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?

Camcorders with little tapes.

Whiteboards in classrooms - replace by touch screen.
(I used a blackboard for years so remember when whiteboards were the new thing)
I’m OLD !

USB sticks. I know they're still around but not as widely used

Being given a ten shilling note by my great aunt. It was such a thrill to have something as valuable as paper money. I doubt children would have the same reaction to today's equivalent, a 50p coin.

Rural so much of this is still in use. I've had dozens of Xmas cards this year so I think they will be around for some time to come. I have a CRT TV with built in video player and a dvd player in the utility room which I use for playing films while ironing rather than watching Netflix on my phone.

@sweetbellyhigh

Using the A-Z to find my way round London 😂

I found an old dog-earred London A-Z the other day and it made me super nostalgic for when I first moved to London, looking for a flatshare with a copy of Loot, an A-Z and plenty of change for the phone box.

I love maps and am slightly sad about how reliant we are these days on GPS navigation. My Dad still insists on giving me detailed directions if I am driving somewhere to meet him - “turn off the A38 at the Cross Keys pub and take the B702, then you’ll avoid the rush hour traffic” and I have say “Dad I literally just put the postcode in my phone and it gives me the fastest route”. He had the last laugh when I was horrendously late once as I had accidentally changed the settings on Google Maps to ‘avoid motorways’.

@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!

I have one! Bought it a couple of years ago and it does get used.

uk.bic.com/en/writing-accessories/flagship-products/the-essential-bic-4-colours-ballpoint-pen.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiA_JWOBhDRARIsANymNOaXZyZuk2PLYXeOQpbdIY6OrWfX6ny_4ZnC0lR90FJ19HthqUN3r-QaAtylEALw_wcB

Blimey reading this is making me feel like I'm living in the dark ages. I don't have on demand TV, just one with built in freeview and a dvd player, I have a landline because the signal here is rubbish, I don't have a smart phone, again because the signal is crap and the one I do have is a PAYG not contract. I read hard copy books, don't have takeaways delivered (no-one will do it), so have to collect oh and I'm typing this on my desk top PC, yet somehow I still manage to function in the "modern" world.

I bought 8 glass baubles on Monday.

London centric sorry, but the free magazines with all the job listings in them you got at tube and train stations. One was called "Ms London" another was "Midweek" there was a third, can't remember the name.

Same as paper copies of the Evening Standard. They used to have sellers outside all the stations calling out "Standard!" It was quite an art in rush hour to see them taking 20p or whatever it cost, swapping change lightning quick as people rushed into the station.

Discarded newspapers on tube seats.

Amazing magazine stands outside stations with every magazine you could think of, cash only. Excitedly buying your fave magazine every week, couldn't wait to open it and start reading, and the smell of an unopened magazine page, I miss that.

Same as your Mum getting a new Freeman's or Janet Fraser catalogue. They were massive, weighed the same as a house brick and sold everything under the sun, toys were always at the back, ladieswear at the front.

Argos catalogue.

Making actual telephone calls - my dc don’t seem to do it and would rather text than make a phone call (apart in work situations etc) - in fact they use their phones for every purpose except for what they were originally designed for, ie making phone calls!

(I appreciate everyone still makes phone calls)

I still use cash wherever I can!

Lets see... landlines. Loads of people don't seem to have a landline now.

The yellow pages/BT phone book + phone book
Encyclopaedias.
Having a bin calendar from the local council stuck somewhere so you knew when the bin days were even with bank holidays!
MSN messenger and similar

Knocking on people’s doors to say hello. When we were kids we would roam around the village and if we were bored, knock on the doors of various old people to say hello and see if we could score a biscuit and orange juice at their kitchen table while we had a chat.

@VenusClapTrap

Knocking on people’s doors to say hello. When we were kids we would roam around the village and if we were bored, knock on the doors of various old people to say hello and see if we could score a biscuit and orange juice at their kitchen table while we had a chat.

We would knock on doors to ask if we could borrow their dog and take it out for a walk. 🤣 We were always walking other people’s dogs!

Playing Bamboozle on Teletext, also booking holidays on Teletext.

Going round doors collecting money for a 'sponsored walk'.

Using a magnet to see if a can was recyclable.

Oh wow yes! An A-Z for every city visited was essential!

Standing at the train station looking at the departure posters and planning the outward/return journey.

Leaning out of the moving train window to have a smoke... Being able to jump on the train just as it has set off! Run up, open door of moving train & jump on!! OMG!
😬😆 (I don’t miss these things really!)

@Riverlee

Making actual telephone calls - my dc don’t seem to do it and would rather text than make a phone call (apart in work situations etc) - in fact they use their phones for every purpose except for what they were originally designed for, ie making phone calls!

(I appreciate everyone still makes phone calls)

If they don’t write a message they leave each other voice messages! One after another- In real time. I find that odd! Just talk to each other normally!

Maybe my train example wasn’t ‘just a few years ago’ - I’m under the illusion that the ‘80s/ ‘90s were last decade!

Paper rail tickets.

The selling of broadsheet newspapers

Paying for the Evening Standard (never did, myself, awful rag)

iPod docking stations

Having a single password to log onto the bank online. Now it's a stream of code words, PINs, memorable words, things being texted to me, little devices to generate codes. Bloody hackers.

Email addresses ending in bt.com or aol.com (or similar) and having to change email address if you had a new supplier

Having a home phone that you actually used

Answerphone in the hall

Cables to dial into the internet

Flushing toilets with a handle, not a button

I could go on. And on!

I must be living in a time warp. Still have paper takeaway menus, ring up to order and go to collect. Still use a landline for some incoming calls. No smart TV - if I want to watch something on iplayer or Netflix on a bigger screen I attach my laptop with an HDMI cable. Hard drive attached to the Sky box to record programmes. No Alexa. Still have collections of records, CDs and DVDs that I can actually play. I have a paper write-on calendar for appointments. A file in the kitchen containing a printed recipe collection. I have embraced contactless payments but still own a chequebook.

I was responsible for delivering the last set of Yellow Pages around my village a couple of years ago. People couldn't believe they still existed!

Just realised my phone box doesn't qualify, it's probably 60 years ago.

Ah, but it probably only seems like a few years ago. I remember feeding them a tanner, not four pennies. Inflation!

Flushing toilets with a handle, not a button

We are still pulling the chain.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

I bought 8 glass baubles on Monday.

Where?

We get paper takeaway menus through the door all the time. I don't use them, but someone must.