Poll- Established Technology or Cutting Edge?

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I am constantly torn between my love of new technology and my tendency to stay with my current technological tools. I usually end up staying with old technology way past the majority trend. I have had more than one platform die and force me to change. For example, Commodore computers vs. Windows (etc.) and Palm OS PDA's vs. newer smartphones. I was an early adopter of computers (1980's) and PDA's, but once I found a system that worked, I resisted change.

Aspies tend to avoid change, but many are technophiles. Which way do you go? Are you conflicted too?

My preference is for new technology, but I have never been able to afford early adoption.

I'm nostalgic toward the record player, the Pentium II, the open speaker Sony walkman with radio tuner and I've still not got a dishwasher or air conditioner. I remember when Zip Drives went out. I could have cried. Does anyone remember magnetic tapes for PC's? They were beautiful.

I am nostalgic about many old technologies. I love going to thrift stores to look at the old computers and electronics. It is like a museum of vintage technology. I go along with you about record players (grew up before CD's) I gave my old turntable to my brother on the other side of the country, but I still can't bring myself to get rid of my vinyl despite having no way to play them. I also had an 8-track player, but I am not nostalgic about it!

My first computer (Timex Sinclair 1000) used magnetic tapes exclusively for storage. Computer tapes beautiful? To each his own, I guess they were better than nothing. I can't say I miss tapes (too slow and unreliable) but I do feel nostalgic about the TS1000. I did manage to bring myself to sell it, so I could buy a Commodore Vic 20. What an upgrade! Sound, color, and an actual keyboard! The TS1000 only had a uniform surface with numbers and letters printed on it without tactile feedback!

I did have a Zip drive too. They were great before recordable discs came out, but I can't say I missed them. What is it that you miss? The way they looked? The marketing? (Their adverts were kind of fun.)

I used to have a TS1000 (with 16k memory cartridge upgrade!) and later a Commodore 64. I used these to teach myself how to program in BASIC. I somehow failed this class in high school, because the instructor would say to write a program that did X, and I would write a program that did X but not use the specific commands the instructor wanted (GOTO not GOSUB even though the GOSUB program was much more efficient). Also, I could visualize how to make a program flow and so never did flow charts.

High school was crappy that way. D:

I don't really miss record players or computer tapes. I do not miss the experience of spending 20 minutes or more loading programs from tape on my C64.

I do kind of miss my TS1000. My sister's boyfriend threw it away for some bizarre reason in the early 90s, because he was a jerk and I lived 200 miles away.

I've been meaning to buy a typewriter for $2 at a thrift store. The good thing about new technology is that old technology is so affordable now. It's maybe $100 for a large format camera. OK maybe $300. But that's cheap compared to a $1000 digital SLR that has lower quality photos.
Those ZENIT film SLR's could survive centuries and still work. They survived the collapse of the Berlin Wall. I have two old Soviet models. One loads from the bottom. Oh and I have 3 Kodak Box Brownies. They're the cutest little cameras you ever did see. Point and Shoots for the 1920's.

I usually buy Apple stuff because they rarely use the latest thing right away, but when they do use it, they use it in a way that works. If I buy some flashy new gadget with a new feature which won't work at the moment - like NFC on the Nexus S, for example - it's there, but why? - then there's no point in having it. But when Apple add NFC to the iPhone, they're making it work for purchases in their own shops as well as other ones. So it'll actually be useful for something.

So, I like new technology, but only when it's been implemented well, and the only company which can do that at the moment seems to be Apple.

Maybe he threw it away because he thought it was an unwanted doorstop! Seriously, I hate it when anyone throws out something of mine. Meltdown city! I did a little Basic programming on the TS1000 (animation, etc) but mostly on my Commodore Vic20 and C64. I once wrote a program in Basic to output a conclusion when the user fed in two premises (based on the syllogism.)

I know next to nothing about cameras and photography, but I appreciate good photography. My sister was given a vintage camera (I can't remember the brand) which had the type of viewfinder the user looked at from about 2 feet above. That aspect was really fun to play with!

I thought Apple did all the innovation and everyone else imitated Apple! I am not familiar with "NFC" or the "Nexus S," but I think I see your point. Apple invented the Personal Digital Assistant (Newton) but since it didn't catch on, they waited until they could unleash the iPhone (and iPod Touch) on the world to re-enter the market. Once they decided the world was ready, they revolutionized the industry. Palm popularized PDA's (after Newton died) but Apple came close to perfecting them, leaving the Palm OS platform close to extinct. When my wife's Palm PDA stopped working, we had to decide if we wanted to switch platforms or find some used Palm hardware. We picked up a few of the Palm Treo 700p smartphones that we are currently using as PDA's. We might later get one of them hooked up to be used as a cell phone. Our current cell phone is running Windows Mobile version 6, which is also practically extinct.

i LOVE new stuff! lol
i just wish i could afford it! >.<"

i do my best though to keep up to date on all the latest products that come out.

p.s.
rocky! what's the movie called with those aliens from your avatar photo?
lol i was looking for the name of the movie a couple months ago, and it was driving me INSANE not being able to figure it out.
i still can't remember.

The movie is Coneheads:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coneheads_%28film%29

But they started as an SNL sketch:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coneheads

thank you!

I was away from the keyboard. Thanks for answering, Verdandi! To elaborate (at the risk of hijacking the thread) Dan Aykroyd is the head conehead in the avatar. He is one of the few people in the entertainment industry who has publicly declared himself to have had Asperger's.

I like to use mostly established, some cutting edge, and some obsolete, or technologies that are not in favour anymore for economic or convenience reasons.

Technology is boring. I work with it everyday. People are far more interesting.