Media Pilot Blog by journalist & media trainer Michael Dempsey

Writing on Antique Technology for the BBC

4/1/2021

Are you happy using old technology for your life or work? I'm writing a piece on how outdated devices still suit their owners just fine.

Examples of this might be someone using a digital device from a manufacturer such as Psion or a venerable laptop from Toshiba. I want to hear about how this technology functions today and why you are attached to it.

I'm writing this story for the BBC website with a deadline for interviews of Wednesday 13 January.

I need one to one interviews with people who can be frank and passionate about why their old device cuts the mustard in 2021.

Please note, I do not require input from anyone telling me why their contemporary tech is so much better than the old school models!

This story can be read on the BBC website, complete with adventures vintage tech items undergo courtesy of helicopters and washing machines.

4 Comments

Austin Brailey

5/1/2021 11:05:08 am

Very interested to read this. I keep all my old tech, I just switch them off when they're replaced and they're like time capsules - same curiosity as abandoned buildings I guess (without the decay). But I don't use outdated advices as such. Would be interesting to hear about anyone making calls on a Nokia 3310 and then relaxing in the evening with a few games on the Dreamcast.

Silas S. Brown link

5/1/2021 04:43:13 pm

I still use Psions. I am partially sighted so I prefer typing with a real physical keyboard rather than the on-screen ones the world has switched to (my pet conspiracy theory is the manufacturers just wanted to save money by not making real keyboards and so they set out to persuade consumers not to want them). Yes there are Bluetooth keyboards, but that is an extra item to juggle and the setup is far more fiddly than simply using a Psion. The wordprocessor can display large print and I have written software to help organise my notes in it. It is particularly useful for taking notes at events when bringing a larger computer is impractical and/or has battery life implications. At home I have a virtual machine running an old OS to handle backups, plus I know nobody's going to tap in to my files unless they physically attack me to get the device.

Venessa Moffat

6/1/2021 10:33:15 pm

My 14 year old son has one of the old Nokia phones. He does not want to be on social media at all. He says he wants his phone to be a phone ha ha!

From a parental point of view, I’m happy that he won’t get groomed, or bullied. He’s very slightly on the autism spectrum.

Brooke Hender link

11/1/2021 12:26:02 pm

I'm also a fan of the Psions - I have the Series 7, the larger colour version, and the smaller 5mx. I use them for specific purposes, such as being able to write notes when I'm away and I don't want to take my iPad. I have to say that I haven't found any piece of software that's better than Agenda on the Psions. I keep hoping that somebody will just replicate it on Mac as it is!
I also use a portable Adler typewriter for all my notes after I've read a book. I type up my thoughts, what I've learned, etc. and then fold it up and put it in the front of the book. I only do this on typewriter.
My back up phone, which I carry with me, is a 'dumb' phone - calls and text only.

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Writing on Antique Technology for the BBC

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