Skip to Content

9 Pieces of Obsolete Tech That Just Won't Die

From pagers to fax machines. Why is this stuff still around?

By
Technology, Laptop accessory, Floppy disk, Laptop part, Blank media, Everyday carry, Electronics accessory, Office equipment, Plastic, Data storage device, pinterest
CC BY 2.0/Blude//Flickr

Have you had to write a rent check lately? Or maybe fax some important documents? Despite things like Venmo and email that normal people use every day, these ancient bits of tech and culture just keep hanging on. There's clearly better technology, it's just that not everyone is using it.

Here are nine outmoded technologies that just won't disappear.

Fax machines

Product, Electronic device, Technology, Telephony, Office equipment, Telephone, Communication Device, Gadget, Machine, Electronics,
CC BY 2.0/Yortw

When they were invented: 1843

Purpose: Sending copies of physical documents over phone lines

Where they're still used: Doctors' offices, lawyers, the CIA (which demands the FOI requests be faxed, rather than mailed or sent online), people in Japan

Why they're still used: Sometimes you have to send a paper document, and sometimes you have to send it where there is a phone line but no internet access. Faxing can also be more secure than email; faxes are hard to intercept because they are a direct communication from the sender to the receiver, while emails get moved through a central server. That means you need physical access to a specific phone line at just the right moment to intercept a fax instead of being able to just access the main server everything goes through. Though if it's just left on the machine, a fax is particularly easy for any random person in the office to pick up. Nowadays, fax machines are most widely used in Japan, where 1.7 million fax machines were purchased in 2013 for use in for business transactions, restaurant orders, and other communication.

Vinyl records

record playing

When they were invented: 1948

Purpose: Music storage that's durable and cheap

Who still uses them: Hipsters, record collectors, DJs

Why they're still used: In 2015, people bought 11.92 million records; 10 years earlier, they bought just 900,000. General reasons for the resurgence is the popularity of the big, beautiful sleeve artwork, the rise of music streaming which has mostly killed the utility of the CD, and the belief that vinyl sounds "better." This last one isn't really true compared to high-quality digital and considering the limits of human hearing, but it does sound different, and if you prefer that sound, more power to you. And most of all, it's used because people want to be cool.

Cassette tapes

cassette tape

When they were invented: 1963

Purpose: Music storage that's cheap and portable (if not high quality)

Who still uses them: Prisoners (and people sending them stuff), bands looking to give away something music-listeners might actually hold onto, post-hipsters

Why they're still used: Cassettes are cheap, small, and easily personalized. Perhaps more importantly, nostalgia sells—where else were people supposed to turn after vinyl became so popular that it's basically mainstream again? There is now a Cassette Store Day to boost already rising sales; National Audio, a major manufacturer of cassettes, saw sales increase 31 percent between 2014 and 2015; those sales included a tape by Justin Bieber.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Beepers

Electronic device, Technology, Rectangle, Electronics, Display device, Plastic, Computer data storage, Office supplies, Electronics accessory,
CC BY-SA 2.0/Hades2k

When they were invented: 1949

Purpose: Sending (and sometimes) receiving simple text messages; playing voice messages

Who still uses them: Doctors and nurses

Why they're still used: In 1994, there were 61 million pagers in use. Today, there are only around 5 million. The drop off is unsurprising, given cell phones, which are more capable, to say the least. But compared to cell phones, pagers have much longer battery lives use stronger signals that can penetrate the labyrinthine interiors of hospitals. Rather than sending out a single signal that uses earthbound cell towers, pagers simulcast, sending out the same signal from multiple satellite-based transmitters at the same time. Plus, there's tradition.

Checkbooks

Writing implement, Stationery, Office equipment, Office supplies, Black, Parallel, Material property, Publication, Black-and-white, Paper product,
CC BY-ND 2.0/jridgewayphotography

When they were invented: Sometime from the ninth century to the 18th century, depending on whom you ask

Purpose: Transferring money from one account to another

Who still uses them: Americans, landlords, people without bank accounts

Why they're still used: While check use has dwindled in many countries, in the U.S. it's still thriving, if not exactly popular. Half of U.S. businesses prefer paying with checks, according to the Wall Street Journal, and 70 percent of renters in the U.S. pay with checks, according to PayLease. Why? Habit, for one, and documentation—people and businesses like having a physical record of payment. Money orders, which are basically a kind of check, also let people without bank accounts pay rent.

Floppy disks

Technology, Laptop accessory, Floppy disk, Laptop part, Blank media, Everyday carry, Electronics accessory, Office equipment, Plastic, Data storage device,
CC BY 2.0/Blude//Flickr

When they were invented: 1967

Purpose: Data storage

Who still uses them: The U.S. military

Why they're still used: "It still works," Valerie Henderson, a defense department spokesperson, told CNBC. The military still uses 8-inch floppy disks for the Strategic Automated Command and Control System, a communication system. A nice perk of using an outdated technology like floppies is that they're hard to hack because they don't have any fancy connectivity features—a boon to super secretive organizations like the Pentagon.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Travel agents

Automotive tire, World, Synthetic rubber, Carbon, Paper, Circle, Number, Paper product, Camera lens, Document,

When they were invented: Around 1841

Purpose: Handling the nitty-gritty of travel planning so you don't have to

Who still uses them: People with complicated trips, people intimidated or bothered by online booking, business travelers

Why they're still used: Even though the internet makes booking just about anything possible, the details can be too much to handle alone—or at least too much to want to handle alone. Some travel agents specialize in certain destinations or types of trips, so you can get a custom-made vacation without doing any of the customization yourself, and with the help of someone who knows places that might be off the beaten path. Businesses also use travel agents because they're familiar with corporate policies and business' airline contracts.

Dot matrix printers

Office equipment, Technology, Machine, Household appliance accessory, Material property, Office supplies, Plastic, Engineering, Paper, Office instrument,
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0/Steve Rhode

When they were invented: 1970

Purpose: Printing!

Who still uses them: Airlines, distribution companies, kitchen workers

Why they're still used: Dot-matrix printers print by striking a ribbon against paper, much like a typewriter, so they can print multi-part forms on carbon paper in a way that inkjet and laser printers cannot. They can also withstand temperature extremes and dirty environments better than some of their more modern contemporaries.

Windows XP

Logo, Wood stain, Label, Trademark,
CC BY-ND 2.0/Nick Perla

When it was created: 2001

Purpose: Making your computer work in a way that you can actually use it

Where it is still used: ATMs; the U.S. Navy, maybe (it was supposed to upgrade by July of this year); the IRS

Why it's still used: Although Microsoft ended support for the operating system in 2014—leaving it unprotected in the face of new threats from hackers—nearly 11 percent of desktop computers still run Windows XP. The OS is still around for the same reason a lot of obsolete tech is still around, because people are used to it and don't want to change, even in the face of security risks. Sometimes upgrades will also break things; the U.S. Navy just isn't ready to upgrade for a multitude of reasons which is why it is paying Microsoft to continue security updates to XP specifically for the armed forces.

Lettermark
Rachel Z. Arndt

Rachel Z. Arndt is the author of the essay collection Beyond Measure. Her writing has appeared in Quartz, The Believer, Fast Company, and elsewhere. She lives in Chicago. 

Watch Next
 
preview for Popular Mechanics All Sections
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

New Technology

outdoor tv testing

The 7 Best Outdoor TVs for Your Backyard

a person playing a game on a rog ally pc gaming handheld

The 7 Best Handheld Gaming PCs

baltimore's francis scott key bridge collapses after being struck by cargo ship

What to Learn From the Baltimore Bridge Collapse

nintendo switch and nintendo switch oled comparison

Nintendo Switch vs. OLED: Which Is Better?

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below