Tech Throwback: 5 Devices Kids Can Not Operate Today

I like to take a look at where I’ve been to evaluate where Im going. Technology is cyclical after all… wait no its not. That said I still like all the feels that come rushing back like a flood of nostalgia every time I get my hand on the tech I grew up with. I’m going to go back periodically and take a looking at the stuff that used to blow our hair back and get our minds rolling. Some of these device blew up and changed the world, some where ahead of their time and some just fell flat and became colossal failures. Today tech throwback our trip down memory lane will be about the devices we know well but the kids could not operate if their lives depended on it.

The Rotary Phone

Oh the fun and frustration.  The Rotary dialing phone pre dates the touch tone, but just after the live operator dialing. A rotary dial is a component of a telephone or a telephone switchboard that implements a signaling technology in telecommunications known as pulse dialing. It is used when initiating a telephone call to transmit the destination telephone number to a telephone exchange.

Recently a class of second graders was given a rotary dial to make a one call. After 2 and half hours they gave up.

The Transistor Radio

No stations, no genre separations, no skip, stop, or replay? A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following their development in 1954, made possible by the invention of the transistor in 1947, they became the most popular electronic communication device in history, with billions[manufactured during the 1960s and 1970s. Have fun giving one to your grandchildren and watch their frustrations.

Program a VCR

REmember when that was the status quo of a tech genius. It was an accomplishment and something to brag about. Before the advent of on-screen displays, the only interface available for programming a home video recorder was a small VFD, LED or LCD panel and a small number of buttons. Correctly setting up a recording for a specific program was therefore a somewhat complex operation for many people. G-Code, VideoPlus+ and ShowView were introduced in the late 1980s to remove this difficulty.

Load a Floppy Disk

Computers before Windows 95 will destroy a child’s spirit. GUI are the only computer language they know. DOS and floppy disk are a relic that completely baffles them. THey just don’t know the command prompt struggles.

Maps

We take for granted how far and fast we have come in navigation. We forgot to teach the kids the struggle, not just of folding a map but how to read one. I watched my 5 year old nearly pass out from confusion after giving him a compass. explaining NESW to him and asking him to walk south. He tried shouting “Siri take me south”. I laughed. From Cartography to road maps to Mapquest to where we are today. These kids are truly lost with out us.

The Final Tech Throwback Thought

These kids today are useless. They cant play a record, load film, open a phone booth door, open a soda can with out a tab or even read manuscript. Are we all doomed? probably not they still have google. I take a little be of comfort knowing ill be long gone before its too late.