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?"

Comments

HP Calculators

[Anonymous Coward]

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!

LaserJet II and LaserJet 3

[sphealey]

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.

Alarm clock????

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Atari 800

[TheGratefulNet]

"my scsi-3 bus is fast and its wide,
I lost my R-term and now it won't drive."

Re:Atari 800

[Concerned Onlooker]

I have a firewall
So I won't get jacked
My password's weak
So I still got hacked

Re:Anything built before 2001

[egarland]

We always get a false impression of the reliability and quality of old stuff, because the stuff that sucked and broke got thrown out years ago, and the only things that we still encounter are the ones that were well made. It's true with old houses, old cars, old furniture, pretty much everything. I'm sure there's a law for this phenomenon with some pompous dude's name on it but it's a well established and discussed phenomenon.

Re:Anything built before 2001

[darkwing_bmf]

We always get a false impression of the reliability and quality of old stuff, because the stuff that sucked and broke got thrown out years ago, and the only things that we still encounter are the ones that were well made. It's true with old houses, old cars, old furniture, pretty much everything. I'm sure there's a law for this phenomenon with some pompous dude's name on it but it's a well established and discussed phenomenon.

I believe the term you are looking for is Survivorship bias.

Re:MacBook Air 13 Inch

[Sloppy]

A computer that has run for three years. That's so cute!