What pre-computerized devices or appliances do you miss?

Big, thick newspapers with coupons.

I miss them, too, R1. As well as huge (in width/length) picture magazines. I almost miss enormous cars like our old Ford Country Squire with the headlights with retracting covers.

Sony Dream Machine Clock Radio AM/FM (1985?) I purchased in early during my first job in midtown Manhattan, probably in 1985. It cost in the $40-$50 range. It was just what I wanted with a snooze button and the option to set for two wake up times, one by alarm, and one by radio. I actually still have it and still use it close to 40 years later. The 1980s was when Sony still made quality products to last, including televisions, radios, Walkman cassette players, etc. I had also purchased my first color TV around that time, also a SONY, which lasted until 2000. I replaced it with another Sony that died in about 1 1/2 years. They stopped making quality products my the mid to late 1990s.

Gas-powered vibrator with a kick-starter.

^^I was wondering how long it would take...

Mechanical dial washing machines and dishwashers. Now it's all start button operation and you can't change anything after a wash has begun.

I had a Radio Shack receiver my mom and dad gave me in the '70s (along with a turntable and speakers). I used it until it finally conked out @ 2010. It outlasted the turntable, though the speakers (which I gave away) were fine.

OP they definitely still make them because my mother has one that she bought about two years ago.

I know it well because she can't seem to operate it beyond switching the alarm on and off, so I get the job of adjusting it when it loses time.

R8 Yeah I think I bought one at one point but the sound was bad and you had to pay a lot for a decent one.

I remember when the car had an actual clock in the dashboard. I still like to tell time with a dial clock for some reason. Like, seeing the hand and figuring it's 20 minutes to the hour, vs. "11:40" or whatever.

It may seem odd but I sometimes miss old folding maps.

Yes, GPS will get you to your destination quickly and help avoid traffic but, with a map, you could see other points of interest along the way that you might want to stop at..

I miss stick shift cars. They separate the men from the boys (so to speak).

I still drive a stick shift and have a few clock radios in the house. I also have an old fashioned desk clock with hands on my desk that operates on a battery so it will still tell time correctly if the power goes out. I miss toasters that work and toast your bread well done without several cycles in the air fryer/toaster oven.

I miss dialing my rotary phone with a pencil.

OP I inherited one of these examples from my parents and not only is it still working after nearly 50 years it’s also on my bedside table. An absolutely classic.

I bought one of these toasters a year ago after a “smart” toaster died after a few years of service.

Dualit are hideously expensive for what they do (which is one job…. And it does it very well!) but every part is user replaceable and this will probably be the last toaster I’ll ever need to buy.

r10 - I was car shopping earlier this year, and you'll be pleased to know that the two (different model) Buicks I drove still have the "dial" clock on the dashboard.

They know who their audience is.

Cars, especially cars from General Motors

I had that clock radio too, R15! My parents gave it to me for Christmas when I was 8 or 9 and it lasted until college. I used to lay awake listening to the mechanical components click just as the display flaps would roll over.

And the audio quality is pretty good too R19.

rOP. I still use my Sony Radioclock Cube. It's probably 25-30 years old and still working. Sometimes I've to check the alarm function, cause the cube forgets to start the radio.

r11. I still buy maps, when travelling to a new destination. I need an overlook and get an idea where all the interesting destinations are located. I can read a map without turning it, so North is always the top.

Reading maps is a skill, that gives you an idea in which surrounding you are driving. It is said by scientists, that loosing this skill by only navigating with GPS is an immense loss to mankind. If you explore your surrounding by feet or car or bicycle with a map, you start creating your own map in your brain.

I see that best buy is selling CD players and DiscMan again...even boomboxes

I don’t miss my 1964 KLH Model Twenty Stereo Phonograph.I still have it and use it to play vinyl.

It sits next to our then-gigantic 27-inch 1985 Sony Trinitron television.

Both have required one repair over the course of their 61 and 40 year lives, respectively, and both work fine.

Analog displays and knob controls in the car. I hate the glorified iPad new vehicles have.

I have a clock radio that serves as a dock/charger for my iPhone overnight. You can play music through the phone or listen to terrestrial AM/FM radio.

Actual photo albums that aren't digital slide shows

The Abacus

Labrynspel mazes with little steel balls running around a maze with holes and manipulated by side levers

Encyclopedias

NONE! Most of that shit was crap! There I said it.

I love the tech we have today. Smart Phones, Smart Watches were a dream back then. A PC in your own home? Who would have thought? Music libraries with MILLIONS of songs instead of buying each and every album also much better.

R3

I was going to post about my Sony alarm clock! Every day in high school home room (80s), I would update the class on what song came on the radio to wake me.

Cameras with film

Stereos...music should be played out loud, not in personal devices with ear buds.

Television sets

I literally have that exact clock from the OP. I’ve had it for 45 years.

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