12 Obsolete Technologies Americans Still Use

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In my apartment, the cordless phone sits right next to the 2,400 baud modem ... in my drawer of outdated gadgets. My last VCR sits at the bottom of a landfill, buried right next to my VHS copy of "Y2K: The Movie." But for some consumers right here in America, ancient technologies are still a part of everyday life as they continue to buy brand-new cassette tapes, subscribe to dial-up Internet and make calls from a pay phone.



1. Dial-Up Internet


However, according to a December study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 4 percent of American adults still use a modem to get online. That’s more than 10 million people accessing the Web at 56.6 or slower speeds. Some of these folks are among the 6 percent of Americans who live in areas without broadband access, while others either can't afford or are too cheap to pay for high-speed services.

More: 13 Tech Sounds You Don't Hear Anymore

2. Pagers




More: The Best Smartphones of All Time

3. Dot Matrix Printers



More: 13 Tech Technologies My Newborn Son Won't Use

4. PDAs



More: The Must-Have Apps for 2013

5. Pay Phones



More: The Biggest Smartphones in the World

6. 13 Million Blank VHS and Cassette Tapes



More: 13 Technologies You Won't See in 2013

7. Landline Phones


More: The Smartphones with the Longest Battery Life

8. CRT TVs



More: 10 Must-Watch TV Apps

9. 35 Million Rolls of Film




10. Windows 98 and 2000



More: Best Laptops 2013

11. Fax Machines



More: 10 Terrible Tech Frustrations My Son Will Never Have

12. Vinyl Records



More: 5 Great Headphones with Their Own Audio Apps

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Author Bio
Avram Piltch
Avram Piltch, LAPTOP Online Editorial Director
Avram Piltch, LAPTOP Online Editorial Director on
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  • Photographer Says:

    When you're a professional photographer (and I am one) You damn well know that there's lots of good reasons to chose film over digital. Reasons that range from an artist's vision to a journalist documenting an important event on super 8 &amp; 16mm because of the difficulty of some being able to tamper with the "facts" captured on these mediums

  • Ash Miller Says:

    Also the less complicated a device, the easier it is to write well coded firmware, these new devices, 90 percent of them come out with bugs, then the firmware updates fixes one thing makes another worse, the code is complex enough one person cant grasp it and write it alone and make sure its 100% flawless. iphones and android devices, os bugs, apps that don't work well, spammy apps, I recently removed everything but stock apps on my S5 besides two apps by reputable manufacturers I needed. sometimes these devices are designed with hardware flaws that cant be fixed by firmware updates, and do they recall them, nope, your stuck with something that has features that it claimed to have but 1 or 2 don't work period. cheap plastic, weve gotten to where we buy too much crap, even though I love technology, it would be nice if say Samsung came out with the galaxy s5, built it to last 10 years and kept the applications within its ability to perform, so I don't have to upgrade, crt tvs looked great, now making one big enough for a large open are living room wouldn't be easy so ok we are on 1080p flat panel screens with LED lighting, good idea when they work right, they don't need complex apps, just hdmi ports, problem is your old content looks like crap on them, but now we are working on 4k??? come on give me a break, I can hardly distinguish pixels on my 55inch 1080 across the living room to the tv, 4k isn't going to make a difference, and for the record, 3d is awful and makes your head hurt. so we have blu ray, hd gaming consoles and 1080p tvs, lets let this last a good twenty years, and for petes sake put the nichicon capacitors and other hq parts in them so they can last that long. its not that much more expensive to build them right. xbox 360 is a good system, we don't have to upgrade to the next one that doesn't offer anything really better. just give us an upgraded 2tb drive to store new games, the quality is great on the 360, I only bought the wiiu because its predecessor looked horrible on the newer tvs.

    Ive always bought accords, they build really good vehicles, ive had an 09, an 11, a 12 tsx wagon rip:( and now a 14, all have been great but the 14 has introduced this touch radio controlled system, and guess what, bugs, now it can only see a certain number of files on my flash media, the integration with the phone for Pandora and other streaming radio is buggy, touch screens are hazardous in this application, were making things worse and better at the same time

  • Ash Miller Says:

    Im not sure why pdas pagers and old versions of windows haven't died out, I know a lot of people asking me to repair their computer and I ask how old is it and they say oh 7 years, im like dude just replace it, it will cost enough to fix it labor and parts than a new base model.

    were still trying to get people off fax, we use digital signatures on pdf documents

    I still own a crt console from the very early 80s, it still works like new, ive spent a total of probably 10 bucks to keep it going replacing a few capacitors, 40 years not bad at all, I don't use it as my living room tv but it gets used in my office and isn't going anywhere until the crt goes out.

    Vinyl is just cool as hell as someone else mentioned, I don't even use new players, ive got a vacuum tube driven rca console and a slightly newer Magnavox console that's the size of a dresser, that's a conversation piece especially when you can play modern music at a good quality sound, nobody makes 8 tracks anymore but I have a few that I still play but they sound worse than cassettes

    I still have many vcrs and cassette decks, I don't record on them anymore but watch a lot of content I have recorded, the only thing I have taken the time to digitize was home movies, and I have a bin full of store bought and mix tapes I love lol.

    im an early adopter, but I refuse to banish my old technology to the dump if its well built and has lasted forever. new vcrs wont live long if played to much, but a solid metal one from 1980 will last forever if properly taken care of and a few belts replaced here and there.

    this old music stuff is funky cool, big wooden tvs and stereos, they didn't make anything better looking since the good hard wood ones went by the wayside, now most houses aren't even set up for furniture entertainment centers, but they were so clutter free, imagine a 40 inch tv inside a wooden case with high quality speakers on either side with intricate designs and fabric covering behind them, open the lid, bluray, dvd, and cd player all in one, an aux jack and Bluetooth capable, built in amplifier, storage compartments that can be removed and game consoles, cassette players, whatever tech you wanted, and a turntable on the left being built so they could be mounted in a bracket to drop in and plug right into hdmi, built in roku device, extra hdmi ports, more than a dinky two that a lot of tvs come with, coax for hd air tv. built of real wood sitting in the corner of an older style living room that wasn't meant for fireplace tvs. the thing would operate seamlessly with one remote. one plug, no ugly tvs on the wall with wires hanging out, no crappy tv stands with glass trays, hell id buy it, I miss the home tech as furniture age. hell I miss good furniture, I cant fine a decent computer desk without spending 5 grand on something huge that I don't need

  • Pluto revenge Says:

    Lighten up guys.the guys got a right to his opinion. I happen to agree with him.these old old technologies are better left behind.

  • joe Says:

    well sir, i still use windows 2000, avoids the tedious activation process, must use 56k modem because local exchange has no adsl available, wireless usb broadband to expensive, still have a landline phone as i find the mobile phone plans expensive, no i dont live in ethiopia i live in australia.believe it or not.

  • Steve Says:

    Yeah, this is an older article but it still comes across as, "Me no use this anymore, so it old and stupid". Not everybody cares about, or can afford to, run to the Apple store the second the latest untested piece of crap comes out. The only thing I still use on that list is a landline because we get horrible reception here, but calling something obsolete just because you in particular don't use it anymore is just typical tech snobbery. And talk about being cheap- making people click 12 pages so you can scrape up more revenue to buy the latest iPhone...

  • bowlweevils Says:

    Oh, another one.

    JP is also wrong. You can sign a document that was emailed to you in a field that allows information entry and then email it back (or have it stored in a mutually accessible place).

    All you have to do is have an indication that you intend the entry of your name to have the effect of a signature. So something like a field with the word "Signed" or "Signature" immediately in front of, following, above, or below the field counts as a signature for the contract.

    The same is true when you go to the supermarket and sign your name on the screen to approve the purchase when you have gone over your credit card's no-sign limit ($25-$50 usually).

    Basically if you make it clear that writing your name somewhere is intended to have the effect of signing a contract, then it does have that effect.

    Again, I am an attorney, and have done plenty of work specifically on IT law, including research specifically on the validity of signed emailed contracts - in 2002 when there was still a bit of question regarding whether every state allowed it.

    Many European nations do not allow this, however, or have strict value limits on what can be contracted electronically. Then again, many European nations require that a notary be present when certain contracts are signed to verify that the person signing them is really the person who is authorized to do it. It adds a few hundred euros to the cost of your contract, and results in notary being a viable career rather than something that the librarian does for free or $5 at the shipping company store.

  • bowlweevils Says:

    Sim Says is totally wrong about the legality of emailed contracts. They are perfectly, entirely legal.

    I am an attorney, and have been for 11 years now. I have emailed contracts to other countries - they are valid.

    Right now I am working from home for a law firm in another part of the city. I am part of a group of law firms working on a complex anti-trust case with firms located around the nation. The head firm is in California. I am working on this through an agency in New York.

    Every week I send my work report, signed, by email to the law firm, which then approves of it and signs it, and then sends it to New York. The agent in New York then sends a payment authorization to my bank, and money appears. This was authorized by a contract sent by me to the agent in New York.

    So for me to get paid, 4 rounds of emailed contracts need to be done.

    More importantly, all of those privacy policies and terms of use that websites have and make you click on, those are all contracts. You don't even sign them. You don't even send an individual email. Just clicking the box = contract formed.

    I don't know who Sim Says is, or what rock he's been hiding under, but emailed contracts have been legal since the 1990s.

    Fax machines still sell probably because there are organizations where they know that certain messages are going to have to be printed out anyway, so sending them directly to a fax machine skips the step of having a person have to give the command to print them.

    Also, certain contracts cannot be sent by email. Prescriptions for restricted pharmaceuticals cannot be sent by email or phone, depending on the state. They must be faxed or brought directly to the pharmacy.

    Which is the type of business that still buys fax machines, because even if the prescription can be sent by email or phone, it is often easier to just get a fax because then any one of the staff working can pick it up from the stack of faxes and fill it, and there's no concern about whether all the prescriptions emailed were printed, or all the phone calls were written down.

  • bowlweevils Says:

    You know who still uses pay phones in 2013?

    People who locked themselves out and locked their cellphone in.

    And finding one was damn hard.

  • Daniel Ferreira Says:

    Interesting. Today I asked myself why the hell laptops still have a modem. Obviously, there had to be a reason, so I did some search and find about fax over internet, which I have needed more than once but never knew how to make it work!

    About internet and computer "experts", every time I search the web for technology issues I find mostly crap like this. I know "experts" have to get something to write about, but why they keep copy-pasting text to meet the deadline is beyond me. I learned about computers in technical books and scientific papers, not in newspapers and computer magazines because I had always feel disgusted with such lack of knowledge and erroneous advice.

    This guy, as most "experts" in the web, newspapers and magazines, learn most of their advice at the coffee table. That's the fact. And that's why bad technical advice propagates so quickly over the internet. Because there are too many of this "experts" who would hardly understand a scientific paper on RAID, magnetic disks, holographic storage or whatever. So much for "expertise".

  • Jim Says:

    Commenters, &amp; even the author himself, list thesis-defeating reasons to use many of these products (and omit many more). By definition, a technology is not obsolete if there's still a need for it - this article might better be titled "Interesting Reasons why 12 Obsolescent Technologies are Still Useful".

  • Dahn Says:

    HP3000 is still used because equipment was specially made for the connector. I used a modem to give me access to my desktop computer at work, as I suspected my employer would try to "see" my private correspondence. I have a landline, so when the cell towers are out, i can use the phone. I have a world globe as it gives me a better feeling than a flat screen map. I don't use facebook or Geni since I would loose all meaning of having "verification questions" on most web sites. I use FTP and FINGER extensively. I know of XT's in use as quality assurance terminals.


  • Mike Barter Says:


  • Gail Says:


  • noah hollinger Says:

    shut up we need all this stuff just f u

  • ria Says:

    As the old saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I get really fed up with clueless people who assume just because something is new, that it must be better.


    As said by others LP's sound 100 times better. Not to mention there is a feeling that you get with LP's that you don't get with CD's; playing CD's are a cold impersonal experience.


    My family only buys CRT Tv's, flat screens are tacky, I don't want my tv on my wall. I have a DVD player, but use my VCR much more. Wouldn't part with it and about to buy 2 more.




  • Jennifer Lantrip Says:

    Fifteen to twenty percent of all Americans live in areas with poor cell phone and broadband service. We don't have a choice, we have to use what works so we use fax machines, pay phones, landline phones, dial up internet and the "old" operating systems that work well with a slow connection. Major telecom companies are not interested in serving us (particularly in rural areas) and we pay a lot more for service than internet royalty in urban areas. How about an informed article on the changes that are needed for us to get the service we need and deserve?

  • TJ Says:




    Me? I've been in the IT industry for nearly 30 years, and give guys like you... those who hold master's degrees, or higher.

  • James Says:

    I still prefer a CRT TV. The specs of my 1990 27" Sony may not be impressive on paper, but the picture looks fantastic. It can keep up with most of the similarly sized flatscreens and has a wider color gamut than any of them. Also the specs like contrast ratio are so inflated that they're meaningless. A good CRT properly set up can produce a higher contrast picture in real world conditions, despite the LCD's bogus 10,000:1 (in a dark room) spec. I have a newer LCD upstairs due to the smaller space it takes, but if size was no object I'd choose a CRT any day.

    Some people are obsessed with the latest and greatest for the sake of having the newest of new, but I figure if it ain't broke, don't "fix" it. Not everything old is bad and not everything new is better.

  • Tom Says:

    How could Windows 98 NOT be better than Windows 8? It's 90 releases later for cripe sakes!

  • Steven Daniels Says:

    Law enforcement cannot use digital cameras.

  • silver Says:

    It might be outdated, but it is not obsolete.

  • d33zy Says:

    I would think Fax over eMail is more secure. While a 5 year old kid is smart enough to "hack"/login onto an email account &amp; send irate stuff, Faxing is a bit more business like as you'll need 2 text book phone numbers &amp; the device it's self. A person with the legal paper in hand, placing &amp; dailing it out AND its very traceable if needed.

  • KiddKong Says:

    I wouldn't say these things are obsolete since they serve their purpose. Faxes are often faster, especially if the document needs printed anyway, and are required in certain circumstances. Digital has it's advantages, though it can hardly be argued that is necessarily better than film, which has it's own advantages and leaves you with a physical negative from that event. Many audiophiles prefer records for that crackling sound on cheaper players, while others will argue that high end turntables are actually more clear than dl's/cd's ------http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDR8q0i0fv8 ----. Landlines are cheaper and more reliable (wish I had one). Plus....nostalgia goes a long way for many people. I should mention that I'm 28 and am really into new tech, but if I could go back 10-15 years when people were not glued to their cell phone/computer, I would do it in a heartbeat. I truly believe we are

  • Josh Says:

    I strongly disagree with your view that landlines are becoming obsolete. Landlines offer more security than the average cell phone connection and are far less prone to weather phenomena as cell phone signals and towers are. That is, of course, assuming you don't live in a very isolated part of the US where the phone system hasn't been upgraded since the '60s-'70s...


    As for Win98/2k, I'm not sure about now, but a few years ago I know some software engineers - as well as regular engineers - were still using them since, in their view, it offered a more stable and less buggy platform to run certain software on than XP. Not sure if that argument could be made now though. And as others have pointed out here, they were and still are necessary to run older software.

  • Paul Says:

    Who says it has to be "obsolete"? Sometimes I scan and email, but oftentimes it is easier to just stick it in the fax machine. Several fewer steps!

    If it is easier that way for me, it is not "obsolete". Which I do depends on the task at hand.



  • Mike Says:

    Phone landlines are used bu home security system

  • Suthrn_Chick Says:

    The landline phones are a necessity for fireman and policeman. In the event of a hurricane, the cell towers are only limited to a certain amount of wind, thus your phone lines can actually be on the ground and still work. Normally, when a storm is coming the cell companies can't keep up with the cell phone calls, but land lines are still the backup.

  • Mike Says:


  • Jon G Says:


    Another problem is my building, like many other New Yorker's I know, certain parts of their apt cannot get cell service - too close to the core of the building or just too much interference.

    Aside the better quality of my landline and never having VoIP 'phase out' due to a taxed internet connection (like giving a presentation or watching video) - it never fails, never. Even in blackouts, no problem, connection. During 9/11 - again, cell towers were slammed with load of panic and worried family members, not my land line - worked perfectly fine.


  • Eddy J Says:

    bill, bill, bill.... "You shouldnâ€™t be using your phone while you are driving. You are a hazard to everyone else on the road. That is true for even hands free units. ". You missed the point. Land lines are R-E-L-I-A-B-L-E, cell (aka radio) phones ARE NOT for the very reasons stated - coverage and power loses. As far as " a hazard to everyone else on the road" sheesh, MOST people behind the wheel of a vehicle are a hazard never mind using a cell phone. OBTW how you can spend $40,000 or more on a vehicle and NOT afford a hands free device to make your "operation" of a vehicle "safer" is beyond me.
    The final one about "digital" being easier is amusing....A. easy does not equal better...I give you the "automatic" transmission....no less than 5% less efficient than a manual and costing the world millions of gallons of wasted fuel and added heat to the atmosphere. Easy? Sure. Better? I think not.... Now off to listen to my vinyl....;-)

  • Delia Adelia Says:


  • Sharif Says:

    VHS tapes are more reliable than DVD because a VHS tape degrades gradually while DVD's are either on or off (analog vs digital).
    And as for old computers, the productivity gain from simply just having a computer is enough for most people. Most people don't care if their computer is running windows XP or windows 7. The only thing they care about is if the computer will meet their needs. If this translates to word processing, web browsing, and media playback, then most any computer will do. And some people actually need those older computers to run legacy programs. It is true that they could replace it with a modern computer with a virtual machine, but there's no reason to do so if you've got a perfectly good, functioning computer.

  • ELH Says:


  • bill Says:



    As someone else stated, much/most cell phone usage is unnecessary - just inane blather or time wasting game playing. Several times I have seen two people walking down the sidewalk (side by side), texting each other instead of simply talking directly.

  • bill Says:

    &gt; A lot of people still use film because it produces a different look â€” seldom as sharp as digital

    I disagree somewhat:




    4) With film, you can have superimposed colors - with digital you have to compromise with them being side-by-side - so the eye does the blending, not the reproduction media.



    2) Digital imaging is far less expensive than using film.

    3) You can immediately look at what you have obtained - rather than waiting until after the film is processed.


  • Keith Says:


    And for vinyl, the LP is still the best...

  • Dave Scott Says:



    Oh, and KM-I love my landline! It's dependable!

  • labman57 Says:

    One must weigh degree of obsolescence against cost of upgrade. Many people simply cannot afford to buy the latest, greatest techie gizmos ... especially if they come with a service contract.

  • Jesse Fell Says:

    A lot of people still use film because it produces a different look -- seldom as sharp as digital, but richer in tones, and somehow, more real looking. And there are superb films available to anyone who wants to try using them. For anyone interested, I'd recommend picking up a Pentax K-1000 (which you can get very cheap) and give it a try.

  • JB Says:

    Dear Author -- pagers are used primarily by doctors and nurses as required by hospitals. Privacy issues and HIPPA regs make it difficult for hospitals to easily update technology. It's inefficient but is a cheap way or hospitals to avoid the security tech they will have invest ito use phones. Its a big issue and much has been written on it that could be found with a quick web search.

  • KM Says:

    -When the power goes out telephone lines still work...but your cellphone is going to go dead because you can't charge it.
    -If an emergency arises at home, I always know where my landline phone is, and don't need to worry if I left my cellphone in the bathroom, bedroom, in the kitchen, or if it fell into the couch when I fell asleep reading a book (not on a kindle).

  • A D DiSorda Says:

    (i. e. @Sim did not say you could not send legal documents via email). He said you couldn't send legally signed ones. And he is perfectly correct in saying that.
    You seemed to get it.

  • Rakesh Says:

    CRT's are still popular because:

    - Next to no input lag
    - Gamuts are still compared to CRT's, only high end LCD's (and plasma's) can match a last generation CRT's gamut (ask tftcentral.co.uk)
    - Fast response time (hail the electron beam)
    - Warm (plasma like) colours
    - Better viewing angles than LCD's

    It took a scratch on the coating of my 24 Inch (2304x1440 max res, gaming/video was awesome) Sony GDM-FW900 FD Trinitron tube, before I replaced it with IPS-Alpha/AH-IPS panels.

  • max Says:

    Well these items might become obsolete but laptopmag will surely be obsolete sooner than that because of its "next-next-next" type of articles where user has keep clicking for the reading a little piece of the article and because of such writers who says that people are "too cheap" because they don't pay for high speed internet access .

  • DC Says:

    Obsolete does not equal not useful

  • SexyWaterBuffalo Says:

    Once again Laptop has force it's viewers to click many, many times for tiny bits of information. I thought we'd fixed this issue of you falsely inflating page clicks for your advertisers.

  • John Says:

    This article is really about the author's ignorance. His attitude is "I don't know about these things so it's time for them to go." There are good reasons why people still use all these things but he's a tech snob.

  • nofluer Says:

    Mr/Ms Pittch - perhaps from your eyrie in techland your addiction to the newest and fastest, you have failed to notice the tendency of "new tech" to attempt to take over your life? You don't own new tech. It owns you. Just for grins and giggles, try to count the number of times per day you take out your cell phone (obsolete terminology?) and just look at it to see if you may have missed a call, or a tweet, or something that you cannot live without. Then look at a cache of your tweets from saaay a week or two ago. Read every tweet you read or sent, guestimate how much time you spent doing that, then honestly ask yourself if ANY of those absolutely necessary communications changed your life or made it different in ANY meaningful way. (And TRY to be honest with yourself. No one is looking over your shoulder... or are they?)

    Then you should put the gadgets away and consider what you COULd have done with that time that would be more meaningful to yourself or to those around you or those who REALLy care about you. Are you perhaps beginning to get the idea? If not, then when you are 70 or 80 years old, if you haven't fried your brain with all those electronic emmissions, look back at your life and see what YOU have done with it that will make a bit of meaningful difference to the world and what kind of legacy you'll leave behind you when you die, and will anyone miss you, or even notice that you're gone?

  • JP Says:

    @Sim - #1 is untrue. Emailing documents is perfectly legal. What is not valid is signing via email. Remember that a fax is just a scanned image transmitted "digitally". Email is the same thing, but far more efficient.


    #3 well...won't argue with that.