Technical features, you can really do without?

[scottyrocks]

Okay, so I have a 1940s rotary phone. If I want it to work on a modern land line, what's the simplest thing I can add so I can dial out, and it'll work?

 

[LizzieMaine]

If you have a plain-old-telephone-service landline -- not a cable-internet-phone bundle deal -- all you have to do is add a modular cord to the phone and plug it in. POTS service is still backwards-compatible for pulse dialing. There are specific instructions on how to do this here.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Any technology that has voice commands and therefore is always "listening." Too easy to hack.

I'm looking at you, Alexa.

I find that they tend to be "hard of hearing" because you have to shout at the top of your lungs to make it work.

 

[scottyrocks]

If you have a plain-old-telephone-service landline -- not a cable-internet-phone bundle deal -- all you have to do is add a modular cord to the phone and plug it in. POTS service is still backwards-compatible for pulse dialing. There are specific instructions on how to do this here.

I guess I should have been more specific. We have Fios cable package - TV, inet, and phone.

I was going to ask if you knew of any 'remedy' for that, but I did a little research, myself, and came up with some interesting results, which were mixed:

https://marco.org/2010/12/14/rotary-fios
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.dcom.telecom/GvmAVLPLjmU
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19042943-Does-a-rotary-phone-still-work-on-a-FiOS-or-U-Verse-line

There are a lot of variables, often depending on the area of the country you are in, what package you may have, and if you asked for anything specific because you are 'in the know,' which I was not.

I also have to see what jack my phone has. It's been a while since I have lived in a place where it worked.

 

[sheeplady]

I find that they tend to be "hard of hearing" because you have to shout at the top of your lungs to make it work.

I have two young kids. I have plenty of practice with a "firm" tone of voice.

 

[tonyb]

I find that they tend to be "hard of hearing" because you have to shout at the top of your lungs to make it work.

Among my irritations with the damn thing is that it "heard" its name when it hadn't been uttered and commenced to disturbing us.

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

I do without a lot of technical things. I mostly live an analog life. Apart from updating my mobile phone.

I recently learned about 5 G and the lies behind it. Once this becomes the norm I am totally going to buy all of my items from the thrift store or online resellers.
5G - tell anyone and everyone about it. Make them aware it exists at the very least!
Take Back Your Power!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Plenty of tech out there I don't have any use for. I always hated power steering when I drove: left me feeling totally out of control of the car. Far too light - I like something you have to make deliberate and determined moves with. It's a feature I'd go out of my way to avoid were I to ever own a car again.

I was fan of classic power-steering, but with the upcoming of the newer electronic-supported power-steerings with variable strengths (!), since the 2000s, they killed it!

I'm happy, that I'm not more a car-driver. I don't want steerings, feeling like driving Playstation.

 

[scottyrocks]

My current car has electric power steering. It doesn't feel any different than hydraulic power steering.

Unless electronic power steering is different from electric power steering.

 

[Fading Fast]

Maybe not really a "technical feature" you can live without, but in the spirit of the thread's "just because we can, doesn't mean we should" sentiment:

 

[scottyrocks]

I'm a purest. I like them separate.^

 

[Fading Fast]

I'm a purest. I like them separette.^

My point exactly.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's no need of that.

 

[Edward]

I do without a lot of technical things. I mostly live an analog life. Apart from updating my mobile phone.

I recently learned about 5 G and the lies behind it. Once this becomes the norm I am totally going to buy all of my items from the thrift store or online resellers.
5G - tell anyone and everyone about it. Make them aware it exists at the very least!
Take Back Your Power!

I found that guy's photo online, I wonder if he's a member here?

 

[Lean'n'mean]

I am Welsh and have a Welsh accent.

Commiserations.

 

[GHT]

My current car has electric power steering. It doesn't feel any different than hydraulic power steering.

Unless electronic power steering is different from electric power steering.

Electric power steering won't 'feel' any different, but if the sensors fail you will soon know about it. Back when I ran my distribution company, one of our Mercedes vans kept going into, what was termed as, limp mode. This is when the onboard computer detects a problem and reduces the speed to prevent damage. An auto electrician found the problem was a sensor. When the driver puts his foot down on the accelerator pedal he's not in contact with the engine, although it feels like it underfoot. The driver is operating an electric sensor that automatically feeds the fuel into the engine. The problem fixed I thought no more of it until the electrician said that Mercedes had the technology, and had already tested it, to do the same with the braking system. Not being in touch, either by cable or hydraulics, with the brakes, freaks me out.

 

[scottyrocks]

Yep, drive-by-wire. Great when it works . . .

 

[Edward]

Sounds like a classic case of unnecessary additional technology - or tempting fate as it should be called....

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's pretty terrifying to have the accelerator return spring break on a completely analog car, but at least it's easy enough to rig up a replacement once you've managed to come to a stop.

 

[tonyb]

It's pretty terrifying to have the accelerator return spring break on a completely analog car, but at least it's easy enough to rig up a replacement once you've managed to come to a stop.

I'm no kind of mechanic. But even I could diagnose and address most problems that came up with the cars I owned in my early driving days.

New cars don't breakdown with the frequency the old ones did, but when they do, be prepared to shell out some serious scratch. Very rarely is the problem something your average motorist can make right on the side of the road.