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Where Are They Now? 25 Computer Products That Refuse to Die

pcworld.com — These tech products and services may be forgotten, but they're far from gone. How have these geezers managed to hang on for so long?

Who dugg this? Made popular Apr 1, 2009

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  • inactive, on 04/01/2009, -4/+285Dugg for having it all in one page.

    If you are going to link to an article, please link to the print version. No ads, all in one page, and generally nicer to read. Thank you.
  • illepic, on 04/01/2009, -8/+141Floppy disks: Good luck installing Windows XP raid drivers (the ol' F6 prompt) with anything else!
  • inactive, on 04/01/2009, -1/+122Is that 20GB of storage in your pocket? or are you just happy to see me?
  • crownedgriffin, on 04/01/2009, -1/+115My company still uses dot matrix printers in our retail stores. We also have modems in our stores for backup. We got rid of MS-DOS long ago though.

    I used to use AltaVista all the time.

    My step-dad still has an old digital camera that uses floppy disks. Two years ago, I got him a nice new modern digital camera, but he still uses the old one. When I build him a new computer about a year ago, it absolutely had to have a floppy drive so he could use his camera. It was the only thing that didn't work on the first try too. I couldn't remember which way the stupid ribbon cable went on. =P
    It's hard to understand how we lived on 1.44MB disks. Between my phone, two flash drives, and my PSP, I've got over 20GB of storage in my pocket.
  • ATL, on 06/20/2009, -2/+100Is that storage in your pocket floppy or solid state?

    ZING!
  • mlhradio, on 04/01/2009, -0/+84Actually, I still use a mousepad for my wireless pptical mouse, because the surface of my desk is varnished/slightly reflective, and that messes up the mouse.
  • kweeky, on 04/01/2009, -0/+78Bundle the drivers into the installation? :)
  • Tracon, on 04/01/2009, -1/+77What no real player on that list WTF!!
  • Gustomucho, on 04/01/2009, -2/+59I use a mouse pad with every computer.
  • paulvq, on 04/01/2009, -0/+56I use a mousepad so I don't ruin the finish on my wooden desk.
  • JackSrenton, on 04/01/2009, -0/+52What a great article.

    Did anybody else use Alta Vista for there Video option to look up porn?

    That use to be the way to do it!

    At least when your 13.
  • MacParrot, on 04/01/2009, -0/+51About your comment? Yeah probably so
  • Wakkyweed, on 04/01/2009, -0/+50Um hello, AOL? Why the hell is that crappy company still hanging on?
  • brettg102, on 04/01/2009, -0/+48Glass desk...mousepad.
  • 83JB, on 04/01/2009, -0/+44huh, and all this time I thought Newegg was what Egghead turned into.
  • JFitzpatrick, on 04/01/2009, -0/+38"DOS refuses to die. It seems to me that I still see it in use at small independent businesses such as antique stores and dry cleaners--the kind of outfits that don’t bother to change something that still works, even if it’s a decade or two out of fashion."

    I worked for a company that had DOS based registers. They were extremely fast, they worked well, and then for some reason the company decided to switch from DOS running lightning fast on Pentium II systems... to a Java based register system running in Windows XP running on Pentium 4 systems. The new systems are buggy, slow, and lack the speedy simplicity of the old systems.
  • cor315, on 04/01/2009, -1/+38I have no problem with people having ads on their page (since that's how they make their money) but any more than one or two pages really ticks me off.

    Askmen.com worst site ever.
  • ifruit, on 04/01/2009, -3/+36All your dBASE are belong to us.
  • nevets138, on 04/01/2009, -0/+32Sadly my first PC was a Packard Bell! It cost us nearly three grand.

    I remember going to Egghead Software with my dad when I was like twelve years old. Tiny little shops wall to wall fill with those old school HUGE software boxes that were way too big to keep anywhere.
  • areber04, on 04/01/2009, -3/+35Or you could like... slipstream them.
  • fury420, on 04/01/2009, -4/+35yeah, because you really should have to make an image of your OS install disk, slipstream more drivers into it, and then burn a fresh new copy of the windows XP installer just to access and install on SATA hard drives
  • nubnub, on 04/01/2009, -0/+31Z80 Microprocessors are used in Texas Instrument Graphing Calcs btw
  • Voster, on 04/01/2009, -0/+29Actually, having a PDA running MS-DOS and outputting to floppy disks which are transferred via an Amiga to dBASE...is REALLY retro! :D
  • CaptCarrot, on 04/01/2009, -0/+28COBOL.

    Or, if you prefer, Kho-Baal: Chosen Programming Language of the Prince of Darkness.
  • Shwaavay, on 04/01/2009, -2/+30<s> It's funny how no one ever thought of that before... </s> dumbass.
  • zsz7, on 04/01/2009, -3/+29ie6. IT just won't die!!
  • inactive, on 04/01/2009, -3/+28Amiga will never die cause Amiga kicks ass
  • FTLJohnson, on 04/01/2009, -0/+25Wow, that's really weird to think that an 80gb ipod would take at LEAST 56,889 floppies to contain the data... and since most people never really filled the floppy... it's probably more like 60,000

    So... with a floppy being like 5.25" wide by 5.25" by approx .0375" tall....
    That's like 35 cubic feet of floppy disks.... hehe... That's a like a truckload of floppies to fit what now fits in our pockets.

    Not to mention that most modern music files wouldn't even fit on a single floppy... imagine having to pkzip your entire music library file by file across floppies... yuck.

  • MtheoryX, on 04/01/2009, -0/+25beeeeeeeorrrrrnnnnnnk... waaaaaaah... beeeeeeeorrrrrnnnnnnk... waaaaaaah... beeeeeeeorrrrrnnnnnnk... waaaaaaah...
  • MtheoryX, on 04/01/2009, -0/+24When I was 13, video over the internet was unheard of.
  • ATL, on 06/20/2009, -0/+24not to mention the love handles!
  • pathouston22, on 04/01/2009, -1/+24Mouse makes less noise sliding across a soft surface than a wooden desk too.
  • areber04, on 04/01/2009, -0/+23Anyone remember Lunatic Fringe? The game that was part of AfterDark? Man I wish I could play that again...

    (If anyone can find a windows version link, that'd be awesome. I only see links to Mac versions...)
  • awesometastic1, on 04/02/2009, -0/+22Impossible! You would have had to click on the "i'm 18" link and we all know that can't be done without serious consequences if you are under 18.
  • Wakkyweed, on 04/01/2009, -0/+21Do they have porn on them?
  • FieldAnonymouse, on 04/01/2009, -1/+21Windows 95 wasn't the first Windows that didn't need MS-DOS. Yes you could install Win95 without DOS being present beforehand, and the role of DOS was very small, but it still required DOS.
  • inactive, on 04/01/2009, -1/+20because it is not dying or dead?
  • lisaawesome, on 04/01/2009, -0/+19I have a drawer full of Zip and Jaz disks. Anyone want them? lol
  • inactive, on 04/01/2009, -0/+19dude you got a bell?
  • clichecow, on 04/01/2009, -0/+19I've seen one small college use a dot matrix printer to print out their system logs continuously in real time, so that a malicious attacker wouldn't be able to delete the logs without breaking into a closet.
  • Ki77erB, on 04/01/2009, -0/+17Nothing is worse than an article spread out into 15 single paragraph slides. ARGGGG!
  • SoonerRoadie, on 04/01/2009, -0/+17What? No WordPerfect? Or is that just completely dead now?
  • venom8599, on 04/01/2009, -0/+16You'd have to use a USB floppy drive.. which is still a floppy drive requiring floppy disks. Windows XP doesn't support reading RAID drivers from USB mass storage devices (or anything other than a floppy for that matter.)
  • AdmiralKarelia, on 04/02/2009, -0/+16Never have I been more annoyed by computer equipment than when an old roller-mouse decides to slide along the table rather than roll, resulting in a cursor that doesn't move.

    And let me introduce you to the king of ***** roller mice: the "Apple USB Mouse". Remember? That perfectly concentric, hockey-puck-looking little ***** that tried to convince you not to throw it across the room by being all colorful and matching your computer just right.

    ***** you, Apple USB Mouse. *sob* ...just ***** you.
  • semperfidoordi, on 04/02/2009, -1/+16I despise those ***** things
  • kiiwii, on 04/01/2009, -0/+14I'd hate to have a desk next to that closet.
  • veriix, on 04/01/2009, -1/+15savage
  • Philbert, on 04/01/2009, -0/+14I just downloaded a video that was in .rmvb format I was like "WTF is RMVB?" turns out Real Media Variable Bitrate is still going strong, especially in the anime field (my DL was anime related). I had to download Real Alternative just to watch it.
  • Rudegar, on 04/01/2009, -0/+14also the nt line pre windows 95 never depended on dos
  • manstein01, on 04/01/2009, -0/+14Packard Bell (shudder). I was the unfortunate owner of one of those once.
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