The year 2020 has brought us a slew of new headaches and hoops to jump through, all in the pursuit of efficiency.
Unfortunately, efficiency is often just code for 6 tabs open on my smartphone, a forgotten password, and that same smartphone untimely end upon being launched into a nearby concrete slab.
But it wasn't always like this. There was a time when human hands, pens and paper, and eye contact held sway.
Curious to learn more, Redditor Innsmouth_Resident asked:
"What old fashioned way of doing things is better than how they are currently done?"
Whippin' It Old School
"Whipped cream. Just learned how to whip my own - not only is it ridiculously simple, it makes that canned stuff taste like a joke. Plus you can add chocolate powder to it when you whip it yourself."
"Seriously people... whip your own cream."
– beep_bop-boop
At Least I Got a New Username Out of the Deal
"old: send your resume, if it's a match they get in touch."
"new: send your resume, fill out all the information in your resume on our custom site so that you can apply to 1 job and then we will never get back to you even with an automated response, thanks for taking 30 minutes to do all the inane bullsh*t tho."
– rocknin
That App Needed a Few More Dry Runs
"Apparently paper ballots."
"Sucks to be Iowa right now."
– Phranquelyhnne
Where'd the Drama Go?!
"Arguing about things in a bar. Now it's just opinion 1, opinion 2, Google to see who's correct. Light-hearted arguments used to last for hours on end."
– UsernamIsToo
One Edge, No Fussing
"Shaving. I always had problems with shaver burn and with the expensive brand name razors. Then I tried an old fashioned 1 blade safety razor and my morning routine changed forever, for the better."
– sharpieoutofink
Those Were Simpler Times for Whackin' a Guy
"Murder investigations. None of this silly fingerprinting or DNA or surveillance or forensics."
"You used to murder someone, dig a hole in the woods and they wouldn't be found for centuries, much easier to get away with."
– Hamsternoir
Why I'll Never Be a Blacksmith
"Apprenticeships!"
"Most people I speak to feel they learnt more from their first job than from the actual college courses. A training program followed by an apprenticeship sounds amazing to me. Less expensive, incredibly hands-on and to the point."
– sweetpatoot
Trigger Finger at the Blender
"Analogue dials and sliders to adjust settings on appliances!!! They're so much better than the infuriating "digital" way of having to repeatedly press a button over and over to change things such as volume on a stereo or grind size on a coffee grinder."
– DifficultBox9
The Fog Machine Stock Has Taken a Serious Hit
"Practical effects."
"I work in VFX and let me tell you, as good as we are, as advanced as the programs have become, and as amazing as some of colleges have proven to be nothing replaces actual light and textures on real environments."
– whereegosdare84
Outdoor Games
"Kids playing outside. When I was growing up, every kid spent as much time outside as possible,days nights, weekends."
"Before computers and video games"
– RandBurden
Not Any Cleaner
"Vinegar and baking soda can be used to clean so many things. They're way less toxic than a lot of the cleaning chemicals filled with fragrances that do basically the same job."
– eskimopenguin
Written Word
"Writing notes in school (or life) vs. sending texts"
"I have a shoebox full of notes from grade school that my friends gave to me, and it is so much fun to go through them, seeing how we folded them, looking at our handwriting, laughing at drawings, etc. Plus it was an art to pass them in class without the teacher seeing."
– ukelele_pancakes
Getting A Job Has Never Been Harder
"I HATE HATE HATEEEEE online applications! What a complete pain in the arse. 1-2 hours to fill that out and to do some stupid aptitude test at the end that can take another hour is retarded. Just give me a damn paper application, staple my resume to it n move on from there. Max time spent - 30 minutes."
– Hellcat1979
Bread Will Never Be The Same
"Debatably, making bread. The chorleywood method is fast and cheap, but the bread is not as nutritious as bread made traditionally, the texture is gross (I call it "gummy", as it sort of turns an odd sticky texture in my mouth), and just completely lacks flavour."
"And beyond using baker's yeast: There is no beating the flavour and texture of sourdough bread, and there's only two ingredients: flour and water. Maybe salt for flavour. It's magic."
– Corporal_Anaesthetic
Real Life Dating
"Asking people on a date. The idea of just going on tinder and swiping right or left and private IMing people is really sad when you consider how sweet it was for our grandparents to actually buck up the courage to get to know one another face to face and ask each other out in person or through a sweet note."
– Whowhatwherewhenwhy6
The State Of Architecture
"Buildings. We might make things faster and cheaper now, but old bodybuilding are rather sturdy because they were made of better materials. Piggybacking on that, old fashioned architecture was so much better than present day. Buildings don't have a lot of character anymore."
– Deleted User
Briiing, Briiing!
"Speaking on the telephone at least regarding somewhat detailed matters, texting is not efficient and you lose context, nuance, all that stuff we can communicate more quickly orally but not in text."
– h2sniffer
This Is Where I Live
"About a year ago, I filled out a change of address online for the Postal Service."
"After a year of getting some of my mail sent to my parent's address, I filled out a manual change of address for the Postal Service, in person."
"So far, that seems to have worked out a lot better."
– Darth_Zounds
Actually Making Food
"Cooking without so many novel machines; mixers, automatic bread and pasta makers etc. Ofcourse now it's faster and easier, but in my opinion everything tastes better when you prepare it yourself from scratch."
– Zeta_Sunshine
Set for the Nuclear Winter
"Our grandparents canned what they could can from their own vegetable and fruit gardens."
"All winter long, the canned veggies and fruit tasted so much better than what you get in the can today."
– Back2Bach
Sometimes this was, no doubt, cumbersome, and the new virtual alternative is absolutely a step up.
But sometimes the change to a new, supposedly streamlined way has merely added three unneeded steps to do a simple task.
