Technologies come and go, but some become so integral a part of our lives that they linger on, often with us not even being aware of their extended existence. From the look of it, they might appear to be misfits in today's touch and wireless age, but they are still around. For a purpose. We list the what and the why.
1.Pagers
Some might think pagers were almost immediately killed with the arrival of mobile phones; what you might not know is that pagers are still in use. Pagers use radio frequency to transmit messages and although no longer in wide usage; they are preferred in applications like restaurants, hospitals, retail stores, etc. Emergency responders such as hospitals or fire fighters use pagers because they offer connectivity even when there are network outages or disruptions in communication. The digital token you get when you place an order at some restaurants is also a type of pager that tells you when the food’s ready.
2. Walkie-Talkie
From the early cup and string version to the more conventional handheld transreceiver version, walkie talkies were first developed during the Second World War and unsurprisingly, are in use even today. From military personnel to students when handling university events, walkie talkies are a reliable mode of communication in places where phones can be cumbersome.
3. Typewriter
This one piece of technology has helped many a great literatures see the light of the day. Developed first in 1860s, typewriters may seem too archaic in the tablet world today, but other than giving a great retro appeal, they are still in use. Law offices, prisons, music studios or even as a replacement to your keyboard; typewriters are still there, albeit fading.
4. Floppy Disks
Yes, these age-old coaster-like storage devices are ‘still’ in use too. Ironically, the US government still uses floppy disks with federal data stored on them. Despite the floppy disks being an extinct technology, some of the US government agencies still scan documents on to a computer and save them on floppy disks. As a result, the computers too ought to be equally outdated. Although the Obama administration is gradually embracing the newer technology, the old data is so huge in size that it isn’t easy to migrate all of that onto the new ‘hack-prone’ systems.
5. Dot matrix printers
Remember the sound of these printers? They have been around for long and are still used to print something as basic as your shopping bills to something as confidential as your first ATM PIN number. As the dot matrix printers can generate multi-part forms between carbon paper, it still has uses in banks, warehousing, shipping, retail shops or departments where multiple copies of the form are required.
6. Vinyl records
Other than being an absolutely admired item in the list of true music aficionados, vinyl records are still used by disc jockeys or DJs to learn the basics of ‘scrubbing’. While many of the popular DJ artists prefer the digital records as they are easier to play and experiment with; those who still want to learn the skill to perfection, prefer the old-school vinyl records. These offer a far richer and cleaner audio experience than the present-day digital formats. Recently, Nielsen Music released its mid-2015 report which showed a clearer picture of the vinyl records- sales were up 38 per cent year-to-date. That says it all.
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