want to feel old?

[Locutus of Bored]

I can't believe they said Michael Jackson was a big pop star. That really does make me feel old, because he wasn't a big pop star in the 70s, 80s, or 90s when I was growing up.

Please tell me you mistyped that, and that you haven't forgotten Thriller.

My whole post was sarcastic. I was commenting on the idea of someone feeling old because nine-year-olds said Michael Jackson was a big pop star as if that was somehow different from when he was a big pop star in the 70s (with the Jackson 5), 80s, and 90s.

 

[RoJoHen]

Honestly, I think it's weird that a 9-year old would think Michael Jackson is a big pop star at all. If he hadn't died, they probably wouldn't know who he is.

 

[TorontoTrekker]

I can't believe they said Michael Jackson was a big pop star. That really does make me feel old, because he wasn't a big pop star in the 70s, 80s, or 90s when I was growing up.

Please tell me you mistyped that, and that you haven't forgotten Thriller.

My whole post was sarcastic. I was commenting on the idea of someone feeling old because nine-year-olds said Michael Jackson was a big pop star as if that was somehow different from when he was a big pop star in the 70s (with the Jackson 5), 80s, and 90s.

Aha. Sorry about that - I took that paragraph out of context (I'd caught the rest of the sarcasm - I must be tired).

 

[JohnChod]

And today's kids probably wouldn't recognize the clattering sound of a manual typewriter. Well, fuck typewriters. They were klutzy machines and I'm not the least bit nostalgic for them.

It's a little scary, though. The next generation will probably be using computers before they know how to use the toilet.

I may be reading your intent incorrectly. Perhaps you're being facetious

I'll stop you right there.


Also, just because something was all we had doesn't mean it doesn't suck compared with what we have now.

That ALMOST goes without saying. I know I'm getting old and that probably colors my sentiments, but there are a few things here and there that I feel were better several decades ago. And, there are some things that have come into wide use that I wish had never seen the light of day.

 

[KimMH]

my checking account is older than some of you.

(yeah - what's a checking account?)

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I'm glad I'm in my thirties. Pffft. The 2000's. What a shitty time to grow up. The technology is cool and all, but everything's so safe and politically correct, kids can't have any fun anymore. Bike helmets? Ha. Lame.

 

[Quinton O'Connor]

I'm 23. I didn't have a computer until I was 14 and I didn't have a cell phone 'til I was 20.

 

[wissaboo]

Wait a minute. Nine-year-olds identify more with events, products, or trends from the last nine years? STOP THE PRESSES!

What are the odds that a group of kids all being interviewed at the same time while sitting at the same table would come up with similar answers, too?

I can't believe they said Michael Jackson was a big pop star. That really does make me feel old, because he wasn't a big pop star in the 70s, 80s, or 90s when I was growing up.

It's a shame that the kids don't have a greater grasp of history and recognize that there were other black presidents of the United States before they were born. Wait, what?

Michael Jackson wasn't a big pop star in the 80's????? was that the 1880's?

 

[Nerdius Maximus]

I'm curious to see how warped this generation will turn out. I mean, kids have easy access to any kind of porn imaginable on the internet. That's got to fuck them up a little bit. Looking at chicks blowing horses and whatnot during their formative years.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Wait a minute. Nine-year-olds identify more with events, products, or trends from the last nine years? STOP THE PRESSES!

What are the odds that a group of kids all being interviewed at the same time while sitting at the same table would come up with similar answers, too?

I can't believe they said Michael Jackson was a big pop star. That really does make me feel old, because he wasn't a big pop star in the 70s, 80s, or 90s when I was growing up.

It's a shame that the kids don't have a greater grasp of history and recognize that there were other black presidents of the United States before they were born. Wait, what?

Michael Jackson wasn't a big pop star in the 80's????? was that the 1880's?

*sigh*

http://www.trekbbs.com/showpost.php?p=4386534&postcount=21

 

[Guartho]

I'm 23. There are a couple other young posters. This board has a pretty good demographic distribution (at least as far as age goes).

I thought you were younger when you posted you didn't have a cell phone until you were 16 or 17. There may have been two or three around school when I was 16 or 17, but those were definitely the rich kids, and I'm only 5 years (Ok, like 4.9) older than you! I got my first cell phone when I was your age.

 

[scotpens]

my checking account is older than some of you.

(yeah - what's a checking account?)

Even if you never write a paper check, don't you still have a checking account? Or do they call it something else now?

 

[RoJoHen]

my checking account is older than some of you.

(yeah - what's a checking account?)

Even if you never write a paper check, don't you still have a checking account? Or do they call it something else now?

No, it's still a checking account.

 

[MetalPants]

my checking account is older than some of you.

(yeah - what's a checking account?)

Even if you never write a paper check, don't you still have a checking account? Or do they call it something else now?

I call it the big empty hole that devours my paycheck.

 

[Goliath]

In his introduction to a recent reprint of Neuromancer, William Gibson talks about just how dated some parts of it are now.

On the one hand, he jokes that contemporary readers may wonder why cell phones aren't allowed in Night City.

On the other, he notes that contemporary readers who have grown up with cable TV may not even understand the first line of the novel: "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."

If you grew up watching black and white broadcast TV, the way Gibson and I did, you'd know that he was describing a silvery glow.

Nowadays, young people will read that, and likely think: "Okay, the sky was blue--so what?"

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I'm 23. There are a couple other young posters. This board has a pretty good demographic distribution (at least as far as age goes).

I thought you were younger when you posted you didn't have a cell phone until you were 16 or 17. There may have been two or three around school when I was 16 or 17, but those were definitely the rich kids, and I'm only 5 years (Ok, like 4.9) older than you! I got my first cell phone when I was your age.

I was one of the last people at my high school to get a cell phone. That 5 years is a lifetime in the modern age.

 

[Guartho]

They were all over when I was in college. I was a deliberate hold-out. I didn't get one until the people who hired me for a $30k contract wanted to get ahold of me when I was on-sight at their shoots. (It was on a new prison campus so it was a pretty big place to try and coordinate a bunch of moving shoots of maintenance procedures when the videographer doesn't have a cell.)

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I was the first person in my "circle" to get a cellphone, and I was about forty-five.

Thanks for the video link, that was really interesting.

Ask 9-year-olds again in 2015 what 9/11 was. That will be something.

 

[Lowdarzz]

Yesterday in my Spanish class I made my usual pathetic attempt to speak the language by stating the my friends and I used to play Super Mario 3, Street Fighter 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Most of the class then proceeded to laugh.

Damn kids need to get off my lawn.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Wait. Nine year olds know who the f___ Michael Jackson was?