everything i use is old style

I think this is either due to either my upbringing, being middle aged, being set in my ways, having a general annoyance with useless modern "features", or a combination of all of that.

I drive a car that's over 15 years old that has a manual transmission. My main computer is over a decade old and runs Linux. I wear basic LCD panel digital watches (I'm favoring the WS1600H as of late). I use a Garmin for navigation and not my phone. I shave with a safety razor.

Is there anything I use that's current?

I thought about that.

My web browsers on my computer are current. Yes, plural, because I keep a few installed because some load certain sites better than others...

...and that's it.

I struggle to think of anything else I use that would be considered modern, never mind cutting edge.

This isn't to say I never use anything new, because of course I do. But when I do, given the choice between modern and old style, it's a safe bet I'll gravitate towards the old style first.

For example, a microwave. I have one like everybody else does. It's just a cheap thing. When that thing finally gives up the ghost, I would seriously consider getting a two knob microwave. It has no buttons and no digital display. For the two and only two knobs it has, one is for power and the other for cooking time. No other "features" whatsoever. It doesn't even have a button to open the door. All you have to do is pull the handle. I love everything about that. Brilliant.

Want to know what's great about a microwave like that? No clock to set. On the microwave I have now, every time the power flickers even a little bit, the microwave's clock needs to be reset. At least for the stove, I can turn the clock display off, which I do. Can't do that on the microwave, so it must be set, else it drives me nuts seeing the wrong time on it every time I go in the kitchen.

Another example is the drip coffee maker I have, bought for the princely sum of just 9 bucks. Yes, it was in fact that cheap, but it's perfect. No digital anything, no auto-timer junk. Just one light-up rocker switch that turns it on or off and that's it. I like it so much that I have a spare since it was so cheap to buy.

I think the only slightly-modern-but-just-barely thing I use is that I do use my smartphone as my alarm clock instead of a clock radio. It is convenient I can set alarms by date. That I like. But then again, my phone is a model over 7 years old, so... not exactly hot-off-the-presses stuff.

When I look up what's modern these days for just doing life stuff, everything revolves around phones (don't care), streaming (don't care), gaming (really don't care), and "smart home" stuff (absolutely don't care).

And if it's not about that stuff, it's about pushing crap that nobody needs, like 85" televisions. Who the hell actually needs a seven-foot TV? If I needed to buy a TV, I'd just get a 43" 4K since several are well south of 200 bucks now.

Maybe it's not my upbringing, age, or being set in my ways that's the problem. Maybe the problem is that a ridiculous amount of modern stuff just plain sucks.

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Published 2025 Oct 6