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Original poster

Obsolete things

198 replies

FourEyesGood · 26/01/2019 22:07

Please can you help me? I’m trying to compile a list of things that are now obselete, like fax machines and VHS tapes. (They don’t have to be technology-based, though.) This is for an amateur film I’m loosely involved in planning.
Thanks!

Just thought of another one: cheque books!

OP posts:
juniperbushes · 26/01/2019 22:10

Adding machines. Telephones with a round dial.

FadedRed · 26/01/2019 22:10

Fax machines are still in use all over the NHS. And some areas of Social Services and some Government offices.
I wrote a cheque last month (though I admit it was the first time in about three years!)

DrMadelineMaxwell · 26/01/2019 22:11

Mangles.

Spirit copiers instead of photocopiers - ahh... the smell!
Cassette tapes.

PurpleDaisies · 26/01/2019 22:11

Minicoms
Sony Walkmans

toffee1000 · 26/01/2019 22:13

You can still buy “retro” telephones with a round dial, my parents have one. But they’re definitely not common.

Insomnibrat · 26/01/2019 22:13

Manual car chokes.
Points & distributors
Front drum brakes

Bank branches.

WhoWants2Know · 26/01/2019 22:14

Pneumatic tubes.

WhoWants2Know · 26/01/2019 22:14

Floppy disks

ANiceLentilHotpot · 26/01/2019 22:15

I still have to write cheques for school trips! It's the only time I use a cheque book though.

Those carbon paper swipey credit card things you had in shops.

I've not seen a treasury tag for years but I'm sure they're still around somewhere.

CD or cassette Walkmen.

WhoWants2Know · 26/01/2019 22:15

The talking clock

Anonanonanariston · 26/01/2019 22:15

Pagers (outside of hospital)

Kleptronic · 26/01/2019 22:16

Credit card carbon copy paper swipe machine things.

Tobuyornot99 · 26/01/2019 22:17

Back boilers / emergen heaters
Ration books

CharminglyGawky · 26/01/2019 22:17

Teletext, I used to love scrolling through pages of atrociously pixilated text!

OneStepMoreFun · 26/01/2019 22:17

dictaphones
electric typewriters
daisywheel printers
100 watt light bulbs
mangles and washboards
telegrams
VHS cassettes and players
analogue TVs

WhoWants2Know · 26/01/2019 22:17

Any telephone stuck to the wall, or with a handset stuck to its base.

WhoWants2Know · 26/01/2019 22:18

Slide projectors

Ariela · 26/01/2019 22:19

Telex machines!
Slide rules, log tables

Linglelong · 26/01/2019 22:19

Phone books

EyeDrops · 26/01/2019 22:19

Overhead projectors! (The classic school type with the light and clear film sheets. Extra special when teachers would write on them with coloured pen, it looked so fancy.)

Betsy86 · 26/01/2019 22:19

Minidisc player
Dial up internet

WhoWants2Know · 26/01/2019 22:20

Tamagotchi

ForOldLandsEye · 26/01/2019 22:21

The NHS still uses faxes and cheques!

To add to your list:
Typewriters
Telex machines
Tippex
Teletext
car phones
cassette decks
mini-discs
Twin tub washing machines
Phone boxes (that work)

Badbilly · 26/01/2019 22:21

Before drink cans had ring-pull tops you had to have a little hand held spanner type device to puncture two holes in the top of the can.

SunburstsOrMarbleHalls · 26/01/2019 22:21

Fax machines are in use daily across pharmacies and other areas of the NHS. In fact some industries have reverting back to fax machines when when transmitting highly confidential data as email can be compromised.

Yellow Pages - last issue is this year
Film Rental stores like Blockbuster
Answering machines
Cathode Ray Tube Televisions