Additional Coverage:
- 16 Obsolete Office Supplies and Devices That Have Disappeared From Desks (blog.cheapism.com)
Remember These Office Dinosaurs?
The modern workplace is in constant flux. Just five years ago, most of us worked in actual offices – a concept that feels almost quaint now.
Technology’s relentless march forward leaves once-innovative office tools gathering dust. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of these relics.
Typewriters: Unless you’re channeling your inner Hemingway, these click-clacking behemoths are about as relevant as a rotary phone. Computers and smartphones, with their talk-to-text capabilities, have long since rendered them obsolete.
Rolodexes: Remember the satisfying spin of a Rolodex? These contact-keeping contraptions have been replaced by the digital address books on our phones.
Mimeograph Machines: Before photocopiers became ubiquitous in the 70s and 80s, mimeograph machines and their messy stencils were the go-to for making copies. Now, they’re just a nostalgic memory.
Pencil Sharpeners: From the hand-cranked behemoths of yesteryear to the electric wood-chippers, pencil sharpeners have gone the way of the pencil itself. In today’s digital world, who needs to sharpen a pencil anyway?
Dot Matrix Printers: The distinctive whine of a dot matrix printer is a sound few offices hear anymore. Inkjet and laser printers have long since taken over.
Physical Ledgers: While some accountants may still cling to the tactile satisfaction of handwritten entries, accounting software has largely digitized the world of finance.
Microfilm: Popular in the mid-20th century for its space-saving storage capabilities, microfilm and its clunky viewers have vanished from the modern office landscape.
Pagers: While a few holdouts might still cling to these buzzing relics (we’re looking at you, surgeons), cell phones have rendered pagers largely obsolete.
Dictaphones: These early voice recorders were once essential for capturing thoughts and dictating correspondence. Now, our smartphones can transcribe our voices directly into text.
Carbon Paper: Before the magic of “Control+C,” carbon paper was the messy solution for making duplicates. A far cry from today’s effortless copy-paste functions.
Floppy Disks: These once-ubiquitous storage devices, the namesake of the “save” icon, have been eclipsed by flash drives and cloud storage.
Teletypes: Essentially typewriters that could send messages, teletypes paved the way for the instant communication we enjoy today with text messaging.
Hole-Punchers: While the hole-puncher itself remains a functional tool, its purpose has diminished in the digital age, where the need for physical binders and paper organization has greatly decreased.
Mechanical Time Clocks: Many workplaces have traded the satisfying “thunk” of a mechanical time clock for the efficiency of online time management systems.
Pneumatic Tubes: While the idea of sending messages whooshing through tubes sounds like something out of a futuristic cartoon, email has proven to be a more practical solution.
Fax Machines: While not entirely extinct, the fax machine’s relevance continues to dwindle in our increasingly digital world.
Read More About This Story:
- 16 Obsolete Office Supplies and Devices That Have Disappeared From Desks (blog.cheapism.com)