What is something "Old School" that you like better than the modern version?

The Yellow Pages over some internet search that doesn’t include all businesses, or makes some businesses almost impossible to find, and exclusive internet billboards that only host those businesses willing to pay the price.

I get what you are saying @kritiper. Just last weekend I was needing an estimate for some plumbing work at our lake cabin and my first reaction was to surf the internet. Nearest plumbers were 30 miles away. I said…silly me lets look in the local Yellow pages. There were many listings for plumbers, but only one was local and the rest were the same ones on the internet 30 miles or more away. My wife called the Realtor who sold us the property and she had 2 names of local contractors who could do the work. Then I asked my neighbor and he recommended his local guy who has been doing his plumbing for 25 years. Old school wins out again!

I actually kind of prefer the days when those mobile phones with many buttons still existed. Oh, and telephone too. Back then a phone was like a gift from God, so much magic and mystery. It was simple too, having to only press the button and get what you want. Those phones made us value them and real life interaction more at least few people sat silently swiping their phones back then. I still miss my old phone notebooks where I wrote down friends’ telephone numbers, and how I didn’t have to worry about running out of money for an urgent call.
I like the smartphones, but sometimes they become too good for their own good. I can risk tapping the wrong things and when I type my finger can run all over the place.

the original Robocop.

CPUs and GPUs that did not require active cooling.

AS you said flip phones are one thing, but they still offer brand new flip phone as an option even to this day.
I wouldn’t take one of these great smart phones even if you paid for it for me.
I still prefer a regular drip coffee maker over one of these kerig type coffee makers any day.
As for old school I would still rather TALK to a person then type them a message from a micro keyboard any day of the week.
Oh and another old school thing I really miss is when people actually paid attention to their driving and NOT their electronic gadgets.
I would rather drive a standard transmission over an automatic any day of the week.

Music.

we bought an old house build in the late 70’s, it had the original double oven. I asked the home inspector if he thought I would be replacing it soon. He said it was hard to say for certain. Had it been a unit produced in the last fifteen years he would say yes but in his experience appliances of this age were so much better built and the parts of higher quality that it could continue working for many years to come.
Of course he qualified that statement by saying “of course it could go out tomorrow, you never know.”
So far so good.

I so agree with you @rojo about appliances. A 40 yr old refrigerator IMO would still outlast a brand new one today.

^^ They built things to last in that age, today we live in a throw away world it breaks fuck it throw it away and buy a new one.^^

Printed non-e books.

Crank car windows.

Physical light switches for headlights that do not involve a $300+ computer to fix, or go insane and start blinking randomly.

Flip mirrors to avoid blinding headlights from behind, instead of electronically controlled reflectivity and light sensors which don’t work well at all.

Cars that don’t track your location for Big Brother.

European cars with proper manual transmission.

Solid keyboards with nice visceral feedback and durability.

TVs that can’t be set to the wrong aspect ratio, making everyone look extra wide but most people saying they don’t notice (ARGH).

Films projected through actual film, so there is an infinite level of black.

Analog video and/or uncompressed video, so no JPEG distortion while watching moving images.

Computers which don’t automatically run 1000 stupid corporate jobs I don’t want them to, and that only do what I command them to do.

Phones that are the right size from my mouth to my ear, don’t try to noise-cancel my voice to nothing, and that have land lines so they don’t cut out.

Not having a mobile phone, so no one has the expectation of being able to phone me at all times.

Not being expected to carry electronics that track my movements and activities.

No constant “updates” for devices.

No security cameras everywhere.

No police automatic ticket cameras nor license plate readers everywhere.

No Homeland Security nor TSA.

Media not completely compromised by corrupt corporations, nor dumbed down to oblivion.

Less blatantly ridiculous politicians.

Construction projects with no fences that are allowed to be used as playgrounds by kids.

Absence of bike helmet laws.

Toy guns that are allowed to be black or chrome, and matching lack of idea that this will mean police will shoot kids.

@zaku you left off playgroundson asphalt that have swing sets, see saws and monkey bars. I think you should change your avatar name to “old School”

Paying, buying, using cold hard cash. The look, feel & smell of a big crisp wad of money, beats plastic all day long.

@Cruiser Yeah I could go on and on. All the old metal playground stuff is/was great. There were playgrounds with an old metal fire truck for kids to climb on, industrial pipes to climb on, with the safety system being the kids who can’t handle heights can’t climb as high, and parents should be responsible for telling their kids what not to do.

Software where ownership is by physical media copy, and has no business specifying how many times you can install it or who gets to use it.

Oh, car bodies with actual distinct aesthetically pleasing styles, instead of all looking like tennis shoes. If the aerodynamics are so great, why do they still get awful gas mileage compared to good pre-tennis-shoe cars?

Oh and that reminds me – shoes! Shoes that are one color, of natural materials, and not some multi-colored ad for the shoe company.

Movie rental stores. It was so much fun to wander around, reading the box covers for ideas and getting suggestions from the staff and other customers.

Landlines. Everyone should have a real telephone and be listed in the White Pages.

Early cellphones, which were phones and nothing more. People chatted when a call was placed; they didn’t spend their lives emailing, texting, and using the internet everywhere they went.

True holidays and vacations, when people weren’t expected to be linked via cellphones, laptops, and tablets. Time off needs to be time off.

Children playing outside, interacting and getting exercise, instead of playing videogames or using social media.

Children playing with neighborhood kids, rather than having parent-enforced, controlled play dates.

Step aerobics, which are passé and no longer offered by any of my nearby health clubs. I always got a great workout with steps.

High-waisted bikini bottoms with high-cut legs. My tummy isn’t as tight as it once was, but my legs are still good. Those 80s-style bottoms cover my belly while showing off what remains ok.

Manual transmissions, and people trained to use them.

Life before Facebook, when privacy was still possible. I’m troubled by how so many FBers spread their personal details all over the internet. I also dislike going to any party or event and, the next day, having my photograph and name posted online without my consent. Not that I have anything to hide, but is it the entire world’s business what I did Saturday night?

Antique wood furniture. I have old dressers, a vanity and clawfoot table that belonged to my grandparents. The furniture is about 100 years old and as sturdy as ever. The details in the woodwork and handles of the vanity are unique and gorgeous.

@Love_my_doggie Old school and nostalgic to boot! All great things from our past I too wish would still be around in our lives….sigh

oh, oh, oh!
ye olde architecture. beautiful stone work, decorations, arches, pillars.
today all you basically get are ugly concrete, steel and glass cubes because money.

Nothing.

This is probably a terrible example, but the first thing that came into my mind was The Muppets.

Parenting.

Old school: “You kids get out of the house and don’t come home again until it’s dark. Have fun!” That was way better than play dates and timed, organized practices for sports that half the kids involved don’t particularly care to join, anyway.

I hate HD TV. HD makes me feel like I am on a set not watching a movie or TV show. I still have my old TV and I will not get rid of it until it dies.

@tinyfaery
you must hate cinemas, then.

Automobiles. Used to be pretty basic to replace an alternator, radiator, water pump, and the required belts. On most cars now, these items require mechanics.

@ragingloli For some reason going to the theater does not have that effect. I think it’s the size of the screen.

Mechanical watches.

Some things come to mind.

First of all, I don’t know how this is called in English, but I had similar device for a long time. I miss it a lot. You could listen to the radio (when you pass all of the struggle of adjusting the antennae. That was fun, when I think about it, playing an acrobat across the room to catch the signal hehe), play cassettes and CDs. It was so cool. I still have CDs (I kept the ones that still work) and play them sometimes. One of my wishes is to buy some albums that I like in CD form. Now it’s all replaced with YT.

What I also miss is the gramophone. My dad had one, one of those used in the 80s. We even had records and all. Sadly he threw it all away. :(

I still keep one cassette. It’s been years since the last time I played it, it’s probably broken and it has some cheesy pop song on it anyways, but I keep it. I have a shoe box where I keep that, with other random bullshit I for some reason don’t want to throw away.—Guess I’m sentimental.—

I second @Mimishu1995 and @ragingloli entries. Those phones with buttons were much more practical if you ask me. Also, home phones. And architecture back in the day was pure art. I still stand in awe and watch those wonderful buildings, it makes walking down the street like walking in a museum. We will probably never have that again.

@Zaku I lost my phone and spend almost a year without it. Not having a phone puts things in quite different perspective. You pay attention on the street when walking, for example. Did you know there are clocks on the streets? I noticed that only when I lifted my head from the phone screen and started looking around when walking. :D
Only when I lost my phone did I see how much are people chained to it. (also, what do you mean by printed books? Don’t tell me you people in the US don’t print books anymore!)

@ucme…...........you don’t use physical money? Wow. I know credit cards are a thing, but…..you don’t use physical money?

And yes, playing outside, when outside was safer than today. And music, as much as I hate to admit it, was somewhat better than today. At least, hits from then were better than hits from today (underground music is still dope, though).

Shit, I feel old af now.

@Sneki95 You appear to have misunderstood the entire premise of the question, read through it & the answers again then you will see that I not only use physical cash, but I prefer it muchly, as stated.

@ucme Sorry

@Sneki95 No need to apologise just a friendly word of advice that’s all.

I like notebooks made of paper.

I like pens that are just pens. They don’t need hiliters, usb sticks, flashlights, stylus…

and I really like

Old Skool Love

Line dried clothes, they smelled fresher, felt crisper, so much better than a dryer even if you used dryer sheets.

@Sneki95 Those are what I know as All in One stereo systems and depending on the size smaller systems are known as compact stereo’s and smaller portables are know as boom boxes. Thanks for your answer!

All really great and fun answers. Thanks everyone and keep em coming!

On most cars now, these items require mechanics.
And an electrician, and a computer expert, something goes south you don’t know if it is a short, bad connection, part wore out, gears getting stuck, or some sensor is out giving the “brain” a false reading causing everything else to be off.

@tinyfaery I bet your TV has a bunch of video processing turned on and you are experiencing the “soap opera effect” it can be turned off and you’ll never go back to SD again.

Houses, yards specifically don’t come like they used to.

I forgot Snickers bars, when i was a kid they cost a dime and was half the size of a brick, now they cost $1.6 on average and is the size of two fingers or less.

… edit

My GE clock radio. I’ve had it for 30 years. Works fine. It was the first big ticket purchase as a child $19.99.

The original star trek

^^^ I might agree, except for the fact that Bald Men Are Sexy! I’m looking at you, Picard and Sisko.

Funny that appliances came up. My refrigerator is a GE my dad bought back in 1968.

@Sneki95 Books are still used in the USA, but eBooks are starting to be used too, and some schools are starting to use electronic devices more than books.

@ARE_you_kidding_me Original Star Trek all the way. I couldn’t make myself watch much of the newer ones, not to mention the reboots.

Fans. Yes, basic fans. I had one from the 70s that lasted for about 30 years. The ones I get now last a couple of years. UGH.

I’m probably not too old to have a lotta oldschool, but of all the things I can count I miss the oldschool wrestling, the attitude era of WWE with bonechilling storylines, kickass matches and wrestlers worth imitating. It literally sucks now. Besides, the rap-less music of the backstreet boys and Shania Twain, the not-so-kid-oriented cartoon network, and the 90’s test cricket where they played classic oldschool shots and battled out every session of play and not go wham bamm!

@ucme Actually cold hard cash is the only way to go in some countries, for example mine. I’m still not used to paying with your Western ways like cards or PayPal.

Dirty cash I want you, dirty cash I need you woh oh

traditional conflict resolution:
nowadays it is lawsuits all around.
in the good old days, you went outside and fought each other with swords, or shot at each other with pistols.

For the old school book lovers

This is our dining room in our 100 year old home. I have books from the late 1800’s on those shelves.

Hey how about pay phones??? Anyone seen or used one lately?? I miss my calling card :(

I don’t miss clunky, tethered-to-the-wall phones with rotary dials but boy am I sick of people all around me screaming on their mobiles and texting behind the wheel!

My grandpa had an old GE stainless steel toaster that cooked perfect toast . Much better than the toaster that I bought from Amazon.

@Cruiser There are pay phones, just not as many.

@Pachy I’d use a landline phone if it came free with my other overpriced communications bills. Better quality sound in both directions.

Standard transmissions.

Men :p

@Zaku and @Pachy: I have a landline corded phone in addition to landline cordless phones. The corded one is for in case the power goes out, I’ll always have a phone (without power, the cell phone can’t be charged, either).

telecommunications

@Zaku I will have to take your word for it. The last one I saw was in Vegas and that was over 10 years ago. Since then they have all gone bye bye.

@Cruiser People say that sometimes, but it’s not true. If I notice one, I’ll try to remember to take a picture for you.

@Cruiser, @Zaku is right payphones are still out there but few and far between these days.

Manual transmissions.

I love the stick and clutch, and that ain’t prison jargon.

I totally agree @filmfann and with a manual tranny I feel you have to pay more attention to driving and less likely to get distracted unlike driving a boring automatic.

Yes, trannies are awesome. Gripping that hard shaft and fondling that knob is something every man should do.

^^ Sure ,sure that is why all men relate to all machines as women, ” she is running great today” “I put HER through the moves” “Lets see what SHE can do”.

Even with my disclaimer, I knew @ragingloli would go there

Telephone bell ringing, that delightful tring, tring chime, so much better than fucking awful ringtones

I will agree with ya on that one @ucme .

Why that’s so sweet of you Rusty Nail, call me later sugar ;-}
Just playin wiv ya big man, it’s good for morale

@filmfann Manual transmissions.
I love sticks because every vehicle i ever owned with a stick I NEVER had gearbox trouble, the slave master cylinder, clutch, the throwout bearing, linkage, or something like that but never, ever the actual gearbox, and I only once change the gear oil.

Ball point pens and not that gel pen crap. Maybe there are some good gel pens, but so far, in my experience, they smear and aren’t always smooth. I don’t understand the fascination with them.

Reasonable sized restaurant meals. In the US now most every entree is huge.

When Coke had sugar.

When eyeglasses didn’t cost $400+.

FYI @JLeslie Coke is still being made in Mexico with real cane sugar and can be found in most Mexican grocers here in the Chicago Suburbs. Look for the tall long neck Coke bottles. Yum!

^^ When Coke had sugar.
And it had more of a bite and fizz too.

@Cruiser Yes, I know. :)

Manual can openers. The electric versions really don’t add anything in terms of speed or effectiveness, and they’re a mess to clean.

I have a new one: old stereo equipment. They used to build that stuff into classy looking furniture.

@ARE_you_kidding_me – I was just looking at some old photos (around 1961 – 63) – and admiring my parents’ beautiful stereo that they brought from Germany on their honeymoon. I’ve still got it – the wood is simply too beautiful not to keep and admire.

I picked one up this morning. Needs a complete overhaul but I can probably bring it back to life with a handfull of filter capacitors. I have fond memories sitting in front of the one my family had with a stack of LPs as a kid. This one is also getting a bluetooth upgrade.

@ARE_you_kidding_me and @BellaB My parents had a combination TV, radio, and hi-fi (yes, that’s what record players were called back then), all in a gorgeous, horizontal piece of wooden furniture. Long after the electronics had stopped working, they kept the casing and used it for storing books. It was just too beautiful to discard.

I think it’s a good thing they are starting to become trendy again. Seems like even goodwill would refuse to take consoles for a while.

@ARE_you_kidding_me

For what it’s worth Goodwill only takes things they believe will sell. They might be a charity (though some dispute that), but they operate like a for-profit and don’t like to take things that nobody’s interested in (unlike the Salvation Army, who seemingly will accept any only piece of junk no matter how unpopular, out-of-date or broken down it is).

@ARE_you_kidding_me I am in total agreement with you on old furniture stereo equipment. I have this beauty in my man cave and the sound is amazing too! It has a gorgeous slate table top as well. It was my grandmas and when my kids were real little I brought out an LP and they were in awe…“what is THAT dad?” When I put Beach Boys on the turntable they went nuts! One of my fav memories of them when they were little

@Cruiser Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting those great photos. Did you refinish the piece, or did you receive it in such perfect condition? Do you still use it to play the Beach Boys on vinyl?

@BellaB Could you share some photos of the stereo?

@Cruiser, @JLeslie, and @Hypocrisy_Central. Every springtime, the Passover sections of most grocery markets will have a cane-sugar version of Coca-Cola. Depending on one’s religious traditions, corn products – including corn syrup – may or may not be consumed during Passover. Thus, cane-sugar Coke is briefly available. I don’t care for Coke at all, and I don’t have a sweet tooth, but even I have to admit that the real stuff is very tasty.

I can usually find a sugar Coke if I want it. I actually quit caffeine years ago, so I rarely drink Coke, but there is nothing like the real thing. It was my drug of choice. I never was a coffee drinker.

I miss being able to control the TV with buttons on the TV. I love the convenience of a remote, but when the remote is having trouble its frustrating when the TV just has power, volume, and channel up and down!

@Love_my_doggie That is not my actual stereo it is a Google image but I do own the exact same unit and not quite as pristine but close. Looks great and sounds great!

@Love_my_doggie – Hopefully you can see this. I’ve made the album public.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/230082_6759975769_1030_n.jpg?oh=52cdf163289327c4eaafee82ba0073dd&oe=5873C3C6

I particularly like this photo as it was our first Christmas in the house my parents lived in for just over 50 years. The console was really our only piece of living room furniture – and my parents wanted to send photos home of a prosperous-looking family. The living room was so empty – it was perfect for dancing along to the stereo :)

@Cruiser Looks a little like the one I have now

@BellaB Great photograph; thank you for posting it. And, what a lovely little girl you were!

Paying with coins, instead of bills.
Shiny, hard, heavy coins.

Going barefoot. So many parents today have an irrational fear of letting their kids go barefooted.

@Dutchess_III
Ever cut open your foot?

Sure I’ve cut my foot.

Interesting imagur account @ARE_you_kidding_me.

I miss the foot-operated headlight dimmer switch, now that I never need to use a clutch pedal any more. When I was operating a clutch, then the steering wheel stalk switch was a welcome relief, but now that my left foot is totally unoccupied while driving, it would be helpful to delegate that task to my foot again.

@Dutchess_III I have 2 pictures on that account. It’s not like photobucket where you can see everyones stuff, when you scroll through it’s other users.

@CWOTUS, my son was given a 1978 hatch back Pinto. The first time I saw it I jumped in and started making driving noises. I kicked the dimmer switch a few times, for old times sake. My son wanted to know what I was doing. I told him and he said, “So that’s where it was! I could not find it!”

Well. It was interesting @ARE_you_kidding_me!

@Dutchess_III: My parents’ dog got hookworms this past summer. I googled it to learn more about it and I found that hookworms are one of the parasites that humans can get, too. I told my daughter this is why we don’t go barefoot outside. We will occasionally go barefoot outside but not too much.

If your dog has hookworms you may want to get tested yourself.

@jca I’ve always known that about hook worms. But don’t forget about roundworms. “Roundworm eggs are shed constantly by the infected dog. If he licks his butt and then licks you, the contamination begins.”

Also, “transmission of the Dipylidium caninum tapeworm can occur if you were to swallow an infected flea (which is exactly how pets get tapeworms).”

I think it’s best, and safest, if no one has any pets at all.

As far as bare feet, don’t forget the broken glass and stickers. I’m barefooted as constantly as I can be. Sometimes even when I can’t be. Ever walked in snow barefooted? It’s pretty cool, until you loose all feeling in your feet after just a few seconds.

@ARE_you_kidding_me: It was my parents’ dog. My mother is currently in bed with cancer and my stepfather probably pretty much doesn’t have hookworms.