done after a few years anyway. If I get a corded one that sucker will last me decades. Same with lawnmowers, snowblowers, drills, screwdrivers, vacuum cleaners, etc.
#16 It will be a cold day in hell before I get a fridge or a dishwasher with a computer built inside of it.
#17 Notebook and pen to take notes
#18 My analog watch with the hour, minute, and second hands.
#19 A car with a key, not a fob
#20 For me, manual brooms/sweepers come to mind. Robo vacuums just don’t interest me. I love advanced tech when it makes sense, but for me this feels like a case of overkill. Not everything needs to be smart/automatic. I’m a big believer the future should be one of mixed-use tech.
#21 Real buttons. Not everything has to be touchscreen-compatible and there’s no comparison to gaming on a keyboard vs something touchscreen.
#22 Paper tickets instead of e-tickets
#23 Cars that dont have TVs glued to the dash.
#24 Handheld can openers. Dependable, fast, and portable.
#25
I have a 1947 Singer model 15. Sure I need attachments to do button holes and zig-zag stitches but, I couldn’t imagine using a modern machine.
Film, while I do have digital cameras as well, despite the incredible rise in cost I have still find myself shooting both 35mm and medium format film. I develop all my black and white film myself too, because the local lab charges more for it.
Vernier calipers, micrometers, etc: Why add a screen to something that never needed one?
Natural fabrics, I sew clothes out of wool, leather, cotton, linen, and silk. The only synthetic fabrics that ever made sense to me was nylon and kevlar, for normal clothes I just don’t see the point in polyester, viscose, PU, etc. It is like we have a whole chemical industry researching worse materials to make things out of.
Shanilou Perera
Shanilou has always loved reading and learning about the world we live in. While she enjoys fictional books and stories just as much, since childhood she was especially fascinated by encyclopaedias and strangely enough, self-help books. As a kid, she spent most of her time consuming as much knowledge as she could get her hands on and could always be found at the library. Now, she still enjoys finding out about all the amazing things that surround us in our day-to-day lives and is blessed to be able to write about them to share with the whole world as a profession.
