my first computer. it’s about 12 years old
1950s oscilloscope
Got my aunt’s rotary phone in the closet.
Probably my Canon AE-1. Not sure of the exact year, but the model was made from roughly '76 to '84.
My TI-84 calculator.
Don’t know if it counts, but my suitcase record player has vacuum tubes. Still spins but it needs a needle.
My speakers by far
Fridge. Older than me
A Hitachi TRK-3D8 boombox from 1986 - you can see it sitting above my retro PC here.
I got that for 12€ on eBay and that was the best deal I ever made. It has great audio range, the subwoofer packs a mean punch and it looks awesome. It’s the perfect device for a drum&bass enthusiast. Just put some batteries and a Bluetooth tape in and you can even take it outside (it’s quite heavy, though).
Probably either my Olympus OM-1 or my Minolta SR-T 201. Both still work (the Olympus just needs some cleaning and maintenance)
oldest electronic
Electronic WHAT!?! Choose a noun, son.
I suspect this is the (non-word) singular form of the noun “electronics”. If there’s a better term for such words, and you let me know what it is, I will give you my thank.
I have the Commodore64 my family got used when I was 8.
I’ve had it less long, but the sewing machiney mother bought after she left college is older than that.
And I inherited it even more recently, but also have my maternal grandfather’s electric hair clippers from when he was a teenager, around 1960.
And I bought my house most recently of all, but some of the wiring dates back to 1926 (the house itself was built without electricity in 1880).
A panasonic lumix dmc-fz50 that I got from my mum after she got her new camera. It’s from 2007, so not that old, but still, it’s only three years younger than me. It takes pretty good photos for it’s age, especially macro shots. It’s biggest flaws are the display and view finder. The image in the view finder got yellow and foggy with time, to the point it’s almost unusable. And the display is rather dark so it’s no good in sunny weather.
ITT: electrical appliances lacking electronics
What counts as electronics? Guitar speaker with vacuum tubes? Old rotary phone? Lamps so old the electric cords are covered in a hard fabric? If you require solid state / chips and boards rather than things that did the same function without them, you’re excluding the stuff predating that tech.
At least one diode.
Are thermionic diodes allowed or just semiconductor diodes? What about the early crystal diodes (subset of semiconductor). Did the Colossus computer count? Eniac? I guess particular items don’t matter because no individual owns either and I doubt individual built replicas.
Per that definition:
Vacuum tubes (thermionic valves) were the first active electronic components… and by the 1920s, commercial radio broadcasting and telecommunications were becoming widespread and electronic amplifiers were being used in such diverse applications as long-distance telephony and the music recording industry.
So tubes are in! Old lamps are OUT!
Relays?
I have an electric singer sewing machine from 1964 and another one from around 1950. Amazing how well they work.
They will last forever.
The machines probably yes. The little electric motors will probably need replacing eventually though.
