How much "obsolete" technology do you use?

Personally i think as you get older, you become more resistant to change, especially as it gets harder to keep up with technology.10 years ago, i did everything i could to be at the forefront of everything new and modern.I had to have the latest and the greatest.But now, i'm already weary from techno over-load,and i'm only 28!!probably not the answer you're looking for, i just think you reach a certain point when you become content with what you have, and hang on to them because they are convenient for your needs, as opposed to "upgrading" to keep up with the times.

Ok, i got a little sidetracked there, to answer your question: i still occasionally use my 1995 sony tape deck, i have a few recordings on tape that i cant find on cd.

Up until there - it sounds like me.

I'm only 27 and most of the stuff I use is "old" technology. I play with vinyl and tape. My razor is close to 100 years old and I love mechanical watches. My fountain pen is a Diabolo de Cartier.

Windows XP.....not the answer you are looking for. I do have a mortar and pestle that I am staring at as I write this....for display purposes only!!!!

Considering I'm only 18 the only real "obsolete" thing in my life would probably be my 1980 toyota pickup.

I won't say that I'm entirely there: I've got a coupla Pelikans I just can't get used to (sold the Mont Blanc), and I couldn't afford a good used standard transmission, so I got a '99 Crown Vic Police Interceptor from the Decalb County Motorpool (they were upgrading to more fuel efficient Chevy Malibus). I'm still saving to get my Well-tempered TT setup and get the old albums out of their cardboard storage boxes.

But in most other ways I'm an anachrophile. My clothes and shoes are vastly thrifted: I can't afford to buy new the good shoes I've gotten twenty-forty years used. Most of my HDDs and all of my main Optical drives are SCSI (the controller U320). Everything I teach is canonical to Survey of English Literature-Beowulf to Blake. And the best new book I've read lately was a new translation of The 1001 Arabian Nights. I write and publish formal verse. To me, the thrills of modernity rise out of Weinmar Berlin, Ornette's free jazz, and the amazing fact that Gram Parsons was around somewhere at just about every epochal stage of the first fifteen years of country-rock.

I love computers, but I'm utterly print-based. I think that's the distinguishing factor that separates me from the tyros--my learned sensitivity to the nuances of text, my obliviousness to the finest nuances of ephemeral electronic media. I'll bet there are lots of older people here who'd say something similar--about the experience of music wrung out of physical instruments, and even the visual apprenticeship of drawing shapes, figures, and 'classical' buildings that was honed for years before they got their mitts on a sampling program, or a copy of Photoshop or Autocad.

I was looking at recent web reviews of a recently released album that I'm fond of--in part because it refers to a nostalgic musical genre, but more because the writer is someone who clearly knows how to read lyrics, and this attention to craft is evident in his song writing. I was stunned by the number of web-reviews in which the reviewers shallowly paid attention to the most superficial aspects of the songs and failed to recognize that the writing's thrust was completely opposite to what they proposed. It was just that they heard groovy summer music, and that's what they figured the bothersome lyrics were about.

I also fancy fountain pens, manual transmissions and tubes but mainly because I think they are better than the newer alternatives.. A lot of things today seem to sacrifice quality to be cheap and easy all too often.

There's just something cathartic about winding a mechanical wristwatch and listeninhg to it ticking

I have a 1930s Western Electric rotary phone and use it. Works great. My room clock is an electric 1950's analog clock (not obselete really but probably uses higher quality componants than today's clocks and keeps very accurate time). On certain days of the week I wear my 1952 Bulova wrist watch which works great. I also own an actual ancient Egyptian beaded necklace from around 400 BC that I purchased from an artifacts dealer in London and sometimes wear it on rare occasions (the string is new).
Lastly, I sometimes use a mortar and pestle for grinding stuff up in the kitchen. It's not really obselete but most modern day homes do not use one and will use a food processer instead. Also, I own a thick glass crystal like whiskey decanter from 1960 and sometimes use it to store whiskey and pour it into my glass (from time to time you see people doing this in the old Hollywood movies). Most people these days just pour straight from the whisky bottle.

I also used to own a 1920s hand cranking pencil sharpener which works great but sold it to an antique dealer since I rarely use wooden pencils.

I grind spices for Indian and couscous all the time, and I use an old electric coffee grinder. I think I used to have a (probably inferior, impracticable) mortar and pestle, but I couldn't get the thing to work well. I wish I knew the trick.

I used to own a coffee grinder for grinding but it died on me. A well built morter and pestle will always be reliable.

Your risk-averse nature is preventing you from enjoying the latest and the greatest our society has to offer

The only "obsolete" tech I use is all audio related. I spin vinyl and the newest component in my main listening loudspeaker setup is a pair of custom speakers from 1982.

I played Maniac Mansion on my 1982 C64 this afternoon and then warmed up my 65-66 vacuum tube receiver for some music. Other than that, I love the bleeding edge of technology.

Let me see...
* DE razor for shaving.
* Badger hair brush for shaving.
* Soap bar for shaving and washing.
* Fresh press for making coffee.