And tell me how proud of it you are.
Me. 62 years. As long as it keeps on ticking, I’m proud.
I’ve got a Miele washing machine that’s the best part of 40 years old. It’s required some maintenance over the years. However, it was designed with maintenance in mind, so all the repairs have been fairly painless.
My 5 year old dishwasher, on the other hand, has cost me more time, money and stress than the (very overworked) washing machine.
My original NES and game cartridges. Still work great, although retired as collectibles in favor of emulators now.
A pocketwatch manufactured in 1889. I keep it running as a memento mori: the watch may outlive the watchmaker. Build things well – they may be all people remember you by, one day.
I also have a slide rule at my desk at most times, to remind me of false-precision.
I guess the oldest though, is a Wu Zhu coin from the Three Kingdoms period (currency is a technology, too?). I keep it to remember that all empires arise from chaos, and must return to it; that all assets eventually have no value. That the things that endure, are stranger currencies still.
You’re the badass stoich character from fantasy stories!
“I keep the relics of my ancestors to remind me we all die”
Certainly, no one would accuse me of insufficient gravitas.
Just the right amount 🤌
A pocketwatch manufactured in 1889. I keep it running as a memento mori:
And to think I almost typed in my Lumia 1020… 🤣 🤣 Hats off mate!
If you happen to want one, they are surprisingly affordable (I think I paid ~100$). So many were made, for so many years, that they are not exactly rare! Some antiques are fun like that.
A 1940s era Sterling Siren Model “F” factory siren. This siren spent decades outside of a Long Island, NY firehouse, acting as a street clearing siren to allow fire engines to exit the station unimpeded during an emergency. It was decommissioned a few years ago and popped up on eBay, and I was able to get ahold of it for cheap as the seller didn’t know its worth. Model F sirens are very hard to find, as they haven’t been made since the 1960s, and the need for street clearing and fire sirens have lessened with the advent of pagers. I believe there are less than a dozen left in service across North America.
Mine is in very good running shape, despite its age. I lubricated the bearings recently (brass sleeve bearings) and let the motor break in. It isn’t quite as loud as my Federal Sign & Signal Model “L” (built in the 1960s) but still packs a punch. I usually set them off with the city sirens every Monday. It does need cosmetic restoration, as the paint is badly weathered and the projector has some dents in it, but it won’t be hard to fix up.
https://youtu.be/KvsGiL15g1k?si=ZgheNIH-fqOHJXnJ
My Model L is on the left, and my Model F is on the right.
My paternal grandmother’s KitchenAid model K mixer she bought just after my grandfather returned from WW2. She gave it to my mother in the late 70’s because she wanted a new one and the damn thing showed no signs of dying. My mother gave it to my wife about 15 years ago for the same reason.
We’ve bought some new accessories but that fucking zombie mixer will outlast the roaches.
I still listen to my music using a 160 GB iPod Classic. Apple struck gold with that clickwheel. Carrying around a dedicated device for music just for that elegant one-thumb control I don’t even have to look at to use is still totally worth it to me.
I could use it through my back jeans pocket. It was great!
In public would it just look like you’re caressing your own ass?
Probably. Just quickly and more of a poke the cheek. I did have a headphone cord coming out of the pocket though, so maybe less suspect. this was around 2010 probably.
The click wheel also works through fabric. I miss changing songs and adjusting volume without removing it from my pocket.
I still keep mine in my car. Have you seen Dankpods mod them with terabyte micro SD kits? Stuff is amazing.
I did it to mine. It’s fantastic.
If I could get Spotify and FLAC files on this then I’d be in heaven
Damn, it still can’t play FLAC?
Mine can’t. Don’t know about the later models.
It’s currently not working, but I’m going to replace the battery soon on my 80gb Zune. I fucking loved that thing back in high school. I want to make it my dedicated music device for my stereo set up, as a digital parallel to my turntable
I’m sorry you were bullied (I kid, I’ve had non ipod music players (still do), but I hope you didn’t get beat up a lot for having a zune, thats not fair to you)
I know you were joking, but luckily my high school really wasn’t too bad when it came to bullying. Like, there were the cliques that beefed, but there weren’t any like, actual bullies. I think what helped was that all of the really big dudes (I was a “small” big dude, at 6’2" 200lbs) we’re all nerds, and we protected the small nerds. We couldn’t let anyone hurt any of our WoW guildees haha
I am the oldest piece of working hardware I own and I am constantly disappointed by it
Have you tried oiling the joints ?
You probably mean electronic not technology. But I have a mechanical singer sewing machine from the 1800s that’s still in working order.
Those things were built like tanks. As long as the main inner rod (name is escaping me right now) isn’t literally bent, and you can keep uo with maintenance/minor repairs it’ll probably keep running forever.
I’m a bit of a collector of old sewing machines; I love how simple a machine they are and yet so incredibly useful! They were also built to be able to be repaired by just about anyone, which is so cool. If you had to pick a single machine that shows how much capitalism has engineered backwards into built-in obsolescence from something we had already figured out, the sewing machine would be a good example.
Not at all impressive, but to maximize interactions on a newborn thread:
It’s probably my PS3, which I would have gotten Christmas 2008 (or maybe it was 2009?). I recently started sailining the seas, and the most convenient way to watch those videos is to burn them to a disk, and so the PS3 is really just a glorified DVD player (can’t even be bothered to use it’s blue ray functionality)
I have my grandparents gramophone.
We pull it out each year to listen to their old Christmas records.
It’s become a tradition that my university age kids still look forward to.
I have a General Post Office model 711 telephone. I installed a microcontroller into it and it’s now the keypad for my home alarm system. It’s also hooked into Home Assistant so I could have it for other things if I wanted.
That is just brilliant!
Thanks. It has occurred to me to add a voice assistant to the phone as well but I’m not sure I’d ever actually use it.
I got a fountain pen with my initials on it from my grandfather. We have the same initials.
Depending on what you consider technology:
I have several firearms well over 100 years old in perfectly operational condition.
Quite a few kitchen appliances from the 70s that will never die.
And a working Apple IIgs.
As far as use on a daily or near daily basis, I have a 1974 Fender guitar amp, and a few other speakers and musical instruments that are vintage that are also going to outlive me.
Polaroid Land camera, ~1950. Found it after my grandparents passed. Never tried using it, it’s just neat.
They’re a lot of fun if you can get the film. Some company reverse engineered it and then went out of business, but I think there are still options if you’re willing to pay $2 a photo.
Polaroid is making a comeback. You can get film in Walmart now.
Ohhh really? I have one too, figured it was just a neat decoration on my camera shelf now. Maybe I’ll dust it off and use it again!
Go for it. Keep in mind, theres two types of film now though. “Retro” and “modern”. Don’t remember the classifications. Either way, modern doesn’t work in retro cameras cause there’s no built in battery.
Box should make it clear, but I know I grab without reading the box all the time. Figures I’d give a warning.
There’s a neat video showcase of their process/factory on YouTube. Forgot which channel made it but think something like veritasium/sed
Smarter Every Day did a film factory tour series, I think it was Kodak. He’s got some cool film photography videos.
They actually made a LEGO Polaroid camera. Should be coming out next year?
Not sure if this is the one you’re referring to, but NileRed made a video on this:
Think my dad has one of those… he has a bunch of old cameras his father used to use.
I have a Kodak Brownie here somewhere. I’ve never tried using it, but it should work - the shutter spring is in place and functional. The mirror for the viewfinder is messed up, too, so I might not be able to frame the shot correctly either.
