Vintage Things That Have Disappeared In Your Lifetime?

[tonyb]

... If I somehow lost my wife, I'd probably end up being the "weird old widower/divorcée" in the neighborhood because I have no idea how I'd go about "dating" these days.

Should that misfortune ever befall you, you might take comfort in knowing that suitable women in your age group far outnumber the men.

My suggestion would be to "go about dating" by just going about your business.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

When it comes to dating I am almost completely convinced that there is no one out there for me. I have been on two dates in my 33, almost 34 years of life, the last one being 10 years ago. Both of those dates were set up for me. It is almost like I have no attraction to anyone anymore. I have basically given up on finding a significant other and I'm pretty sure that when I die it will be days, if not weeks before my body is found because I don't get invited to do things because I don't have any "real life" friends. i have tried to set up get togethers in the past and no one came so or canceled at the last minute flaking out so I don't even try anymore.

 

[tonyb]

When it comes to dating I am almost completely convinced that there is no one out there for me. I have been on two dates in my 33, almost 34 years of life, the last one being 10 years ago. Both of those dates were set up for me. It is almost like I have no attraction to anyone anymore. I have basically given up on finding a significant other and I'm pretty sure that when I die it will be days, if not weeks before my body is found because I don't get invited to do things because I don't have any "real life" friends. i have tried to set up get togethers in the past and no one came so or canceled at the last minute flaking out so I don't even try anymore.

Well, dang. Nothing wrong with being alone, if that's what you want. There's lots to be said for the single life.

But I've seen nothing in your posts here to suggest you wouldn't be good company.

Am I correct in assuming you enjoy some activities that put you in the company of like-minded others?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not wholly disappeared, but well on the way, at least in the US -- crooked teeth. It's only since the 1960s that orthodontic treatment for kids has been an everyday, mainstream thing, and only since the 1970s that's it's been *assumed* that if you had crooked teeth as a kid you'd have them fixed. In the Era, this was not so -- and if you look at the mouths of people born before WWII, you'll see proof of this.

Those of us of from postwar generations who didn't have our teeth straightened are increasingly in the minority, and before too many more decades pass, the sight of overbites, underbites, and lower teeth wandering every-which-way will be something seen only in old family albums.

 

[Fading Fast]

Not wholly disappeared, but well on the way, at least in the US -- crooked teeth. It's only since the 1960s that orthodontic treatment for kids has been an everyday, mainstream thing, and only since the 1970s that's it's been *assumed* that if you had crooked teeth as a kid you'd have them fixed. In the Era, this was not so -- and if you look at the mouths of people born before WWII, you'll see proof of this.

Those of us of from postwar generations who didn't have our teeth straightened are increasingly in the minority, and before too many more decades pass, the sight of overbites, underbites, and lower teeth wandering every-which-way will be something seen only in old family albums.

My teeth were not straightened - fortunately, they are pretty good as is (but far from perfect and might need to do some work soon as my "bite" is causing some issues according to the dentist) - but Holy Cow, kids today all have perfect teeth. Even the kids of my generation who had their teeth straightened those teeth don't look as good as kid's teeth today do.

Today, not only do they seem to straighten the teeth, but they "right size" them and create a perfect gum line. Kid's teeth's today (gums and all) really look fantastic.

 

[BlueTrain]

Not mine! In fact, I'm one of my dentist's best customers.

 

[Fading Fast]

From today's WSJ:

Norway Set to Be First Country to Switch Off FM Radio
...District by district, Norway intends to replace all frequency modulation networks with digital radio by the end of 2017. This will make Norway the first country to abandon the technology, eight decades after its invention in the U.S....​

Wow, that's something I didn't expect to see go away in my lifetime.

 

[BlueTrain]

Something I just remembered for some reason, and it has nothing to do with teeth, was the little beanie caps freshmen were expected to wear when they went off to college. They were still around when I started in 1964 but I never had one. I have no idea who expected you to wear them but it was evidently a dying tradition by the time I came along. But I wouldn't be surprised if it were still going strong in some place overseas, perhaps Denmark or Sweden.

Regarding FM radio, it would indeed be surprising if a form of radio disappeared before the newspaper that reported it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Digital broadcasting is the wave of the future, or so we're told. It makes more sense to eliminate analog FM than it does AM, because FM has always been a very inefficient use of radio spectrum -- it requires a vast spread of frequencies for a relatively small number of stations, and reception is only reliable up to line of horizon. You could fit the entire AM broadcast band into the space required for just eight FM channels.

"Digital Radio Mondiale" is what they call the replacement technology -- it allows many more stations to be crowded into the same frequency band. Of course, all your existing receivers will be obsolete and you'll have to shell out for replacements, the technology for which is still covered by patents -- unlike analog receivers, for which the relevant patents have long since expired. If one were cynical about technocracy, one might suspect that to be the true motive for such a change.

 

[BlueTrain]

The best example of planned obsolescence that I can think of is business software.

 

[David Conwill]

Well, that makes me extra glad I've never shelled out to have a vintage car radio converted to FM. I figure I can get emergency bulletins off AM and an AUX jack gives me access to whatever music I might want to enjoy.

 

[BlueTrain]

The music I enjoy is not broadcast on radio anywhere, as far as I know. Technology issues aside, the real problem with what you hear lies with the stations, now owned by large corporations. But I'm only speaking for myself.

 

[Fading Fast]

The best example of planned obsolescence that I can think of is business software.

I'm convinced all personal computers, tablets and smartphones are intentionally made obsolete owing to software "upgrades" that "they don't support," "isn't really compatible with your version of the operating system," etc. All of my and my girlfriend's stuff has had these issues around the five-year timeline.

I'm reasonably comfortable with upgrades and software "harmonizing" and all that, so I've pushed back a bit and have been able to extend their lives, but it is still a struggle because Apple / Microsoft are working against you, but they won't say it.

 

[David Conwill]

When I was still on the iPhone treadmill, my rule of thumb was to stop accepting software upgrades as soon as they stopped upgrading the phone version that came before mine. It seemed to keep them running reasonably smoothly until all the apps stopped working because they were out of date.

If I didn't need a smart phone for work, I would definitely consider stepping back from owning one.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The music I enjoy is not broadcast on radio anywhere, as far as I know. Technology issues aside, the real problem with what you hear lies with the stations, now owned by large corporations. But I'm only speaking for myself.

The radio broadcasting industry was destroyed in the 90s by the lifting of the multiple-ownership restrictions. I was there and saw it happen.

Thanks to three SSTran AMT3000 100-milliwatt AM transmitters and a few second-hand Mac Minis, everything I like to listen to is broadcast over my own micropower radio service. If you're ever on my block tune in at 990 kc, 1230 kc, and 1330 kc.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm convinced all personal computers, tablets and smartphones are intentionally made obsolete owing to software "upgrades" that "they don't support," "isn't really compatible with your version of the operating system," etc. All of my and my girlfriend's stuff has had these issues around the five-year timeline.

I'm reasonably comfortable with upgrades and software "harmonizing" and all that, so I've pushed back a bit and have been able to extend their lives, but it is still a struggle because Apple / Microsoft are working against you, but they won't say it.

There are workarounds for some things -- I use a specially-hacked version of Firefox on my laptop and computer at home, designed to be compatible with Mac OS10.4, and it works with most of the websites I need to visit. The laptop is a fifteen year old PowerBook, and the desktop machine is a fourteen-year-old "Mirror Door" G4. I've replaced the hard drive in the desktop twice over the time I've owned it, and the power supply once, and I have a junk machine in the attic I can cannibalize for parts if need be. The laptop is held together by duct tape, but it works for what I need to use it for -- basically a glorified typewriter.

My gripe is with "mobile friendly"websites that make themselves completely unworkable for those of us who don't use mobile devices. When that happens to a site that I visit, if I can't get it to work with "TenFourFox," I simply stop using that site -- or if I absolutely have to get some information off it, I go to the "text only" version in the Google cache, or as a last resort, to the machine at the theatre (which I'm using now.)

I avoid upgrading software wherever possible because I need to be able to use various tools that are available only in Mac Classic, which is no longer supported by current versions of MacOS. The sound processing programs I use for transferring radio transcriptions date to the mid-1990s, but no current software has the features I specifically need to do this type of work with the equipment I have.

 

[BlueTrain]

Well, it doesn't follow that anyone was broadcasting the sort of music I enjoy the most 25 years ago, either. The issue is really the simple fact that some forms of entertainment appeal to a relatively small audience and the advertising that supports it wouldn't be there. So-called public radio filled in the spaces for a while but eventually even they had to acknowledge that some music was obsolete (to use a term one radio DJ used to refer to his programming) and it was shifted to 2:00 AM until finally it disappeared entirely, sometimes only when the DJ passed away. But I think there are still some niche radio stations operating on a shoestring (or, as that DJ also said, "we're working close"). It is entirely possible that the big stations would like to put them out of business, probably just for spite.

I don't have any form of portable phone and my laptop at home gets little use--except for listening to music. I suppose that will come to an end someday, too. I try, without any marked success, not to be addicted to it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Well, that makes me extra glad I've never shelled out to have a vintage car radio converted to FM. I figure I can get emergency bulletins off AM and an AUX jack gives me access to whatever music I might want to enjoy.

Get a device called the "Redi-Rad," which is a small AM radio modulator that broadcasts a micropower signal in your car at 1000 kc. It has an input cable that can plug into any gizmo you want to use -- a portable FM receiver, a CD player, an Ipod, whatever, anything with a 1/8 jack.

FM conversions of vintage car radios are the bunk. What they do is gut out the entire original radio and throw it away, and solder in a cheap FM receiver circuit board to replace it. With a Redi-Rad you can preerve and use your actual original radio as it was originally installed. I have one in the Plodge, and wouldn't be without it -- it's mounted up under the dash with a strip of Velcro, and the cord runs into the glove compartment. You don't know it's even there unless I tell you.

 

[Fading Fast]

There are workarounds for some things -- I use a specially-hacked version of Firefox on my laptop and computer at home, designed to be compatible with Mac OS10.4, and it works with most of the websites I need to visit. The laptop is a fifteen year old PowerBook, and the desktop machine is a fourteen-year-old "Mirror Door" G4. I've replaced the hard drive in the desktop twice over the time I've owned it, and the power supply once, and I have a junk machine in the attic I can cannibalize for parts if need be. The laptop is held together by duct tape, but it works for what I need to use it for -- basically a glorified typewriter.

My gripe is with "mobile friendly"websites that make themselves completely unworkable for those of us who don't use mobile devices. When that happens to a site that I visit, if I can't get it to work with "TenFourFox," I simply stop using that site -- or if I absolutely have to get some information off it, I go to the "text only" version in the Google cache, or as a last resort, to the machine at the theatre (which I'm using now.)

I avoid upgrading software wherever possible because I need to be able to use various tools that are available only in Mac Classic, which is no longer supported by current versions of MacOS. The sound processing programs I use for transferring radio transcriptions date to the mid-1990s, but no current software has the features I specifically need to do this type of work with the equipment I have.

It's all a crazy balance. We have two computers. One we don't upgrade as we know it is too old and won't support the upgrades as that would force it into obsolescence. For that one, our goal - with the help of Googling our problems and the incredible amount of free guidance that is out there - is to simply keep it running with all sorts of one-or-two-level deep "repairs" to software, programs, operating systems (and "stuff" that I'm not sure I know what it is, but if I go in and do this or that, I get things back up and working). I've been in DOS script now and then doing fixes - it's still there deeply buried beneath all Apple's flashy "Mountain Lion" or "El Capitan" operating systems.

For our other computer, we upgrade all the time and use it for the things the "old" one won't do. We play the same game with our phones and, thus, we kinda leap frog our way to not replacing everything every five years. So, right now, we have a 8 year old smart phone that is gasping for air but still going and a 2 year old one. When the 8 year old one finally says "no mas" for good, we'll buy a new one and the 2 year old one (hopefully 4 or more years old at that point) will become the "beater" and the new one will get all the upgrades.

What bugs me is not so much that the companies force obsolescence on you, but that they don't and won't admit it.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Something I just remembered for some reason, and it has nothing to do with teeth, was the little beanie caps freshmen were expected to wear when they went off to college. They were still around when I started in 1964 but I never had one. I have no idea who expected you to wear them but it was evidently a dying tradition by the time I came along. But I wouldn't be surprised if it were still going strong in some place overseas, perhaps Denmark or Sweden.

The story I've read is that the wearing of freshman beanies died off after WWII, when many incoming freshman were veterans, who weren't about to defer to the upperclassmen who were typically younger than they were and hadn't fought a war. The 1960s then pretty much polished off the tradition for good. But it's still alive in some places. The freshman beanie is still a tradition at Houston Baptist University, for one. I dated a freshman girl there back in the day, and she had to wear one too.