Do You Still Bring Outdated Tech When You Travel?

by joeheg

I was listening to Sirius XM while driving to work and they brought up an interesting topic.

What’s the most outdated tech you still use?

I felt the need to make this question relatable to travel so I wanted to ask, “What’s the most outdated technology you bring with you when you travel?”

For me, It’s my mid-2011 MacBook Air.

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Even while flying on an American 737-800, it was a challenge to use this laptop on a plane.

I’ve already replaced the battery so that I can work more than 1 hour while hooked up to Wi-Fi without being plugged in. I can’t have more than three browser windows open at the same time without the computer slowing to a crawl, but I can deal.

I thought I would be able to use my new iPad Pro as a laptop replacement but there are too many things I need to do with YMMV’s website that I can’t do without a keyboard or mouse even after multiple updates to the iPad OS. Bringing my ancient laptop with me for trips more than 1-2 days is worth the extra weight, considering how much quicker I can work on a computer instead of a tablet. I’ve also been able to connect to Wi-Fi networks with my computer that I couldn’t access on the iPad.

If we still brought a camera with us on vacations, I’d have no doubt that would also be on the list of outdated tech. For most of our trips, our phones have cameras that are better than our old cameras. Sure, we have a waterproof camera that we’d trust taking if we’d be going underwater instead of using the phone. Moreso because if the camera gets wet, we’ll still have our phones to take pictures with for the rest of the trip 🙂

While I know there are some camera geeks who can’t travel without their digital SLR camera, I’ve left that behind. I can deal with phone pictures if I don’t have to lug around a huge camera frame with me for the whole trip.

So, is there any outdated technology you bring with you when you’re traveling? Please tell me I’m not the only one 🙂

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

9 comments

Kathy July 14, 2020 - 5:01 pm

Nope, don’t travel with outdated equipment. I am, however, trying to travel with less equipment or lighter equipment. I can get away most of the time with my phone (Pixel 6P) and my tablet (Pixel C) – yes, I’m Android/Google person, what can I say 🙂 Bonus with the Pixel C is that it has a bluetooth keyboard and I carry a bluetooth mouse to make things a bit easier for navigating the web.

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John July 14, 2020 - 5:13 pm

I still bring my old ipod with me. That’s ipod with an o. I have a samsung phone and I love having all of my music in my ipod. The last time I went through security the TSA lady saw my ipod and said OH, OLD SCHOOL. WHY ARE YOU STILL USING THAT? LOL

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Ely Tandeter July 15, 2020 - 3:11 pm

I carry around a dual system portable DVD player with my own DVD’s + noice cancelation headphones. Many times what I have beats the hell out of what is on offer in the airplane entertainment system, specially if flying coach (plus it doesn’t shut down when the pilot makes an announcement).

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Billy Bob September 26, 2021 - 6:49 pm

Eight-track player and cartridges in a whole separate piece of luggage. I’ll never tire of that ‘ka-chunk’ right in the middle of a song.
Seriously though, sometimes I get odd looks when firing up my fairly recent ultra-portable laptop in a lounge or occasionally on a plane when they see it runs Windows 7. I had to scour GitHub for the right driver for this otherwise ‘unsupported’ Intel chip, but it runs great and best of all: No Windows 10. 🙂

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joeheg September 26, 2021 - 9:30 pm

Do you also get the constant warnings that Windows 7 is no longer supported by Microsoft?

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derek September 26, 2021 - 7:17 pm

I bring at least 2 outdated technologies. One is the pen and paper. Another is a back up emergency flip phone. The main phone is a smartphone.

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DaninMCI September 27, 2021 - 5:47 am

I would still bring my old Ipod but the battery isn’t up to snuff. I guess I could replace it. I would think kindle’s would be on this list.

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Jose Pereira September 27, 2021 - 8:54 am

I always bring my fax machine and my sony Walkman. Sometimes I bring my typewriter too, so I can send formal faxes.

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Vivian September 28, 2021 - 12:13 am

Does disposable camera count as outdated technology? I bring those on my beach vacations. As time goes on it’s becoming harder and so so expensive to develop the film.

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