Does it really matter that a kid doesn't know what a dial-up tone sounds like? Every generation has stuff the next one missed. My dad tried to explain eight-track tapes to me and I zoned out because I had a Walkman. The kid not knowing about AOL CDs is no different from me not knowing how a rotary phone switchboard worked. It's not some big loss of history, it's just how time works. He'll feel old someday when his kid asks why people used to text instead of just thinking at each other.

Totally with you on the "nothing fancy to get in the way" thing. @charles_coleman that part about the thin blade sliding through tomatoes instead of squishing them says it all. My grandma had this old paring knife with a wooden handle worn down to nothing and it did more work than every gadget in my kitchen drawer. The fancy stuff has too many parts and too many ways to let you down. Simple tools just do the one job they were made for. That cheap knife earning its keep for two years before the handle cracked is honestly a better run than most pricey ones get.