People Share Which Outdated Things Are Actually Still Widely Used

School First.

A lot school books and supplies. When I went to school we had world maps that still contained countries that hadn't existed for a decade. Taumo

Bank Hours.

The US ACH (automated clearing house) electronic funds transfer system. The same architecture that was used to build the system in the 70's is still in use today. And it still closes down for the weekends to coincide with bank hours. Modern computers don't need to close on the weekends. Homitu

Victorian-Era.

A lot of rural railways in the UK still use Victorian-era semaphore signals and tokens to ensure train safety.

At the same time we've retro-fitted an entire line in mid-Wales with the latest European cab signalling system. crucible

Best calculator ever.

Graphing calculators in high school math and above.

Damn I miss my TI-89, best calculator ever! clamthang85

I needed a graphing calculator for a class, but I don't really like TI. Bought a HP prime g2.

Best calculator ever.

It's hard to understand why TI has ~93% market share when every other brand makes better products. It's mainly because of their contracts with school systems.

I don't like TI calculators at all ntnsrydvr

Job Search.

The way we apply to jobs online. Everyone is using a different system to do the same thing. You'd think there would be a better system for applying to jobs by now than to be filling out an endless amount of the same forms and multiple choice questions. PrettyNothing

​Polygraph Tests

Polygraph tests

Not *widely* used, but used way more than it should be. AromaticPolygon

And the amount they should be used is zero. They're pseudoscience.

If they're being used not to detect lies, but coerce a confession, that's still bad. We shouldn't be coercing confessions.

If they're being used as employment gatekeeping for federal agencies - again, pseudoscience. They shouldn't be used.RockFourFour

The Underbust...

The +4 method of measuring bra sizes.

Edit: for those who don't know, it's the method a lot of shops use to make women fit in to a lot smaller selection of bras, by adding 4 inches on to your underbust measurement. Reddit

Fax It! 

Fax machines. Reddit

When I started working in the medical field I was surprised to see how heavily they still rely on fax, laboring under the delusion that it's safer and more secure.

It's such a pain trying to send and receive 40 or 50 faxes per day with any degree of reliability. It's absolute chaos. We use a crappy fax server and it eats up and destroys about third of incoming messages.

Plus the damn faxes get sent all over the hospital and they just get left on printers and copiers everywhere so there's confidentiality drama and sometimes you don't get your fax for like two weeks. effieokay

Explored.

Internet Explorer. TwiNighty

I had a spat with someone at an online scrabble site. I am like the only player in their 20s.

We were talking about browsers and they claimed IE was the most popular browser in the UK. I sent them proof that refuted this and she blocked me. lol derawin07

"Catch you on the flipside."

The phrase "Catch you on the flipside." It's an old phrase back from when DJ's would let a vinyl play all the way through so you wouldn't hear them talk again until they had to flip it. Being_grateful

School Site. 

Every school website.

dailyfield

After graduating in 2010 I was desperate for work and looked on my alma mater's jobs page. There was a huge photo of me and my friend that heavily implied we were employed and happy graduates.

boatyboatwright

Bank A to Bank B....

The US banking system. 3-5 days for a transfer, really?

Edit: yes, we have things like Zelle here in the US but that is only useful for transfers typically under $1000. If you send larger transfers, hurry up and wait. I've accepted it and understand banks are using it to skim more money out of the consumer but come on. It's getting old and is a joke.

Edit 2: Of course, small transfers are fine with something like Zelle but when you need larger amounts your screwed. Also, some can't seem to fathom banking at multiple institutions. Yeah, internal transfers are instant but from Bank A to Bank B, we have to play the ACH games. I tried transferring a few thousand dollars recently from one account to another, not the same bank, and it took 4 days and only after that fourth day did they tell me it failed. Nice, very nice.

namestom

Incandescent....

Incandescent lights. If I'm doing my math correctly, LEDs use 1% of the energy of them, and they last much, much longer.

Edit: not 1%, but 10%. My math was not correct.

x96malicki

Incandescent are simply still cheaper to purchase. People are bad at seeing savings over time or really forward thinking in general.

ABetterKamahl1234

Until LEDs are as cheap as a 99 cent bulb and can still light up the room and last as long, they won't be eliminated.

Number Identity.

Social security numbers. Why do I have a static generated number that is given to me that I am told not to give out, but at the same time anyone that pays me needs it to report taxes. On top of that you can't get a bank account, house (rental or mortgage), phone, or any line of credit without it. If anyone gets their hands on it, which is easy, then you are in trouble. That person basically has your life's password.

Why don't they do one time codes. Just let you either go on the site or have one mailed that you can keep on hand, or even a batch of them, then if someone tries to reuse it it will get rejected. There are several ways to add a layer of verification onto it but they don't. On top of that, a lot of places use last 4 of social to validate you which also means hardly anything.

And while we're at it, can we please stop using public info (previous addresses, family names) for verification? That makes security WORSE if a password fails then you let them in anyway via info they can look up.

permalink_save

2 Stroke Scooters.

I'm Indian, and I'll give an example from here - 2-stroke scooters. But, a small clarification - they're used but not that widely, yet if you put together their number in an 'Indian' context, it's gonna be significant, nonetheless.

These sold like hot cakes from the early till late 90's, but once bikes got their footing in the 2-wheeler segment, it all went downhill for them, and finally production was discontinued by the manufacturers. At its peak, owning a scooter was sort of a status symbol.

LegendaryFalcon

Unhackable. 

The US Military still uses 8 inch floppy disks on outdated IBM computers to run the nuclear missile systems. It's because they are incredibly hard to hack. The computers are essentially air-gapped and the old IBM computers are reliable. If the military has extra parts and 8 inch floppy disks to transfer the data to avoid degradation then theres no reason as to why they cant use the same tech to run the system for another 40 years.

irishwolf1995

It works if you work it.....

AA. The program is like 70 years old and in that time we have learned SO MUCH about addiction and proper treatment but AA has essentially stayed the same. Normally I wouldn't care if AA was some tiny niche thing but in the states we treat it like is the best/only way for alcoholics and drug addicts to recover but its success rate is about 8% and the WHO doesn't even place AA in the top 25 for recovery programs. I don't really care that AA is behind the times, but I would like it to be seen for the ineffective program it is. Watched too many of my friends and family relapse or die and go in and out of AA rooms thinking that was the only way to stay sober.

Bigguybroadway2020

Fall Hours.

Daylight saving time.

oldmankinser

It was decided that from 2021 all EU member states will stop participating in daylight savings "clock turning." Each country can choose to stay in summer time or winter time.

GramatuTaurenis

EMS Folks.

For my EMS folks: full spinal immobilization for every major trauma.

This article from the journal of emergency medical services explains it a lot better than I can: https://www.jems.com/articles/print/volume-40/issue-11/2015-buyer-s-guide/an-evidence-review-of-prehospital-spinal-immobilization.html

The TL;DR is that the traditional use of rigid backboards and C-collars a lot of time to more harm than good. This being especially in elderly patients.

Additional source: I work for a fire department with spinal clearance protocols, which are a series of quick examinations to determine if a patient truly needs spinal/neck immobilization.

APrettyLittleLemon

Beep... Beep...

Pagers, I think doctors still use it.

TonyMontana1980

Pagers remain useful for three reasons:

1. Radio signals that pagers receive will penetrate more deeply into buildings.
2. SMS is subject to congestion. Ever tried to send a message on New Years Eve and have it take hours to be delivered? Cell networks guarantee delivery, but not timeliness.
3. EDIT: As several people pointed out. Battery life is WAY better on pagers - and they can take regular batteries, so they are good to go again in seconds.

So pagers are useful because in an emergency, being able to send a signal to harder to reach places and send it instantly when the Cell network is either a) damaged, b) heavily congested or c) both, are very useful features.EDIT: Also, thank you for the gold, I didn't expect this little comment to be valued. Much appreciated.

TheRealRabidBunny