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Ask Slashdot: What Tech Products Were Built To Last?
itwbennett writes: "When you think about tech products these days, you probably think 'refresh cycle' more than 'built to last.' But there are plenty of tech products that put up with hard, daily use year after year. Here's a few to get you started: Logitech MX510 mouse, Brother black & white laser printer, Casio G-Shock watch, Alvin Draf-Tec Retrac mechanical pencil, Sony Dream Machine alarm clock. What's your longest-lasting, hardest-working device?"
Still works as does my IBM PS2 Model 95. There are still DEC PDP-11s in daily use as well.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
It's gotten nothing but shit every day for 30 years and it still works just as well as when I first got it.
My Atari 800 home computer is my longest-lasting, hardest-working electronics device. It was built like a tank (the metal shielding alone weighs several pounds).
Other than that, I suppose my alarm clock. I've had it since 1988 and it just keeps going. Nothing fancy - LED display, just a clock with alarm, no radio functionality or anything like that.
I have had my MacBook Air running almost continuously for three years. Almost no hiccups. That's about it!
I still use my HP-11C and HP-32S calculators at least weekly. They're now 25+ years old, and I've changed the batteries maybe twice.
Enter > Equal ..... Yeah!
These things are awesome. The ones I've got were built in the mid 90s and still clicking.
TZ
They still work.
Still running accurate after 34 years....
It sits there in standby waiting for print jobs that almost never come, then with a wheeze the top fan blows out the accumulated dust, the lights dim briefly and I get my printout like it was 1999.
The hardware in that baby is built to last. Now if only I wouldn't keep forgetting to feed the pet.
HP LaserJet II and LaserJet 3 - worked reliably for 20 years and probably quite a few of them still in use.
sPh
Admittedly as noted above no high-tech product can yet match the longevity of a well-built plumbing system - some of them are over 2000 years old and still functioning as designed, while most major cities still depend on water and plumbing infrastructure build 1880-1920.
Back in the day I played the heck out of my Nintendo Gamecube.
God I'm getting old.
The quality difference between pre 2001 electronics and now is astounding. Current products are all utter junk compared to earlier stuff.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
IBM's Model M keyboard.
A 1971 Panasonic AM/FM clock radio with this erie, blue-green glowing, segmented time display. It's the size of a goddamn shoe box, and easily weighs 3-4 pounds. It was my brother's, and when he moved out of the house he gave it to me. It's as old as I am and has survived multiple in-city, in-state, and one cross-country move, in addition to numerous drops, bumps, being rained on through open windows, splashed with various items spilled from ill-placed glasses, etc.
I haven't used it as an alarm or for music in years (my phone took over those functions some time ago), but I can't bear to remove it from my nightstand at this point.
What did the walrus say to the penguin? "No soap, radio."
I always like to point to one of my fave brands of TM gear (test and measurement): power designs.
go to ebay and search for these 3 words 'power designs precision'. see the metal concentric dials? those are not to be seen in today's gear; unless its a photo of one on a touch screen somewhere (sigh).
I have at least 4 of these models and they date from the late 50's to early 60's. some caps might need changing (not need but suggested) and some deoxit-d5 cleaner on the switches and that's that! 100uV dial-in resolution, microvolt level noise and hum, current load at full rated cap for 7x24 duty cycle and the PSU can be thrown off a truck and still work to factory specs.
they tend to be $100 or so, used. if you built that today using those specs, it would be 10x to 50x the price, if you could even GET it built today (no, china could not even build this if they tried).
old tektronix and HP gear still works great after 30+ yrs. lots of old US designed and BUILT gear is still fully reasonable to use today. its repairable and the user guides, back then, actually had circuit descriptions, schematics and even names/addresses of companies that make the parts that go into the box! you NEVER see anything like that today. you can't even get schematics from agilent or fluke or keithley or tek anymore, on their current gear.
I like to point to power designs (precision) line of gear as stuff that was built to last 50+ yrs and I have actual proof that this is not a dream. I'm over 50 and I'm not doing as well as some of the gear in my tech shop.... ;)
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
Toaster Oven... a 25yr old Hamilton Beach Standmixer. Though there's probably a few people out there with ones older than this.
I still use the same lawnmower I bought in '79. Had to replace the blade, but it still cuts the grass without problems.
Because it is that good.
Though I stopped using it as a daily with 7. And now that I think about it, XP is a dog compared to 7. Ugly as a butt muncher, too, and as clunky as a car made in Putin's Russia. But this isn't about that, then, is it.
I have several Teletype machines from the 1926 to 1940 period. All are in good working order. They're completely repairable; it's possible to take one apart down to the individual parts and put it back together. But they're high-maintenance. There are several hundred oiling points on a Model 15 Teletype. There are things that have to be adjusted occasionally, and manuals and tools for doing that. Every few years, the entire machine has to be soaked in solvent to clean off excess oil, then relubricated and adjusted. This is the price of building a complex machine good for a century or more.
(The Model 33 of the minicomputer era is not one of the long-lived machines. This was by design. The Model 35 was the equivalent long-lived, high-maintenance product; the 33 required little mainenance but had a llimited life.)
old school brick/candybar cellphones. Nokia's a great one, there are other manufacturers. Point is - if I had to bet on an iPhone or Android going through the wash and surviving, or an dumb-phone surviving I'd bet old school. Some old Nokias from the late 90s (the digital ones) are still making phonecalls, and probably could until the sun goes supernova.
TOA public address amplifier, still going strong.
Or Unicomp's clones - no signs of troubles after many years of abuse.
Really impressed with how it's held up over the years, including the battery.
Typing this on a Unicomp model based on the original design. Awesome keyboard, but it lacks the heavy steel backplate of the original.
Please buy a keyboard from this company so they keep making them. :-) http://www.pckeyboard.com/
Generally, any computer equipment before the mid 90s was made quite well, simply because it was so expensive at the time. It also tended to be heavily over-engineered. Some Compaq ProLiants from that era are 100 pounds because they're just solid metal all the way through.
Alarm Clock? Really?
I used to live across the street from police & fire stations. I can sleep through anything. A few years ago, searching for ever louder and more earth-shaking alarm clocks, I got to thinking about that. For tens of thousands of years mankind has not had alarm clocks. We relied on the Sun and Daylight to wake us up. So I went down to the local megamart and bought a digital outlet timer. You know, the sort of thing you use to turn your lights on automatically while you're out of town. Hooked up a power strip to it, and plugged in a bunch of $5 floor lamps. Nothing like a Redundant Array of Inexpensive Lamps.
Every morning at exactly 6:55 the digital timer turns on and my room is brightened by 5,000+ lumens of light. It's a nice way to wake up. Very gentle. You come out of sleep slowly rather than abruptly.
Built like a tank in the late 1960s. Outlasted two "Generally Defective" (G.E.) Chinese pieces of crap that I've had for the last five years. The only reason I stopped using it is the knobs on it are getting worn out. I think I'm just going to fix them and go back.
Microsoft Optical mouse, the basic white model with just the scroll wheel. I've had it well over a decade.The bottom is perfectly smooth now but it refuses to die. Best money I've ever spent. A friend of mine is still rocking a Nokia 6310i and refuses to part with it.
I only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either. - Scott Adams
Still works like a charm (and still a bit slow, hehehe).
I'ved used my Kinesis Advantage keyboard since 2004, but I know it saw some use before I took ownership of it.
It's my trusted keyboard that I've brought along different jobs. I have my friends and former coworkers to thank for in turning me onto this device.
Is that the mouse with the lightweight OMRON switches that fail after a year or two? I've personally worn out three Logitech mice with those switches.
Still have an old G7 at work. It's working because I've never gamed with it, so the switches haven't failed. I know the minute I game with it the switches will fail.
People have been selling replacement switches on eBay for years to fix these things. Hard, daily use, year after year? LOL.
The thing still turns on and runs. Unfortunately Iost my ADB keyboard and mouse so I can't use it.
I've got this giant pipe wrench that's been taking a beating (well... giving one) for decades. I can't tell you how many passwords and pin codes I've cracked with that thing. Best hacking tool I ever bought.
True, the NES had some issues with the 72-pin connector... but my SNES still works just fine after I cleaned the cartridge contacts and cartidges. First time, every time. Same with my N64 and gameboy color. Do a web search for Gameboy in Iraq. You'll turn up a fully-functioning gameboy that survived mortars(bombs?) hitting a base. The thing is mostly black and has some of the plastic melting, but it still plays tetris and is on display in a museum.
My primary work laptop is a 2007 MacBook. When the time came that the company would buy me a replacement, Apple products were no longer on the list of corporate approved laptops, so I have just continued to use the MacBook. It has been pretty much trouble-free. Had to replace the battery and the power adapter and that's it.
I got it slightly used in 1984 and use it almost every day. Has only gone through 3-4 sets of batteries.
Those cameras were built like tanks.....
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There's people in Guantanamo whose only crime is to wear one of those: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
No sig today...
In a world where most of my smart phones break down after a year, my Palm IIIx will still reliably turn on and run with two fresh double AAs. Amazing device from the early days of handheld computing.
Cheap noname LED spotlights, cheap noname LED flashlights...
I'm sure pricey brand name LED lights don't break very often either.
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I still use a LaserJet 4L at home for light printing work. This is now over 20 years old. It was used heavily in business for about 5 years then light use at home. I just buy a new cartridge about once a year (recycled ones cost about $15).
This thing never jams, always feeds properly and the print quality is as crisp and sharp as the day it was new.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Let me help you.
I've still got a NES that works fine apart from the usual cartridge connector issue.
Still feel old? Alright...
I've got an Intellivision 1 that still works fine but could use new controllers.
Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
Scoff if you must -- I'm not using it for audiophile, but as an employee-project-completion gift, it's made a fantastic $300 alarm clock.
I've had it for close to 15 years now (it debuted in 1998). It does exactly what I need: Good UI, wake up to radio, tone or CD with slow volume increase, two alarms. Most CD players I've seen don't last this long, and this thing has been a rock.
Design for Use, not Construction!
A mechanical pencil is a tech product?
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
It's been decades, and that thing is still going strong. When we're all gone, phones will be making calls by mapping whatever you're doing to:
ATDT your_number
Note: does ADTP still work? What if you did that on a 4G modem?
If youre trying to find tech products crafted with longevity in mind, you're going to have a bad time. The entire technology industry is built around intentional, and unintentional, Planned obsolescence. Connectors are intentionally standardized then customized slightly to stymy interoperability and in turn drive sales of every other accessory they use. cellphones are made from thermoplastic and glass, and come with a multi billion dollar advertising industry to ensure you buy new ones every year or two. And if that doesnt work, Software is simply bloated up until you're forced to buy a new one. everything from laptops to food processors have replacement parts, but those parts are often at the economic disadvantage of the buyer in that they cost upwards of 50% or more of the original purchase cost. this is to induce you to consume more. Proprietary operating systems like windows, and applications like crysis or autocad will intentionally fail to function if you dont have a machine of a particular newness. The data transfer standards themselves are also wildly flexible in that for example what once was an open USB standard for most handheld electronics has become a confounding vortex of shit called MTP or media transfer protocol with limited support in open operating systems and wildly different/broken implementations across devices that do claim to support it.. Video game consoles are rarely backwards compatible. and arguably the digitization of over the air television was a pointless subsidy from congress to force consumers to buy a new TV so they could turn around and gift companies like AT&T with practically free spectrum. tablets are routinely locked down with UEFI to ensure once its not supported by the vendor anymore, you cant do something insane like install your own OS and continue to use it. No, you'll rent your technology and open your purse when you're told to.
devices will never be built to last because our society is predicated upon an open market and endless consumption in which we never question the longevity or practicality of the devices we're told to purchase. The best you can do is mitigate your participation in this endless moebius strip by championing open standards and solutions. build your own pc and replace components as necessary. stop buying a phone every two years. Pick up a book at the library instead of renting text on a device you never actually own.
Good people go to bed earlier.
It's heavy and slow but the thing won't die. It still runs some home automation X10 stuff from the 80s.
A calculator older than me which I inherited. Many calculators have come and gone but this thing has survived much time and abuse. I always liked it's glowing LED numbers, even if it takes two AA batteries to power it.
I've had mine 15 years. I had to buy a PS/2 to USB adapter and occasionally clean out built-up dust. Once in a great while I miss not having a mouse wheel. Otherwise it's given me no issues. Added bonus, it's saved me from carpal tunnel.
Finding God in a Dog
Powermatic 66 table saw
TI-36 solar version. Came with the vinyl flip case which still has part of its spine holding on like grim death.
Bought it just out of high school (back in the day) and recently used it for my stats class (about 2 years ago).
I still take it with me every time I go grocery shopping to keep track of how much I'm spending.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I've got a Yamaha Clavinova electric piano that I bought new in the early 80s. Still plays great, though it lacks modern niceties like USB ports and iPad attachments. At one point, I stupidly hooked it up to a cheap power adapter and blew a fuse, but after I managed to find replacements, opening it up and replacing was easy and it's been flawless ever since.
Pianos are, thankfully, an area where UX designers haven't tried to meddle with the interface for the past 500 or so years, so older versions are still quite usable.
I'm using an IBM Model-M keyboard that is over twenty years old.
I can confirm from experience that an IBM 3270 terminal is practically indestructable. Standing on a loading dock I picked one up over my head and threw it as hard as I could down into an empty metal dumpster at ground level. The result? A small crack in the housing.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
The HP 2647 terminals we had in my high school were built like tanks. I'd bet they'd still work today.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
My daughter forgot her iPhone 4 in a pocket while doing laundry (commercial-sized front loader in an apartment building). The door locks when you start these. She panicked when she realized (like all teenagers do when they are without their device for 10 seconds) that she didn't have it and that it was probably in the wash.
No amount of convincing could get that machine to stop or open up, so she sat their crying for the entire wash cycle (I could only imagine what the accelerometer was doing during the spin cycle). When it stopped and unlocked she retrieved the phone and it was fine. Still works today two years later. I suspect the iPhone 4 will go down in history as being a really solid device, although with 10s of millions of them I'm sure there are lots of stories to the contrary.
I am not interested in articles about life extension advancements.
200W/ch of bullet-proof audio. I loaded it with everything from ribbons to electrostatics and it has never faltered. I got it new in the mid 80s and it's still going strong.
My Squeezebox 3 music player has been working perfectly for the last 8 years, and even the VFD, which I had expected to last 2 years based on experience with VFDs in VCRs, is still perfect.
My Compaq P1210 catwarmer only died a few months ago, after daily use since early 1998. When the cat went to jump on top of the new LCD and simply landed on the desk behind, he was not amused. I put a pillow back there, and now it's his secret hiding place; he leans up against the back of the LCD for his catwarming needs. (This is Canada; as I write, a nasty mix of snow and rain is blustering around outside.)
I would say that my old HP48SX calculator with a card for additional functions still works and is useful. Engineering calculations are engineering calculations, and the tactile feel of the buttons is a lot more accurate than trying to use an emulator on a smartphone.
Just the small engineering touches showed outstanding build quality. For example, the card had an edge connector, but there was a sliding metal flap that kept the connector on a card shielded until it was inserted into the calculator.
All of my old home computers I kept are still in 100% working conditions - a few C64s, Amigas, Ataris etc. In terms of more modern computing, my best example would be my home server/router which is a 14-15 years old Abit BF6 motherboard with a low-power passively cooled P3-600/133 and 512MB of RAM. This machine and its original 200W PSU saw 8-10 hours of use 5 days a week during 2000-2004, and from 2004 to this very day - 10 years - it has been running 24/7 as my home server/router, without failure. The only thing that has been replaced in that machine is the original HDD I bought with it, a 12GB Fujitsu drive, that died in 2010, after 10 years of service. They don't make 'em like they used to.
I have had my MacBook Air running almost continuously for three years. Almost no hiccups. That's about it!
I just retired a thinkpad that was over 8 years old and still working perfectly. I retired it only because I needed a better video card for the work I was doing; it became a parts system to help someone keep their own collection of aging thinkpads going.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Unlike newer alternatives, this are still working great.
Added bonus: you can hammer a nail with bakelite.
I bought one. A week later my wife spilled soda on it. Turned out it was pretty much impossible to salvage. I was disappointed by it's lack of servicability vs. a real Model M. You spend that kind of money on a keyboard you might expect it to survive a soda or at least be repairable.
-73, de n1ywb
www.n1ywb.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...
Until two years ago I had one of those old clocks that had the flip down numbers. 1982-2012.
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
Indestructible. The ultimate keyboard. Bought one as a spare 12 years ago, just in case. Still sitting in its box. The best!
My UID is prime!
Still runs just as good as the day I bought it 10 years ago, incl. the HDD that came with it. The CCFL backlight in the screen has lost a lot of brightness output, though.
While it's long gone, I had a Hammarlund SP-600 SuperPro that had seen 30 years of use before I got it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H...
For about $7 on eBay you can get a replacement cartridge connector (not OEM). Maybe you've already done that.
Win XP will endure
It's called Egarland's law. Funny that you've never heard of it...
Perl Programmer for hire
Those old rotary and touch-tone phones from the telephone company in the 70s/80s. I think we had the same one from 1976 to the early 90's, and that thing took a lot of abuse from three kids. It was constantly being yanked off the counter but the handset cord, and the plastic cover would come off, but the thing was a tank. It never stopped working
I bought 1 on my 21" Hitachi SuperScan Elite's in 1996 and the other 2 in 1997.
Been using them non stop(day and night) for work and play for 16-17 years.
Roughly 40 years old and still doing science.
Why does my TV need to boot anyway?
Most TVs run firmware of some sort. Even CRT. The newer CRT TVs did not have a physical dial for changing channels, they display channel numbers on screen, and they even have a few menu options. Guess what runs that?
It sounds like you're not buying good LCD TVs.
In a few years every home will a precision 3D printer , organics, polymers and alloys, etc., that should last and running on Solar, Wind and Biogas , anywhere....
30 years old: HP-11C calculator, Kenwood audio amp, Bose speakers, AKAI tape deck are all still running after 30 years, although they don't get much use, the tape deck especially.
25 years old: Yamaha PAC-921 guitar. Had to replace a potentiometer but it works perfectly, and with decent maintenance will probably never fail. There are tons of people with older electrics
And the current champion, which I don't think anyone's mentioned: my Dad's hand me down 60-year-old slide rule. Still works, and I threaten my students with it occasionally
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Maybe it's not the longest-lasting on the list, but it's definitely a very sturdy product in its category. I have a launch-era model (with the digital a/v out, although I don't have the cables for it), and it's still running flawlessly. It's not even really showing its age - it still looks fine, with the only yellowing being a slight tint to the front plastic. It probably helps that I have a black model.
Come to think of it, none of my Nintendo hardware has ever failed on me - they've lasted until I've sold them off. Some of the Game Boy games died (battery-backed SRAM - battery only lasts so long), but never a console or even controller.
I still use to this day the General Electric model F1-8147-5 alarm clock my dad gave me when I was a kid. It posts from somewhere around 1970.
Alter Aeon Multiclass MUD - http://www.alteraeon.com
Got it as a gift from Dad when I started junior high in the '70s. I used it daily until I got an HP-11c. I lost the HP sometime in grad school but I still have the Sharp and still use it. I always preferred LEDs over LCDs anyways.
Tektronix 547 oscilloscope mainframe, early '60s
Plugins for the above giving me 4 traces, or 1GHz sampling, 10GHz spectrum, sensitive differential input
P6042 DC-50MHz clip-on current probe
HP 6284A DC power supply
HP 5316A 1GHz counter
HP 3468A 6 digit DMM
It's important and easy to get the documentation. As it is, most of these things just need maintenance, and the occasional burnt parts are still available. Except for the esoteric stuff like tunnel diodes and the current transformer assembly for the P6042.
The 547 is going on half a century. This stuff was built like a car, lots of metal, a thick chassis, very large components.
Mostly random stuff.
I've had the Swiss army knife of knives for more than 25 years ago. It is, not all that surprisingly, a Swiss Army Knife that my sister bought in Switzerland and gave me for Xmas one year long ago. I still carry it with me everywhere and used it a few days ago when I was replacing some knobs on bathroom drawers at my parents' house.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
Pre-divestiture Western Electric telephones (500 series in particular) - http://www.geofffox.com/wp-con...
Your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
Used to be on conference calls to close a deal and could scribble with one hand on a yellow legal pad and work the N, PMT, I, PV, FV buttons with my other thumb. Still emulated on the IPad (and sold by HP)... In it's realm nothing better came along after. Do you miss the good old days?
"Knowing everything doesn't help..."
HP gear used to be synonymous with "Sherman Tank". Nowadays it's all disposable cheap plastic crap.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Most things made by Digital Equipment Corp.
Competition Good, Monopoly Bad.
I build and sell mobile animatronics. Last year I pulled an 8 track player and a VCR out of an entertainment robot and upgraded it with a DVD and LCD TV. It had been running shows in local classrooms since the early 80s.
I still have a working Osborn 1 and use almost every day. That's over three decades of service. My CP/M 2.2 disks are toast, so I've replaced the OS with one of my own design for use in my hobby home automation projects. The 300 Baud modem died so I use its RS-232 (serial) port with an IR LED and resistor across DTR to do IO with my home theatre system. The IEEE-488 (parallel) port is used for multiple sensor IOs and a sanitized COM link to my Linux server network which can route IR messages around the rest of the home.
It's more of an "antique" retro conversation piece, but I'm a practical guy and find collectables such as this 1st widespread "portable" PC to be far more interesting when in use; Rather than collecting dust and only being the subject of tech war storries others can witness the power of its simplicity and appreciate the workhorse in action. When I press the button on my remote or smart-phone app visitors (esp. kids) heads are turned by the 5 1/4 inch drive access sounds as the proper code translation table is loaded into the 64KB RAM and colored debugging LEDs on its exposed bread boards blink while status messages flicker to life scrolling up the 54x24 character green monochrome display, then lights dim and a projector screen lowers, and various set-top boxes have their inputs configured. Kids will spend hours "watching TV" just changing the channels and active devices while actually paying attention to the old Osborne One doing its duty. I consider it sort of like an 80's version of steam-punk -- My take on "cyber-punk". Sometimes I'll show the older kids how to manually command systems by making and breaking circuits with a paperclip on the breadboard to do IO. The resulting stream of "how"s and "why"s is fully expected; This setup was socially engineered to lead hapless inquisitors away from the mind-numbing TV and out to tinker with the brain boosting electronics and robotics projects in the garage.
I have some replacement parts from its dead brothers and sisters, but it too will eventually bite the dust eventually and be replaced with other hardware. I really miss parallel ports. Even kids can do IO by hand on the old interface instead of running everything through a more complex serialization protocol; Building a USB interface just to get back bit-mapped parallel IO is just silly. Thus, old beige boxes and custom DOS programs are still my favourite for intro to software / hardware & robotics even more so than single board or embedded systems like Raspberry Pi or Arduino and its clunky expansion ports -- for want of a simple Parallel Interface... I mean, you can use a bit or byte pattern of a parallel interface as an "escape code" to signal a mode switch and with a few transistors you can have as many "expansion cards" to program as you want. When I'm teaching how stuff works, I don't want things like this abstracted away and hidden behind proprietary hardware and software interfaces.
Remember the Three R's: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Reusing old hardware should be attempted before recycling. Experiencing the magic blue smoke escaping from an old main board, ISA / PCI card, etc. is an important part of learning electronics projects. Having to redo their work teaches folks to be more careful even if the parts are otherwise "worthless junk". Making interesting and/or useful things out of a "Trash 80" is seen by youngsters more impressive than using purpose built devices designed to facilitate the project. If they make it past the Cyber-Junkyard Frankenstein stage Only Then do they move up to working on more expensive single board systems and full featured robotics systems, bypassing the Raspberry Pi and Arduino stage altogether (and foisting some of my old junk into other unsuspecting tinkerers' garages).
The Osborne 1 is great for operating your whole home AV gear. Bugfixing custom hardware and Z80 instructions exercises one's memory and maintains neuro-plasticity -- It can even cause kids to favor educational programming instead of that obnoxious crap on TV nowadays.
This Radio still works and picks up Radio 4 Longwave and Radio 5 Live really well in the UK.
hehe, I looked the other day and my TV is 1997 :) I hear boat anchors last a while also.
I have a 1932 Singer sewing machine that runs like a champ. It doesn't do much, just sew in a straight line, but it was super important tech in its day. I also have an older Singer treadle sewing machine, and short of rust or a sledgehammer there is almost nothing to go wrong with it. Those beasts were built to last.
TSLSIA
The Winner: http://www.geofffox.com/wp-con...
Your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
HP LaserJet III - Can't seem to kill it. Slow, by today's standards, but still prints like a champ. It's at home or I'd pull up the page stats. I think its over 1,000,000 prints, as it was used at the office for at least 15 years before they retired it (couldn't get a parallel port to run it off of easily) and I brought it home. HP 28C - While not everyone's favorite HP calculator, my 28C was purchased when I was a freshman in college in 1985, and still used daily. As a matter of fact, I think it's only on it's fourth or fifth set of batteries. They just never die.
Simpson 260 Series 8 Analog VOM. Built like a fricking tank. Simple, beautiful and reliable. Reads when a DMM wont. Will probably outlast the guy that buys it from a garage sale after I'm gone. :)
Brave Sir Robin ran away. ("No!") Bravely ran away away. ("I didn't!")
The Palm runs a time logger that I've used to track my work hours since 2003. The thing has outlasted at least a couple of Apple notebooks that it synched to. The iPod Photo I bought in October of 2004 still uses it's original battery. And then there's the musical stuff - A set of Adcom audio separates talking to a pair of Magnepans bought in the late '80s. The Maggies were reconditioned in the mid '90s. That set up still sounds great.
"The plural of anecdote is not data" -- Bruce Schneier
My grandmother first bought it in 1948. Then my mom had it, and I inherited it 12 years ago. Still works great, nothing broken on it, original parts. Yes, the dials are faded and it's got lots of scratches, but still turns out great dough and batter. 66 years and counting!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
I have 4 Samsung SyncMaster 213T monitors, circa 2000. One finally died. The other 3 are going strong. These are IPS monitors, and for some reason IPS went out of favor for years (cost, I suppose) and were hard to find. And few newer ones have as wide a viewing angle.
All depends on what you mean when you say "tech," since tech-nically all tools count as tech-nology; to that end, I have a hand-hewn stone axe head that's probably a few hundred years old at least, and it still works fantastically.
Presuming you meant electronic tech... For me, it would be a toss-up between the DAK Mark III CB radio my grandpa gave me and my Marshall Valvestate 8080 amplifier. The DAK doesn't get a whole lot of facetime (don't have a decent place to put an antenna), but the Marshall gets a workout almost daily.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Say what you will about the unreasonable price, but the TI graphing calculators last forever. I got a TI-83+ in 1999 when I was in middle school, and I'm still using it frequently at work 15 years later. It hardly ever even needs the batteries changed.
Those things are indestructible. The ink cartridges seems to last a really long time as well. Big and bulky buy built to last.
Genuine old land line telephones built by Western Electric for the Bell System. They built them, they owned them, and they NEVER wanted to have to repair them.
Excuse me, the 547 is a 50MHz mainframe, but perhaps you have a lackluster plugin in there?
Mostly random stuff.
My iPhone 4s. 3 years old, never in a case and has been horseback riding innumerable times, hiking, camping, boating not to mentioned tossed in to cup holders on to desks and other abuses but still works fine and only has two minor scratches on the the glass.
Article X: The powers not delegated... by the Constitution...are reserved...to the people
Good calculator - 10 digits, base-N mode, classic Casio design.
This was a present from when I was at University 25 years ago, and it lasted all the way to this year. Now, one of the display segments has failed so I replaced it with a FX85 which I hate.
Sean Ellis
Follow OfQuack's antics on Twitter.
Late 80s, upgraded to SCSI and 16 MB @ 200ns, run OpenVMS 7.3.
Also, my penis, late 50s, works just fine, does everything I want it to.
Tech: 2 C64s (first model), 3 1541 and 1 1541-II. Logitech optical cordless desktop (mouse needs a new battery door, holding with tape). both NES consoles.
Appliances: My mom's old Panasonic Dimension 4 microwave/convection oven, my 1970 something fridge (still kicking)
AV: 1974 Marantz 2240, 1980s Alpine AL80 tape deck, old Sony turntable, 1970s Harman Kardon speakers. 2000s RCA 52" HD RPTV, 27" Trinitron CRT.
As a previous poster wrote, most things made before mid-eighties were built to last, not so for the newer stuff that has to be either replaced or repaired after only a couple years of use.
I've got better things to do tonight than die.
Works perfectly fine without the bloat or broken user interfaces of the newer versions.
I have an LED football game from about 1983 that still works. I have my HP 48 GX RPN calculator from my college years (1992+) that works as well now as it ever did. I'll be using that calculator 30 years from now when I am 70 years old.
- Vincit qui patitur.
More of a tool than something technical, but this thing was passed down to me after my father went to the playground in the sky and has to be at least 25 years old. I've never even replaced the tip, just file it down now and then to retin the tip.
Another great tool (that also passed down to me, and is also similarly about 25 years old) is a Beckman Industrial DMM. I've used it extensively in projects indoor and outdoor and I would put it up against a Fluke for quality and accuracy. I love that two of my staples when it comes to tinkering have been so dependable over the years.
Amen to that!
My old Tektronix scopes are still frighteningly accurate some 50+ years later. The old manuals went beyond just schematics & troubleshooting procedures; there were very through circuit descriptions and theory of operation narratives & diagrams. I learned much of what I know reading those old manuals and maintaining my gear as a kid. Even later era 7000 series gear (babies at 30 - 40 years old) are still rock solid, well documented, and maintainable (though the digital stuff gets a little dicey with those custom, hard-to-find chips).
never drink kool-aid from a big vat
As another commenter mentioned, old test equipment -- the design of the Bird 43 wattmeter hasn't changed in over 50 years (and mine is over 30 years old). Similar story with the Simpson 240 series of multimeters (VOMs). I inherited a set of Starrett micrometers that are wonderful, even the ones my son used as C-clamps as he was growing up...
I also have a stack of old HP and Tektronix test equipment -- stuff that has service manuals and more-or-less replaceable parts (except for things like 'scope front ends, which are custom assemblies made of pure unobtanium).
I built this kit in 1965. I'm still using it. It has operated flawlessly since the day I put it into service.
"What's your longest-lasting, hardest-working device?"
Wacom stylus pen for my wacom tablet.It's stretching what's technical, but it is technical compared to a pencil.
Then again, then there's my 45yr old frig (was hi tech then).
Hardest working: WRT-54GL. 7 years of constant effort.
My Dynaco A-25 speakers still worked fine when I sold them on Craig's list a few years ago. I would have kept them but I no longer had a receiver to drive them. I asked for $30 each, the same price I paid in 1973. The guy paid that, saying it seemed like the right price and made a good story.
Obviously a hell of a lot harder to dial, but sounds great (both in terms of call quality, and that brilliant mechanical bell ring).
I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
Bought new with my first couple paychecks after graduating from college. Never had to replace anything, tubes included, and it sounds a sweet and warm today as it did 35 years ago. I've upgraded my speakers several times but I'm never giving this up until it explodes.
I just disposed of some 90's era monitors that were still working fine. I have a scanner from the 1990s, and a printer from 2003. My keyboard is from 1985. I have some very old mice, a floppy drive that has migrated from homebuild to homebuild for a VERY long time, etc. A lot of stuff doesn't last more than 3-4 years, but your better quality stuff does.
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem." -- Jefferson
I have a Dell 2005FPW 20" LCD that I bough in 2004. I believe it was the first series of widescreens from Dell, this one being 16:10 with a res of 1680x1050. I remember when I first used it with Windows XP I had issues with Dell's drivers no supporting the WSXGA+ resolution correctly. It has support for VGA and DVI, plus a composite and s-video inputs too. I have thought about replacing it with a newer LED monitor but the damn thing wont die (knock on wood) and works just like the day I bought it!
Mark
Scientific calculator with motorized mag card reader for program and data storage. The card reader/writer no longer reads and writes reliably and the original NiCad batteries died many years ago but I use NiMH batteries in the original battery case and the calculator works. Nice to have an LED display as I like to work in dark conditions. I saw one at the Smithsonian back in the 1990s.
Not the current crop, though. I've a Deskjet+ purchased in July 1990 still going strong.
It sounds like you're not buying good LCD TVs.
To be fair, cheaply made CRT TVs used to last more than a decade.
Still working since the day it was acquired in fall of 1985. This despite having been immersed in water (covered the circuit board but left the floppy drives dry) after a basement flooding a year ago. Its a bit reluctant to boot sometimes but after a power cycle or two, loads up to DOS 3.1 or basic.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
Now, I know Sony justifiably gets no love on Slashdot, for good reason, but.... One of the last products built by "old Sony" is a DVR called the HDD 250. They built it for about six months before being patent trolled by TiVo. Near indestructable. Would record 25 hours of HD, tuned all OTA, analog and digital, was/is fully cablecard compatible. I have two, still working. 2006 devices, came out when HDTV was still a new thing..part of the problem was that they were too ahead of the analog shutdown. Until the scumbags at Rovi (nee Macrovision) shut off the listing service, it was the free OTA DVR with a huge WAF that everyone claims to want but that the Cable co makes sure you cant buy
A long time ago, I used to volunteer for a local radio station. They had a couple of Studer PR-99 open-reel tape recorders. These were used pretty hard, all day long. We used them so much that the recording and playback heads developed visible grooves from all the tape that spooled past them.
They were incredibly overbuilt. Weighed a ton, they had 3 electric motors that looked like they could start a car. All the circuit boards were slotted in for easy maintenance. They never failed, despite the abuse they went through.
All those arches in Rome seem to be holding up pretty well after thousands of years.
I saw some arrowheads in a museum that looked as ready for use as when someone left them there.
Same here! My kids play my old GameCube now, and both the console and the two Wavebirds are going strong.
I used to go through one about every six months. Their cords were shit, and would break over time.
I replaced my 8th and last MX510 with a RAZR Imperator about 3 years ago, and haven't looked back since.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
Come to think of it, that's about the time that bad capacitors started turning up in just about everything electronic. Motherboards and power supplies seemed to be the worst offenders, though, and poorly-made caps are still popping up (sometimes literally) today.
Oh, no! You have walked into the slavering fangs of a lurking grue!
My hardest working, longest lasting tech gear, in no particular order:
..
1 IBM Model M (circa 1987)
1 HP LaserJet 4M+ (circa 1996)
1 Tektronics 465M (circa 1978)
1 Weller WTCPT Soldering Station (circa 1975)
1 Coby DVD player (circa 10 minutes ago)
Despite being relatively complex machines, I have some old cassette player/recorders that are still functioning just as the day they were bought even thirty years ago. The one in my hand right now is a General Electric 3-53008 and it works super despite tons of abuse.
My old Nokia candybar phone (c. 2000) is practically indestructible. To this day I can still charge it up and play "nibbles" in all its LCD monochrome glory. Too bad the cell towers don't support its signal anymore...
What else can happen when an unstoppable force collides with an immovable object?
Unlike that phone, a Model M will work even on the newest computers (with the right adapters). There is no adapter that will make a rotary phone work on a touch-tone-only phone network.
I'm still using a Model M that was made in 1983, through an AT-to-ps2 adaptor, and then through a ps2-to-usb adaptor.
Built-to-Last doesn't mean much if you can't still use it for it's original purpose
My grandmother has a petal operated singer sewing machine from the early 1930s that still works beautifully.
Sewing machines were a Victorian era household marvel, and really one of the first pieces of modern engineering technology that came into the home. Many were so well built it's not at all uncommon to find them still in great operating condition. You can easily find operating models from the 1800s in any antique store.
"Software is simply bloated up until you're forced to buy a new one."
I do this weird trick, I don't upgrade the software. If I was happy with the software on my phone in 2011, why wouldn't I still be happy with it in 2014 ?
it helps that I don't go online much or install a lot of third party software, I understand sometimes security fixes are necessary. (otoh, I was saved from the heartbleed bug on my laptop because it was such an old copy of debian)
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I was going to say the IBM Thinkpads, too. Like any computer, they eventually get old and underpowered compared to the new stuff, but they keep chugging. Mine is from 05, I think right after Lenovo bought 'em, but it's still the IBM version. One key is missing, case is cracked and there are a few grey pixels, but it still works (typing this on it now). Made it through deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, too.
Is that "long lasting" or is it sad that 9-10 years out of a laptop is considered long?
Let me help you even more I still got the original APF TV FUN pong console, still works great. Still feel old??? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...
the entry level scopes from hp and tek are now rigol and atten; chinese brands. rigol is ok but its NOT hp or tek!!
the last 'very repairable' scope from tek was the 2465 series and I'm seeing a rebirth of interest in the old analog scopes. check out all the chatter over at eevblog and you'll see what I mean. a few parts were having problems (20 yrs later) and after you replace some leaking electrolytics (just a few, not all) and replace a battery backed nvram chip (that holds calibration settings!) you are good for another 20-30 yrs. the battery in my Dallas nvram module is 20 yrs old and only supposed to last 10. I backed it up to a file, installed a new version, restored data from file and now I have another 10-20 yrs on that new battery/nvram module.
I am VERY sure that the rigol scopes won't last even 5 yrs in a heavy use environment. the company won't have spare parts, they are all specialized and it will cost a fortune to mail back to china, if you could even GET it fixed, 5 yrs after model was intro'd.
the smart money is on buying older used gear that has a huge community of owners and techs and who know how to keep the older gear running. for tek, there's a yahoo group that has some older tek employees monitoring it and offering help for those who are reconditioning their gear. you will NOT find that from the throw-away chinese brands and models.
smart money - for us hobbiests who can't depreciate gear in a few years time - is to buy older used gear.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
While it gets regular maintenance that includes depot level refurbishments, they fly an average of 10 hours per day. The oldest I've flown, that is still in operation, was delivered June of 1997. It is rare that they are taken out of service. The oldest of all aircraft I've flown still in operation is a P-3C delivered in 1985- soon to be retired. This model has seen a good deal of press coverage of late for the missions it has flown in search of MH370 in the Indian Ocean.
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
Does ANYBODY have a powered USB hub that has lasted MORE than 2 years? We have more than 200 on site that fail on a regular basis. Sigh. I keep 10 on the shelf.
Still works fine... and a quick glance on amazon shows it's still worth what I paid for it more than 10 years ago.
The design was flawed, using an elastomer connection to the keyboard, resulting in death either over time, or from modest impacts. I loved that thing otherwise. I ponied up for a later 38GX or some such, and the buttons were crap. I now use app emulators of the 48G on my phone and ipod touch as my calculator. It is not the same, but better than that 38GX POS.
Well, anything by them but specifically the Model 500 telephone set.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...
63 years old and still works just like it came out of the factory. The only maintenance is a bit of cleaning with soapy water and tapping the microphone against something hard every few years to pack the carbon granules.
Also remarkable is that it will still work on just about any phone system in the world. That's a long lasting communication standard.
Another great line of products were pre-1990 Motorola two way radios. They were build almost as well as the WE stuff.
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
HP 16500A mainframe with scope and logic analyzer plugin boards. The thing is over 20 years old. Finding pods, probes and adapter boards can be a bit of a challenge though.
Glocks: Pretty ugly as far as firearms are concerned, but total workhorses. Function in rough conditions and easy to maintain.
The DialGizmo is able to convert rotary pulse-signals to touch-tones and there are other converters, too. I've used one for a while on my VOIP line.
And my Model M is in a box because my boss doesn't like the noise.
I have an assortment of HP calculators. The HP-49G was a disaster, but the 48s were amazing and the 50 has been good enough.
There was a range of really well done clock radios from Sony and others right before people refused to pay good money for clock radios any more. After that clock radios then emphasized cheapness at the expense of quality and durability. It's no wonder shortly thereafter people stopped buying them. Once the devices no longer offered any alternative over using your phone, no price is low enough to make it worth purchasing.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
I had an Apple LaserWriter Select 360 (built around a Canon engine, IIRC) that I bought new in 1994 last me until mid 2011. HP was putting out some damned good printers back then, too, before Carly Fiorina came in and turned HP into peddlers of second-rate shit.
Honorable mention to the TV in my basement, an RCA F35751MB-- the biggest CRT TV I could find in 1994. I don't yet own a flatscreen, because I'm just letting them get better and cheaper until the RCA finally gives up the ghost.
Unicomp made those IBM keyboards. still in business still making those keyboards. I have one. still loud but work great.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
It's ... "Survivorship Bias". Old stuff seems like it was better built because all the crappy stuff already made it into the dumpster and subsequently forgotten long ago.
No, while recognising that effect you mention, there is definitely a different culture. When my father and his generation bought stuff they expected it to last a lifetime, indeed to be an heirloom, and it generally did. Thus for example he only ever bought one radio in his life, one tape recorder (THE big thing then). I still have his fully usable Rolleiflex camera and Weston exposure meter (both > 50 years old).
I once bought a house from an old lady with 1950's kitchen cupboards in it. I refitted the kitchen but kept the cupboards for my toolshed. They are very tatty now, but solid wood with dovetail joints - vastly superior to today's chipboard tat, yet run-of-the-mill for their day. They could last for ever.
How is Agilent equipment, quality-wise?
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Built in 1993. Still works perfectly
Most of my favorite tools do one thing and do it well.
My list:
* Swiss Army Knife (now called the 'Spartan' - no frill bullshit). I've redone entire racks of equipment with only this at my disposal and it's not fallen over where multiple others (such as leatherman and gerber) and have had no problems. I've also done god knows what else with them - I've had a total of 2 in the past 25 years as "always in my pocket", and both still work.
* IBM Model M - goes without saying. They don't break or die.
* Compaq iPaq desktop - hey, mine is still kicking and working like a champ on my network. Not a fancy billed item, but I've had mine working continuously as a small home network services system for over a decade now, and it's reasonably power efficient even by modern standards.
* Brother ML1345 printer - black and white laser. Still kicking.
* Nintendo Gameboy - the original. Built like a fucking tank. Mine got run over by a Ford F150 and still works: my kids use it.
* Hitachi hard drives: they're the best out there. I've never had one die and have owned dozens personally.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
Bought these speakers when they came out in 1999, still in use, doesn't seem like I'll ever need a new set.
And another vote for Cowon - the X5 was built like a damn tank!
sic transit gloria mundi
Mod parent up. For example .... how cruddy cars used to be and how much better and more reliable cars are nowadays. Compare a mid-90s Hyundai Excel to Hyundais now, for example.
I don't think cars follow the general trend. For one thing they have moved (in a gradual process) from being an optional plaything (my father only ever used his for weekend drives) to essentials such as getting to work. Another factor (in the UK anyway) was a strong public reaction against cars rusting; rust resistance went through a low point around 1960-1980 but subsequently improved, and it was rust more than anything else which dictates how long a car lasts in the UK. We do not see an equivalent public reaction in most tech areas however because people want to replace eg phones, PCs and TVs because in recent years the tech has become (or is perceived to become) obsolete before the device physically fails.
A third factor (in the UK again) is that most cars are now professionally maintained. 30-40 years ago it was typical for owners to maintain their own cars - with variable degrees of aptitude. I have maintained my own cars since the 1970's and have seen no fundamental reason for increased reliability other than reduced reliance on mechanical control in favour of electronic (eg ignition timing) - resulting in a tendency for occasional total failure rather than constant progressive deterioration.
Despite the hype there has not been any revolutionary change in mainstream car tech in the last 50 years - nothing equivalent to TV changing to digital or the advent of mobile phones.
64-bit CPU with Ultra-Low Power (runs off 3 AAA batteries)
HP preceeded ARM by years but like everything else they do, don't know how to market it.
My HP 5 MP Works normally after two decades service. When I bought it in 1994 the memory upgrade was very expensive so I skipped it. But about two years ago the extra modules (32 MB?) were quite reasonable so I sprung when the big new PDFs choked the printer's memory.. Ha. I bought some rubber roller dressing at an electronics store and that stopped the feed problems that began about two years ago -- just after I upgraded the memory. (Murphy at work.) I thought of getting rid of it, but find that I print less and less these days. And for the very few things I do print it is fine. It supports Post Script, but the native non Post Script LPL driver kicks out no memory problems with big modern PDFs and the new RAM. I also use an M Model keyboard. A space saving version (No separate number keys.) I think keeping working tech out of landfills is a kind of green thing to do. I say kind of because it is power hungry. Take my old Pentium 4. I heat my office with the bitch.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
More than a decade ago when I was even poorer than now, I bought these "luxury" headphones, and though I tried to baby them, also took them everywhere. They've been accidentally dropped, sat on, slept on, stepped on, you name it. They have obvious damage, but they still sound as good as ever.
Started life as a 9600 this modem saw everything up to v.90 and kflex from both the client and isp end configurations what a machine.
That modem was built to last it was built when modems where fairly new, and remained relevant with just a firmware update now and then until modems them selves became all but extinct.
I've been using a Lamy Safari fountain pen every day for years, dropped it a few times, and it still works good as new. Most fountain pens are fragile and expensive, designed more for asthetics than functionality. The Lamy Safari is reasonably priced and extremely reliable. The grip section has an unusual design that's very comfortable to hold. Even the nibs are tougher than average and if you manage to destroy one (eg. by dropping onto concrete) they are replacable. There's good reason these pens are highly recommended for beginners by fountain pen user groups. It will easily survive long enough to save money over disposable ballpoints if you buy ink in bulk and use a refillable cartridge.
I just retired a Timex Ironman Triathlon 200m digital watch. It was time for a battery (at least its third, possibly its fourth), when I noticed that the Mode button had failed. (I never use it as anything but a watch these days, having pretty much given up diving.) That watch was easily 15 years old, and had been at least 100' underwater (wreck diving off North Carolina).
That watch was the cheapest diver's watch you could buy, by a big margin. Timex was very careful NOT to call it a diver's watch, because of product liability concerns, but IN FACT that's what it was and a lot of people used it for diving. (On their 50m and 100m water-resistant models, Timex very carefully said that the water resistance was guaranteed only as long as no buttons were pushed, and they very carefully did NOT say that for the 200m models. That language has since changed.)
Motracs can be a problem if the final PA tube were to blow but both these mobile radios are incredibly rugged. Unit mounts in trunk, control head under the dash. They are big, heavy, and scary. Cheap to purchase but shipping costs are brutal. However, cannot be used for Part 90 anymore as they are not narrowband. Crystal controlled and not many channels can be awkward. These trunk-mounted units can also be used for armor-plating on vehicles as they can stop a uranium-depleted artillery shell or a TOW missile.
mfwright@batnet.com
Thanks for the memory jog.
... that's just wrong.
I used to have at least one for my tube work in the 60s, 300V or so but I don't recall the specifics. In a quick run through eBay nothing clicked. But I did see where someone was selling filament supplies w/digital displays
My entire 'B' bench is 70s gear that just keeps on working (HP 1742A scope, 5302A counter, a brace of Simpson 260s, Fluke 1910A, HP-19 calc, etc, all bought new, most still with the original manuals filed in the same cabinets as the few Photofacts I kept). Even more impressive is that nothing is worth anything because everyone else's gear is also still working fine.
I believe these were marketed as 'Guild' or something in the US. Mine came off ebay about a decade ago and appears to be one of the first all-transistor models, cira 1966 or so. I believe it's the oldest piece of equipment that I use regularly - I also have an Akai 210GX which I use occasionally.
Most of my studio equipment is from the late 1980s or early-mid 1990s, when open-reel technology had reached its peak (microprocessor control, built-in DBX noise reduction etc).
my bike. It was a higher end carbon fiber frame Look and I put on Spinergy wheels with the PBO spokes. It's 12 years old now, might as well call it an antique from a performance bike POV. Yet everyone who's biked with me has commented on how good it still looks and it rides great. I know people who bought newer bikes that simply failed after a few weeks. Either the hydraulic brakes failed or the chain jumped and took a chunk off the frame, etc. The only thing I've done is keep it very clean. That really makes a bike last.
Mostly random stuff.
I have been using an Apple Laserwriter 16/600 for 15 years now. It is obviously the best buy I ever made.
Not just LED lights, but LEDs in general, one of the most indestructible pieces of modern technology. If you have a device with an LED, chances are one of the last things to fail will be the LED. My LED-backlit computer monitor is still going strong after three years. Contrast that with the back light of my previous non-LED LCD monitor which I had to replace twice or the flickering picture tubes of my earlier CRT monitors.
I'm even more impressed with the toughness of the LED light bulb I bought last year, which I stupidly dropped twice from a +7ft height. The LEDs were housed inside a frosted plastic cover. When I dropped it the first time, the cover came off, which I just snapped back on. The second time I dropped it, I managed to break the cover. Now I'm running the LEDs naked, which makes the light kind of brighter and harsh only if I stare at the ceiling for a long time.
Without a doubt, my OmniKey 101 keyboard from Northgate. I bought it in 1994 and I'm still using it.
That's the last time I run code posted in somebody's sig...
I forget exactly what it was... The brand or even model. It was HTC (early) slide qwerty I'm pretty sure. I had gone through a million cell phones. Breaking. Cracking. Drowning. Crushing. But I finally found one that, LITERALLY, lasted through each one of those normally calamitous events. Here's a link to what I think it was... Well can't even find a photo. When all my friends had flip phones or even iFhones... I had my trusty (WTFIW) cell that was damaged, beat up, scratched, all kinds of $h1te. I think I got drunk one night and to prove a point I stuck it in some $h1te... But it worked. FLAWLESSLY! It was grey. It was hardcore. It was awesome. God Damned it was awesome... :/
my car engine has 90K miles on it and it's never had an issue. just minimal maintenance required. it's got plenty of life left. amazing that something so complex operating in a harsh environment requires virtually no maintenance to run for so long.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
There is no adapter that will make a rotary phone work on a touch-tone-only phone network.
Oh, but there is!
http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/Dial+Pulse+to+Touchtone+DTMF+Converters
Or you could skip DTMF all together and go straight to SIP.
http://www.realtonetech.com/product/voip-gateways/83-sip-gateway-ata.html
I bought my Focus 2001 keyboard some time in the early '90s because it was cheaper than the IBM but still had clicky keys and a solid feel. I'm using it right now with an AT->ps2 adapter plugged in to a ps2->USB adapter.
I use it for almost 30 years
A long time ago (30 years ago? 40? I'm not sure) Sanyo made a toaster that does not break by design: the Sanyo Toasty Oven. My parents have one and I remember using it as a child. They still have it, and it still works, 30 or 40 years later. I plan to ask them to leave it to me in their will. There's a Sanyo Toasty Oven SK-7S on amazon which looks a bit different from the original that my parents have, but it's out of stock, and some Sanyo Toasty Plus ovens on some Asian shopping sites, but all of them are out of stock too.
My wife was given a PJammer alarm clock in the mid 80's and it's still going strong today. It was in storage for a couple of years but we dug it out five years ago and it's been beside our bed ever since.
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg....
Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know when your gonna get food poisoning.
I have a 1990 Saab 9000, with all the original parts. It is close to hitting the 400,000 kilometer mark. The "onboard computer", as it is grandly called ( basically a piece of electronics computing instantaneous and average fuel consumption, as well as capable of predicting ETA based on a rolling speed average ) still works perferctly. Just like the Bosch cassette player. And the engine.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
Let me see:
- Half-height 3.5" 200MB IDE hard disk: bought used in 1993, came from a server. Worked until at least 2002-3. Might still work.
- Non-name mechanical keyboard (not the original IBM!) from the 90s that still works after a lot of abuse. Still has a great touch..
- CD player: Marantz CD 52 MkII: still works after 20 years, contrary to ALL CD/DVD-RW drives that I have bought for my PC since then and fail after 1-2yrs.
- HP Deskjet 500C. One of the first consumer inkjet printers. Built like a tank. Probably still works.
- Logitech G3: great mouse, used it until something heavy fell on it and broke the button.
As a general note, anything "server/workstation" grade that I bought has generally lasted a lot.
Now the negative surprises:
- Any cheap CD/DVD-RW (with the exception of Plextor units). These fail all the time.
- Exploding capacitors in the Athlon XP M/B
- Exploding capacitors in a cheap 250W AT (not ATX) PSU. I now only buy high-end PSUs, usually Seasonic.
- NVidia 8800GS passively cooled. Failed in a few months.
- Razer Deathadder: weird failures after 1 yr of light use.
I generally get few failures, mostly thanks to great PSUs that have very low ripple and noise. I think this greatly prolongs the life of electrical components by reducing capacitor fatigue. In fact, most of my old hardware is now in the hands of family/friends, that still use it.
I have a Samsung microwave oven from 1990 that is still going strong. It was used heavily at my dorm for several years. The only repair was a replacement of the light bulb.
...were built to last but more as objet d'art when the 'functioning' element stops working after, well, 10 minutes or so.
The Atari joysticks that came with my Atari 2600 outlasted all other joysticks of its age.
My neighbour and I "upgraded" to others that kept breaking. For example the TAC-2 was advertised as unbreakable such that if you break it, you get to replace it free of charge (imagine that guarantee today!) so we replaced our broken TAC-2's 2-3 times each.
Nothing beat the original Atari Joysticks.
Also, Microsoft peripherals such as keyboards and mice are typically very good. If only their software was as good...
Sony Clie (1999)
Pentax K-5 (2011)
Megallan GPS (2000)
Samsung BW laserprinter (2003)
Subaru Outback (1995)
Yamaha Clavinova (1988)
Apart from the Pentax DSLR I have not encountered similarly sturdy stuff recently... built to last mostly appears to be a thing from the past:|
0x or or snor perron?!
This is the original axe of my great grandfather. The handle was changed 3 times, the blade once and it is still the best hacking tool ever.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
I have an LED digital alarm clock I bought in 1977 that still works, and even looks pretty much the same as then. I've used other clocks a total of maybe 1 year, scattered, but always come back to this one. Of course, that's tech that hasn't needed to change, as getting up for work is something that, unfortunately, is still necessary!
Sharp PC 1403H from '91. I'd bet money that my 1986 Sharp PC 1402 (same device with less memory) still would be working too if I hadn't sold it. :-)
Batteries are from the 90ies too - haven't replaced them since. Still work. Still have microcassettes with my own software on them, such as a Shadowrun (1st Ed.) Character Builder. Would print out the stats on the cash register strip printer. Still have that too, still works.
My Mac Mini from 2006 still is going strong, aswell as my HTC Desire HD Smartphone and my HTC Flyer tablet, both of which have been in hard everyday use since 3 and 2 years ago respectively. Both have been dropped hard multiple times, the Flyer is nicked and dented around the edges, the pounch looks like it's been through a war and I've wasted 3 hardcases on my HTC Desire HD and replaced the battery and protective foil once, because it was so banged up already. I expect both to last another few years with everyday use. It's a shame replacing the HTC Flyer battery isn't done as easyly as with the phone.
I consider the HTC Desire HD and the HTC Flyer the best smartphone and tablet enclosures ever (solid aluminium), better even than Apples current cases - although the iPad Air enclosure does look cool. Shame they don't build them in that quality anymore. They are from a time when everyone was rushing into the mobile market and trying to make a name for themselves. Although the HTC One line still has pretty goog enclosures.
Interesting tidbit: The HTC Flyers enclosure is top notch and very sturdy which makes it notably heavier than your usual 7" plastic tablet. That's actually a little downside.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
I have a lot of older Tek, HP, and Fluke stuff. It's built quite well... old Tek scopes are a work of art inside.
However, 50s is a bit early. Most of the pre 65 or so equipment is still primarily tube, and needs regular maintenance for obvious reasons. Also a lot of stuff from before then used paper dielectric capacitors, which all inevitably fail with age. Not that 50's electrolytics are much better, either. Still well built, but has quirks.
Test equipment newer than say, 1985, made by those marques certainly has a brick-shithouse feel to it. I guess it's from before they figured out 'value engineering'. Even new HP^WAgilent^Wwhatever they call it now is still built really well, but they charge for it too...
Sent from my PDP-11
also Apple ][, Spectrum, Acorn Electron, Vic 20, ZX81, Atari 800XL / 130XE, Amiga, Atari ST, Tandy 1000...
I know you asked about products, but I'm going to stretch it a little for a software product. Unix. 41 years and counting. Like grandad's axe, many of the parts have been replaced, but the essence remains. Still my OS of choice. For hardware, I've got a Radio Shack EC4075 Programmer's Hex & Time calculator/clock that's been in continuous use since around 1980 (I still use it... the batteries last for years), and a Casio CT-6000 synth that's been in continuous use since the mid '80s.
My Fluke multimeter which I got from my new boss the day I started my first job outside university back in 1984 (i.e. 30 years ago) is still working just as well as on the first day.
I have to replace the 9V battery every 5 (3-10?) years, but otherwise this little gem has survived everything, including several accidental drops, some from more than 2m height.
Really good stuff.
The portable Fluke digital oscilloscope (Scopemeterl 123) which I got 10+ years later is also working well, the only problem here is that it uses an old-style NiCd rechargeable battery which I've had to replace once. Fluke seems to be selling it still, under the 123/S name. :-)
Terje
"almost all programming can be viewed as an exercise in caching"
I have owned a few (formerly-high-end) film cameras and they were built like tanks.
My Nikon F4 is 25 years old (?), has lots of scuffs and dings, but just keeps on working accurately and consistently. They were built for hard, daily professional use. I seem to recall that it was recommended that you get them CLA'd (Clean, Lubricate, Adjust) every 150,000 frames. They are complex cameras, with lots of adjustments and accessories. (Have you ever seen a cut-away of the insides of a high-end film camera? Amazing how they fit so much stuff in there.) You can pick these up for a few hundred dollars. (An interesting side-note: the F4 will take Nikon lenses made from 1960 to the present. Talk about backward-compatibility!)
Look at the way the bodies of the old 500-series Hasselblads were made. Take a solid ingot of aluminum alloy and mill out all the metal you *don't* need for the body. No seams, no rivets, no screws. Very rigid. (Of course, if you smack it so hard that it deforms, toss the body - it can't be repaired. But that takes a serious fall.)
I've had it since 1963 and it works as good as day one.
photosMy Photostream
model AJ3935 by Philips/Magnavox. Wife and I bought it in 1995. Almost 20 years later it still plays CDs when we want to wake up. We have a habit of rarely changing the CDs. For the past 10 years we've been waking up to Apollo by Brian Eno. Before that it was the Carmelite Nun of Lucon's hammer dulcimer record, and before that it was Music for Airports.
Best alarm clock EVER.
HW
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
Those things were awesome. Practically indestructible and they always worked perfectly (except the speed dialing).
The Model M was redesigned by Lexmark in 1994 to use lighter, cheaper components. All of the units from 1995 and later are substandard compared to the earlier ones. The backplate is just one of the problems.
Engineered quality peaked with the 1993 and 1994 models that were updated to have a liquid drainage channel.
Xbox 360 controller:
- over 8 years old
- sustained puppy chewing on the cable
Still works a treat!
I'am not a fan of MS, but i'll give them due credit on the xbox 360 controller, its solid.
No name brand I assembled myself. Been running since 1995.
Just changed a disk drive here, mainboard there, updated the monitor a bit, added a li'l bit of RAM, fitted an optical disk drive when they came out, modernized the case and some other stuff—but it's still the same computer. I've never bought a new one!
No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
Lots of mine have already mentioned. The Laserjet II and III were tanks and the 4 and 5 weren't far behind. The Atari 800 was a beast that goes on forever.
Another one for me is a Sony receiver that I've had since 1984. It's part of the secondary system in the electronics workshop now. It now drives a pair of Minimus 7 speakers, another durable product. The Boston Acoustics A40s that were originally connected to it later became the surround speakers in a system with a pair of A70s in the front, but all four of those had to have the foam surrounds replaced so they don't count as being uber-durable.
I also have a Teac cassette deck from the 80s and a Pioneer CLD-D701 from 1992. (I later found a CLD-D502 for $10 at a flea market so I'd have a backup but the 701 is still going strong.) And the big RCA CRT TV bought at the same time but that doesn't see any use any more except for playing old Atari games; putting those on a flat screen doesn't feel right.
Years ago I bought a Dell Latitude C610 laptop from the government department I worked for, on Dell's website it's service tag shows a shipping date of 5/7/2002. ... all of which ran fine. ... and a whole 16MB of Video RAM. ... or to show off my "still working fossil".
The software licensing for the Government here in Australia is such that I could only buy the hardware, the hard-drive was wiped.
So, I have installed various Linux versions on it over the years since I got my hands on it
It has a "Designed for Windows XP" sticker near the keyboard, but the "licence sticker" underneath says "Windows 2000 Professional"!
It has a Pentium III chip, originally 256MB RAM which I upgraded to 512MB
And that wiped hard-drive? 10GB. Needless to say, I'm in two minds whether or not to invest in an upgrade to 40GB, just to return it to usefulness
Don't blame me, it's usually 2 in the morning when I post
"Designed To Fail" That pretty much sums it up. Almost all electronics are designed to last for whatever the warranty lasts. It's no longer "you get what you pay for" well, mostly anyway. Some things even have an electronic "fuse" that renders it unusable, some inkjet cartridges for example that still have plenty of ink but is disabled because of the BS fuse/timer built into it. Other cost cutting shortcuts, crappy resistors, capacitors, IC's, etc. which barely last past the warranty. When I build or repair something electronic, I go overboard with better parts to make it last longer. Even hardware and software, designed to be inoperative if you try to update some other part of the system, one reason why I switched to Linux. They just don't build stuff like they used to.
My 1954 Volvo T24 tractor. And since it is still possible to get new spare parts for it, I expect it to run for quite a few more years.
Listening to it right now. May last forever. Computer grade capacitors, air tuning. 1965.
http://www.antiqueradio.org/KL...
All you young whippersnappers with your model-M keyboards (of which I happen to sport some as well) can bow to the supreme longevity of the Racal RA-17L here on the farm which still hums/hisses/squeaks/whines/bleeps/blurps happily along after 60 years. Still using the original valves (that is tubes for you 'merricuns) as well. Valves? Yes, valves. Next to the cockroaches and model-M keyboards these boat anchors will rule the earth after the apocalypse. Not that there'll be much to listen to by then, maybe a pulsar clicking somewhere or a funny noise made by a solar flare?
--frank[at]unternet.org
Digical Mark-V calculator. Made in Japan; purchased ca. 1975. Operating instructions pasted on back. Still works.
with a late '08 MBP - has lasted much longer than I expected it to. Just tossed 8 GB of RAM into it and I expect at least two more years of life out of it.
"As the intrepid kobold companion continues his journey, he begins to wonder... if priests raises dead, why anybody die?
Ma Bell owned them, we just rented them -- they were built to last forever. Occasionally in a movie somone would commit murder by picking up the handset and whacking someone else over the head. Try that with your iPhone.....
I've heard someone say that some of the first water mains put in back around 1900 were designed to last 100 years or more. The ones put in before WW2 were designed to last about 75 years. The ones put in during the boom in the 50's and 60's were designed to last 50 years. And the more recent ones starting from 70's are designed to last 30 years. Which means that today we've got something like 80-90 years worth of water mains which are all about at the end of the design lifetime. Something to think about.
Guess it depends on what part of the world you're in. In America, in the early 70's Subaru was still experimenting with importing micro-cars such as the Subaru 360, something that didn't work out particularly well for Subaru. For that matter, I don't remember them lasting very long on American roads.
Programs compiled in 1972 still work on this venerable machine last sold in 2006, end of support in 2010.
Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/
BT
$6.00USD - http://www.harborfreight.com/7...
Sometimes they have them on sale for 2-3 bucks.
* 1964 Mercury 650 outboard engine (65 HP / 4 cyl / 2-cycle) - starts up every time and runs like a champ
* Nortel Meridian phone systems - I maintain these for a living, and see a good number of 15-20+ year old systems that are still up and running with 100% uptime... digital phones that are 20+ years old still in service and of course, the 500 rotary and 2500 touchtone analog phones that are still in service too. You'll never see that kind of reliability with the newer PBX's and VoIP systems.
* Bose Wave Radio - 15 years and still works as well as the day I got it
Made the mistake of vowing never to buy a flatscreen to replace any of my Sonys unless they die. The last trinitron that gave me trouble was still the rotary channel changer variety. Since they went to digital tuning, they just sit and laugh at me. It's like having a pet parrot. They're going to outlive me.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
At least, old fender ones anyway. I found an old fender reverb literally buried in a snowbank. There was a hole through the speaker cone and the handle of the power switch was snapped off. Took it apart and marveled that it looked to be mil- spec inside. Replaced the speaker and the switch and it's been perfect.
Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
Such as the Paris Metro, though admittedly there have been a few upgrades over the years.
Sig expected Real Soon Now.
30 years of daily use.
Given to me in 1983 by Gary Kildall, this calculator continues to function beautifully although HP no longer sells these. It has perverse rolish and support for binary, octal, decimal, and hex.
Mauser G98, AK-47, Dakota, M-14, TI calculators, Willys Jeep, B-52, CZ 75, Lee-Enfield, Bren. Sadly, I don't own any of them.
Troll 2.0 Fear my asocial networking!
Test equipment from basically any time period was built with top notch components and to last. Have a 6114A Precision Power Supply from 1978 that's still accurate to the last digit.
They never die. VLSI, baby
I'm in your camp. Although 99% of my Dream Machine works fine, it stopped keeping time shortly after the warranty ran out. Not just keeping bad time, but actively resisting me trying to set it correctly! I'm guessing the RTC chip is broken somewhere, but that 1% brokenness has reduced its usefulness to being an iPhone-charging-picture frame. Blah.
Not sure if these were implied in the original question: Nikon F2, the electronical F3, and any Leica rangefinder camera and the Rolleiflex medium format camera.
They may need a very occasional lubrication but that's it. I hav ebene using a 1950s Rolleiflex very often (though now I mainly shoot digital). It is still capabable of outstanding results.
Also a number of mechanical watches can be enjoyed for decades. Rolex of course. But at the lower end of the price spectrum automatic Seikos will also last a long time, or Omegas from before they were a "serious" brand will also last for decades.
I know, I know.
However I bought a DELL Dimension 4200 (P3 800) back in 2000. The thing was built like a tank, was about as heavy and could likely stop a bullet. Open it up, and it had over designed all over it with ducts and support struts etc... Worked perfectly until I decided to finally toss it last year, not because it was broken, but because it was just taking up space. The thing never blinked. I suspect this was produced just before DELL apparently went straight to hell.
The only thing that was wrong with it, was that it originally came with Windows ME installed which was unfortunate. However once that had been replaced it was a fantastic workhorse.
Back in 1997-1998 I interned for the high school I was attending over the summer as part of a tech project. We had a couple Gateway 2000 tower servers donated to us and we used to joke that if there was ever a hurricane we'd use them to build a barricade and crawl under them. They were full tower cases maybe 2.5' tall and they were quite solid. Cases today you can bend the metal easily just by pressing on it, the metal in those cases would've taken a hammer to bend. Maybe that's why they probably weighed about 100 lbs each.
Unfortunately, this is probably one of those things that was overbuilt for no good reason. I don't imagine many servers would have to put up with the level of abuse that would've been necessary to hurt those things.
There are probably multiple variations of it, but a common one is Sturgeon's Law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
My son's 5th grade teacher actually assigned them "write a limerick about a planet". I'm not kidding.
Land Rover. Not the poncy SUV-type things recently produced, though. Around 70% of all the Land Rovers ever built are reportedly still in use. Ugly, maybe. Agricultural, I guess. Maintainable - you bet (I had no trouble getting new parts for a 1973 model - and I could upgrade the brakes by just bolting on the ones from a heavier model). Speed - it doesn't matter if the mph (or km/h) is low if the route you can take is more direct and therefore shorter. Rust - extensive use of alloy (right from 1948) renders it largely resistant to the dreaded tinworm. Comfort - not if you're tall or wide, and pretty basic even if you're not. Safety - the other car is your crumple zone. (besides, you can't go fast enough to get into _real_ trouble. Capable - without doubt. An unmodified model from the 60s can still go places modern trucks with all the gadgets can't. Stories of 'barn finds' - cars that have sat in a field or shed for decades - are often found to start first time with a bit of fuel in the tank and a fresh battery.
Some banks, like my own (TD Canada Trust), offer one for free if you keep a minimum balance in an account. That is where all our original documents go.
Trolling is a art,