Wishbooks. I'm old enough to remember those.
What was life like for you before the Internet?
- Thread starter Gingerbread Demon
- Start date
One time when I was 15, back in the 80s, I naively strolled thru the front door of school, openly carrying a Davy Crockett style souvenir mock rifle, from the Alamo gift shop (to use in the school play) 20 minutes later, the principal came & pulled me from class to ask me (after I'd explained) if I could let him know beforehand next time, because people had thought it was a real gun. Then he sent me back to class... The. End. That's the world we use to live in.
Haha and to think I got detention in primary school for a machine gun (not a real one)
We had better toys in the 70s early 80s
Mine was a pretty accurate reproduction souvenir of Davy Crockett's rifle, with the thumb cock nearly a musket type thing
When I was growing up, we didn't even have cable TV! I only had four channels (would've had six if I understood Spanish or could get Fox without having to hold up a metal chair while doing a headstand on a stack of tinfoil). Do students these days even know what the dewey decimal system is? And those penmanship classes in school sure are paying off today.
I distinctly remember visiting my grandparents (who lived on a farm) and they had this thing that actually rotated the TV antenna depending on what TV station you were watching.
) but as long as it doesn't change, you're good to go.
Hell, lots of times, like when you're signing a credit card receipt, nobody even bothers to check your damn signature anyway. And even this is going away. When was the last time you actually had to SIGN a receipt?
Cursive writing is basically useless nowadays. You don't need it to make your signature legible; indeed, your signature doesn't HAVE to be legible, it just has to be consistent. It can be an incomprehensible squiggle (like all doctors' handwriting
) but as long as it doesn't change, you're good to go.Hell, lots of times, like when you're signing a credit card receipt, nobody even bothers to check your damn signature anyway. And even this is going away. When was the last time you actually had to SIGN a receipt?
1994, to my mom: "Did you pick up the phone??"
2024, to my wife: "Why aren't you picking up the phone?"
2024, to my wife: "Why aren't you picking up the phone?"
I used libraries more often, installed software from diskettes then CDs, and went outside more.
Hell, I was old before the internet. I was watching the original Star Trek on NBC in high school.
In the 70s I was a computer operator. Our backup tapes had to be hand carried to our offline storage facility across the street. This was in downtown Houston at the time. I remember carrying a handful of tapes across the street and getting stopped by a cop to get a jaywalking ticket.
In the 70s I was a computer operator. Our backup tapes had to be hand carried to our offline storage facility across the street. This was in downtown Houston at the time. I remember carrying a handful of tapes across the street and getting stopped by a cop to get a jaywalking ticket.
As a kid in the 80s, well teen I remember unravelling a cassette tape out a car window as we drove.... It went for quite a while
Ah, cassettes... I remember waiting with my finger on "record" for specific songs to come on the radio.
Before the Internet, everything was slower. The 10pm Local News was were you got your scores, if you wanted to watch your favorite team but you lived outside their market, it only existed as a score with maybe a highlight. Our Trek games were pretty good, I really miss the 90s Trek games.
I much preferred having limited options. You can basically watch whatever you feel like. Things are very accessible nowadays. At one point, if you missed an episode of something, you would have to wait until it was released on VHS. Having endless choices to watch anything whenever I want has taken some of the joy out of things, but hey I guess I still wouldn't change it.
Oh and I used to read a lot of books.
Oh and I used to read a lot of books.
Before consumer VCRs became available, if you missed an episode you had to wait for summer re-runs. The networks would run shows of the same type on the same day in the same time slot. In the 1960's The Twilight Zone was on CBS, and at the same time and night on ABC they aired The Outer Limits. I would watch The Twilight Zone during the regular season, and The Outer Limits when it was re-run in the summer.
Life before the internet was kinda boring. When AOL and vplaces came out with their chatrooms I was elated! Spent hours online and had tons of fun. Likewise, had tons of fun on trekbbs back in the old days when I got on the big blue.
But today, there's too much of everything and everything is too easily accessible, everywhere. BTW that's a great movie (re: Everything everywhere all at once...just watched it).
For me, too much of anything is too much. A little bit of internet was really good. Too bad a moderate amount of internet is no longer possible, even with my aversion to social media, (ie. I don't have an account for fb, insta, tiktok, etc...just can't get into it).
But today, there's too much of everything and everything is too easily accessible, everywhere. BTW that's a great movie (re: Everything everywhere all at once...just watched it).
For me, too much of anything is too much. A little bit of internet was really good. Too bad a moderate amount of internet is no longer possible, even with my aversion to social media, (ie. I don't have an account for fb, insta, tiktok, etc...just can't get into it).
I love that movie, EEAAO (Everything Everywhere All At Once)
They even did Michelle Yeoh's main character as herself at one point in the movie doing a snippet from Crazy Rich Asians, but wish they had done a few seconds of Disco
They even did Michelle Yeoh's main character as herself at one point in the movie doing a snippet from Crazy Rich Asians, but wish they had done a few seconds of Disco
They did do a "star trek" michelle for a second!
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