52
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2026
52 points (100.0% liked)
askchapo
23286 readers
201 users here now
Ask Hexbear is the place to ask and answer ~~thought-provoking~~ questions.
Rules:
-
Posts must ask a question.
-
If the question asked is serious, answer seriously.
-
Questions where you want to learn more about socialism are allowed, but questions in bad faith are not.
-
Try !feedback@hexbear.net if you're having questions about regarding moderation, site policy, the site itself, development, volunteering or the mod team.
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
I'm the same way, and I actively use a lot of old tech day-to-day. I use a lot of mid-century hand tools and kitchen appliances, and I think basically all of my lawn equipment is 40+ years old. I actually started with more modern tools, and then eventually started gravitating towards old stuff just because it felt better to use, and had that ineffable "character" that old stuff has.
I also fairly regularly watch TV shows on an old CRT TV, especially if they're from the standard def era (it just straight-up looks better on a CRT).
A lot of old tech was genuinely bad and deserved replacing, but I appreciate what has really survived the test of time. It's funny that the OP mentioned VHS tapes, because that's one particular tech I re-visited and decided "actually, I'm glad we moved on from this".
Oh vhs tapes are for sure worse. But ive got a soft spot for em. I am weird and try to collect pan and scan versions of mocies cause it's interesting what some guy chose to cut out of the frame. They're official half assed re edits of popular movies that you cant find on other formats cause theyre objectively worse. But I am fucking weird.
Pan and scan is such an interesting artifact of the standard def era. Most of the movies I watched in the 90s were VHS recordings from when they played on TV, and so I ended up becoming very familiar with the 4:3 version of movies like Jurassic Park and Empire Srikes Back. When I saw Empire Strikes Back in theaters during the re-release in 97, it was a revelation - as a kid, I hadn't even internalized that I was missing a big chunk of the picture.
I hope to find the modified-for-television edition of The Matrix someday. The Wachowskis had the cast dub over the swears with things a child would exclaim in 1960s TV.
Keanu cries "Jeepers creepers, that thing is real!?" when they take the bug out. Carrie-Ann Moss mutters "Shucks" before riding away when she sees Neo getting arrested.
I remember that! The security guard saying 'holy smokes' when Neo shows he has 50 guns on him and the mouth doesnt match at all