Obsolete

/ Ann Coleman

My grandson has discovered “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (the original cartoon version) and it quickly became a favorite.  It’s not offered on the streaming service my daughter uses, so I offered to get him his very own copy.  I went to my local Barnes and Noble because I knew it had a huge DVD section, including tons of selections for the holidays.  Sadly, the key word turned out to be “had,” because when I arrived, all I saw was a big empty space where the DVDs and CDs used to be displayed.

I don’t know why I was surprised.  I have heard that “no one uses DVD or CD players anymore,” so it stood to reason that stores were going to quit stocking them.  And since I still have and use both devices, I guess that proves what I have long suspected:  these days, I’m a nobody.  That doesn’t particularly bother me, but thinking about the thousands of obsolete players and millions of useless DVDs and CDs destined for a landfill bothers me a lot.

When I first began using a digital camera, I kept the photo cards for all my pictures so I could always make more prints of them.  Later, I learned to upload photos onto my computer, and then to the “cloud” for safe keeping.  But my earlier digital photos are still stored on those little photo cards, and when I tried to upload them onto my new computer, I searched in vain for a slot to insert a photo card.  Yes, I discovered I can buy an adapter that will help, but why in the world couldn’t the people who design new computers have simply included a slot for photo cards?  If they had, I wouldn’t have to buy yet another gadget.

These days, we are constantly being urged to reuse and recycle as much as we possibly can, and with good reason.  Wouldn’t it be nice if that applied to our tech devices as well?  I understand that there will always be a “new and improved” version of everything we use, and that’s fine.  But does making way for the new version always have to mean getting rid of the old?  Yet all too often, that’s exactly what happens.  A case in point being that my new computer is not only lacking a slot for my photo cards, but it also can’t seem to communicate with my (older, but still working) printer.  So now I have to buy a new printer and figure out what to do with the old one.

Ann's BaptismI hate to admit it, but it does seem to me as if sometimes the old ways were a whole lot easier.  My mother never worried about how she was going to store her photos, because she had a simple system: print them and stick them in a photo album.  And even though they were taken many decades ago, I can still get out my baby photos and look at them any time I please, with no worries about compatibility, adapters or unnecessary waste.  Apparently, back in 1958, they knew how make things last…….

117 thoughts on “Obsolete”

  2. Ha! And here you are on the internet, the newest technology! But nothing stays the same. I put a pic from my Grandparent’s wedding in a recent entry and it was only then I realized it was almost 100 years old. Of course, that is the only picture from their wedding, no video or candid shots. There is a bit of a trade off.

    I wonder what things will be like 100 yeas from now?

    Great Post Ann. I still have a stack of DVDs in my country house, but not a copy of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” I am afraid.

    Straw Hat

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    • Oh, yes, I have not problem with how much easier technology makes it to take photos…my beef is with how much harder it is to actually store those photos, because the technology is constantly changing, and all of our storage systems suddenly become obsolete! I think that produces far too much anxiety. There is definitely a trade off…but in my dreams, I wish there were a way to accept only the changes that help, and to refuse the rest. Sadly, the choice seems to be taken away from us these days. Thanks for your comment, and for the link. I remember that post! And I think it speaks to the same subject.

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    • Hi Ann,

      I’m a grandmother and like you, I’m trying hard to avoid obsolescence. I treat my Littles with new books and sometimes my thoughts recall a book I treasured when a young sprout. What I’m leading up to is I find them. On Amazon I can order an old book, Cowboy Andy, plus find the DVD movies I desire to own or gift. Try searching for The Grinch movie on Amazon if you will. You may find them used and the conditions are rated. I’ve had much success too. Quality used DVD.
      Check the Library. Many have a section where one can check them out just like it was a book.
      Good luck! I know you’ll find optimal solutions to preserving those photos.

      Enjoy,

      Vicki~

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      • Thank you so much, Vicki! You’re right, sometimes I just need to search for the things that are special to me and that I want to pass on to the next generation. And I’ll always try to keep things from ending up in the landfill if I can!

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        • You’re welcome!
          Yes, I agree about keeping items out of the landfill!
          It’s good to learn when others think the same!
          Enjoy finding treasures to share with the younger generation!

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  5. Oh, I can SO relate to this. I just told my husband all I wanted for Christmas was a CD player. I’m so tired of all the streaming services that have to ‘buffer’ right when I want to use them or bluetooth that doesn’t recognize my phone because of some necessary update. I just want to listen to music – why is it so complicated?

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    • It shouldn’t be so hard! And it’s funny, because the main reason I have a CD player is so I can listen to MY favorite Christmas music each year. Yes, I know the local radio stations play Christmas music nonstop from November 15 until December 26. But I don’t want to hear most of what they play….I want to hear the carols that I know and love, which means playing my very own CDs. And I really don’t think that’s too much to ask for!

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    • I do too! Because when we own it, we can also control it, which means we watch the movies we want to watch and listen to the music we want to listen to. Since when did having a choice become such a difficult thing?

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  8. It’s another hypocrisy we face…being told how wasteful our generations were, when there’s so many more disposable things these days, in the name of convenience and progress

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  9. I know, right? Remember floppy disks? And the “hard” disks that came after? There’s no place on my laptop to play a DVD, and I’m afraid that all too soon, thumb drives will no longer be supported. I don’t want to wish upon a cloud…
    But maybe the company that made your printer has a printer driver (file) you can download?

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    • I know…it’s only a matter of time before the Cloud is obsolete too. The good news is that my son gave me a digital photo frame for Christmas, that shows a variety of photos especially after you set up an account and upload all your photos to it. (Naturally). But I found out today that there is a slot for a photo card on it, and since then, I’ve been enjoying looking at the photos that are on that disk! I don’t think it’s saving them, but it’s a start!

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  11. I’m still struggling with piles of video tapes of family occasions which I’m updating to MP4 format. I’ve even found myself using a video player, hard disk drive recorder and then DVD burner before installing them onto my PC to convert. The rate I’m going, it will be some time before I’m ready to part with any of those devices but already I’m worrying about what will replace MP4.

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    • That’s just the problem! We go to all the trouble of updating our storage systems, only to find out that a few years later, our “updates” are also obsolete. It’s frustrating for sure! Thanks for the comment…it’s an excellent example of the struggles we are facing.

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  12. Hi Ann, as always, I know just what you mean. I’m watching a DVD series (The Wire) and I borrowed it from the library. I have a new computer so I had to get an external CD/DVD drive and a USB adapter to make it work. I’d forgotten about the picture slot – I guess those are gone too – I don’t have one either. Your comment about all the obsolete technology is exactly right. But at least with everything moving to streaming, the next round of obsolete technology will just be in the cloud. Great post.

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    • I was able to order it and have it sent to our house. Full price, of course, and twice as much as it would have cost if they had the DVD available in the store, but I still took it. (Grandkids give us different priorities.) But it still made me so sad to think of all those CDs, DVDs and players that are surely destined for the landfills….wouldn’t it make more sense just to keep them with us? And thank you for the suggestion! Ebay was where I would have looked next!

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    • And that’s a good thing, I hope. I just think that in an age where we’re realizing how important it is to reduce our waste, we are constantly making so much stuff obsolete. Do we really think all those useless devices aren’t going to a landfill? Because they are……and that can’t be good for the environment!

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  15. I presume you found your DVD of the Grinch. It’s available on Amazon and at Walmart, in various editions. As for the larger tech questions, I still have a CD player in my car, and my PC will play both CDs and DVDs. One of the best things I’ve done is upload my CD collection to my computer, and then burn some travel CDs of my favorite music. No more need to skip throught the songs I don’t like!

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    • I just checked, and you can get the Grinch from Barnes & Noble, too — but online. Price check, though. It looks like B&N is about $10 more. It occurred to me that when they went through their corporate restructuring, what to stock in their brick and mortar locations was reevaluated. The problem may not be the DVD format, but B&N corporate decisions about which products sell best in which locations.

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      • Thank you so much for your informative comment and for doing the research. And you’re right, I was able to order it through Barnes and Noble, although it was quite expensive. I probably should have ordered it through Amazon, although I try to support book stores over Amazon. (Not that they make it easy, with the price difference.) And I agree that the DVDs and CDs were probably not selling well enough to make it worth Barnes and Noble keeping them in stock. There’s just something that is sad to me about not being able to walk into a real store and find what I want, and buy it. And it annoys me no end to have to struggle so hard to keep up with the ever changing technology….wasn’t it supposed to make our lives easier? Thanks again!

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        • You know what occurred to me when I read your comment? It seems that each of us defined the ‘problem’ differently. I was focused on finding the Grinch; you were focused on being unable to find the Grinch in the way you preferred. My solution didn’t address your issue — probably for a variety of reasons.

          I was thinking about the larger issues in our country, and it came to me that one of the first steps in problem-solving needs to be agreement on what the problem is. Otherwise, solutions may not be wholly satisfying for anyone.

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          • That is a very good point! Sometimes we think we’re talking about the same thing, when we really aren’t. You’re right, I was mostly annoyed by walking into my regular bookstore and finding that empty space where I used to enjoy being able to happily browse through the DVDs and CDs. I also liked being able to buy them without creating yet another account and password. But I still appreciated your pointing out other ways I could get the Grinch for my grandson, especially since I didn’t mention in my post that I’d ordered it for him. (Genuine offers of help are always a good thing, they restore my faith in humanity.)
            But I completely agree with your assessment about some of the larger issues in our country. How can we agree on a solution, when we don’t even agree on what the actual problems are?

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  16. I was just going through my old cameras and phones and their associated non-compatible paraphernalia: cords, chargers, headsets, speakers, etc. Can’t believe all I’ve accumulated. Thank goodness for Tech Dump and other orgs that offer at least some opportunities for recycling.

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    • I’ll have to look Tech Dump up! Every time I see a big recycling event, it says “no electronics”, which is hard. And we have whole drawers full of cords whose purpose we can’t even remember. The waste is incredible! Thanks for your comment and suggestion, it is very helpful.

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  17. Boy, do I hear you regarding disposing our no-longer-usable stuff. I keep thinking of the line fron “The Graduate” where this older man comes up to Dustin Hoffman and says, “Plastics.” We have so much stuff that doesn’t degrade. Anyway, in terms of electronics, most communities have annual electronic recycling events, Unfortunately, you missed the one for Kirkwood. But here’s the link about this year’s event: https://mrcrecycling.net/electronics-recycling-events/kirkwood-mo-2021-10-02

    Here’s a screen shot of two events that I captured, but you won’t be able to click on the hyperlink, since it was a screen shot:

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    • Thank you so much, Dena! You always give such practical advice. I’ll hang on to our stuff until next year’s recycling event…it makes me crazy to think of all the electronics that end up in landfills.

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  18. I remember reading an article, Ann, about how even a few hundred years from now – so much will be lost. In comparison, artwork from centuries ago remains. But digital files are only as useful as the machinery and software that exists to read them. Digital obsolescence is actually on Wikipedia with this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_obsolescence

    It does make me sad, because I do so much work on the computer. Thanks for an excellent post and I’m sorry for your frustration with the Grinch DVD.

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    • Exactly! Our reliance on electronics is not a good thing, because it simply doesn’t last. Which is why I actually print a copy of each of my blog posts and store them. Years from now, when I’m in a nursing home, I might actually want proof that I wrote a blog once, you know? Thanks, Judy. You get exactly what I’m trying to say!

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  19. Newer is not always better. Wax cylinders t vinyl records to reel to reel to cassette to CD to MP3. And all of a sudden vinyl is making a comeback. Improvements are great, but are often inspired by rampant consumerism to entice us all to get the latest and greatest. This can leave many behind who do not want to change or those who are not tech savvy. We all need to keep an old computer working, just in case…and an old record player and cassette player and CD/DVD player. Yikes. Stay well Ann. Allan

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    • I know! As soon as I heard they aren’t making DVD players anymore, my first thought was, well I need to buy several, so I’ll always have one! You can’t tell me that’s not deliberate. Making our products obsolete is a sure fire way to make sure we keep on buying new!

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  21. I agree. It’s a paradox. My grandmother has an iron that she’s had since Moses was born, apparently. But guess what? It still works. I think we’ve created a throw-away culture with low-quality gadgets, intended to be thrown away within years.

    I also think there’s a larger issue of not being concerned with older generations and what they are accustomed to. For example, using an SD card is still a thing, and so, I agree that having a slot for it on computers and laptops should also still be a thing.

    By the way, there’s an adaptor you can buy for that…I had to buy one to be able to see my photos on the laptop.

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    • Good for your grandmother! I’m embarrassed to say that I still have my grandfather’s scale that was in his bathroom in the 70s, and God knows how long before then. But it still works, so I still use it. And I remember when appliances lasted at least 20 years, but now we’re lucky if we get five or six years out of them. I also agree with how we’re not respecting older generations who are comfortable using older technology…there’s no reason that we need to make all that they are familiar with obsolete. Why we put up with all this, don’t ask me.
      Thanks for the tip about the adapter too. I found some online, just haven’t bought one yet…mostly because I’m mad I have to! LOL!

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  22. Technological obsolescence is increasingly taking place at warp speed. Backward compatibility is not always possible, such as when you think of gramophone records to cassettes to optical disks to flash drives. Frequently though, companies make it impossible within a span of a few years simply to force the users to upgrade the entire paraphernalia —information technology behemoths like Intel come to mind. Come to think of it, your photos stored on any format will be unreadable in case the software written to read them becomes unavailable or incompatible or both. I may sound paranoid, but do keep hard copies of your favourite photos the old way.

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    • You are not paranoid at all! And that’s why I always print out my photos and stick them in albums, just the way my mother did. I know those prints could be destroyed by a fire, but the odds of that happening are so much less than the odds of any digital storage system becoming obsolete. And it is sad to think how much of that is intentional, just to get us to buy more gadgets we don’t really want or need.
      My old computer was working just fine…the main reason we bought a new one was that my husband uses Turbo Tax and it wasn’t going to work next year. So now I need an adapter for my photo cards and a new printer too. You can’t tell me that’s not intentional!

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  23. I can relate! We use both the DVD and VHS as well as CDs. We get most of our DVDs at Goodwill. They always have a great selection – I bet there’s a copy of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! I still have my old computer sitting gathering dust. It has all the slots 6 different cards and 2 flash drives… I suppose I should boot it up just to make sure it still works!

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    • That’s a good idea about shopping at Goodwill for things I can’t find new. Happily, I was able to order a copy of the Grinch for my grandson, but I’m still sad to think that all those CD and DVD players are almost obsolete. And how will we be able to use our DVDs and CDs when our devices break down and we can’t replace them? I’m thinking I’d better buy a back up….LOL!

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  24. Some people can really move with the times, but like you, I am always playing catch-up with technology. Sometimes, I just don’t bother because it can be overwhelming. I like your mum’s way of treasuring photos. It’s the old way but it’s the best I think. There are real albums we can flip through and which we can use to share with our kids about times past; as often as they like, they can pore over photos and learn about family and events we celebrated. Some forms of technology is great but I also think it makes us less careful and less deliberate in some ways.

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    • Exactly! I do get tired of the need to “keep up” with technology, especially when the old devices I have are still working just fine and I’m happy with them. Of course I’m a fan of technology overall, but I do wish it didn’t create quite so much waste and stress, especially for those of us who have a harder time learning how to master it. My poor mother had so much trouble managing her email and Facebook accounts (my sister put her on Facebook) and her struggles just made her feel as if she wasn’t very smart. Finally, I told her that she really didn’t need the internet in her day to day life, and she’s been happily without it ever since!

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  25. Oh yes, all so very true and I’m finding it harder and harder to store my photos. Granted I probably take far too many, especially on the current trip I’m on, but all the updates along the way do my head in! And yes to owning CDs, I do miss mine but then again on the road Spotify is good. It’s a bit of a trade off I think.

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  26. You can either rent ($3.99) or buy ($14.99) The Grinch Who Stole Christmas off of YouTube. Of course, if someone was kind enough to upload the flick, you can watch the movie for free on YouTube. I’ll say no more.
    I had all of my parents 8MM movies put on CDs for $500.
    Those CDs are now obsolete and I would have to pay another fee to transpose them to the cloud for download. No thanks.
    I store my photos on either my hard drive, a back up hard drive or a USB stick. As the technology changes, so do I. When I get a new computer, I simply transfer the files over.
    As for music, I gave ALL my CDs away except for my Beatle collection and Italian operas. But truthfully, I just have to log onto Spotify (free), type in whatever I want to hear and listen to it for free. Or play my iPhone (Apple Play) through my car radio when on a road trip. No clutter. No hassles. No costs. All for free. Going forward there really is nothing to place in a landfill anymore.
    I like technology. I find the innovations so fascinating. My father would have been astonished if he could have spoken to his sister in Italy through FaceTime and actually saw her face on an iPhone!! I love all the new safety gadgets on cars too. We’re so much safer than we ever were.
    Before you toss your printer, do a Google search and see if the company released any new drivers. If so, download, install/upgrade and carry on. 🙂

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    • I’m so sorry about the $500! I do appreciate most of the advances of technology and the way they have enhanced our lives, but I am against the extra waste and stress that the constant upgrades create. My mother is 91 and she can’t manage the internet, so she is reliant on CDs and CD players for her music. She understands how to work those, so I do hope for her sake and those like her, music never goes totally digital. Digital’s great for most people, but not all, I think. As for the printer, sadly, there is no driver available for ours that would let it talk to our new Mac. Thanks for your comment!

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  27. It seems many feel the same way. Thankfully I saved a VCR and DVR player and recently looked at old video tapes. Photos can be printed, but I don’t know what will happen to all those videos I took of the kids growing up. Emails (letters) will just disappear and we will not have those records like we do from the past. I have pictures and letters from over a hundred years that tell me something about my ancestors. And I like to think about future archeologists digging up all our old plastics and electronics. I think a sign of getting older is cursing all those newfangled things. 🙂

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    • Someone else made that point, too! All of our electronic communication will eventually be lost, so it’s probably a good idea not to make electronics/digital our only form of communication. I actually print out a copy of each of my posts, just to keep it. (Not all the comments, though, as that would use up too much paper.) I think it is important to save some things for our ancestors, and that includes things actually written by us. I still recognize my dad’s handwriting whenever I see it, and he’s been gone for 15 years now.

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  28. You’ve toggled my crank mechanism. I’m ticked off enough just trying to find real light bulbs that aren’t $20 for a 4-pack — or any at all! Don’t get me started on all the suddenly incompatibles / built-in obsoleteness in tech. This post is a good reminder/warning to get the memory stick and thumb drive photos sorted and printed out asap! Thank you!

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    • I know! Some people don’t mind the constant need for upgrades (that we didn’t ask for and don’t want, Block Editor comes to mind), but I really do. Yes, keep making things better if you want to, but don’t make what still works obsolete. It’s not good for the environment or our emotional health. No wonder we’re all cranky these days!

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  29. Thank you for another thought-provoking post! Even though we are constantly reminded to care for our environment, the trend to build products with built-in obsolescence continues. I am fortunate to have a laptop that still has a slot for my photo cards.

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    • Keep that laptop for as long as you can! And yes, isn’t it absurd to support creating less waste while at the same time embracing products that are designed to be obsolete in just a few years, simply because we want to believe that new technology is always better? It’s so annoying, even in simple ways: now almost all artificial Christmas trees are “pre-lit,” so that means we pay around $200 for a new tree that has a cheap set of lights permanently attached to it. And when those cheap lights give out in two or three years, we have to buy a whole new tree!

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  30. Seems like DVD players are still readily available and that movies are still being released in DVD format!
    We have quite a large ‘library’ of DVD’s – some we have watched quite a few times. We don’t have an internet service that let’s us stream stuff, so we really are ‘old school’. Our TV gets three over the air channels and we have today’s version of ‘rabbit ears’. The picture is excellent!

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    • Oh, I hope so! I really don’t want to “stream” all my movies and shows, because the streaming services don’t always provide everything I want to see, and I resent having to pay for the service every month. But whenever I mention buying an actual DVD, I keep getting told that “everyone streams now, so there’s no need for them.” Good to hear that’s not totally true. And good for you for keeping your old TV and your DVDs…we have many too and I really want to keep on using them! (Not to mention our home movies that we already transferred from VCR tapes to DVDs!)

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  31. I’ve always prided myself on staying up with technology…it probably stems from my time as the oldest guy in a TV newsroom, and not wanting to look like a fuddy-duddy to all my youthful coworkers. But there comes a point where technology is starting to become invasive…I worry about privacy as more and more devices and programs demand access to my information. Yes, sometimes simpler is better.

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    • You’re hit the nail on the head! Invasion of our privacy is the ugly underbelly of much of the new technology. We have to create accounts, give access to our phones and our computers, and allow our every purchase (and far more) to be continually tracked. And all we can do is hope that no one is ever going to abuse the incredible access they now have to our personal lives…..

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  32. Ahem. “Things were simple in the old days.”

    Now that I’m done with that rather unfriendly jab, let me complain about touch screen here. I’m blind, I have trouble using touch screen, especially during typing. That is why I prefer to use laptop, which mercifully still come with a keyboard. (Please do some independent research of how blind people use computers.)

    Back around 2012 or so, I could get away with using keypad phones. But as android kept spreading, and more and more applications became unusable, as well as the security problems, I had to switch, though I did that most grudgingly.

    I often think why can’t I get a custom keypad phone? I mean how hard would it be for android to be adapted for it, especially since I’m willing to pay for that. But no one is willing to even talk about that.

    Fun fact, all those developers who develop apps for touch screen phones? They most certainly didn’t typed the code out on those phones. Otherwise, we probably would have the displeasure of experiencing more bugs. What they do is create the application in linux or windows, and then test it on the mobile device.

    Also, websites are also getting way more complicated. Maybe this is bias opinion on my part, given that I can’t see. But if a site has a decent design, looks average, but functions superb, then I’ll have that site over a beautiful pile of crap thank you.

    Also, sorry for the unfriendly jab.

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    • Good for you, Alan! If they’re still working, keep right on using them. I feel the same way about real books too….I’ll only give them up when someone pries them out of my cold, dead fingers!

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  34. Big “AMEN!” from this corner, Ann! My new laptop doesn’t have a CD or DVD drive, meaning the discs of my X-rays are completely unreadable. Grr! It sure would be nice if all this new, fancy stuff didn’t completely push the former stuff by the wayside. Hope you were able to find the Grinch — I suspect there are copies at your public library, but wanting one you can give to somebody is a horse of another color!

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    • Thanks, Debbie, and my apologies for my late reply. I’m not sure how I missed your comment, but I did. I did find a copy of the Grinch for my grandson (he was thrilled) but I am so disgusted that my new computer doesn’t have a place for a photo card, and that CD and DVD players are fast becoming obsolete. How is sending so much stuff to the landfill not abad thing???? Drives me nuts for sure!

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  37. Yes, this is for sure a problem. Years ago my husband converted old family movies his parents had taken in the 1960’s on to VHS tapes. Now that is out of date! There does not seem to be a way to win. We have been storing photos on Amazon Prime Photos, which is good because both of our phones upload all the photos we take automatically, and then we can watch them on the TV. All of the old devices that are left behind when we upgrade are such a problem. It makes me sad. On a brighter note, I bet you can find a copy of that DVD on ebay.

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    • Thanks, Meg! I was actually able to order it through Barnes and Noble, and it came about a week later. I still miss the DVD/CD section of their store, though, and know that it will only be a matter of time before they are obsolete. It seems to me that our culture is throw-away enough without adding so many tech devices to the list, but I guess that’s just how it is. Thanks for your comment and suggestion!

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  38. They certainly did know how to make things that lasted a whole lot longer than things last today. It is frustrating that nowadays, when we should be reusing and repurposing, things are made to break so we are continually in a cycle of buying new and updated versions. You always make such good points and get me thinking. I love it! Also, I love the family photo, Ann. Very sweet!

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    • Thanks, Brenda! That photo was actually of my baptism day, and my daughter wore the same dress when she was baptised…see what I mean about making things that last? And yes, I really think that making things that aren’t designed to last is so bad for our environment. Remember when refrigerators and washing machines routinely lasted at least 20 years? Not anymore. And it really does seem that computers, etc., are almost designed to be obsolete within five years!

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  39. Yes, technology moves on so quickly it becomes obsolete just as quickly! I have photos I really should rescue off hard drives and cards and upload to the cloud or print them out or something, I’m sure they’re only truly save if they are printed out.

    I have DVDs, CDs and even videos, but I couldn’t tell you when I last watched one as I usually watch things on Prime or Netflix.

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    • I know! I really think printing out is the safest way to keep a photo, but even that is hard these days, as there are less and less places that offer that service. And the thing I really like about owning CDs and DVDS is that then we are sure they are available. Prime and Netflix are wonderful (we have Netflix), but they don’t always offer the older shows that I really enjoy. Thanks for your comment!

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  40. I can relate, Ann. The orginal cartoon Grinch is MY favorite Christmas movie. I bought the CD for my grandson and my daughter promptly told me that they don’t have a CD player. What? Apparently I’m very very old fashioned. Same with photo albums. I agree with you that sometimes technology creates tons of more work. And then it becomes obsolete, so it all has to be moved. I’m sticking with the tried and true as long as I can. 🙂

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  41. What a beautiful photo! Yes, in many ways I’m a “nobody” also. I have some wonderful dvds from earlier days, and I’d love to watch them. But the “smart” TV we bought 7 years ago has no dvd player capacity with it. Our old dvd player died right before we got the “smart” TV, which is now considered old and isn’t smart enough to get the Disney+ app on it, and several of my dvd’s are movies that Disney+ make available. Sigh. Streaming scheming. It’s all about buying newer, better, and I agree – not so much better after all. In fact, SLOWER! ;-0

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    • Exactly! How is making all our of our old stuff obsolete not a huge problem? Who has the time to keep up and constantly upgrade? And yeah, I don’t want to be limited to what some company decides to stream. I want to pick and choose what music I listen to and what movies I watch…is that too much to ask? Sadly, these days, it is!

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  42. I still put photos in albums. (I am now storing my mother’s photo albums at my house, and there are a lot of them!!!) Still, it is great to go down memory lane and look at the old photos. The nice thing about the photo/scrapbooks is how creative you can be. You can add little things…and you can also journal in the books. I have the photos stored on the cloud as well. I think it is a waste not to enjoy things we previously purchased if we still enjoy using them. Why not? I love the old vinyl records and you not believe the collection we have. I can listen on Spotify, but it is fun to take those records out sometime.

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    • Oh, Linda, I completely agree! My house if filled with photo albums, and they really are a journal of our lives. I also make photo books because I can add text to them, and I keep a very loose journal. Having photos stored in the cloud is not at all the same thing! We need to preserve our history, I think. If we don’t, it will be lost forever…..

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  43. Going “old school” definitely has its time and place, not to mention a certain amount of charm. To piggyback on your comments, I still prefer hand-operated can openers and mixers–and they never break. You just have to keep them clean, and they keep on plugging away.

    And one of my goals for skill development is to get truly good at cooking over a fire. When we were traversing the old California trail, we cooked over a fire made from cowpies (since buffalo chips were no longer available). Something about the verisimilitude appealed to me, although I’ll cheerfully admit that I’m glad I don’t have to cook like that all the time. : )

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    • I’ve never tried cooking over an open fire, but I can imagine that it’s a good skill to have following an emergency. I know that FEMA recommends that people keep camping equipment handy for the aftermath of an earthquake or a tornado, when it might not be safe to be in our houses. And basically, the more self-reliant we can be, the better!

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  45. I’m a bit on the fence because I love some of the newer technology and how much more convenient it can make things (sometimes!). I like that we now have more photos, for instance, just at the touch of a button on your phone. But I don’t like having to upgrade my phone because it was too old and wasn’t getting updates, then I’ve got to buy a new cable because they’ve changed all of that, but then it’s not compatible with my laptop because they’ve since updated that as well… It gets expensive.

    I do, however, miss how special things used to be. It was so, so special going to Woolworths to browse the cassettes, or the CDs when they came out if I could afford one. It took a long time winding cassettes back to re-listen, much like it takes longer to set up a DVD in a DVD player rather than clicking on to Netflix and having thousands of things right on the screen. It was special because it wasn’t in abundance and it wasn’t fast. You had to wait and be selective, like taking certain photos to be developed.

    Caz xx

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    • I agree, there are lots of good things about new technology, I just wish that the newest gadget didn’t have to make the older (last year’s, far too often) version obsolete. I like to think that there is room for both the old and the new, you know? And that upgrades shouldn’t be mandatory. If we’re serious about keeping stuff out of landfills, then I think we need to be intentional about being able to use our gadgets for as long as possible. And I completely agree about how the current abundance takes away the fun of being selective, and feeling that what we choose is somehow special and unique!

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  46. I believe that the world has had change, some for better and some for worse. With having a bunch of material laying around and taking up space, it seems to have a better empact on the world. With how everything is stored on a singular thing, then having CD’s and DVD’s take up space in both your home and the enviroment can be a negative sign on how things need to be changed.

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    • I agree that storing on as small a space as possible is good for the environment. I just think that when the storage devices regularly become obsolete and we have to upgrade to news ones and dispose of the old ones, then that rather defeats the whole purpose of trying to help the environment…and it makes things so much harder than they have to be. Thanks for the comment!

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    • It really is frustrating! Sometimes I think it’s intentional…a way to make us buy more stuff we neither need or want…and other times I just think it’s a lack of planning ahead. Either way, it makes for waste that the planet doesn’t need.

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      • I firmly believe it is to make us buy more things. I also believe companies change things to cause to mess up and end up paying a fee. If you use their website for months and then all of a sudden it changes, but you are in a hurry and click where you always click and they happen to switch the “buttons” moving the “click for a fee” to the spot where the free one used to be . . yeah, they do things on purpose.

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