QOTD: What's the oldest piece of tech you still use today?
Air Vice Marshal Rich Maddison is a senior RAF officer with decades of flying experience. "As an Air Force we are as high-tech as you get, but this, this is just me."
He is referring to a miniature computer with a black and lime green screen and miniscule memory that uses AA batteries to power a 1997 design. It is a Psion 5 device and for AVM Maddison it represents his personal aviation history... More here.
Simon sent me the article above and he mentioned that he "still use my mini disc player every now and then."
It got me to thinking about how quickly we move on from technology that was so wonderful only a year or so ago. I still have my working Psion 5MX at home and it would suffice for so many tasks in 2021, and with the added benefit of no connection to the outside world.
I believe that technology like the Psion PDAs are rare because I cannot imagine using a Palm or Windows PDA today or even some of the older smartphones. There is just something so simplistic and reliable about the Psion hardware and software that lends itself to being able to, as Rich Maddison, shows keeping a history of events and achievements. The same is true for mini disc which did what it needed to and for most models the quality of the materials was good enough to last long into the future.
So, what is your oldest piece of technology that you still use today?