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Do you have family members that refuse to upgrade technology? Sure that dishwasher was pretty slick in 1970, but it's pretty much an ugly decoration now.

UrsiMajor 8 Feb 22
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21 comments

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7

By present "standards" they may be ugly - but they were mostly better constructed and made of more durable materials. I doubt that a present day dishwasher will be around in 50 years.

7

I tend to lean toward "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy, which holds true for upgrades. Unless there is something specific I want, I would not upgrade just to upgrade.

marga Level 7 Feb 22, 2018
6

The older and crankier I get, the more I dislike consumerism... so I don't care what it looks like, if it still does the job it was bought for, I just leave well enough alone.

Ya, that dishwasher looked awesome in 1970, but since then she learned about women's lib... sigh...

6

I still wash dishes in the sink so I guess it must be me 🙂

I loathe washing dishes.

@HippieChick58 use paper plates LOL

@HippieChick58 get a dog????

Paper plates are not earth friendly and expensive. I'd love a dog, but not home enough. Maybe after I retire. I had a dog, he was a great dishwasher! My cats are pretty good, but picky little darlings. As it is, for just me, the dishwasher is run at most 3 times a week. I am a pro at loading to the max, and have plenty of dishes. I'm not so keen on unloading, but it gets done.

5

So my mum was the last person in the UK to change from a twin tub washing machine to an automatic!

4

I was brought up to believe that if it is not broke don't fix it. Funny how that has vanished from our society along with the idea of making things that last. Now conspicuous consumption of junk that not only fails almost as soon as the warrantee ends and cannot be repaired has become the way to go.

4

As an oldy but tech savvy I do have to say that most stuff today is not built to last anymore...They are built from cheap materials and have a shelf life of about 5 years....so the fact that most stuff from the 70's is still going strong today is down to the fact that they were built to last and most of the people who use them are comfy with them and the fact that they are reliable and most importantly still work...Just saying...lol

3

I wish they could make cell phones waterproof, but I guess that would make them more durable. 🙂

marga Level 7 Feb 22, 2018
3

Actually, no. I did some upgrades in my house, and I try to keep things in good shape. I got a new phone in November,and yes I bitched about it for a couple of months. I got a new laptop because the old one was having some issues. The dishwasher just got a new lower rack because it was rusting out. I will replace the top rack one day. The machine itself is still working. 2ish years ago the AC went out and the water heater was showing signs of trouble, so they were all replaced, and I'm still paying for it. I went with an on demand water heater. The car is 11 years old and I plan to drive it til the kids take my keys away. The fridge, stove, and microwave are original with the house, almost 16 years old. I have stuff that is older than my kids, I possibly still have stuff from when I was a kid. So, mixed bag.

3

Looks like I am that family member. I wash my dishes by hand. I have my laundry washed, dried and hung on hanger by Rosemary, my laundry lady. I wash all wool, linen,silk by hand. I have aTV. It sits there because I do not watch it. The most high tech thing in my houe is my insulin pump which I wear on my body. It runs my life and I resent it.
Five years ago, after listening to NPR about the natural resources used and wasted by the clothing indulstry, made up my mind not to buy new clothes anymore ( except underwear. I have a designer wardrobe now. It is life in the cheap lane. I love it.

A. Thank goodness for insulin pumps. B. The clothing industry is horrible for our planet. I'm glad you're here.

3

me, especially with computers, until last year my phone was a nokia candy bar and my PC was on XP. In fact I had only just swapped, 2 years ago I was still on Windows 2000, it is my all time fave.

Windows NT. Best windows ever, not to say it was much.

@GipsyOfNewSpain I got my quals on NT4 server and Win98 client, they upgraded as I was finishing so I got to do Win2000 server and XP client. Anything since then I have had to learn myself.

@Rugglesby And you know what you are talking about... I reckon you operated dos 2.0 at some point.

@GipsyOfNewSpain I most certainly did, but only just, I got into computers late, and DOS 3 came out within weeks. DOS 5 was my fave, and there were numerous versions not just Microsoft, ie DRDOS and such. ahhh the good old days.

@Rugglesby Dos 5 wasn't it? I had Dos 5 with QEMM 386 for memory manager and Stacker for disk space. Nothing that I wanted from Dos 6. I was already ahead of Dos 6. I was stationed in Rota SP, when the disaster of Dos 6 came out. One guy on leave on the states brought a copy and passed along to everyone fool enough to make a copy... 2 weeks later half the personal computers on the base where down. Guys I didn't knew knocking at my door looking for my Dos 5. Dos 6 was not fixed until Dos 6.22. Microsoft was notorious for that.

@GipsyOfNewSpain ah the memories, I remember the DOS 6 incident well, like you I had stayed with 5. I think one of my biggest wins was a mouse driver, ctmouse I think it was, very small and could be installed in that 64kb upper memory block that was otherwise unused. I think I am perfectly honest when I say I could do quite well without windows, imagine the computers we have now, with all the function available but without the bloat of the UI, just batch files. I best be careful, we may start a devolution.

@Rugglesby I imagined you became an expert on editing the "autoexec.bat"... like you said... the memories.

@GipsyOfNewSpain and config.sys I kept many copies of each, depending on which game I wanted to play, We need a time machine and could swap these files and play all the old games/

@Rugglesby Comanche 386... put it on high memory. Those were the days!!!

3

A friend is going through that now with his built-in oven from 1971.

@TjallTjallOUTLK ahh I was born in 1948 probably at the same time as our first vacuum cleaner.

3

My mother absolutely refuses to use text messaging, and can not comprehend keeping her cell phone with her.

@Donotbelieve , I've heard the "spying" thing before lol. My parents didn't get a cell phone until last year, but still are very clumsy with them. My dad accepts it way more than my mother. They both still don't get why people don't use digital cameras anymore. Even with that I had to explain to them that the couldn't run out of "film" with their digital camera haha!

I've gotten used to having a cell phone. However, I don't take it everywhere I go. I grew up with a landline. If it rang, and I wasn't there to answer, big deal. I feel much the same about cell phones.

@KKGator, I grew up without one as well, I was a payphone kid. I think I was 28 before I broke down and got one. Even so it didn't take long before I got sucked in to the "lost my phone anxiety" syndrome lol.

@Jackolope74 My ex got me a cell phone, even though I didn't want one. I was already over 40

@Donotbelieve To be honest I will fully admit at one point I would bring up the whole big brother spying thing about cell phones. But then I came to the conclusion that I had nothing to hide or care who if any were concerned with my whereabouts. Go ahead spy on me, though it would be pretty boring lol.

@Donotbelieve don't even kid, quilt patterns is high level security stuff. Gotta keep those locked down along with the casserole recipes!

3

Yeah, It is very important that your tastes not be violated by unsightly, functional equipment. My condolences for your suffering.

2

I'm remodeling my house and I'm not getting rid of my kitchen sink which is likely from the 50's. Some things are too cool to get rid of for the sake of what some may consider an upgrade.

2

Drive it until the wheels fall off!

That is my plan, or the kids take the keys away. I actually think they're going to take my kitchen knives away first, but the keys won't be far behind.

2

I'm somewhat of a Luddite. I have a flip-Track-phone that costs me $150 every 2 years. I do watch some TV but not a lot. We both have tablets in addition to a decent computers and we keep appliances somewhat up-to-date as the newer ones are much more energy efficient. We heat with wood, had a dishwasher but never used it, and we hang our clothes outside. Somethings we like and somethings we don't. My wife and I aren't much for keeping up with the Jones's but if it's something we personally want we get it.

gearl Level 8 Feb 22, 2018
2

I am that person with outdated technology. I despise cell phones because they are in my opinion destroying our culture. I own a reasonably techy laptop, but I don't own a TV, I have no microwave, I hand wash my dishes, and I listen to the radio in my home. I don't think I'm a better person for this, but I have learned that you don't develop unhealthy habits to things that you don't have. TV used to be my vice and to be fair I still have shows I'll watch online, but I no longer sit blankly watching whatever happens to be on TV.

I am so with you on cell phones I hate them- you have just described me too there - no microwave, watch telly on computer if I want to - there s also the issue of the environment and how much water a dishwasher gets through etc..

2

If something is still working properly, it seems unnecessary to replace it just because there is something new on the market.

@geko I do not own a single Apple product. Nor will I.

1

Modern crap seems to break so often that I actually look for older models. id rather a bit more work than have to replace modern appliances every year.

1

My daughter finally got rid of her 2002 car, for a new car, I can sleep better. I am running windows 7 on my workhorse pc. I got a windows 8 in storage somewhere and my windows 10 laptop I use it as an expensive paperweight.

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