As it has been aptly quoted, time and tide wait for none. Indeed, the technological drift from traditional methods to a smart and quicker high-tech world has lived up to this saying. We stand amidst, the high-tech cosmos, recalling what technology used to be and what it can possibly turn into. No wonder Gen-Z is so oblivious to what technology was in the late 20th Century. We are here to address some of the long-forgotten devices, that the generation of the 21st Century has no clue about.
In this modern contemporary world, where time is money, money is the future and, the future is technology. It is a shame how our hunger for heading towards the technological age has made us so unappreciative of the forsaken technology from the 90s and early 00s. The current age is pacing so rapidly, that in no time, we can anticipate the world will be living and breathing tech. Of course, technology has a lot to offer, to us and to future generations to come. However, it is equally important to reminisce and acknowledge how it all came up to this.
From a world where letters were a medium of communication across states and countries to living in a world where it takes a handy device for you to connect to anyone, anywhere. Technology has leaped forward and evolved drastically. The tech-friendly Gen-Z is entirely unaware of the devices that Gen-Y was acquainted with. Thus, we have a complete list of the devices that the millennials of today’s time can never accustom to.
In this article, we will be covering for you all the age-old tech devices and their alternatives today. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and recall the long-forgotten tech devices teenagers know nothing about.
Long-Forgotten Tech Devices
Let’s take a nostalgic walk down memory lane, looking at some of the biggest, best, and most memorable gadgets that have been outdated or just forced into irrelevance by better, modern technologies.
You might remember many of these, but there is plenty of the younger generation that don’t. Below are listed some of the Long-forgotten Tech Devices Teenagers Know Nothing About.
1. Pager
Pagers were originally designed and manufactured in the 1950s, but they were not brought to use until the 1980s. They gained popularity worldwide. These one-way communication devices were commonly used by emergency services, doctors, and security personnel who needed to be always reachable, even when landlines were not available.
Alternative: The rise of smartphones in the early 2000s reduced the use of pagers but due to their durability, elasticity, and coverage, smartphones have been in the use for many years.
2. Floppy Disk
Floppy disks were the first data storage media to appear in the 1970s. The first was an 8-inch floppy disk, which could barely store 80 kilobytes of data. As floppy disks became smaller, their storage capacity increased, and by the mid-1980s, 3.5-inch floppies could hold a significant 1.44MB, which was again less. Unfortunately, floppy disks are vulnerable to magnets and heat and are easily damaged, which led to the discontinuation of floppy disks. Floppy disks currently only serve as a save icon in most software applications.
Alternative: The introduction of hard drives, pen drives, and zip drives led to the reduced use of floppy disks. Where floppy disks had their limitations on available space, hard drives, and cloud services show just how far we’ve come.
3. Matrix Printer
We all have heard about these printers. Of course, who doesn’t remember them? The loud noise that these Matrix Printers used to make, it hard to get over that loud noise of the head. However, before the time of laser printers and inkjet printers, we had many different black-and-white printers that were essentially a short step up from typewriters. Although they were time-consuming, it was the then-new-age technology for people to make printing their useful documents easy. These printers were slow and cumbersome, but they did the job, even if they did make a lot of noise during their use.
Alternative: The age-old matrix printers have been now replaced with laser printers for their time-saving feature and better service. Laser printers rely on the use of fine ink powder and heat to create images whereas, dot matrix printers have pins that push an ink-soaked ribbon against the paper, which creates images or prints.
4. Films Cameras
Classic film cameras have long been pushed out of the mass market by the modern age of digital cameras. You no longer have to rely on film rolls or trips to local stores for processing. With a digital camera, SD card, and modern computer system, you can enjoy taking pictures with much less effort and cost, and you can see the result of the picture immediately.
Alternative: The film cameras have been now replaced with DSLRs or mobile cameras themselves. In today’s time, there are only a handful of people who keep a hard copy of the photograph. Professional photographers and retro snappers still use film cameras for specific artistic purposes. But there are few others.
5. Cassette Tape and Walkman
Music has been a form of expression for every generation and having to tune into your favorite music is bliss and so it was back then as well. The joys of recording mixtapes and the link between a cassette and a pencil are lost to younger generations. The cassette and Walkman players were so iconic that it didn’t matter how old you were, as long as you wanted to listen to music on the go, this gadget changed everything. Its iconic status the Walkman is making a comeback with a new release due in 2022 by Sony.
Alternative: Cassettes are now considered vintage as there used to be a time when people used to flaunt their cassette collection. However, they have now been replaced with Bluetooth speakers and mobile phones. You can search for the music online download it and listen to it.
6. Fax Machine
The traditional fax machine was essentially a modern version of the telegram back then. For quite some years, it allowed people and businesses to transfer scanned documents from one phone number to another. The recipient would have the joy of a printed copy of the document bursting forth from their machine.
Alternative: To put it straight, fax machines by far have largely been rendered obsolete by the invention of email, the internet, and advancements in computing technologies. The best replacement for these is email.
7. Rotary telephones and wired landlines
Rotary telephones are and have been a unique medium of communication. They are yet, another piece of technology that nears obsoletion after being replaced by a computer that we carry around in our pocket. One example of such a variation was the rotary dial telephone which featured a dial arranged in a circular layout so the user had to turn the dial for each digit of the phone number they were trying to call.
Alternative: Without a doubt, mobile phones have established their entity and are playing on the front foot by covering and catering to all the needs of the users. From making a call to accessing the internet to search for something it is indeed a one-stop solution for everything.
8. Typewriters
The memory of a typewriter may feel more ancient than it actually is. One of the first commercially-made typewriters was patented by Christopher Latham Sholes in the year 1868, with it being a crucial tool in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Back in those days, when computers didn’t exist, the only way to type documents was made possible through a typewriter. A step up from paper and pen, the typewriter opened up a world of possibilities for those looking to craft novels, document history, or scribe propaganda.
Alternative: Keyboards and printers have taken over and replaced the antique typewriters, to make typing and printing simpler. Not leaving behind the epitome of an immemorial way of typing and sending letters across. It is thus, considered time-consuming.
Wrapping Up
Whatever technology is today, it is only a facet of what it can be. With technology’s enhancement, its use is also proliferating. We must understand the need for this evolution in technology because marching toward and moving to a hi-tech world will only benefit us. Having said that, it is not to forget where we came from, the old-age devices and the traditional methods of technology, were indeed a wonderful and worth recollecting era.
Therefore, the above listed were some of the Long-Forgotten Tech Devices Teenagers know nothing about and we hope that this guide was helpful.
