Retro Activities That You Have Never Done – Or Have You?

A poll on "retro activities" you have never done, found out a few interesting things that might surprise you:

Seven percent of people have never used a printer,  10% have never used a wall calendar. and 11% have never bought a *physical* newspaper.

CES was just in Las Vegas with hundreds - maybe thousands - of the newest tech gadgets. You have to wonder if some of these items will one day be considered  "retro activities" your kids, or grandkids? Ok, ok - you're not THAT old. But you have to wonder.

Some of the interesting - and weird -items at CES:

Smart baby strollers that follow you, and give you more power going up a hill, or automatically brake if you're out of control (???).

A car with "mood paint" that supposedly knows your mood, or feelings, and changes color accordingly.

The aromatherapy shower head (which actually sounds really cool).

A cutting board with a screen - so you can watch videos, movies - and follow the recipe, while you dice carrots. And you don't want to  miss the TikTok video of someone pulling their own teeth.

SkyTed - a "disruptive sound absorbing open air mask." I can only say that you HAVE TO SEE how this works this, and you can do that here.

It's 2023, which means that you might have to be in your 40s to even remember a time BEFORE the Internet. There are some people who will NEVER know a time before the internet, because in there lifetime it has always been there.

And then there was some stuff that was only around, and popular for a few years - Friendster, Koosh balls, and Kirk Cameron  - they are all in danger of being forgotten completely.

A new poll asked people how often they did various "retro activities."  It included people of all ages - here's a rundown of what they found. And here's to the day DROPPED CALLS, and paying WAY TOO MUCH FOR PRINTER INK are retro activities!

-Carla Rea

It seems most of us actually have listened to a cassette. Only 6% have not. And if you still have some, bonus for you!

Photo: MarkPiovesan via Getty Images

Ten percent have never taken photos on a *non-disposable* camera that uses film. And then waited two weeks to get the pictures back.

Now it's something that is just left on our doorstep to recycle, but we used to use the Yellow Pages to look up a phone number. 13% of respondents have never used the Yellow Pages, and many didn't know they existed.

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Pay phones (and phone booths) were everywhere at one time. 14% say they never used one.

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"Everybody stay off the phone - I'm getting on the internet!" - in 10 minutes, as soon as it connects...  Surprisingly, 19% have never connected to the internet using a dial-up connection/modem. 

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Twenty six percent of people have NEVER watched a black-and-white television. It was actually very cool.

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A whopping 26% haven't owned, nor opened,  an encyclopedia. And for the record, we had the Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedia.

Photo: Mario Tama via Getty Images

Pagers were the cool thing to have before cell phones. Your bestie would page you "911" so you knew you'd have to get to a payphone right away to call them. Or they'd just send"80085" - which looked just like the actual word on a pager  - and you'd laugh and laugh! WOW - 73% have NEVER EVER used a pager. It was one of the simple pleasures - if you could afford it.

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Ahh yes, the typewriter  - which WAS modern technology at one time - 33% have never touched one! Then along came the Selectric, then the word processor, and BOOM - no more typewriter. Now where's my Whiteout?

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18% haven't used a physical road map. This one is very underappreciated.  The next time you're driving in an unfamiliar area with navigation on your cell phone, imagine trying to do it with a paper map. and then having to FOLD that map back up when you're done! Reading, and folding a road map is now a lost art.

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They really weren't around long, but 16% never used a floppy disc on a computer. Now we have thumb drives, or just simply computers that can store massive amounts of data. But floppy's make great coasters now.