A lot of modern things are not designed with longevity in mind. I am curious about things that have survived the test of time.<p>Excluding things like your body!
I have a Jura automatic espresso machine that I've used every day, multiple times a day, for many years now. I bought it used and didn't really expect it to last, figuring I'd upgrade in a few months. But several years and cross country moves later, it's still as reliable as the day I got it, even with all the moving parts and built up coffee dust and moisture. I've brought it to a few workplaces and coworkers were also impressed by it and used it throughout the week.<p>It's an incredible piece of Swiss engineering and such a stark contrast to the world of disposable personal electronics I'm used to. Best $800 I ever spent on a machine.
I have a pair of 10x50 Carl Zeiss Jena (East Germany) binoculars. Good optics, physically still in good shape. Bought them in an optical shop in East Berlin in the early '80s.<p>My partner came with a snow shovel that belonged to her grandparents. It's probably my favorite they-don't-build-'em-like-that-anymore object. I'm guessing it's mid last century, '40s, '50s. It's still solid af and easily better than anything I could get at Home Depot nowadays.
For most people this is probably furniture, but specifically for tech, it's a record player-FM radio combo from the 70s/80s with some records dating back to the same period. I also have a Bluetooth receiver hooked up to it as an audio input source, which means I can use it as a speaker system for my digital movie projector.<p>I also have plans to purchase some old landline phones to create a room-to-room phone system with a cheap PBX machine, but that's a long term plan.
Hmmm... my mountain bike (a Specialized Hard Rock) is from 2006 and I still ride it. So that's one candidate. Likewise my truck (a Chevy Suburban) is a 2004 model, so that's pretty old.<p>I have a few fishing rods / reels that date back to the early 90's that are still in my pile that I carry around when I go fishing; although of the two rods I use most often, none are the really old ones.<p>I have at least one toolbox and a few small hand tools (ratchets, wrenches, sockets, etc) that also date back to the early 90's. Most of that stuff is Craftsman brand.<p>My coffee pot (a Mr. Coffee brand drip machine) is from about 2004 or 2005.<p>Nothing else really jump to mind.
I use my Kindle from 2012 every day. It still has weeks of battery life and can connect to WiFi when I need to download a book I purchase with One Click to Kindle.<p>It’s honestly amazing. It’s the most longevity I’ve ever gotten from an electronics purchase.
My house dates to the 1850s, it came with a poorly designed wood cooking stove from the 1970s that we replaced with what was a premium stove circa 1900 which was refurbished circa 2000.
noodle-sieve from 1960's - an old USSR metal sieve with vitreous enamel coating and paintings on it. Love it like my grandma did, too.<p>Second oldest thing i own is a steamer for kirgizian dumplings (manty), with the price - 2 kopejk - embossed into on of the handles. Must be from the 70-80's.<p>And a few other old things, but none of them being older then me, except these two things :) love them and I hope, my kids will love them, too, soma day - if i find a wive whos is not pushed away by these things ahah
A hall mirror from the late 1700s we think: certainly before glass could be manufactured in one piece big enough for a single mirror.<p>After that I have a safe from 1925, so 100 years old this year.