The oldest tech you still use

payn · Jan 31, 2026

My kitchen has an oven and cooktop that are GE Thermador steel from the late 1950s

Edit: I didn’t own these new so it’s not eligible but still these units are cool AF.

From owned new then my alarm clock. It’s simple so not much to go wrong with it.

Cordwainer Fish · Jan 31, 2026

The other year when I got my ham license, I used a vintage slide rule in the tests. Fifties if not older.

Velderan · Jan 31, 2026

The oldest piece of technology that I bought brand new and still have is my NES top-loader console I bought in the early 90s. Not sure that counts since I haven’t used it in years, since I downgraded to the original front loading model since the top-loader only has a coaxial output and the original has AV output.

I guess my Gameboy Advance SP I bought in 2004ish and still occasionally play is probably the oldest thing I personally bought and still use.

GMMichael · Jan 31, 2026

I still play the Wonderful World of Eamon, which was originally written in Applesoft BASIC. So, 40 year old tech?

Hoping to revitalize it here, BTW . . .

Zardnaar · Feb 1, 2026

I've got a bixed NES, Zelda, Mario 3, NZ Story CIB.

SEGA Megadrive get pulled out occasionally for Streets of Rage. Most of my games for it are CIB and I have 50 odd of them.

Looking for a Sony 25" or 29" TV for retro gaming. Dreamcast, NES, Megadrive etc.

trappedslider · Feb 1, 2026

an xbox 360 and rock band beatles controllers (drums and guitar)

jdrakeh · Feb 1, 2026

For ephemeral stuff, probably my MSN email account (established in 2002-ish). Physical goods? I have an old Dell Latitude laptop that I've loaded up with Manjaro (Linux). I like the user serviceable battery.

Dannyalcatraz · Feb 1, 2026

One piece of older tech I’m “worried” about losing eventually is my iPad2.* My current iPad blows it away, so why does it matter?

Because I also own a DigiTech iPB-10, which is a multieffects pedal for guitar that uses an iPad or iPad 2 as its control panel/user interface. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was discontinued, and DigiTech stopped upgrading the app- the pedal literally can’t work with anything after an iPad2.

To be fair, I’ve fully succumbed to G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) for my guitar playing hobby. The arsenal of pedals I have at my disposal dwarfs the capabilities & quality of the iPB-10. But a multieffects pedal does its job competently and with a minimum amount of fussing over connections & power sources. Fewer points of failure = more reliability.

Still, the failure of the iPad or the pedal itself is inevitable. The bright side is that other companies have created new, similar devices that are self-contained, better sounding, more compact and more powerful. Once I get one of those, I’ll be good again.

…for a decade or so.

* we have another one in the kitchen, so I sorta have backup.

payn · Feb 1, 2026

Dannyalcatraz said:
One piece of older tech I’m “worried” about losing eventually is my iPad2.* My current iPad blows it away, so why does it matter?

Because also own a DigiTech iPB-10, which is a multieffects pedal for guitar that uses an iPad or iPad 2 as its control panel/user interface. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was discontinued, and DigiTech stopped upgrading the app- the pedal literally can’t work with anything after an iPad2.

To be fair, I’ve fully succumbed to G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) for my guitar playing hobby. The arsenal of pedals I have at my disposal dwarfs the capabilities & quality of the iPB-10. But a multieffects pedal does its job competently and with a minimum amount of fussing over connections & power sources. Fewer points of failure = more reliability.

Still, the failure of the iPad or the pedal itself is inevitable. The bright side is that other companies have created new, similar devices that are self-contained, better sounding, more compact and more powerful. Once I get one of those, I’ll be good again.

…for a decade or so.

* we have another one in the kitchen, so I sorta have backup.

Ive got one petal left and it’s ancient. I could probably list it here but I got it used. It’s not called fuzz but it’s kinda fuzzy.

Dannyalcatraz · Feb 1, 2026

payn said:
Ive got one petal left and it’s ancient. I could probably list it here but I got it used. It’s not called fuzz but it’s kinda fuzzy.

You should figure out what it is. If you’re not using it, you could gift it to another player or sell it on Reverb.com. Some older pedals are commanding STUPID prices.