I was having a conversation yesterday with Chris's son about the internet and about how easy it was to get information these days. Then I made the comment that there was no such thing as the internet when I was his age. No laptops. No GPS. No cell phones. And then I started thinking how did we live without that stuff?
Well we had to actually go to the library to look up stuff for reports. You know...in an encyclopedia. Do they even make those anymore? That's not a rhetorical question either. I seriously don't think there is a need for volumes upon volumes of information that becomes obsolete almost immediately anymore.
If we got lost, we had to pull over and ask someone. Yup, we actually had to talk to a person to get directions. And that was a 50-50% shot at getting the right information.
We had to go out to stores to shop and if something was out of stock, we had to wait for it to come in or have a store employee call another store to see if they had it and would hold it for you. Remember that?
And if we wanted to make a call, we had to call from the landline (which wasn't even a word back then) from the phone inside our house. Or use a payphone. I actually remember a time BEFORE call waiting, too. And man, let me tell ya, busy signals were so frustrating. I bet kids these days wouldn't even know a busy signal if they heard one.
And there were no DVD's or CD's. We had to watch whatever was on tv and if we wanted to record a song, we'd have to sit by the radio and wait for it to come on....and just pray the DJ didn't talk too much over the beginning of the song. I had a zillion Memorex tapes filled with songs.
So, that's how we lived before technology. Imagine? Kids these days have it so easy and they don't even know it.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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I love this! Because when I was about 14-15 everything began to change. I remember making tapes of radio songs in my room, staying up late into the night hoping to hear "that one song I had to have". My parents had (and still have) an old volume of encyclopedias and I used to read them when I was little. We went to the library every single week. We even had a non-touch-tone phone when I was really little. Do you remember commercials saying you had to dial from a touch tone phone if you wanted to order?
I think memories like that don't make us old (heck...25 is too young to be old!) but they make us more well rounded than this next generation.
I don't remember how old I was when I first used the internet but I'm pretty sure I was in middle school and of the group of six girls I hung out with only one had the internet and it was confusing and dial up and her mom would pick up the phone and we would lose the connection. Frustrating!
I used to sit by the radio all day making Memorex tapes! Mix tapes were my favorite!
I know! It's crazy how far we have come... and kinda sad in a way because we (or at least I) have become incredibly dependent on all the technology. I don't know what I would do without my computer, iPhone, or DVR. I LOVE them.
Oh man do I love this post. I remember my radio mix tapes. We would call in and request a song and just sit and wait for it!
Do you remember how frustrating it was to rent a movie and it not be rewound, haha the horror!
I don't miss only having a landline with no call waiting but I love the memories. I used to piss off my parents so much bc out house phone was always busy, my grandparents complained so much!
The thing I miss most is phone numbers. I used to have all my friends phone numbers memorized. Not anymore, I didn't even know my boyfriends number until 3 years in when he made me learn it. Cell phones have made me stupid!
Man I feel old too!
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I remember JUKEBOXES with records that you actually WATCHED go on the player.. Oh yeah I am old lol
am i the only one who had a cd with music on it in 1970? still have it, it's beatles cd, released by a long defunct music label. agree though, not many had cds, since they were not mass-produced until about 1980.
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OMG! I have been going through a feeling old complex too! I still remember how excited I was in high school when I got my first pager...it was turquoise and perfect. I think it was almost the size of my cell phone that I have now.
Thanks honey....for making us all feel like we were standing around watching the wheel being invented! LMAO!
Yep!! I'm OLD!! I even remember BUYING an encyclopedia set when I had a baby thinking how wonderful it would be for us to be so prepared when Our baby was in school. And with the annual update books we could stay on top of it. I REMEMBER making PAYMENTS on these things!!! These obsolete books that collect dust on a shelf to have hardly been cracked!
Oh, and don't forget the 8 Track tapes!! Or how fun it was to play with the cassette recorder making all sorts of strange recordings. I remember trying to prove to someone they snored with it... Of course we had to add a little exaggeration to emphasize the point. *sigh* LOL!
True DAT to your post and I enjoyed it! ;D
LOL! Well, I must be old too, cause my kids are amazed that when I was little we didn't even have VCR's, and now those are obsolete.....We just grew up in an amazing time, that's all!
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One of my friends lived out in the country and they had to share landlines with their neighbours. So if the neighbours wanted to listen in on conversations, they could. Those were fun times!! I still don't use a GPS as I find a good map and my own skills get me to where I'm going faster than somebody who still can't use a GPS properly. And I rarely get lost. There are some skills that are definitely worth nowing!!
That's knowing! It's obvious that I can't spell though!
Hahah... it can be a bit hairy at times, but I love all the technology we have today. Sadly, my kids don't think they are very "lucky" as I limit what they do and neither of them have or are allowed cell phones.
I am trying hard to keep their childhood "fun" ... does that make since.
LMAO!
good times!! good times!
I remember when our school got rid of all the encyclopedia books and got all the encyclopedias on DVD´s! It was a big deal! Then those too, became obsolete as well!
OMG! I do remember those memorex tapes!! I had a lot too!! I hated the stupid DJ talking through my song, man!!!
I remember having to GET UP and got to the TV to change the channel, adjust the volume or stop the vertical roll. And try to explain the Card Catalog in the library…
wow that was like a trip down memory lane! hahahahaha.
thanks for the reminder that we all come from somewhere!
i remember the "electronic diaries" were like a CRAZE and now it's in your blackberry or HTC~!
Great topic :)
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Haha, that's hilarious! I totally remember getting our first answering machine....aka a tape recorder with actual tapes. So great!
Great post! Very funny. And I still love encyclopedias. However, the internet is so fast and easy. I guess we just hope we find the true answer to our questions on there. LOL. Ummm....did you forget the man porn on Wednesdays? Hello?
I will never forget when we got call waiting. I thought it was the best invention ever.
And also when my mom got her first car phone. It was the big kind with the cord and everything. Hilarious!
Ah...memories! I had SO many mix tapes! I remember praying that a certain song would come on and sprinting across the room to hit the pause button on my little 'boom box'. hehe
We have this kind of discussion all the time. Our kids (5 and 7) just look at us as if we're nuts. We're pretty much just reminiscing between ourselves.
Dial phones attached to your kitchen wall with the phone cord that extends only about 12 inches. No answering machines. No cell phones. No TIVO. 8-Track tape players.. Wow THAT one dates me if nothing else does!
Gonna shut up now. lol
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