Discussion What age group were last to grow up without technology we take for granted today?

[Remobz]

Hello guys,

So, any child born within last 10 years will grow up with solid internet, cell phones and widely used home computers of any shape or form like laptops, tablets, desktops etc.

I mean a child born today who enters their teenage years in the future cannot imagine a world with no internet or cell phones for example.

Three things for the criteria

1) solid stable internet for web surfing and NOT for just checking emails then logging off after.

2) easily available cell phones

3) some computer readily available in any shape or form

This might be a tough one indeed. I was born in 1973, and I grew up in the 80's with no internet, no cell phones and no computers. Nobody had it back then that I knew of. It was rare.

I say on average, the majority of people born in 1975 and before, had none of the above as the NORM. Of course, always some rich people kids has the latest and greatest tech. I mean the average high school kid.

I saw Generation X was the last one to grow up largely without cell phones, personally owned computers and solid internet to surf web.

What do you guys say?

Oh and I never owned internet, cell phones or computers until I was over the age of 25. Those devices were for the rich and select few if it existed.

 

[Torn Mind]

Low income millennials did not have cellphones nor good computers in the early 2000s. Well, there was Lifeline cellphones starting in 2005 but they were super limited then.

My first computer was a giveaway for DoD computer that used to be my piano teacher's son. PIII.
Later got a Dell in 2004 but it was a Celeron derived from the Pentium 4.
Internet then was dial up or the library.

 

[Pohemi]

I was the tail end of Gen X born mid to late 70s and I'd say I'm right in that spot.
We had home video game consoles as I grew up, but as you said, PCs were still rare. Even when I was in high school, only the rich kids had PCs at home.

Internet in the early 90s was still slow-as-molasses dial-up of course, and you better not sneeze near the line or it'd drop.

Cellular phone? Hope you have a backpack to lug around that brick-in-a-bag phone, haha.

 

[Remobz]

Low income millennials did not have cellphones nor good computers in the early 2000s. Well, there was Lifeline cellphones starting in 2005 but they were super limited then.

My first computer was a giveaway for DoD computer that used to be my piano teacher's son. PIII.
Later got a Dell in 2004 but it was a Celeron derived from the Pentium 4.
Internet then was dial up or the library.

For me, things started to get much better after 1995. No cell phones though.

I still say, anyone born before 1975 were HIGHLY likely to experience no internet, cell phones or personal computers

 

[Remobz]

I was the tail end of Gen X born mid to late 70s and I'd say I'm right in that spot.
We had home video game consoles as I grew up, but as you said, PCs were still rare. Even when I was in high school, only the rich kids had PCs at home.

Internet in the early 90s was still slow-as-molasses dial-up of course, and you better not sneeze near the line or it'd drop.

Cellular phone? Hope you have a backpack to lug around that brick-in-a-bag phone, haha.

Things like cable modems and online games first appeared around 1998. Remember Tribes 1 online game? 1995 had cable internet and new windows 95. Things started to get better in 95.

Gen X and the ones especially born before 1975 had none of that for sure while growing up.

 

[Torn Mind]

For me, things started to get much better after 1995. No cell phones though.

I still say, anyone born before 1975 were HIGHLY likely to experience no internet, cell phones or personal computers

I am a 1988 guy.
I remember the school computer in elementary school. Those were old Apples that could play the 5.25 inch Oregon Trail games.

Middle school, we did get exposed to Google, but everything was still a dialup world, and you had to be careful not to block out a call using the internet. The computers were those old all-in-one Macs and they were sometimes prone to freezing.

 

[dlerious]

When I was a kid, we had Pong. TV was 3 networks + pbs and went off the air around midnight-1am. Early to mid 80's wasn't too bad (in 20's) with VIC-20, Commodore-64, Atari ST, Apple, Timex/Sinclair, Radio Shack TRS-80. 70's were mainframes in high school then military.

 

[BoomerD]

What "modern technology" are we discussing? You'd have to go back a century to find someone who grew up without electricity or running water in the American cities. Maybe much later for rural areas.
My first "real" pc was in the late 80's when we picked up an 8088 that was surplus from my wife's job. Double 5 1/4" floppies, no hard drive, no modem, no internet...but it worked fine for "word processing." (gawd, I DO NOT miss DOS.)

 

[sdifox]

Hello guys,

So, any child born within last 10 years will grow up with solid internet, cell phones and widely used home computers of any shape or form like laptops, tablets, desktops etc.

I mean a child born today who enters their teenage years in the future cannot imagine a world with no internet or cell phones for example.

Three things for the criteria

1) solid stable internet for web surfing and NOT for just checking emails then logging off after.

2) easily available cell phones

3) some computer readily available in any shape or form

This might be a tough one indeed. I was born in 1973, and I grew up in the 80's with no internet, no cell phones and no computers. Nobody had it back then that I knew of. It was rare.

I say on average, the majority of people born in 1975 and before, had none of the above as the NORM. Of course, always some rich people kids has the latest and greatest tech. I mean the average high school kid.

I saw Generation X was the last one to grow up largely without cell phones, personally owned computers and solid internet to surf web.

What do you guys say?

Oh and I never owned internet, cell phones or computers until I was over the age of 25. Those devices were for the rich and select few if it existed.

I had a Apple ][ clone in 81 or 82 and this was in Taiwan, not even USA. I believe it was one of the earliest to make it to my city. We couldn't make the programs load because the tape decks we were using kept filtering out the noise. At the end we had to use the cheapest tape deck we carried, no noise cancelling whatsoever, to make it work.

<-- spoiled brat.

 

[dank69]

Born in 74. I got a C64 in 1984. That thing only had a cassette drive though and no modem. Friend down the street had an Apple II, again no modem. I would go to middle school early to play games in their computer lab but no internet. Web was just hitting mainstream when I was in college.

 

[dlerious]

How about a room full of 80's computers - it's not mine.

Apple, Atari, and Commodore, oh my! Explore a deluxe home vintage computer den

Brian Green re-lives the 1980s with dozens of fully operational vintage PCs at home.

arstechnica.com

 

[Remobz]

I had a Apple ][ clone in 81 or 82 and this was in Taiwan, not even USA. I believe it was one of the earliest to make it to my city. We couldn't make the programs load because the tape decks we were using kept filtering out the noise. At the end we had to use the cheapest tape deck we carried, no noice cancelling whatsoever, to make it work.

<-- spoiled brat.

I grew up in a third world Country to a modest family. Everything was like 10 years or more behind the USA. Cable TV did not become common until 1988 more or less. No computers during my high school years available. No where sold computer consoles or desktops either. No computer stores and magazines were only found at public libraries. technology wise I was out of the loop. I had no clue what was the latest tech or games out there. My life revolved around football and BMX bikes with some baseball thrown in. We always wanted to be out the house doing some physical activity or recreation. I lived on an Island that was 6 miles off the mainland, so diving and water sports were common as well.

Funny part is that I miss those care free active days. I would go back then and start all over again without fancy tech.

 

[shortylickens]

Things like cable modems and online games first appeared around 1998. Remember Tribes 1 online game? 1995 had cable internet and new windows 95. Things started to get better in 95.

Gen X and the ones especially born before 1975 had none of that for sure while growing up.

I think generation x will be the last one to know what real hardship was, as a whole generation. obviously in any year people are born who will be totally spoiled and some are born into severe hardship. But the 69-79 crowd remembers when things were tough, as a group.

 

[Remobz]

What "modern technology" are we discussing? You'd have to go back a century to find someone who grew up without electricity or running water in the American cities. Maybe much later for rural areas.
My first "real" pc was in the late 80's when we picked up an 8088 that was surplus from my wife's job. Double 5 1/4" floppies, no hard drive, no modem, no internet...but it worked fine for "word processing." (gawd, I DO NOT miss DOS.)

I just mentioned three things. Teenage years with NO internet, NO cell phones and NO computers. I had NONE during my teenage years and not until after I turned 25 years old. I grew up in a third world Country at the time. So, my case is not common here.

Looks like, quite a few people here had some computer type device during the 80's. No internet and cell phones were the norm as well.

 

[shortylickens]

I just mentioned three things. Teenage years with NO internet, NO cell phones and NO computers. I had NONE during my teenage years and not until after I turned 25 years old. I grew up in a third world Country at the time. So, my case is not common here.

Looks like, quite a few people here had some computer type device during the 80's. No internet and cell phones were the norm as well.

Yeah we had an Empac word processor that was so miserable it actually made life harder.
Then my dad brought home a used 386-40 he bought at work (I think 20 dollars) and my life changed.
Kinda wish I had learned more about women instead. Computers just got easier as time went on.
Women?
Not so much.

 

[shortylickens]

EMPAC went out of business in 1999.

Empac Computers: Company Profile

 

[Remobz]

I think generation x will be the last one to know what real hardship was, as a whole generation. obviously in any year people are born who will be totally spoiled and some are born into severe hardship. But the 69-79 crowd remembers when things were tough, as a group.

What do you mean by tough? Doing research papers were tougher for sure. I had to go to library and find the books and then read through hundreds and hundreds of pages to find answers and make it all into some meaningful paper research. Not easy in many ways. Now, a kid can google answers in less than 5 seconds.

I guess tough was also, when you had to plan a gathering of friends to meet up at a certain time. Then some of the people who are bringing the beer or snacks do not show up and it is getting late. One could not just call their cell phones and ask where are they? What is going on? LOL!
I remember one time, I had a blind date at a night club. Her friend told me she will wear a red dress and has brunette hair and light skin. Went to the club and at least no less than 5 girls looked the same way. And to top it off, she could even make that night. Nowadays, I could at least texted her or vice versa to let me know up to date info what was going on.
Cell phones and internet sure made it easier for us to communicate indeed.
Oh and what else sucked was when we lots of friends hanging out and some groups would want to go eat and do something then meet up somewhere later on. And almost always, some group would divert or last minute change of plans like some party we discovered and wanted to crash. There NO WAY we could call the missing guys and tell them change of plans or we going to crash some party at such and such a place. Like we lost them for the rest of the night due to no way to communicate. LOL!

What else you had rough?

 

[Torn Mind]

What do you mean by tough? Doing research papers were tougher for sure. I had to go to library and find the books and then read through hundreds and hundreds of pages to find answers and make it all into some meaningful paper research. Not easy in many ways. Now, a kid can google answers in less than 5 seconds.

I guess tough was also, when you had to plan a gathering of friends to meet up at a certain time. Then some of the people who are bringing the beer or snacks do not show up and it is getting late. One could not just call their cell phones and ask where are they? What is going on? LOL!
I remember one time, I had a blind date at a night club. Her friend told me she will wear a red dress and has brunette hair and light skin. Went to the club and at least no less than 5 girls looked the same way. And to top it off, she could even make that night. Nowadays, I could at least texted her or vice versa to let me know up to date info what was going on.
Cell phones and internet sure made it easier for us to communicate indeed.
Oh and what else sucked was when we lots of friends hanging out and some groups would want to go eat and do something then meet up somewhere later on. And almost always, some group would divert or last minute change of plans like some party we discovered and wanted to crash. There NO WAY we could call the missing guys and tell them change of plans or we going to crash some party at such and such a place. Like we lost them for the rest of the night due to no way to communicate. LOL!

What else you had rough?

Access to legal resources and research is much easier with interwebz.

Access to newspapers hundreds of miles away to pick out the small details(i.e that teams went to Brian Flores in N.E, not the other way around)

 

[Remobz]

Yeah we had an Empac word processor that was so miserable it actually made life harder.
Then my dad brought home a used 386-40 he bought at work (I think 20 dollars) and my life changed.
Kinda wish I had learned more about women instead. Computers just got easier as time went on.
Women?
Not so much.

You bringing back the memories man. Thanks for this.
Like I said, the girls came easy. I had to master the art of conversation back then. For example, I went to an all boys Catholic school. There was an all girls one about a 20 minute bike ride away from our school. On Fridays, after school finished some of us would ride as a group to the girls school. That was a bit nerve racking indeed. I mean like 5 or 8 of us on bikes in front of dozens and dozens of girls staring at us from the gates of the school. One had to try some bike tricks or fancy riding to get noticed or just sheer courage and approach some girl you liked and strike up a conversation. Not easy indeed for some of us.
Lucky for me, I had a cousin and sister attending the school so they would put in a good word or introduce me to a girl I liked from the school. That made it easier no doubt. They pass on "love" notes or letters as well. Oh yeah, writing love notes or letters were a thing back then.
Remember, one could not just call the house of the girl because the mother or father would get suspicious. Many homes only had one land line back then. How could I explain to the Dad or Mother why I wanted to talk to his daughter right? LOL!
Yeah, love letters or notes were the thing. Or you just walk the girl home or plan a meet up somewhere secret.

We had to work for it back then. Put in the time and effort for the girls. Now, I imagine it is easier to meet women or girls.

 

[shortylickens]

Oh yeah my favorite internet meme ever is the one saying "kids today have no idea how terrified you were to call a girls house and her father answered."
And yes its easier now to meet girls but so many boys have been raised by the internet and not real people and they have zero social skills, so they have a harder time actually talking to girls.

 

[nakedfrog]

Based on the criteria in the OP, yeah, Gen X. By the early 2000s cell phones were pretty wide-spread and a large percentage of homes had a PC, even if they didn't have the internet yet (or just limited AOL hours). So early millenials would still grow up without that stuff, but most of those born past 1993 or so would have grown up with those for a decent chunk of their childhood.

 

[Hans Gruber]

I am going to say those born in 1973 were the last generation to go through K-12 without technology. Definitely no world wide web. Modems and chat boards existed with 200 baud modem years before. No cell phones unless you were wealthy and those were in cars or the Motorola Brick phone.

The New York Times started online in 1996. So there is a buffer of several years and I would say those who graduated in 1994 (1976) were free of internet at schools. It existed but only a handful of people had internet and they would have been librarians or administrators.

AOL started in 1992. Prodigy was around the same time. 1993 was probably the first year where people would ask who had the internet.

The cell phones were only in cars as car phones until the Motorola brick. That came out in 1989/1990. Even Zack Morris was using the Motorola Brick phone during (Saved By The Bell) (1993-1994) and he was a rich kid on TV.

I think everything started to change by 1995-96. That was when the Internet became mainstream. I would say that tech savvy people had the internet at home by 1994.

Payphones were at their peak in 1995. They didn't become obsolete until at least 10 years after 1995.

 

[scorpmatt]

Hmm, technology we actually take for granted today... how about the generation that didn't grow up Radio, most specifically in-car radios? Sure radios have added other technologies to them as technology has progressed, but you still have good ol AM and FM radio receivers installed in cars today.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

In car radios were common in the 60s. Color TV in the late 60s to early 70s. In car mobile phone were available to some in the late 60s as were cell phones in the 80s (hello Zack Morris).

.I consider the dividing line to the the first Moon landing. Those born after that never really experienced life without gadgets.

 

[Pohemi]

I consider the dividing line to the the first Moon landing. Those born after that never really experienced life without gadgets.

For people born in 1970 (the year after the Moon landing), what new technology were they suddenly growing up with?

Not the rare rich guy with a car phone, but the general populace. Born in 70 would be graduating HS around 88, and I just don't see too many tech advances that applied to consumers in that time besides media (8-track to cassette and then CDs, advent of BetaMAX and VHS cameras and VCRs, etc.)

I'm just curious what advances you were thinking about, and if I'm forgetting something.