Obsolete Skills: A to Z List

Brad Kellett, WWW page ^ | Ongoing | Brad Kellett, etc

[null and void]

LOL... I just set up my good ol’ Black Ma Bell telephone in the house.

A 500-D?

[AFPhys]

The most interesting thing about this list for me, is that there are some I did NOT ever do (I don’t mean things like hunting woolly mammoths, either) The one that stood out was:
# Correcting an oscillator crystal frequency with a pencil lead ... I didn’t even know that could be done

Things I really miss ...
# Bootloading with binary switches
# Using the toggle switches on the front of a DataGeneral Nova 1200 to enable in octal the paper tape reader [actually, for me, it was a SuperNova computer! ... with a removable hard disk platter of 20MB (or was it 100?) - LOL]

For me, though, many of these are NOT obsolete - whether other people do or not. In the last two weeks, I have done all of the following:
# Editing with “edlin”
# Autoexec.bat editing
# Editing with “ed” (actually, I prefer “ted”)
# FORTRAN programming - though the logic is still good
# Adjusting rabbit ears on top of a TV
# Cleaning the balls inside a computer mouse for better traction
# Dialing a rotary phone
# Debugging hexadecimal dumps
# Studied Morse-code
# Opening a can of beer or soda with a church key
# Peeling back a lid from an sardine can with a key
# Reading a dictionary or encyclopedia
# Reading a Vernier Scale
# Repairing small appliances
# Swapping floppy disks
# Tuning a radio
# Using a bottle opener
# Using a slide rule
# Using a DOS window on a computer

I’ve used over fifty more of those “obsolete skills” within the last year.

Yep: I’m a high tech junkie who lives out in an old country home, but I’m a lover and user of OLD high tech, too.

[AFPhys]

I do a lot of those on a daily basis, too. I did some fortran programming about three hours ago, in fact. There are a lot of them I don’t consider obsolete at all, including many of the non-high tech items (trimming wicks, compass, star navigation, etc)

[AFPhys]

Lemme look...

Yep: a Western Electric C/D 500

[AFPhys]

Your response was nearly identical to mine. I can’t believe anybody would even start to consider some of those “obsolete” skills... Perhaps a good part of it has to do with country living, and liking it.

[gondramB]

>> Dialing a rotary phone

---

I still have a rotary phone—the first phone I ever bought, circa 1981 when you could only buy them at the phone company phone store. It’s fun when anyone under, say, 20, tries to use it. They haven’t got a clue.<<

In the movie In and Out, the movie star visits a small town and leaves his model girl friend at the local motel. She is trapped forever as she is unable to call her agent. She keeps trying to press the circles on the rotary phone.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Gregg...when I was in HS I was in a club called FBLA. I actually went to shorthand competitions. :)PaMom

8<) Competed in slide rule contests in Texas ... Won enough to get a few scholarships... (Yay!)

[kitkat]

What was your fastest speed? Billy Rose did 140 RPM. I don’t think anyone talks that slowly today.

[kitkat]

***Sew a nice article of clothing?***

I’d be thrilled to sew a “nice article of clothing” again, but there is NO good fabric available out there. What’s available isn’t worth the tedious work of sewing on.

[kitkat]

***Dressmaker for Hillary Clinton.***

Wow! Just think of the alterations. Size 8 top, size 64 for the bottom.

[null and void]

500 was the last desktop dial set. Black is -D beige is -C

[TheGeezer]

Commercial radiotelegraph operator.

Mechanical telegraph multiplexor maintenance.

[AFPhys]

I got the number off the bottom, common, metal assembly - so you were right: It’s a 500-D. I’m not sure I ever saw a -C ... I’m certain I never owned one.

[null and void]

Adding a beige model was a daring design innovation for Ma Bell. Real cutting edge stuff!

Amazing how much things have changed since the breakup. A little competition goes a long way...

[angcat]

I forgot all the Shorthand I learned in High School.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

To be honest I can’t remember...other than we got to go to Hershey PA (two years in a row!)...it was just waaaay cool (back in those days) to get to go on an extended field trip like that. They still have FBLA...but it is different now (more public speaking skills; serious business/entrepreneur type things). I remember we got pins too for our speed levels...but thats is about it. And, we got to transcribe back using IBM Selectric Typewriters...woohoo!