Pagers
this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2025
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Hospitals use pagers because the frequency band they run on is better at penetrating walls. Shorter waves carry more data, but are easily blocked by walls. Pagers don’t need a lot of data, so they use really long waves.
And hospitals are built like bunkers, to avoid the potential need to evacuate patients during an emergency. Things like fire breaks between individual rooms, earthquake protections, being strong enough to stand up during a hurricane, etc… The goal is to be able to shelter in place instead of evacuating, because a mass evacuation of bedridden patients who all need monitoring equipment would be a logistical nightmare.
But this also means hospitals are really good at blocking wireless signals, because the walls are all super thick and sturdy. So they use pagers, which use long waves and can reliably penetrate the bunker-like walls. You don’t want a doctor to miss an emergency call because they were sitting in the basement; Hospitals need a wireless connection that reliably works every time. And pagers just happen to fit that specific niche.
Seems like a good level of digital freedom actually. Be connected, but only just enough.
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It surprises me how little stick-built houses have changed in the last 50 years or so, at least in the USA.
Phone numbers
A decade ago, I thought phone numbers would soon die out. Instead, the most popular messaging apps use them as identifiers and adoption of those in North America is poor.
An Ikarus 256 was used as a train replacement bus in normal traffic in Hungary yesterday
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Mirrors on cars.
I mean, logically I know why, but it just feels so weird and out of place in the 21st century.
Like you got this high tech vehicle with a bunch of computers inside and a lot of screens/displays, radios, GPS, “assisted driving”, then you see this mirror that’s thousands of years old and not some advanced 360 radar system.
I know that a mirror isn’t gonna fail like electronics do, so its better reliability, but still feel odd seeing old tech and new tech merged.
I spend a fair bit of time on construction sites, and cameras have one huge issue compared to mirrors: They're one-way.
With a mirror, I can see the driver in the mirror. I can make eyecontact and confirm that they've seen me. With a camera, I have no idea if they've seen me. Maybe they can see more, but if they happen not to be looking, I have no way to tell.
And our stupid road regulations don't allow for both.
You better take a long look in the mirror before you make a controversial statement like that.
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A lot of production industry still runs on PLC from the 90s or older and uses DOS supervision systems. They would continue using it but are usually forced to upgrade once they run out of spare parts and / or staff that can maintain it.
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The sewing machine. Like we got 3d printers than can give me whatever I want in 20 hrs but I still got to fight with a sewing machine to stitch an outfit. Like why no polyester clothes printer?
For one, polyester fabric and clothes are just terrible
Two, technically you can 3d print a chainmail shirt, but it'd suck to wear normally
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there's still new passenger airliners which use old fashioned control cables over fly by wire
How did it go again?
If it is Boeing, I ain't going!
Pager and satellite phone. Mostly a niche usecase for health workers and remote location settlement respectively.
General Aviation is still using magnetos. The typical GA airplane is hilariously primitive.
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