Which things seem so antiquated now that were only a few years ago...

[Rosewaterblossom]

Programming the TV to record on VHS..

Ipods..

Renting a dvd from the shop..

Decorating a room and having one colour at the bottom with a paler version at the top separated with a pretty boarder..

What are yours?

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

4 in 1 box pens are very in demand in secondary schools.

Faxes. Does anyone have a fax machine anymore?

Funnily enough we had an email go round work a few weeks ago asking if anyone ever needed access to a fax machine now!

I think the last time I used one was back in 2012. I know people used to use them to fax car tax details to insurers because they wouldn't accept emails.

I think nothing can replace a proper birthday card.

I think I used a fax at work in 2014. Someone wanted to fax us something important and refused to do it by email. We had to go to the store cupboard and retrieve the fax stored in there along with archive paper files we legally had to keep.

@Theimpossiblegirl

Jealous of the take away references. We're rural so have to ring and collect. One day...

Same here! No Uber or Deliveroo where I live.

I have a foot in both camps.

Play music on my Alexa but also have CDs records, and an MP3 player!

Use Amazon Prime and BBC iplayer, but also have DVDs.

Have a landline and a mobile.

Have a camera and use my phone for photos.

Use cash but more and more contactless. Occasionally still write a cheque.

Hopefully with "circular economy" initiatives we'll start getting electrical items repaired again instead of throwing them away,

No Uber where we live. The problem is that most of the taxi drivers in the nearest town have gone over to Uber so our taxi service is almost non existent now.
No Deliveroo here. We havee to ring and collect.
We still have a landline, but rarely use it. It is a useful back up though, and we don't plan to get rid of it. We use it for broadband anyway.

I still prefer country living to city living though.

I have been in shops in villages where although you can pay contactless, the contactless often does not work due to the signal being so poor. Also used to go to a hairdresser next to a university that could not get a signal as it was in a cave. There would be a steady stream of customers directed to the nearby cashpoint. But it was still popular.

Putting up the black out curtains and spending the night on fire watching duty.

Carol singing! We went all throughout December as kids/teens in the 90s, made good money.

I guess nowadays parents wouldn't allow their kids to knock on strangers doors to carol sing and kids have more these days too. We needed the money!

Telephone directories and remembering people's numbers and area codes.
The maroon flares being sent up in the night to alert/wake up the lifeboat crew. They used to wake the whole village. I guess now they are all on some sort of digital alert so the maroons are no longer needed.
I still use some cash when I need to and have a landline for emergencies as are signal is poor here. I no longer have a TV though as the computer streams everything I need.

The back of magazines or inserts advertising the Britannia Music club or book clubs total rip off!
corded landlines being confined to one place!

Ipods are the biggest thing for me. I didn't have a smart phone until I was 18, but I had an ipod touch. I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, I still have it although it doesn't turn on anymore. I also had a beloved ipod nano which does work, but my charger broke and I never replaced it. I couldn't imagine my life without them, my dad and I spent weeks putting all our CDs into iTunes and loading them onto our Ipods.

I still buy and watch DVDs though!

@MrsHGWells

Address books; Remembering phone numbers / addresses replaced with dropped pins v card

Video recorders /DVDs/CDs & books - everything digital native. Less physical stuff & greater portability via smartphones.

Cash - now mostly cashless society ( smart phones)

Pondering when will stamps become redundant, only used by collectors and christmas / birthday cards. Waiting for QR codes to replace Stamps.

If you buy your postage from Royal Mails website, you get a qr code label to stick on the envelope. Still easier to have a book of stamps for standard sized envelopes, but it saves you having to queue in a post office.

Oh god
I still buy cds
Still pay in cash
Phone for a taxi
Phone for a takeaway, which I collect.

To clarify I couldn't imagine my life without them at the time, now everything is on my phone!

@elQuintoConyo

Sending texts, actual SMS texts, not WhatsApps, and having to count the characters so you didn't accidentally write two messages and be charged twice.

Pagers - an 18yo student of mine recently asked me what one was, as he'd seen it in an "old" film.

Landline. Haven't had one for around 9 years.

MP3 player - I really miss mine.

Foil Christmas decorations you hung from the ceiling.

One fat BIC biro with four different colours - I haven't seen one in years!

We have those biros at home - dd2 loves them

St Christopher.
The other day I saw a driving school car with the name "St Christopher" on it. For a moment I thought it was a weird name for a driving school until I twigged that St Christopher is the patron saint of travellers. The only reason I know that is that in the 70s when I was small it seemed nearly everyone wore St Christopher necklaces. I've no idea when they stopped or if journeys are now less safe as a result!

We don't have anything to watch DVDs on any more. I was just thinking that today about DVDs as presents.

@labazslovesliving

The back of magazines or inserts advertising the Britannia Music club or book clubs total rip off! corded landlines being confined to one place!

Oh I forgot about Britannia music club!

Used to get the initial offer of 5 CDs for something like £15 (back when CDs were around £16 each,) then not bother with them again...

In Germany you can buy a stamp by text. You get a six digit code, which you write on the envelope and that is the stamp.

Taking the facia of your car CD player off and taking it with you.

Anything that can now be done with a smart phone, so having a separate alarm clock, a camera, a sat nav.

There was a brilliant post about things we did in the past that seem so alien now. I lived for it. Will see if I can find it.

Enjoying this thread! I had a Filofax until quite recently but paperchase and smiths stopped stocking the infills.

I used to take dd1 to blockbusters. She's only 12.

Here it is

Things where you look back and think "that really was a different world" www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4344221-Things-where-you-look-back-and-think-that-really-was-a-different-world

@incywincyspidery I think it was a fashion trend. I had a St Christopher by boyfriend at school bought me. Lots of people used to wear them who didn't really travel, and weren't really religious. I have no idea why.