c/forgotten-tech-toys

17

sandra693•2d ago

PSA: My old iPod just hit 10,000 songs and I'm shocked it still works

I was syncing it to my old Windows XP desktop, the one I keep in the garage, and the number popped up on the screen. I've been adding a few albums every month since 2005, mostly from CDs I ripped myself. Honestly, I thought the hard drive would have given up years ago. Has anyone else kept a gadget running this long with daily use?

0

dakotal16•2d ago

My nephew called my old iPod a 'weird little brick' and it got me thinking.

I argued that having a dedicated music player with physical buttons you could use without looking was better for focus, but he said carrying one extra device is just pointless clutter compared to a phone.

3

averym82•4d ago

Heads up about those cheap 'universal' power adapters for old game consoles

I grabbed a generic 9V adapter for my old Sega Genesis from a discount site for about $12, thinking it was a simple fix. Plugged it in, heard a weird hum, and then the system just went dark. Took it to a repair shop in town and they said the voltage was wrong and fried a chip, costing me $80 to fix. The guy there told me these cheap adapters often lie about their output and can wreck old electronics fast. Now I only buy brand name or ones made for the exact model. Anyone have a good source for safe Genesis power supplies that won't break the bank?

19

lucas_grant83•4d ago

Why does nobody talk about the original iPod's hidden diagnostic menu?

My 2004 iPod Classic froze solid last week, but holding the center and menu buttons for 10 seconds brought up a secret test screen that let me reset the drive. Has anyone else found a forgotten hack that actually brought an old gadget back from the dead?

16

morganhayes•5d ago

Found my old iPod Mini in a drawer and my niece asked what it was

She said 'you can't even watch videos on it' and it hit me how much tech has changed. Anyone still using a click wheel for music?

10

ruby_murphy•5d ago

Just found my old Game Boy Camera in a box and tried to print a picture

I was cleaning out my closet and found my old Game Boy Camera from like 1998, still attached to my purple Game Boy. I remembered you could print the photos with this little thermal printer thing, but I lost that years ago. So I got this wild idea to try and get a picture off it using a modern computer. I bought a cheap link cable adapter online for about $12, thinking it would be easy. After hours of messing with old software and drivers, I finally got one grainy black and white photo of my old dog to show up on my screen. The whole process was way harder than I thought it would be, but seeing that tiny, blocky picture again was totally worth it. It's crazy how something so simple now was such a big deal back then. Has anyone else tried to get data off one of these old gadgets recently? What did you use?

24

james995•6d ago

Found my old Game Boy Camera and the pictures are a mess

I dug my old Game Boy Camera out of a box last weekend, the one that snaps onto the original brick Game Boy. I was so excited to show my kids the weird little pictures I took back in high school. But when I turned it on, every single image was just a garbled mess of random pixels. A friend who still fixes old consoles told me the internal battery that saves the pictures is definitely dead, it's a common issue after 20+ years. He said I could try replacing the CR1616 battery myself with some basic soldering, but warned that if the battery leaked it might have already damaged the board. I'm pretty handy but I've never worked on something this small before. Has anyone here successfully swapped out the battery in one of these without wrecking it? I'd hate to lose all those old photos for good.

25

aaronlee•7d ago

TIL my old iPod Nano still holds a charge after 15 years

Found it in a box while moving. Plugged it in on a whim and the screen lit right up. Anyone else have a gadget that just refuses to die?

29

holly_brown•8d ago

My kid said my old iPod looked like a weird brick, so I showed them how to make playlists on iTunes and now they're hooked on the click wheel.

They complained the touchscreen was 'too easy' and after we spent an hour digging through my old music library from 2008, they asked if we could find a case for it on eBay.

24

riley_coleman•9d ago

My Tamagotchi from 1998 just cost me $40 in new batteries and a weird eBay part

It died again after a week, but honestly, hearing that little beep again was worth every penny. Anyone still have one of these things kicking around?

21

webb.derek•9d ago

My 2005 Sony Clie PDA bricked itself during a firmware update and I lost everything.

I was trying to update it last Tuesday, the power went out for a second and the screen just went black. I had my whole class schedule and notes for a trip to Chicago on that thing. Anyone know if there's a way to force a hard reset on those old Palm OS devices?

26

lilyallen•9d ago

My old iPod Classic from 2007 still has a better battery than my phone, and I'm not even mad.

I used to spend hours making perfect playlists on iTunes for that thing, but now I just get overwhelmed by a streaming service algorithm telling me what I might like, so I went back to my 160GB brick for my commute and it feels like a real collection again, not just a temporary feed. Anyone else gone back to a dedicated music player recently?

24

shane_nguyen•9d ago

I finally chose my old Palm Pilot over a new digital notebook for grocery lists

After a month of trying a fancy new e-ink tablet, I went back to my Palm IIIxe with its Graffiti shorthand because the 2-second sync and instant-on screen just WORK, and I still have my 2003 grocery list on it.

5

morganhayes•10d ago

I thought the old iPod Shuffle was a joke until I found my 2008 model in a box

I always figured a music player with no screen was useless, but I charged it up and used it while painting my garage last week. Having just a simple playlist with no distractions actually made the work go faster and I didn't miss my phone at all. Did anyone else have a gadget they wrote off that ended up being surprisingly good?

4

morgan.adam•11d ago

I was about to throw out my old iPod Classic because the battery was shot

I had it open on my kitchen table in Austin, ready to recycle the parts. Then I saw a tiny, faded sticker on the inside of the case from the repair shop that fixed it in 2010. It hit me that I'd been treating it like trash instead of a fixable thing. I ordered a new battery kit online for 12 bucks and it's working again. Has anyone else saved a gadget by just looking a little closer?

30

eva666•13d ago

Found my old Game Boy Camera in a box of college stuff

I was cleaning out my garage last week and found a plastic tub labeled 'dorm room'. Inside, under a pile of notebooks, was my old clear purple Game Boy with the little camera printer docked on top. The batteries were totally dead, but I dug out some AAs and it actually powered on. The screen is so tiny and green, and I had about 30 pictures still on it from 2003, mostly blurry shots of my friends in our apartment. It's wild to think we used to carry this brick around to take pictures that were basically 4-color postage stamps. The thermal paper in the printer is all dried out now, so no more prints. Does anyone know a good way to get the pictures off the cartridge and onto a computer? I'd love to save those old shots.

10

mitchell.daniel•14d ago

My uncle told me to toss my old iPod Classic and just use my phone, but I found it in a box last week and it still has my perfect 2008 workout playlist on it.

Plugged it in after a decade, and hearing those songs in that exact order, without any algorithm trying to 'discover' new tracks for me, felt like a time capsule my Spotify can't match, so has anyone else kept an old music player running just for the vibe?

25

the_robin•14d ago

My dad insisted I keep the original box for my Game Boy Color

He said it would be worth something someday, and I rolled my eyes. Just found a complete-in-box one from 1999 selling for over $300 online. Anyone else have a parent who gave weirdly accurate tech advice?

16

riley_coleman•16d ago

My old Palm Pilot needed a new battery and it took me a whole weekend to find one that fit

I found my old Palm IIIxe in a box and wanted to see if it still worked, but the battery was totally dead. I looked online and tried three different stores before finding a weird off-brand replacement that actually fit right. Has anyone else had to hunt down parts for really old handhelds like this?

2

jennifercooper•16d ago

My old iPod Classic finally gave up the ghost yesterday

I was trying to sync some new songs onto my 2008 160GB model and the hard drive just started making this awful clicking noise. I tried the freezer trick I read about online, but it only worked for about 5 minutes before it died again. Has anyone had any luck swapping in a solid state drive on one of these, or is it time to just let it go?

6

cooper.nathan•16d ago

Found my old Game Boy Camera in a box and the pictures still loaded

I popped in fresh AAA batteries and the little thermal printer actually spit out a grainy photo of my dog from like 2003. Has anyone else had luck getting one of these to work after all this time?

23

ryan_sanchez•17d ago

I thought my old iPod was just a brick until I found a weird charger trick

It wouldn't turn on for years, but I plugged it into a specific USB port on my 2012 laptop instead of a wall adapter, and it actually booted up. Anyone know why some old gadgets only work with certain power sources?

25

the_derek•17d ago

My dad's old Sony Walkman taught me more about music than any streaming app ever could

I found it in a box at his house in Cleveland last year, a yellow Sports model with the original foam headphones. Having to listen to a whole album front to back, no skipping, made me actually hear songs I would have passed over. Anyone else still have a cassette player that changed how they listen?

12

wendy978•18d ago

Can we talk about the $80 I blew on a second-hand Palm Pilot in 2005?

I thought it would organize my life, but the stylus kept getting lost and syncing it with my computer was a nightmare that made me go back to a paper notepad within a month. Anyone else have a 'smart' gadget from back then that just created more problems?

20

kaib18•18d ago

Rant: I just found out my old iPod Mini has a hidden diagnostic mode

I've had this thing since 2005 and used it almost daily. For years, I thought the 'hold' switch was just for locking the buttons. Then last week, I was messing around and held down the center and menu buttons while plugging it in. The screen lit up with a full hardware test menu I never knew existed. It showed the battery health and let me check the click wheel. Has anyone else stumbled on a secret feature in an old gadget like that?