Farty's Fortunes

Thursday, 28 February 2008

Obsolete Technical Skills

This popped up on Slashdot recently. Mine include:

  • Making a pot of tea without using teabags.
    • I'd almost forgotten that you could still get loose tea. Always remember to warm the pot first. Can you still buy teapots?
  • Sucking eggs.
    • Yes, really. It's not just an expression. A good April Fool (if you're twelve) is to suck an egg, then serve the empty shell in an eggcup, as if boiled.
  • Using a darkroom to develop photos.
    • Ah, the great smell of develooping fluid!
  • Making a roach out of an IBM punched card (whatever that is).

  • Using a "dictionary" to check spelling.



And you?

Let rip by Mr Farty at 9:43 pm

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12 comments:

Julie Midas said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
29 February 2008 at 09:40
Julie Midas said...

- Darning socks (people didn't even do this when I was a child, in the 1970s, but my Granny insisted on teaching me, anyway!).

- Making bread from scratch without a breadmaker (and using fresh yeast, not the quick-acting powdered variety).

Blimey, IBM punched cards! When I worked at Leicester Poly/De Montfort University, there was a building inspired by punched cards. Now sadly demolished.

29 February 2008 at 09:47
Misssy M said...

1. Putting your little girls hair in rags to make it curly. (My mum used to do that to me...I was not born in the Victorian era before you ask)

2. Getting up to go and switch the telly over (OK, not really a skill)

29 February 2008 at 10:08
Sewmouse said...

Drive a manual transmission????

You won't get far in my car if you can't!!!

29 February 2008 at 11:01
United Studies said...

Watching "live" TV shows....does that count? I record most of what we watch on our DVR then watch it later so we can skip the commercials.

29 February 2008 at 13:12
Z said...

Using a blue-bag to get your washing white.
Changing the ribbon in a typewriter.
Programming the video. There was usually only one person in the family who knew how to do that anyway.

29 February 2008 at 16:20
Liz said...

I still use a dictionary to look up words. It's a great big 'normous dictionary too, although it is called a Pocket Dictionary.

I also know how to programme the video.

I do not own a DVD player and I don't have access to multi-channel television. Am I stuck in a time warp?

29 February 2008 at 16:39
Memarie Lane said...

For my kids, it would be coloring with actual crayons in an actual coloring book rather than in a computer program.

29 February 2008 at 19:51
Cat said...

I have a teapot. I don't use it very often, but I like the whole ritual of it. And the fact it's a very pleasing lime green colour.

29 February 2008 at 22:07
rilly super said...

doing mental arithmatic in imperial currency, except in my local village shop where this is not actually obselete yet, sigh

1 March 2008 at 12:05
Laurie said...

Using MS DOS commands.

Similar to rilly super, using a cashbox and counting back change without a cash register. I never had to do it in imperial currency, though.

On another note, I got some very nice Scottish coasters in the mail yesterday from some very kind person. I now have the ability to call my husband a crabbit eejit. Thank you!!!

1 March 2008 at 17:07
Mr Farty said...

Julie - Darn! Those are good ones.

Misssy - Hair/rags - I did not know that one. My mum probly did.
TV without a remote - v.g. I did know someone who thought you couldn't reboot a mainframe computer without a light-pen. Same idea.

Sew - Is that really obsolete?

Jacki - I am so with you on that one!

Z - Good. What about backspacing the typewriter and using that chalk-coated paper to erase mistakes? Good times!

Liz - Thanks for not pointing out my own spelling mistake. I am an eejit. And too lazy to fix it.
I have watched maybe 12 DVDs, tops. I don't think you've missed much.

Marie - What the feck is the point of colouring things in using a computer program?
How hard can that be? Flood-fill. Click. Done.

Cat - Want!

Rilly - A sixth of a pound is three and four. A third of a pound is six and eight. Totally useless outside of The North.

Laurie - Remembering to write a cover note to go with a package. Doh!
You're very welcome.

1 March 2008 at 23:50

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