25 Office Gadgets That Were Once the Future but Are Now Obsolete
Remember when office life was a bit like being on the set of a sci-fi movie? We had gadgets that seemed straight out of a futuristic utopia. But alas, time waits for no gadget, and many of these once-revolutionary tools are now mere relics of the olden days. So, grab your nostalgia goggles as we take a trip through the time machine and reminisce about 25 office gadgets that were once the future but are now just fodder for laughs.
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Fax Machines
The trusty fax machine, or in other words, the Telecopier, was the hero of 80s and 90s office communication. It scanned printed textual or graphic material and then sent these important documents at the speed of light—or so we thought. Now, it’s just a dusty relic sitting in the corner, reminding us of simpler times.
Dot Matrix Printers
The cacophony as these printers churned out documents was like a symphony to our ears. They did all the low-cost, heavy-duty printing and only required their ribbons to be changed occasionally. But let’s face it, those pixelated printouts were more retro than revolutionary.
Pager
Beepers were the ultimate status symbol back in the day. You were the epitome of cool if you had one clipped to your belt. The one-way wireless communication used radiofrequency to work effectively and was initially made for the US police department. Now? Well, now they’re just tiny plastic rectangles that serve no purpose other than to make us chuckle.
Floppy Disks
This magnetic storage device was once the savior of our digital lives, holding 1.44 MB of data. They weren’t just convenient for personal usage but also took the IT industry by storm, as companies could now write programs and sell them. But as technology evolved, these flimsy disks became nothing more than coasters for our coffee mugs.
Rolodex
The Rolodex was every executive’s best friend, holding the keys to their business contacts. Once synonymous with organization, it has now been replaced by smartphones that can store thousands of contacts and even make you a sandwich if you ask nicely.
Overhead Projectors
Who could forget the joy of transparencies and the satisfying clunk as you changed slides? This thin film or slide projector uses light to project an enlarged image on the screen to share it with a large audience. Today, they’re about as helpful as a cassette tape in a streaming world.
Filofax Organizers
The Filofax was the ultimate organizer, holding your schedule, contacts, and even a few scraps of paper for good measure. Now, it’s just a relic from when we remembered phone numbers.
Mimeograph Machines
Next time you’re frustrated with office gear—printer lag, shaky Internet—recall the past. Once, duplicating a crucial document meant hand-cranking. Today, they’re most likely to be found in a museum next to dinosaur bones.
Dial-Up Modems
The screeching sound of a dial-up modem connecting to the Internet was music to our ears—until we realized it meant we couldn’t use the phone. This technology connects using the standard telephone line by dialing a specific phone number provided by your Internet service provider. Just imagining this hassle makes you more thankful for broadband.
Trackball Mouse
These extremely cool gadgets were straight out of a Transformers movie. Invented in 1952 by Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff, they were mechanically complex and cumbersome, with sensors to detect rotation around two axes. It’s best not to look for one of these in the forgotten corners of one’s house.
CRT Monitors
Bulky, space-hogging CRT monitors were once the pinnacle of display technology. The cathode ray tube, which became commercial in 1922, used electron guns to form images by firing electrons onto a phosphorous-coated screen. Now, they’re about as desirable as those helium balloons.
Cassette Tape Dictation Systems
Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips, the audio cassettes were released in August 1963. Dictating memos onto these cassette tapes seemed like the height of efficiency… until you had to rewind and fast-forward to find that one crucial snippet. Thank goodness for digital recording.
PDAs
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were electronic handheld devices that promised to revolutionize how we organized our lives. First developed in the early 1990s, they offered email access and options to download e-books. Sadly, they have become glorified game consoles for playing Snake during boring meetings.
Zip Drives
These drives were small storage devices popular in the 1990s and early 2000s. They looked like big floppy disks but could hold data up to 100MB or more. They were handy for backing up files or sharing large documents. Zip drives were supposed to be the future of portable storage. Instead, they were replaced by USB flash drives because they were slower and had lower capacities. Despite their decline, they were a big deal back then for people who needed more storage space than floppy disks could offer.
Pocket Calculators
Before smartphones, there were pocket calculators. They were small and simple, and they could add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers. Some even performed advanced functions like square roots and percentages. The first pocket calculator was invented in the 1960s. They became popular in the 1970s and 1980s because they were portable and convenient until the calculator app came along and rendered them obsolete.
Portable CD Players
Ah, the joy of lugging around a bulky CD player and a stack of CDs to listen to your favorite tunes on the go. Launched in 1984, these portable players of happiness produced terrific sound quality. Now, we have Spotify, though. Need we say more?
Electric Typewriters
Electric typewriters were the height of sophistication. Created by James Smathers in 1920, they allowed typists to zip through documents with lightning speed. They supported a lighter touch and more uniform typing with numerous carbon copies. Now, they’re gathering dust in the attic next to your collection of Vinyl.
Stock Tickers
In the past, companies relied on machines that constantly printed paper strips with the latest stock numbers to stay updated on market information. This continuous data stream was essential for businesses needing real-time stock updates, contrasting with today’s stock tickers, which display numbers scrolling across financial news networks.
Pager Watches
Why have a pager and a watch when you could have both in one gloriously nerdy package? Pager watches were wearable devices that concisely displayed information. They provided facts in simple language, making it easy for users to understand. With just 80 words or less, they delivered quick updates on various topics, ranging from news and weather to notifications from apps. Pager watches were the epitome of 90s cool… until they weren’t.
Word Processors
Word processors were a godsend for anyone who hated typing on a typewriter. These highly specialized tools for programmers were popular during the 1970s. But as soon as computers came along, they became about as useful as a paperweight.
Dot Matrix Label Makers
There was something oddly satisfying about peeling off those little dot matrix labels and sticking them on your files. But let’s face it, they looked about as professional as a kindergarten art project.
Fax Servers
Fax servers promised to streamline office communication by sending online faxes. They were like digital post offices. These servers converted electronic documents into fax format and vice versa. They facilitated communication by allowing faxing from computers, email, or even mobile devices. Soon after their release, however, they became the bane of IT departments everywhere, plagued by constant technical issues and inexplicable error messages.
Telex Machines
Telex machines were early communication devices used to send text messages over long distances before email. They worked by typing messages onto a keyboard, which were then transmitted over phone lines to another telex machine. Messages were printed out on paper at the receiving end. Telex was widely used in businesses and government offices from the mid-20th century until the rise of the Internet. Its simplicity and reliability made it a vital tool for international communication before modern digital technologies took over.
Electronic Dictionaries
Why carry around a hefty tome when you could have an electronic dictionary that fits in your pocket? The batteries die after five minutes, that’s why.
Dictaphones
Dictaphones were the ultimate tool for recording voice memos on the go. However, as soon as smartphones gained voice recording capabilities, they became about as relevant as rotary phones in the age of smartphones.
18 Classic Movie Quotes That Would Spark Outrage If Said in Today’s Films
Whether or not you are a movie buff, you’re probably familiar with the famous classic movies that shaped generations. Classic movies often contain iconic lines that have become ingrained in popular culture. However, as we look back, we realize how some of these quotes were downright racist, sexist, or misogynistic and have not aged well with time. Here are 24 classic movie quotes that, if said in today’s films, would likely spark outrage and controversy.
