I've got a Miele washing machine that's the best part of 40 years old. It's required some maintenance over the years. However, it was designed with maintenance in mind, so all the repairs have been fairly painless.
My 5 year old dishwasher, on the other hand, has cost me more time, money and stress than the (very overworked) washing machine.
A pocketwatch manufactured in 1889. I keep it running as a memento mori: the watch may outlive the watchmaker. Build things well -- they may be all people remember you by, one day.
I also have a slide rule at my desk at most times, to remind me of false-precision.
I guess the oldest though, is a Wu Zhu coin from the Three Kingdoms period (currency is a technology, too?). I keep it to remember that all empires arise from chaos, and must return to it; that all assets eventually have no value. That the things that endure, are stranger currencies still.
A 1940s era Sterling Siren Model "F" factory siren. This siren spent decades outside of a Long Island, NY firehouse, acting as a street clearing siren to allow fire engines to exit the station unimpeded during an emergency. It was decommissioned a few years ago and popped up on eBay, and I was able to get ahold of it for cheap as the seller didn't know its worth. Model F sirens are very hard to find, as they haven't been made since the 1960s, and the need for street clearing and fire sirens have lessened with the advent of pagers. I believe there are less than a dozen left in service across North America.
Mine is in very good running shape, despite its age. I lubricated the bearings recently (brass sleeve bearings) and let the motor break in. It isn't quite as loud as my Federal Sign & Signal Model "L" (built in the 1960s) but still packs a punch. I usually set them off with the city sirens every Monday. It does need cosmetic restoration, as the paint is badly weathered and the projector has some dents in it, but it won't be hard to fix up.
https://youtu.be/KvsGiL15g1k?si=ZgheNIH-fqOHJXnJ
My Model L is on the left, and my Model F is on the right.
My paternal grandmother's KitchenAid model K mixer she bought just after my grandfather returned from WW2. She gave it to my mother in the late 70's because she wanted a new one and the damn thing showed no signs of dying. My mother gave it to my wife about 15 years ago for the same reason.
We've bought some new accessories but that fucking zombie mixer will outlast the roaches.
Not at all impressive, but to maximize interactions on a newborn thread:
It's probably my PS3, which I would have gotten Christmas 2008 (or maybe it was 2009?). I recently started sailining the seas, and the most convenient way to watch those videos is to burn them to a disk, and so the PS3 is really just a glorified DVD player (can't even be bothered to use it's blue ray functionality)
I have my grandparents gramophone.
We pull it out each year to listen to their old Christmas records.
It's become a tradition that my university age kids still look forward to.
I got a fountain pen with my initials on it from my grandfather. We have the same initials.
Depending on what you consider technology:
I have several firearms well over 100 years old in perfectly operational condition.
Quite a few kitchen appliances from the 70s that will never die.
And a working Apple IIgs.
As far as use on a daily or near daily basis, I have a 1974 Fender guitar amp, and a few other speakers and musical instruments that are vintage that are also going to outlive me.
1959 mechanical cameras. An electronic camera from 1969. Polaroid SX-70 from 1976. A calculator from 1988: FX85P from Casio. And then the Atari Lynx from 1991.
A very rare 1965 push button UK telephone, which I converted to work on DTMF.
Almost all UK phones from this era are dial based so it was very hard to find. It is our actual land line phone, not that our landline is ever used. Looks cool though.
1966 Fender Princeton guitar amplifier. Me likey
In terms of things passed down, I have the original Wii my parents bought for us on Christmas of 2008. In terms of consoles, I have a Nintendo 64 I got off eBay to play the collection of cartridges we had been accruing since the late 90s.
As for the oldest antique item, I have some mechanical slide calculators, two from Australia, one from Japan, and one from the US. No idea the exact years of manufacturing, but the US one is a Tasco Pocket Arithmometer, which I think ceased manufacturing in the early 1900s ( it's been a bit since I last researched it.)
I still use a nearly 20 year old DSLR as my primary photography camera. It’s all personal stuff so the lower resolution and overall lower quality compared to modern cameras doesn’t bother me much. The battery isn’t doing so well after 20 years though, so I’m getting a couple new ones and a larger memory card for it. Hoping to buy a new camera soon and get at least 20 years out of that too, but I still plan to use my current one alongside any other camera as I really like the look of the images it produces.
Not that old but my 2009 i5 750 can still rock most of the games at a solid 1080p. I added a fan and overclocked it to 3.6, some ram and a 1060 gpu. It now serves as our main streaming / gaming computer on the TV and shows no sign of giving up. Overall I've spent less than 650$ over 15 years on a computer that we use daily.
My Aiwa P22 micro hifi from 1978. Very nice, compact and sounds great.
I have a Panasonic "Genius" microwave from 1983, still going strong.
A multimeter from the 70's, although I don't use it often anymore (I have two newer ones)
A Back and Decker b-100 corded drill from the 1960's with a skill saw of the same era. (Both backups in case my newer ones die.)
Also not really tech, but A scythe from the 1930's, an old clothes iron from the early 1900's (The kind you heated on the stove) a machete from 1920, and a couple old hand pump sprayers from the 20's or 30's (The type you screw a glass bottle onto) that all are functional but mainly just collect dust.
I probably have some other old crap I'm not thinking of at the moment, I just like collecting weird old things.
I have several of the original Philips LED replacement bulbs, which were some of the very first LED bulbs available. Paid about $35CAD each for them in late 2009 and they're built out of solid metal and weigh a ton. They're still going strong and put out a lovely light.
Pentax ME SLR camera, bought by my uncle in the 70s. Got some dents and scratches but it’s still taking beautiful pics.
My mom's morantz receiver from the late 60s.
SNES purchased by my parents in 1992.
An old blade server I was able to take from my very first job, state of the art for the time it was made around 2002. It's still running and I've been using it as a media and hosting server for years despite how out of date the specs are now.
Mines not so interesting, but I do have an original N64 from launch. I wish I had picked up the gold plated Zelda console, but I instead grabbed the regular grey one that came with Mario...I had never played a Zelda game before and regret the decision today.
If I'm going even older, it would probably be the planer that my father made about 50 years ago. Still works amazingly for being all cherry.
Bang & Ollufsen record player from 1977
An electronic typewriter that my parents bought when I was entering highschool in the early 90s.
While my first works of fiction we're not written on it, my first fiction I ever submitted (it was rejected btw) to a publisher was.
I wouldn't get successfully published until the late 90s/early 00s after I had built my first PC out of scrap parts and a cheap copy of windows 95.
But that typewriter still holds a special place in my heart.
1940 Turkish Mauser (8mm), at the newest 83yo. But that year's production was cobbled together from old stock receivers and barrels made just before 1900. So parts of it could be ~120yo.
Might not be tech now but in the late 19th c. the Mauser bolt action was absolute tech.
A 1960s electric meat slicer. Use it every Thanskgiving. That thing is built like a tank and a probable fire hazard.
A 70s crockpot/fryer. Another fire hazard that is relegated to hot buttered rum and frying food.
More recent would be a 720p Samsung TV hooked up to an AppleTV HD we still use in our Master bedroom, mostly for classic movies on TCM. We’ve had it for 15 years and she’s still kicking.
My dad has a 65+ year old tube radio that still works great. Sounds amazing too. It was my grandfather's radio and it's older than my dad is we're not sure how old it is exactly.
1975 Gibson Grabber bass. Instead of having multiple pickups, it has one pickup that you "grab" and slide across the pickguard. I had to get the fretboard re-set, as it had been sliding down the neck and making it impossible to intonate.
Terrible design, but it's a unique piece of music history that I enjoy having on hand.
Should be able to dig up a fully functioning Sony Minidisk player. Owned and lost quite a few of them over the years. Damn things were sleek and small, but they meant the world to me. Napster and then Limewire provided the mp3s thanks to the old 56k dialup modem, then a mini jack connection from PC to the Minidisk. It took a hell of a long time to get everything set up just so, but it was worth it. Every time.
10 year old Dell machine that I’m using as my home assistant and Plex server. Picked it up on Facebook for $30, tossed new ram in for $10, and a new SSD for $40 and it’s snappy and does a great job. And the SSD will go to any new machine.
A Singer sewing machine from before the Great War.
My rather ancient audio setup: a Yamaha RX-496RDS stereo receiver with a Vestax PMC 17A Mixer and T+A Triton R130 speakers for 2 (lame ass) Gemini PT 2100 Turntables (through a preamp) and some PC-Audio. Most of this stuff is from the 90s or early 00s. Wasn't the best setup in the first place but it still works fine to this day and probably even beats some of the contemporary bluetooth thingies.
Best I have is an old Midland Gun Company double barrel shotgun that belonged to my great-grandfather. Passed through the Birmingham Proof House and bears 1904-1925 proof marks, but doesn’t actually have a date stamp, my understanding is that they didn’t start date stamping until 1921. The company was bought by Parker-Hale and the records were subsequently destroyed in a fire, so I’ve never been able to find out exactly how old the thing is.
I was thoroughly impressed by Technology Connections exploration of the Sunbeam automatic beyond belief toaster. Bought one cheap off Craigslist a while ago and added a ground wire. Works great.
I also picked up an IBM selectric pretty cheap, mostly works.
AKAI S-1100 sampler. It is still in mint conditition, released in 1990. It was a studio standard in those days. I don't use it that much these days, but the time stretch on that machine is amazing. For Jungle and Drum & Bass it's an essential piece of hardware imo. The Prodigy for instance had two of them 1100's in the studio and on tour if irc.
HP Touchpad from 2011 that was given to me.
I try not to hoard stuff in case I ever need to relocate, so my list of owned items isn't big. I would love to collect retro consoles otherwise.
I’ve got planes and a chisel from late 1800s, some of the best tools I own. The steel of the blades is fantastic, and the feel of the handles after more than 100 years of being handled is fairly unique
As far as "daily driver" tech, Motorcycle is 43 years old. My razor is 103 years old. Luckily I'm closer in age to the motorcycle.
I’ve got plenty of stuff that’s older than I am. I’ve got mechanical cameras dating back to the 1930’s, electronic camera’s from the 70’s, watches dating back to that time as well. And there’s game consoles dating back to the NES, like many here.
I like old tech. Just because it’s old doesn’t mean it’s bad or unreliable. If you treat stuff well and maintain as needed, a lot of things will outlast you. I’ll be shooting film in cameras that are a hundred years old in a few years.
1961 Gibson Discoverer Amp. Found it in the basement as a teen. Replaced the fuse holder and fuse. Powered up all the tubes no problem and still running strong today.
My microwave from 1985 which came with the house.
Clock radio is from around 1979 I think. Stereo tuner from 1978 (Sansui TU-9900!).
Oh, I have two functional tube testers from the 1950s. Also a short wave radio from about 1950.
I like old stuff.
1979 Sanyo Record Player. It was my mom's and she bought it in high school
A microwave from 1997. I give it most of the credit for staying alive. It's a brick house.
My toaster, similar one here. It was the toaster that I grew up with. My father in turn bought it at a garage sale. I recently tracked down the history and found that it was manufactured in the 50's, so it's been in near constant use for around 75 years.
The original fat PS2 I got for Christmas 20-odd years ago. It still plays games perfectly fine if the discs aren’t too scratched up (RIP my bro’s copy of Marvel vs Capcom 1).
Some old corded drill that my dad had. It's supposed to have a reverse function but it only goes one direction now.
I've got no idea when it was made.
My Harman Kardon pc speakers. They are as old as I am. Here's a pic of the same model I found online.
Not sure how loose you define tech, but mine would be my motorcyle, a 1981 Yamaha XS400 that my grandfather gifted me. It's certainly feeling it's age, so it requires a lot more effort on my end to keep running than most bikes made this century. It's not made for modern highway speeds, it's not happy when I try, so I keep it off the interstate, 50 and under. That said, when the weather's good, I've never had a carbeurated engine start so easily, and it's a joy to ride!
60's electric drill.
I would say my Sega GameGear, but I just went to turn it on, aaaaaaand it's probably well past time to replace the caps. And screen. And motherboard...
Type Mike IBM keyboard......goddMm indestructible.
I have a Sunbeam Radiant Control toaster from the 1960s. It’s an elegant, automatic design with only one control for the amount of toast. If it had slots wide enough for bagels it would be perfect.
2004 Wacom Cintiq 21UX. Drawing on a screen that large and heavy is awesome. I built it into my desk and can raise and lower it from flat to nearly 90 degrees. The brightness has faded over the years, but I won't let it go until I can afford a new one (equivalent $3k + today). I can barely work in PS with just a mouse anymore. It spoils ya.
I have Lenco turntable from 1969, making it roughly 54 years old.
I have a Sony Erickson bluetooth headphone adapter from 2005. It still works perfectly and the battery has good life.
My old and trustworthy Kenwood KRV75R receiver. From around 1985 and still rocking!
Playstation 2 slim and an original PS2 controller. Still runs really smoothly, at least for tech at the time. Disc drive is really cool.
My Yamaha speakers that I got in 1996. Beautiful sound from them. The receiver and other things have long since been replaced.
My oldest piece of tech would probably be my C64 or maybe an old camera I have. But the one that I'm actually proud of is my car, a Mercedes W124 from 1988. It'll be hard to find a bolt on that car that I haven't touched and I'm finally getting it where my even my perfectionist self is happy with the way it looks and drives.
It's been over a year since I unboxed it, but my Nintendo 64. Last game I played was Majora's Mask and it suffered a hard reset in the stone temple that made me box it back up.
Video door-phone from the eighties. The screen is crap but hit a few times and it works lol
Still have running? Probably my Sega Genesis model 1, bought a month before I was even born in 1991, though I rarely use it as emulation is easier.
Still use daily? Probably my gen 3 iPod touch, circa 2009.
A few, a silver Pikachu Gameboy color, some synthesizers from the 1980's, a unique guitar that I've only been able to find documentation of 1 other one online (Ibanez Nitro full wood body finish - it's certainly a custom). And I think the last pride and joy is my Sony MDR-V600's.
Anybody remember Cube World? Those little electronic cubes that you could magnetically attach to others and they could interact? Got a set of those too.
The music stuff is the oldest but it's mostly second hand so it's harder to claim. The headphones were a gift and new back then though, so they're for sure, same with the Gameboy color and Cube World. Heh :)
Daily? Logitech MX-518. I'd still be using my CeBIT 2003 IntelliMouse if it hadn't been jostled by one too many trips in a backpack. Both are newer than the Max Payne mousepad that is somehow still in tolerable condition.
No, wait. I just glanced at the time on a Westclox digital alarm clock, model 22636, production code 1/10/83. That thing's older than I am. Had to check the underside again: Norcross, GA. I was unsure if "Westclox" hinted at being produced in West Germany.
An Acetronic MPU1000 games console, from the 1970s - 76 or 78 I think. Still worked last time I powered it up, I also got some extra games cheap off eBay a while back, interesting playing something other than the three or four games I remember from childhood.
NAS, 2015. Not too old.
My Nintendo DS.
Somehow the battery is still charged and went multiple times from red state to a green state.Newton MessagePad 2100. I used it daily from 2008-2011 (well after I had an iPhone) for office work and everyone thought I was crazy but I loved it. I still prefer the ui for calendar/contacts/note taking compared to everything else out there.
I have a TI 99/4A PC that still works! It has a super weird version of BASIC and I don't have any tapes for it, but it's a cool display piece. I was able to make an educated guess that it was manufactured in 1982 based on the design
My ps1 probably. I just played with it yesterday and I loved it.
1901 Edison victrola. Listen to Edison's band.
Dynaco ST-70 stereo tube amp, probably from the 60s (no date on them that I can tell).
Very proud of it, got it for free at a garage sale. Replaced selenium rectifier with silicon diodes, a few new caps, and new tubes. Sounds great.
I have a Milling Machine with a 1902 patent date on it. It was converted to an electric motor, but the line shaft pulley is still on it.
I think my PS3 still works, although I haven't used it in awhile.
Probably an nes or vcr. I have an Atari too but it's not hooked up so idk if it still works. I have some old film projectors too
Two game boy DMGs, one kept original and one modded with a new shell, membrane, and LCD screen. It's a great hobby restoring them.
My fat PS3. Still a good Blu Ray and DVD player.
My N64. I probably have a few pieces of tech older than me, but I can't think of them off the top of my head.
I have a PC from 2004 as well.
An electric turkey-carving knife, made in 1962. GE built it to last.
The CD player i found on the curb. I had no idea how old it was but i looked it up for this thread and it has user reviews from 2007.
Sony CMT Nez50
Works great, 15 volume already feels loud
Twenty- seven year old wireless keyboard. I love it. Feels great and never fails me. Don't know what I'll do when it finally dies.
I have some railroad stock certificates from the late 19th century that I need to frame. They're a few bucks on ebay and really freaking cool
In terms of electronics, I have some model trains from the 60s and 70s that are pretty worthless but keep going despite the abuse and lack of maintenance thanks to electric motors being so simple and easy to maintain. Other than that it's probably a shoe in between my wife's N64, PS2 and CRT TV, an old police scanner I got off ebay, or the early plasma TV that I got from my parents who got it from my aunt who got it with their house.
I have an early 70s waffle/sandwhich maker eletric grill. Was a wedding gift to my parents and i grew up eating food off of it. Works flawlessly. But its just coils hooked to 120v with a regulator. Not much to break
the oldest is one of my portable cassette recorders, a very early GE model that is in near perfect condition. It's so early on it doesn't have much info online, and seems to be rare, but unwanted.
The one im the most proud of is my IBM LexMark model M keyboard, It's older than me, abused to hell, modified, and is still my daily driver because it's so comfortable
Within reach on my desk, Unisonic LC-384 Dual Power Solar and Battery Backup Pocket Calculator - I've not owned it the whole time, so I looked around and see it was produced on or around 1982. It works just fine.
It has a minimal listing in the Calcuseum (http://www.calcuseum.com/SCRAPBOOK/BONUS/32532/1.htm)
I got an Apple IIc. Drive, monitor, keyboard all work.
I have a Sony M2 Micro card with inside it's USB adapter.
I've used it to install countless Linux distros since 2007 😅
A 1930's Remington mechanical typewriter. My dad used it regularly until he passed away, it still works perfectly and I've got a whole box of ribbons for it.
14 year old Wacom Tablet. It still gets regular use.
A 1960s electric meat slicer. Use it every Thanskgiving. That thing is built like a tank and a probable fire hazard.
More recent would be a 720p Samsung TV hooked up to an AppleTV HD we still use in our Master bedroom, mostly for classic movies on TCM. We’ve had it for 15 years and she’s still kicking.
My clock radio.
Well, not that old, and even typing this hurts me (and apologizes to all that are hurt too lol), but I just played a lot with my PSP GO and my DS Lite this week, and in a related field Jackie Chan for PS1 in my Anbernic RG351V (old software in this case).
Apple IIe even has a dot matrix printer still in operation (paper running low though)
But probably my oldest piece is my Beale upright piano, made in the 1920s, still beautiful, still hammering out music.
A pan-clock, that is a clock that has the shape of a pan. It's probably close to 40 or more years old. pan-clock
I have a Vendomatic sewing machine form the late '70s or early '80s. Still works like a charm. I still use it a couple of times per year to make/fix clothes or sew badges on my heavy metal jacket
If we're including family consoles, I'm gonna say the family wii my family got in the late 2000s. I was actually pretty pissed when we couldn't find it when it was in temporary storage because there is one mii that I would have been absolutely furious with myself if I couldn't remake it on my switch. Luckily we did find it and I've managed to recreate all the miis we had on there onto my switch, especially the one mii my grandma made.
A OG gameboy transparent hood
1955 Moskva-5 Camera in perfect condition.
I have a 600w ham radio amplifier from the 60s. It's a Heathkit SB-200
I'm very proud of it because I bought it in rough condition, and repaired it myself. Replaced all the leaky capacitors and did some other work in there. Now it runs like a dream! It was my first time working with tube gear. The voltages in these things is 2500 volts, that'll kill you dead before you know what happened.
I also have an SB-220 that I got broken. I fixed it up but didn't do a full rebuild on it. It'll do 1200 watts, but I don't need that much power so I haven't used it much. It's in storage. That one is from the late 60s early 70s.
My next oldest device is also ham radio gear, a Kenwood TS-530S from the 80s. There's a lot of solid state stuff inside, plenty of transistors doing all the work. But the final output stage is still a good ole pair of tubes. I bought this in non working condition, and fixed it myself as well. Good fun!
Olympus OM 10. Bought it second hand a few years ago, when I felt I need film cameras back in my life. Must be from the early 80s. I only use it since maybe 4 years now, but I love that camera.
Oh, while I am typing I just remembered my Braun Paxette from the 1950s. But I don't like that camera and thus don't use it. Planning on selling it tbh.
Mine’s the 390t with 256mb of storage. So it’s one of the ones that’s triangle in shape with a real smal lcd screen and takes a single AA battery. Suuuuper simple to just plug in with mini USB and drag and drop mp3s over.
It's not too exciting, but I've got an old Lenovo EMC2 NAS that's probably from the early 10s. I was also running a Pi 1B as a DNS server until it gave up on life.
i have speakers from somewhere in the 1980's made in the soviet union
I have a a working box camera from 1930's. Or it would work, if I could still find film for it at a semi-decent price.
My Sansui 1000X - receiver amp is in daily use and was made in 1971, it's in near mint condition in every way. I did a complete internal cleanup and replaced a few electrolytic capasitors just to be sure to avoid any problems in the future. I believe the unit may well outlive me. I love the silverface-teak cabinet aesthetics. It's paired with a Lenco - L75 turntable from the early 70's and AR-7x speakers from the same decade, together they sound pretty much perfect to my ears.
And I also have my great-aunt's windable table clock. It's ~100-120 years old, but still works if only I remembered to wind it every other day.
Is a wristwatch considered tech? My daily one is from 1971 and with a service it keeps time way better than a lot of new mechanical watches.
Not tech exactly, but does a 22yr old Vicks inhaler count? It's somehow stuck around through every move, and I can still use it when I have a stuffy nose. It's kinda nuts...
contenders
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my 2009 pc from ordi it for now is my olny computer but am getting an ThinkPad
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my Thompson tv it still is used for now
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Samsung Galaxy y i use it when my main phone is unable to be used but it's absolutely garbage since i the repair shop reinstalled the os so no google play store and it is heavily unused ehen i have to use it cuz of my pc
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my Philips display used for my pc
honorable mention an radio and cassette player, i assume it's from like the 2010's
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Samsung S4 mini. Can't believe it is the 3310 of the smartphone world, undestroyable. It's just for streaming kids shows but I take care to bring new ROMs on it, actually android 13.
I have an old CD Walkman that still works just fine. Although looking at the logo alone, it's most likely made after the year 2000, so it's not that old.
A singer 29k53 treadle sewing machine from the 1930s. Nearly identical to this one:
It was originally made for sewing leather shoes and boots -- hence the boot shaped tray. I use it for heavy duty sewing and leather working.
I considered adding a motor, but the hand wheel and treadle give a massive amount of control. On repairs I can usually put each stitch through the existing holes in the material without the machine getting away from me.
Probably my Canon 5D Mark II DSLR that I bought at launch (2008). Still works fine hundred of thousands of clicks later, multiple trips across the world, etc etc. It even still holds a candle to my current camera on the photo side of things (video specs definitely dated now though).
GameBoy Color with a single game: Pokémon Red.
Next time I was able go to the shop they had upgraded to GameBoy Advance and no GB/GBC games were to be never found again. It was the best/worst thing I ever got. :'(
haven't checked it in 4 or 5 years but I think my Mac Plus still works.
Technically my doorbell, it's older than me.
Microwave from the 90's sometime. Still in daily use and shows no signs of stopping.
I have a spring/crank music box stuffed animal from when I was born (several decades) that still sounds perfect.
A Galaxy S5690 Xcover phone from 2011 as reserve phone, software modded to be nice and fast. Not ancient, but as a reminder of what you could do with 200MB RAM (300MB is reserved for system) and 150MB internal storage. Btw, standby time is measured in semesters.
My dad is farmer, he has a water pump from 1971 still in use.
