whitefang Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 Our grandchildren would find it hard to believe... ...That people used to have to talk on the phone using a device that was wired to the wall. NOT carried in their pockets. ...And there was only one ring, no games, no GPS(or whatever), and it didn't take pictures! ...That kids had to work out math problems in school using scratch paper, or work them out in their heads without the benefit of an electronic calculator. ...That the worst thing to happen having unprotected sex was a curable venereal disease or pregnancy. ...That TV once had only three channels and NO remote. ...That the closest thing anyone had to a home computer was an adding machine. ...That recorded music came on wierd looking poly-vinyl disks that had to be spun on a machine and have the sound extracted by a needle. ...That "playstations" were called "playgrounds". ...That "self-esteem" DIDN'T mean thinking your shit didn't stink. ...That having babies out of wedlock was considered wrong. ...That schools once had dress codes. ...That it never USED to hurt to use one's imagination. ...That clothes were once designed with the purpose of making you look GOOD. ...That advertising cigarettes on TV was considered as harmless as advertising beer. ...That people had to HANDWRITE correspondence. Or use a device called a typewriter, that had NO spell-check. Thereby neccessitating knowing how to spell in the first place! ...That "drive-by" used to mean someone was simply driving by. ...That they used to spell "graphic novel" C-O-M-I-C B-O-O-K. ...That it was the ADULTS who once ran the household! Have any to add? Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 About the computer thing...think ABACUS(sp?)!!! That there was once something called a battlefield. With people fighting on it! That radio used to be one channel, with sci-fi thrillers on once a week. That music used to be good. NO MTV!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nawledge Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 that all americans had rights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BNC Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 ...That people were entertained by non-electronic means... ...That there used to be things called "machines" with moving parts instead of little computer chips... ...It once took more that a few hours to cross an ocean... ...Musicians used to write their own songs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 One of the funniest things was watching one of my kids, when confronted with an old-time rotary dial telephone. It was like "how do you make this thing work?" It was hilarious watching them try to figure out what to do. But, in reality, when I tried to show them, I remembered what a pain in the ass it was. I especially recall one time when I was a kid and my car broke down in the winter, walking several miles, finding a phone booth, and trying to dial one of those mofoes with near-frozen fingers. Oh, and on the subject of phones...how about the old word (letter) prefixed exchanges? Call YUkon2-8437... "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip McDonald Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 I remember as a kid always doing a quick FOR-NEXT loop on the TRS-80 display at the mall, something like "hello I am TRS80 who are you?" or some such... it would sit out there in front of the store, I'd go eat dinner with my parents and afterwards come back and look at what people had typed on it: "HELLO MY NAME IS BILL ARE YOU THE COMPUTER?" "CAN YOU TALK" "HELLO WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW?" "HELLO I AM BOB" ... and so forth. HILARIOUS stuff, I would be rolling on the floor in the mall crying. BUT I knew that it would be an interstitial thing, that it would only be a short time before the general populace actually figured out what a computer *really* was about, not in the then-current sci-fi sense. I think that sort of stuff should be documented, because it's those brief interstitial periods in history where the groundwork is laid for the future generation. That's something younger people will *never* experience: a majority of the population being *completely* clueless relative to computers. Another period was around July of 1993 I believe - the *month* the Internet hit. Another interstitial period. I went from telling people about how the Net was going to Change Everything, people laughing or just not comprehending, to a month later being asked "hey.... hey. Don't you have one of those "email address" things? How does that work?". Anyone remember ads without web addresses? Business cards without email addresses? I remember handing out business cards and people *asking what my email address *meant**. Anyone remember when the Net was black and white - there was Lynx, no real WWW until Mosaic started happening... another sub-interstitial period, the pre-www era Internet... For most people, the "net" just "always was". There was a time when the Net was just flat out Cool Geek Info, WAIS, JPL servers, mailing lists.. Then AOL in *one day* ruined it all. ANYHOW.... A LOT of things have happened to society in the past 15 or so years, MUCH more so than probably any other point in history. 100 years from now they'll (if "they" are still flesh and blood "humans") be busy trying to reconstruct what life was like in this generation and it's going to be a bunch of information noise and not a lot of substance. Someone should start a project to accurately archive this stuff (like some people are sort of doing on the 70's and 80's usenet lists). Guitar Lessons in Augusta Georgia: www.chipmcdonald.com Eccentric blog: https://chipmcdonaldblog.blogspot.com/ / "big ass windbag" - Bruce Swedien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mats Olsson. Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 Do you remember making compilation cassettes? with home-made covers. Iron-on letters for t-shirts. Letraset rub-down transfer lettering. Old-school Lego. Non-cheese quarter pounders. Black and white only newspapers. No x-rays at airports No photo copiers No ATM's 7 Eleven's opening hour was 7am to 11pm Bank accounts was free and you got intrest payed on your (small) savings /Mats http://www.lexam.net/peter/carnut/man.gif What do we want? Procrastination! When do we want it? Later! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtoledo3 Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 I miss rotary phones. I would still use one, if not for the fact that you need touch tone for just about anything. Want mix/tracking feedback? Checkout "The Fade"- www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php The soon-to-be home of the "12 Bar-Blues Project" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G. Ratte Posted March 16, 2003 Share Posted March 16, 2003 Yeah, rotary phones are dope. I remember when I was a kid in the '70s just wanting to dial stuff. When my folks were gonna make a call, I'd wanna do it for 'em. I like the resistance the dial gives when you turn it, but it's so smooth. Then watching it rooooooll back and you hear it clicking through the phone. Now my only phone is a Danger Hiptop w/Instant Messaging, email, web browser, a camera, and video games. I don't even have a land-line. Then sometimes I do Voice-Over-IP w/a headset thing to this friend in Taiwan so we can talk for free. That's all cool and I wonder what's next. But what's missing is the tactile sensations that a rotary phone has. somewhat OT, but I'm running something here... I've noticed recently that my perceptions of the quality of a computer seems to depend on what I touch. The keyboard and the mouse. Fer example, my most recent machine is a no-name PC built from parts, all cheap crap. But the keyboard is this 10-year-old Tandy thing with some serious heft to it and heavy-duty keys. It would hurt if you dropped it on your foot. And then I've got a $100 Kensington trackball, my favorite pointing device ever. So this machine feels great to use, everything you actually touch is high-quality. The only step up would be one of those actual original IBM PC/AT monster keyboards with the steel base and LOUD keyclick action. You can still buy them new. Someday... At work, the POS Dell I have to use has a "QuietTouch" keyboard or some nonsense, it probably cost $5 and feels like it. I could probably break it over my head and barely notice. The mouse is also one step up from styrofoam. You're interfacing with junk, so it colors the whole experience. G. Ratte' http://www.cultdeadcow.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arneal Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 Man! You know I was just thinking a few days ago how cool the sound of a rotary phone sounded being dialed. Even if you were across the room, and someone else was dialing it. You could even tell the number being dialed by the sound if it was a number familiar to you (I guess you still can, but it's not as "rewarding"). Sit-d-d-d-d- Sitd-d- d-d-d-d-d-d- Sit-d-d- Sit-d-d- Sit-d-d-d-d- Sit-d-d-d- Sit-d-d-d-d-d-d! Armond The Ancient! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boosh Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 My grandchildren won't believe that I used actually physical contact with their grandmother to make their mum or dad. Probably my grandchildren hatch in an incubator Fan, nu pissar jag taggtråd igen. Jag skulle inte satt på räpan. http://www.bushcollectors.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip OKeefe Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 They won't believe that there was, once upon a time, a period in history when people in America didn't worry about their personal saftey from terrorists from abroad. When people in America thought that our shores were safe due to the geographical location of the country, seperated by large oceans which protected us from traditional "invasion". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtoledo3 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe: [b]They won't believe that there was, once upon a time, a period in history when people in America didn't worry about their personal saftey from terrorists from abroad. When people in America thought that our shores were safe due to the geographical location of the country, seperated by large oceans which protected us from traditional "invasion".[/b][/quote]Ha! Yeah, that period of time was called the Clinton Administration! 'Cause when I was a kid, we were under constant Cold War rhetoric. Want mix/tracking feedback? Checkout "The Fade"- www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php The soon-to-be home of the "12 Bar-Blues Project" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Botch. Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 They won't believe you went to separate stores for shoes, groceries, prescriptions, patch cords and oil filters; they'll just ask, "Didn't you have Walmart?" :rolleyes: Botch "Eccentric language often is symptomatic of peculiar thinking" - George Will www.puddlestone.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wow Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 [quote] Ha! Yeah, that period of time was called the Clinton Administration! 'Cause when I was a kid, we were under constant Cold War rhetoric. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [/quote]The 90's was a 10 year window that will be remembered for what it was. A time after the cold-war and before the war on terror started. I dont think we will see that again any time soon. I also think the 90's will be remembered as a period in American history that was filled with ALOT of greed and self-serving bullshit. Kinda like the 1920's on steroids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtoledo3 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by C.M.: [b] [quote] Ha! Yeah, that period of time was called the Clinton Administration! 'Cause when I was a kid, we were under constant Cold War rhetoric. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [/quote]The 90's was a 10 year window that will be remembered for what it was. A time after the cold-war and before the war on terror started. I dont think we will see that again any time soon. I also think the 90's will be remembered as a period in American history that was filled with ALOT of greed and self-serving bullshit. Kinda like the 1920's on steroids.[/b][/quote]I think that the 80's was comparable to the 20's, at least in terms of "greed and self seerving bullshit". IMO, the republicans were constantly trying to cripple Clinton, even before he was elected. Liberal media, my ass. Want mix/tracking feedback? Checkout "The Fade"- www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php The soon-to-be home of the "12 Bar-Blues Project" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wow Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 [quote] I think that the 80's was comparable to the 20's, at least in terms of "greed and self seerving bullshit". IMO, the republicans were constantly trying to cripple Clinton, even before he was elected. Liberal media, my ass [/quote]I was talking about the 90's in general, but if you want to turn this into a mud-slinging political argument, then FLAME ON. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtoledo3 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by C.M.: [b] [quote] I think that the 80's was comparable to the 20's, at least in terms of "greed and self seerving bullshit". IMO, the republicans were constantly trying to cripple Clinton, even before he was elected. Liberal media, my ass [/quote]I was talking about the 90's in general, but if you want to turn this into a mud-slinging political argument, then FLAME ON.[/b][/quote]You know what it is? Every time I see that damn tagline of yours I find myself geting enflamed and getting into pointless political banter. :mad: It's just a real piss-off, and it's amazing that anyone could be that arrogant about such a low point in the history of our nation. Want mix/tracking feedback? Checkout "The Fade"- www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php The soon-to-be home of the "12 Bar-Blues Project" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wow Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 How about it now? :thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gtoledo3 Posted March 17, 2003 Share Posted March 17, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by C.M.: [b]How about it now? :thu: [/b][/quote]At least you made me laugh! :thu: Want mix/tracking feedback? Checkout "The Fade"- www.grand-designs.cc/mmforum/index.php The soon-to-be home of the "12 Bar-Blues Project" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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