Indeed. I wouldn't be without one for that very reason. The other thing I recommend if you still have a landline is a non-cordless phone that plugs into the wall outlet. If the power is out and your cell phone battery is dead, this is a lifeline to be able to call for updates or just make sure family members elsewhere are OK. 

Sometimes, it's those "obsolete" things that are the most useful in an emergency because they still work. 

I have recently replaced a kitchen radio in my apartment with a smart speaker linked to Tune-In, Simple Radio, Amazon Music and Spotify and couldn't be happier. Being in a condo, OTA AM radio could be heard only near windows.  No problem with the speaker.  If I wish to listen to any U.S. public radio stations I can do so and not be blocked by any Canadian stations.  I can hear international news and public affairs from NPR and BBC World Service.
I enjoy easy listening, instrumentals and folk music as well as old time radio mysteries none of which are available on today's local airwaves. Also, no static on AM stations during a storm.  Wifi radio is definitely the way of the future.
I used to rely on CFRB for coverage of local emergencies such as Saturday's storm.....but no more.  The CRTC should mandate that big news/talk stations cover emergencies as part of their licensing requirements.  
. 

Jody Thornton wrote:

RadioActive wrote:

This article purports to list the Top 25 gadgets that were must haves only a few years ago and have now disappeared into technological irrelevance. I agree with many of the choices, but I'm not so sure DVDs, cassette tapes and transistor radios are all so old hat they deserve to be on this list. Turntables are also making a huge comeback. 

One of the items not on the list: a fax machine. I'm sure some people still have them and they're still used by doctors to send prescription orders to pharmacies and by courts to receive official documents. But I don't know of anyone who actually has one. 

And as for me, I still have a reel-to-reel machine. And very occasionally, I still use it, including for friends who have old tapes they can't play anymore and want to know what's on them.  

Obsolete Gadgets We Used to Be Obsessed With

 
Definitely fax machines should be in the list. However.i would also say that DVDs, cassettes and home videocassette formats are definitely dead. They may "exist" but their consumption level is small. Vinyl between 1991 and 2006 was certainly dead. Sure I have loads of LPs and 12" singles from the 90s, but i was more stubborn than most and shopped for imports and such. But LP sales were down to a trickle during that period.

I'm not sure that open reel was a format that most would obsess over. Outside of this forum, many people have never used the format, sticking to 8 tracks in the 70s and cassettes in the 80s. That was a prosumer format at best. Similarly, tape drives for data backup purposes were relegated to corporate environments, for the most part.

I also find it odd that 8 track cartridges made the list, given these entries were supposed to be recent devices we obsessed over. The last time I saw new 8 tracks for sale was at Woolco in Eastgate Square in Hamilton. They had Blondie's "Autoamerican" in the clearance bin. That was March of 1981. By the way. I recall seeing "Rapture" split between two program channels so i would not have ever recommended buying it. I had the LP anyway.

And the gramophone??? I got wound up over this one That has not been an obsessed over device for decades, except for antique collectors.

OK, confession time. Many here know I'm something of a packrat when it comes to tech and radio stuff. I was just going over some of my stored stuff and discovered I have a huge number of items on the linked article's out-of-date list! I don't use them anymore, of course. But they're still around and most of them still work. Here are just a few of them from my dust-covered collection. 

Portable TVs 

To make matters worse, there are two of them - and both are black and white only!





8-Track Player

And yes, it's a Lloyd's! Remember that el cheapo brand? I believe the inserted tape came from my late father's collection. 



78 RPM Records

Also a legacy from my late dad. Note the high tech warning.


 

The Victrola/Gramophone

What he played them on - and broke the machine when he was a teenager! Note the box of needles, which frequently needed replacing.




The Reel-To-Reels

One from the 80s, one from the 50s. 




The Walkmans

Why there are so many, I'm not sure.






The VCRs

Some work, some don't. But most of them are functional. The second one down was almost never used, but has a DVD player built-in for dubbing purposes. And yes, I still have the VHS tapes to play on them.





The Cassette Deck

Yep, you can dub from one to the other at high speed!



The Transistor Radio

This thing went everywhere with me, from trips around town to vacations in Miami. I even attached it to my bike for a while, so I could listen to CHUM or CKFH while out for a ride. Kind of a throwback MP3 player. I've kept it for sentimental reasons, but it still works. Sort of. 




And One More

And finally, one that wasn't on the list but should have been - the outdated but far ahead of its time once, handheld video football game. It was a Coleco, of course. 



 

Two views of my wind up.  Unlike RA though, this is not my daily driver   bwahaaahaah

Below is my current attempt at a hi fi setup.  I use a Sears LXI preamp which works wonderfully.   I have Harman Kardon analog tuner and an Onkyo cassette deck.  The Sony linear tracker sounds decent enough.  Interestingly, I  use the preamp to output to a soundbar subwoofer combo, since my left ear hearing is nearly shot. There is little benefit for me in having a set of speakers. It works well enough for my needs, bypassing the need for a power amp or receiver.

Last edited by Jody Thornton (May 25, 2022 12:24 pm)

I have these Walkman radios I use regularly. I have two others at our place in Florida.

turkeytop wrote:

Now that I'm at a point in my life where have some disposable income I can spend frivolously, I can never resist buying another calculator when I see one I like.

TI-80s still too expensive.
 

RadioActive wrote:

Yep, I'm cold and calculating!

Oh my Gawd!  That's terrible ...lol


 

Also, although I personally do not have one, it surprises me that Factory Direct still sells a refurbished 
RCA DVD/TV combo TV:  

*ADDED note: I'm guessing the DVD/TV combo went obsolete before they could ever consider making a Blue Ray/TV combo? lol  
Was there ever a Blue Ray/TV combo?

Last edited by Radiowiz (May 27, 2022 2:04 am)

turkeytop wrote:

Although I now have newer, more powerful calculators, this one is still on of my favourites I bought it, back in the mid 80s when I was taking a course for which I needed a scientific calculator. By a stroke of luck, I won $18 on a lottery ticket which was just about enough to buy it at Radio Shack. It isn't solar, but it runs forever on a single AA cell.

I've since seen the same calculator sold under the Casio brand

remember the goofy joy of taking a calculator and spelling out words using numbers. O553 used to spell ESSO I think?

and having debates (close to noisy arguments after a few drinks) about which cassette tape brand was the best for mix tapes, I loved the yellow and transparent Maxell, plus they matched my yellow Sports Walkman that I would have to replace every six months or so because I used it so much, but TDK 90 (i think) was the Volvo of cassettes, indestructible and you could play it ten years later and get a great sound

I own most of the obsolete gadgets mentioned and some more out of necessity to be able access old air checks. 8 Track tape is definitely one such format. I would probably not own one without that need.

Here are two pictures of a rather hideous looking 8 track player that I own. I probably have not played it more than once and don't remember how it sounds but I have kept if for the "so bad that it's good" sentiment and car dashboard look.

darcyh wrote:

Fitz wrote:

I own most of the obsolete gadgets mentioned and some more out of necessity to be able access old air checks. 8 Track tape is definitely one such format. I would probably not own one without that need.

Here are two pictures of a rather hideous looking 8 track player that I own. I probably have not played it more than once and don't remember how it sounds but I have kept if for the "so bad that it's good" sentiment and car dashboard look.

I wonder if that "Electrophonic" was made at the Electrohome factory in Kitchener. Nice looking unit.

I don't think Electrophonic was connected to  Electrohome. This unit was made in Japan and Electrophonic was associated with the Morse Electro company which made a lot of B level product.