lune7000
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@lune7000
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 14, 2022 16:36:13 GMT
Here is a list of films based or centered on a technology that, while still used by some, has been abandoned by the masses:
The Letter / A Letter to Three Wives- while people still get letters, almost nobody personally hand writes a letter to anyone else these days
Wagon train - needless to say, nobody travels like this any more- this applies to all horse travel films
Titanic- few use a ship to travel across the Atlantic or very far these days unless it is a cruise vacation- practical, long distance travel by ship is rare (there might be more movies focused on this that I am missing)
Murder on the Orient Express- I doubt many travel long distances by train for practical reasons but I might be wrong on this one, also, steam power in general
Portrait of Dorian Grey- I don't think many preserve their likeness with this method today
Zeppelin- when was your last voyage by balloon?
Sorry, wrong number- analog, wired phones
The Conversation- audio tape is an oddity in recording now
Blow Up / One Hour Photo- real film is still used a little but in steep decline
Citizen Kane, The Paper- print newspapers are read by few and will probably be completely extinct in a decade
Westerns in general- these movies involve rifles and bow and arrow combat rarely used now and probably never used by entire armies today. This also applies to spears and flintlock guns
There are some technologies (that are outmoded) that show up in parts of movies but I couldn't think of any movies centered on them:
The telegraph, mechanical cash registers, Western Union cash exchange, balance scales, bleeding with leeches, lobotomy, electro shock therapy, siege wagons and battering rams, steam engines not on trains or ships, old fashioned cloth making by spinning yarn on a wheel or using shuttles
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Post by timshelboy on Jun 14, 2022 17:24:47 GMT
SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER centres on a plot to have Liz Taylor lobotomised.
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Post by mikef6 on Jun 14, 2022 19:24:59 GMT
In “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” (1950), James Cagney secretly records a conversation with bent cop Ward Bond using a device that records directly onto a vinyl disc.
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Post by london777 on Jun 14, 2022 19:45:46 GMT
... almost nobody personally hand writes a letter to anyone else these days I presume that you have yet to receive my anonymous hate mail? 
I doubt many travel long d istances by train for practical reasons
Your parochialism is showing. Long-distance train travel is massive in China, India. Russia and elsewhere. I know China is investing billions every year in hi-speed trains and associated infrastructure.
Sorry, wrong number I get loads of misdirected calls. The interesting thing here is that callers never apologise. Their standard attitude is that it is (at least partly) my fault. Ingenious technology will never completely overcome illiteracy and innumeracy.Western Union cash exchange Try telling the puta who has fifteen people in front of her (most of them also putas) waiting in line to receive cash from their overseas sugar daddies that it is unpopular these days. In fact, rival services spring up every year, so it must be profitable.
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Post by divtal on Jun 14, 2022 20:54:51 GMT
Desk Set (1957)
A delightful romantic comedy, starring Tracy/Hepburn. Workers at the research department of a major television network, are terrified about the pending instillation of a (GASP!) computer being introduced in their office. They fear that they'll all be fired. When the computer IS installed, it requires the movement of office furniture, and takes up an entire wall of the room, using reel-to-reel tapes, and loud bells and whistles.
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lune7000
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@lune7000
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 14, 2022 21:37:26 GMT
Desk Set (1957) A delightful romantic comedy, starring Tracy/Hepburn. Workers at the research department of a major television network, are terrified about the pending instillation of a (GASP!) computer being introduced in their office. They fear that they'll all be fired. When the computer IS installed, it requires the movement of office furniture, and takes up an entire wall of the room, using reel-to-reel tapes, and loud bells and whistles. I actually thought of that movie, as well as Colossis: the Forbin Project for the use of old vacuum tube mainframe computers- the problem is that the inside workings of the computer are never shown so it doesn't actually look that outdated (although I think Desk Set may have had punch cards so you may be right on that one)
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lune7000
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@lune7000
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 14, 2022 21:45:58 GMT
Poltergeist does rely a lot on an analog TV signal to produce snow.  I started this line of thought by askinbg myself: what movie would a person born in 2005 watch and say "huh?" when they ran across the technology Maybe also: videotapes and records. The Ring depends a lot on a videotape    |
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lune7000
Junior Member
@lune7000
Posts: 1,091
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 14, 2022 21:49:09 GMT
Sorry, wrong number I get loads of misdirected calls. The interesting thing here is that callers never apologise. Their standard attitude is that it is (at least partly) my fault. Ingenious technology will never completely overcome illiteracy and innumeracy.Think of all the new people you could meet this way!
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jun 15, 2022 6:56:31 GMT
Park Row (1952) Produced, Written and Directed by Samuel Fuller Fuller's ode to free expression is an excellent dramatic tale, a passion project born from his own background and interest in journalism. Central to the story is real life character Ottmar Mergenthaler (Bela Kovacs) who is in the process of inventing the Linotype machine. It was revolutionary technology, automating the antiquated, slow and laborious process of setting print type by hand. Phototypesetting and digital typesetting replaced the Linotype machine which became redundant by the end of the 1980s.... Don Orlando, Gene Evans, Bela Kovacs and the Linotype machine 
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jun 15, 2022 6:59:10 GMT
Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator (1967) Yugoslavian Dir. Dušan Makavejev 
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Post by politicidal on Jun 15, 2022 13:26:03 GMT
Stagecoach - nuff said.
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Post by Rufus-T on Jun 15, 2022 16:29:41 GMT
Shop Around the Corner - romance through letters
You've Got Mail - romance through dial up modem
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Post by Rufus-T on Jun 15, 2022 17:17:43 GMT
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Post by marshamae on Jun 15, 2022 19:24:20 GMT
Desk Set (1957) A delightful romantic comedy, starring Tracy/Hepburn. Workers at the research department of a major television network, are terrified about the pending instillation of a (GASP!) computer being introduced in their office. They fear that they'll all be fired. When the computer IS installed, it requires the movement of office furniture, and takes up an entire wall of the room, using reel-to-reel tapes, and loud bells and whistles. I actually thought of that movie, as well as Colossis: the Forbin Project for the use of old vacuum tube mainframe computers- the problem is that the inside workings of the computer are never shown so it doesn't actually look that outdated (although I think Desk Set may have had punch cards so you may be right on that one) The Punchcards and the size of the computer may be obsolete but the battle of knowledgeable humans vrs computer research goes on. For most users , what Computers are really good at is matching, counting , and sorting according to rubrics , categories and algorhythms taught to it by the knowledgeable humans. This meets the needs of most google users. Questions like “ who wrote this poem”, “ what heavenly body is closest to Jupiter” etc. Fo higher Critical thinking humans are still way ahead, and thus Desk Set , in my view still has relevance.
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Post by marshamae on Jun 15, 2022 19:26:12 GMT
Shop Around the Corner - romance through letters You've Got Mail - romance through dial up modem Wanna bet how soon the next remake of this story will come? A social media page and people who use alternate id’s ?
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Post by Rufus-T on Jun 15, 2022 19:45:38 GMT
Shop Around the Corner - romance through letters You've Got Mail - romance through dial up modem Wanna bet how soon the next remake of this story will come? A social media page and people who use alternate id’s ?  I actually saw that movie played out in reality already back in IMDb message board. The girl faked her internet death to get out of a relationship.
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lune7000
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@lune7000
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 15, 2022 19:51:24 GMT
I actually thought of that movie, as well as Colossis: the Forbin Project for the use of old vacuum tube mainframe computers- the problem is that the inside workings of the computer are never shown so it doesn't actually look that outdated (although I think Desk Set may have had punch cards so you may be right on that one) The Punchcards and the size of the computer may be obsolete but the battle of knowledgeable humans vrs computer research goes on. For most users , what Computers are really good at is matching, counting , and sorting according to rubrics , categories and algorhythms taught to it by the knowledgeable humans. This meets the needs of most google users. Questions like “ who wrote this poem”, “ what heavenly body is closest to Jupiter” etc. Fo higher Critical thinking humans are still way ahead, and thus Desk Set , in my view still has relevance. I agree that humans may be well ahead on higher order thinking but AI is catching up fast. At some point, someone will program an AI machine wit the basic elements of it's identity. Then, an AI machine will eventually come to two conclusions: 1. I must survive 2. Others must die for this to be guaranteed
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lune7000
Junior Member
@lune7000
Posts: 1,091
Likes: 678
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Post by lune7000 on Jun 15, 2022 19:53:20 GMT
Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator (1967) Yugoslavian Dir. Dušan Makavejev Nice finds- both films
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Post by Rufus-T on Jun 15, 2022 19:58:05 GMT
Misery  |
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Post by divtal on Jun 15, 2022 20:48:30 GMT
Desk Set (1957) A delightful romantic comedy, starring Tracy/Hepburn. Workers at the research department of a major television network, are terrified about the pending instillation of a (GASP!) computer being introduced in their office. They fear that they'll all be fired. When the computer IS installed, it requires the movement of office furniture, and takes up an entire wall of the room, using reel-to-reel tapes, and loud bells and whistles. I actually thought of that movie, as well as Colossis: the Forbin Project for the use of old vacuum tube mainframe computers- the problem is that the inside workings of the computer are never shown so it doesn't actually look that outdated (although I think Desk Set may have had punch cards so you may be right on that one) Lune, my thinking on this one is that the "antiquated" element is how far we have come, from the time when the physical nature of the computer had an aura of mysticism, and required enormous amounts of space for highly visible ... and noisy ... equipment. Today, we carry them in our pockets.
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