Technology Holdouts

Even as fanatic customers can be counted on to line up outside the Apple store for the latest iPhone, there are still millions of Americans who don’t use a smartphone at all. For that matter, there are still plenty of happy owners of tube televisions, rotary dial telephones, film cameras, fax machines, typewriters and cassette tape players.

The accelerating pace of disruption means more and more products are facing an early retirement. But even as computers, electronics and health products move quickly from must-haves to museum artifacts, a small but loyal following often carries a torch for the old stuff, sometimes out of nostalgia, sometimes from sheer stubbornness. For them, familiar and functioning technologies are good enough.
Listen, technology holdouts: Enough is enough

The article may be talking about us. We don’t have smart phones and we still have our rotary wall phone in the living room (shown in the picture on the left). That’s Andy’s favorite — I use the speaker phone shown in the right image.

3-12-14-rotary-phone3-12-14-speaker-phone

What about you? Are you a technology holdout?

 

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12 Responses to Technology Holdouts

  1. nick says:

    Not deliberately. I’ve nothing against new technology, but most of it I just don’t need, and I don’t buy things just because they’re trendy. I have an old-fashioned pay-as-you-go call and text phone, and we have an old cathode-ray TV we won in a prize draw 17 years ago. It works fine so why swap it for a flat-screen?

    • Jean says:

      We switched from our old 35-year old cathode ray TV to a digital one a few years ago when the government switched to digital transmission. We bought a converter box, but it meant it was hard to time shift programs with our VCR. Otherwise we would have kept the old one.

  2. Rummuser says:

    As far as landline telephone is concerned, I am a hold out. I however use the smartphone too. I can’t think of any other older version of conveniences in use at my home.

  3. tammy j says:

    I would definitely have to be called a hold out.
    I have a cell phone but it’s never charged. so I might as well not have it!
    I have a land line. (which I hear they will eventually phase out completely because they don’t want the upkeep of the lines?)
    my car is even a 2001. but it runs well. it has hail dents in it. but every spring it will get even more here… so.
    i’m much like nick. if I don’t need it I don’t buy it.
    except I do have a small flat screen tv. and even that I’ve had for a long time!
    love the cheery yellow phone!

  4. Linda Sand says:

    I recently broke down and bought an electric can opener. I’ve been using the Swing Away brand of handheld opener all these years but my hands no longer want me doing that.

  5. Audra E says:

    Yes and no. We still have landline phones, although Eric has explained to me that they aren’t landline, they just look like it, they’re as dependent on Comcast or Century Link as are our laptops. So when the underwater cable to San Juan goes, so go all our devices, aged and new alike.
    Bit by bit, I succumb to the smartphone. Ms Google does a wonderful job as a map app: she tells us when we’ll arrive to within 2-3 minutes, and detours us around traffic accidents. The detours are really helpful; we also play games with the arrival time, slowing down or speeding up just to see what she’ll do about it. She keeps up remarkably well!

    • Jean says:

      Kaitlin and Torben use their iPhones all the time. We seldom travel except up to the land, where the reception sucks. Andy can receive text messages from me but often his reply won’t go through — I text him every day to check. So we’ve installed DISH internet up there so he can email everyday just before he leaves. That has been very reliable, with only a few exceptions. It’s a relief to have something that mostly works. iPhones would be a waste of money.

  6. Cathy in NZ says:

    many of the technology you mention – can’t even function here!

    about the nearest you can get to a dial phone is a touch phone that looks like a dial phone. I do have a landline but it linked to my internet server (this morning you couldn’t have got through, sometimes it “falls over” and I have to reboot the box thing…

    (one of my friends lives in a block of may 34 pensioner units and he one of the few people with a landline – he often has visitors needs to use it…, he was going to change to just smartphone until he discovered it wasn’t cost effective at all – particular on prepay as he didn’t want the data/internet stuff)

    – the TV mechanism has changed as well…but when it changed to I seem to recall digital, I decided that watching on-demand was good enough. I have not missed the thing at all.

    I have basic s/phone services load it up at $20 a time and occasionally top it up (well within the 12 month time period)…sometimes take up their specials but 1/2 the time they are about data/net which I don’t need. I use free wi-fi around town…

    until I understand what 1/2 of it is about….I stay “as is” 🙂

    • Jean says:

      We have a dial phone because we bought it over 40 years ago. I prefer push button ones but even if Andy didn’t love it, we would keep the wall one as a backup.

      I’m with you about the mess of having to learn so much to use the new stuff!

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