- Jun 27, 2005
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I know there are others on here who are older than me but I was thinking tonight about all the things that the young'uns take for granted that weren't around when I was a kid...
1. Teh Intarweb... It existed, but it was the domain of the military and universities. Even into highschool the 'net was a mere shadow of what it is today. And no normal person knew it existed. No e-mail, instant messaging... No AT. :Q
2. Computers... They're everywhere now. I have a dual monitor system at home and a nice lappy. But I was in the third grade when I saw my first computer. We had an (as in ONE) Apple in our classroom. We played Oregon Trail. The teacher insisted that it wasn't a game... it was a simulation.
Home video...
1. My family got our first VCR in 1980. It was a spring-loaded top feeder. When you went into the video store, half the titles were in VHS and the other half were in Beta.
2. We had an 8mm film camera and we were hi-tech.
Detroit had a LOT more people than it does today.
We had a party line. (Not as fun as it sounds) We shared a phone line with another house. When you picked up the phone you might find that the other family was using it. You'd pick up in mid-conversation and have to hang up and wait to make your call.
Oh yeah... phones had bells and rotary dials.
Music on CD became widely available when I was in jr. high.
I remember when the first space shuttle was launched.
I was in third grade when Reagan was shot.
There was no such thing as a cell phone.
For Christmas 1980 we got an Atari 2600 for our big screen (25") TV. Funny... it was always my parents and the other neighborhood parents that bogarted the thing, playing Space Invaders and Asteroids till 1am.
My grade school didn't have a photo copier. Teachers used what they called a "ditto" machine to make multiple copies of class work. Basically it was a compact, offset printing press that made copies of a negative original in purple ink.
My first computer was a "99% compatible" IBM clone. It didn't have a hard drive. All the programs ran off the 5.25 floppy disc. My first printer was a black only, nine-pin dot matrix printer.
At my first job after high school I sold 286 computers at Fred Meyer and RAM came in one meg strips at $100/meg. Monitors came in green or amber.
I'm sure I could think of other stuff... but the dimentia is setting in.
1. Teh Intarweb... It existed, but it was the domain of the military and universities. Even into highschool the 'net was a mere shadow of what it is today. And no normal person knew it existed. No e-mail, instant messaging... No AT. :Q
2. Computers... They're everywhere now. I have a dual monitor system at home and a nice lappy. But I was in the third grade when I saw my first computer. We had an (as in ONE) Apple in our classroom. We played Oregon Trail. The teacher insisted that it wasn't a game... it was a simulation.
Home video...
1. My family got our first VCR in 1980. It was a spring-loaded top feeder. When you went into the video store, half the titles were in VHS and the other half were in Beta.
2. We had an 8mm film camera and we were hi-tech.
Detroit had a LOT more people than it does today.
We had a party line. (Not as fun as it sounds) We shared a phone line with another house. When you picked up the phone you might find that the other family was using it. You'd pick up in mid-conversation and have to hang up and wait to make your call.
Oh yeah... phones had bells and rotary dials.
Music on CD became widely available when I was in jr. high.
I remember when the first space shuttle was launched.
I was in third grade when Reagan was shot.
There was no such thing as a cell phone.
For Christmas 1980 we got an Atari 2600 for our big screen (25") TV. Funny... it was always my parents and the other neighborhood parents that bogarted the thing, playing Space Invaders and Asteroids till 1am.
My grade school didn't have a photo copier. Teachers used what they called a "ditto" machine to make multiple copies of class work. Basically it was a compact, offset printing press that made copies of a negative original in purple ink.
My first computer was a "99% compatible" IBM clone. It didn't have a hard drive. All the programs ran off the 5.25 floppy disc. My first printer was a black only, nine-pin dot matrix printer.
At my first job after high school I sold 286 computers at Fred Meyer and RAM came in one meg strips at $100/meg. Monitors came in green or amber.
I'm sure I could think of other stuff... but the dimentia is setting in.