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Post by gato on May 23, 2020 16:58:11 GMT -5
Many years ago, when I was writing for tabloids and magazines in my spare time, I would spend hours and hours at the local library: card catalog, newspaper archives, microfiche and befriending the reference librarian. It came with the territory.
Best case scenario: sell maybe one article a week for between $50 - $75. Break that down to an hourly wage, and I was working for peanuts.
But these days ... OMG ... the information available with the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger!
Those born into the computer age, who have had instant information their whole lives, don't have a clue.
(or raw fingers from spinning that dial on the telephone). My grandkids think it's quaint when I go into "wagon train" mode and tell them how it was in the days of yore.
I still remember when the first ATM opened up in my area. People went to gawk, not unlike the apemen shuffling and grunting around that mysterious monolith, in the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
This was at a time when the drive-up-teller was the mainstay. Remember those? Banking via pneumatic tubes, as you sat in the car. Put your deposit slip and check in the tube .... and Foooomp! Off it went to the smiling teller behind the glass. She would work her magic and .... Foooomp! The tube came back to you with receipt and cash back. Not so great with rolled coins as I recall.
Do your grandkids know what a phoney-graph is, and the shiny black disks, with squiggly lines on them?
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Post by Taildragger on May 23, 2020 17:18:23 GMT -5
I have a SyQuest drive I'll sell ya cheap. It store 135-MB: you'll never run outta storage space! ___________________
Antiquated technology. That's partly why I enjoy watching "Highway Patrol" Re-runs:
•rotary-dial land lines
•teletype machines
•manually-routed switchboards
•paper maps on the wall and in the glove box
•naturally-aspirated/electro-mechanical ignition car engines
•drum brakes
•bias-ply tires
•mechanical typewriters
•mechanical cash registers
•lighter fluid-filled cigarette lighters
•no microwave oven in the diner
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Post by LTB on May 23, 2020 17:21:51 GMT -5
Even though I am of an age to be a grandfather I am not yet...hopefully within 2 years I will be. Having said that, my children know the value of a Library as they were born in 1984 and 1989. I made sure they knew what a rotary dial phone is for. My daughter actually wanted and had a phonograph and records even though she was of the digital age group. I am sure things will be different for my grandchildren growing up. People our age grew up tethered to a 6ft phone cord and remember how cool it was when pushbutton telephone came to our house.
I remember in 2015 when talking to my son who was at a NATO base in Turkey how clear the phone call was thanks to Satellite communications as long distance calls had to go through several operators, was very expensive and sorta like talking on two cans with string connecting them except the cans didn't have scratchy and other noises (due to travelling on the Trans Atlantic Cable under the ocean). Oh almost forgot about Party Lines too (hated those).
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Post by Mfitz804 on May 23, 2020 17:34:51 GMT -5
This was at a time when the drive-up-teller was the mainstay. Remember those? Banking via pneumatic tubes, as you sat in the car. Put your deposit slip and check in the tube .... and Foooomp! Off it went to the smiling teller behind the glass. She would work her magic and .... Foooomp! The tube came back to you with receipt and cash back. Not so great with rolled coins as I recall. I still use that every week! |
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Post by HenryJ on May 23, 2020 17:49:55 GMT -5
This was at a time when the drive-up-teller was the mainstay. Remember those? Banking via pneumatic tubes, as you sat in the car. Put your deposit slip and check in the tube .... and Foooomp! Off it went to the smiling teller behind the glass. She would work her magic and .... Foooomp! The tube came back to you with receipt and cash back. Not so great with rolled coins as I recall. I still use that every week! Yeah, we still do that to. But I have heard that the lobbies are opening back up. |
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Post by Mfitz804 on May 23, 2020 18:05:56 GMT -5
^ If I never go inside the bank again I’ll be happy. Takes twice as long and I hate making small talk.
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Post by funkykikuchiyo on May 23, 2020 18:47:00 GMT -5
In my mind, the difference between generation Y (my age, late 30s) and millennials is that Gen Y still has a clear memory of pre-internet age. I remember needing maps or detailed directions to get somewhere, and there definitely weren't actual pictures of the road or the building you were looking for. I remember having to wait for the news to come on to know what was going on. I remember being out and about and thinking about going to see a movie, so we'd duck in to a shop to find a newspaper to see the show times. I remember if you were out and about and you wanted to call home or work, you had to find a payphone. If they wanted to contact you, they just had to sit and wait for you to call or show up. McDonalds was cash only... try using a credit card, and you'd get some seriously strange looks. Not knowing who is calling when the phone rings. Letter writing. Typewriters. Using a dictionary to figure out how to spell something. Film developing.
It does feel like an old timer's rant, but it is truly weird when you get into a situation where you try describing it to someone who hasn't experienced it. It is a bigger interruption to how daily life works in a long time, things like radio and television even pale in comparison, IMO. How many prior inventions/changes pre-internet would we have to stack on top of each other to equal the impact we've had in the past 20-25 years? You'd have to bring out the big boys like electricity or running water.
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Post by stratcowboy on May 23, 2020 19:18:38 GMT -5
Yup. I still use the drive-up bank tubes. And seeing as I don't have a cellphone, I don't tap into all the stuff that's happening. Obviously I'm sitting here at a computer, but I keep my distance from the total technology. Here in my office, on the wall behind me, sit around 20,000 slides cataloged and stored via various subject categories. Sure...they're cataloged on a computer database. But the bulk of my career happened on film. I've talked to young artists who actually went to school for art, and when they took photography as part of their required curriculum, they were required to use film--no digital allowed until you understood the roots and source of the photographic concept--things like composition, exposure, timing, etc. Back in December of 2011, I went to the 40th anniversary of a magazine that I had been a senior photog for since their beginning. The young guys in the current photo/production part of the scene were amazed that most of us used to do the whole thing on film. To their credit, the 40th anniversary book we put together was made entirely from film--which was cool. One of the production guys said to me that he had no idea how we were able to bring in the goods by just knowing the timing for shots, how to calculate exposure in your head (from experience), and put the image subject exactly where it needed to be in the frame. He said nowadays, he gets images from current photographers (digital, obviously) that after you strip out all the post-capture manipulation of the image have almost nothing there on the frame. They just randomly capture stuff and then add correct exposure and the like via computer. Absolutely no clue as to what it takes to capture an image accurately "in the moment." Just kinda weird, is all...
Every generation has its thing.
When I first built our house 30 years ago, for the 1st few years you only had to dial 4 digits to call other folks in the local area. Plus, in my earlier ski-bum days, we were often on an 8-party line. Technically that was illegal, but the phone company had zero additional capacity.
I like much of what has come our way from advancements, but you can certainly keep a bunch of it. Has absolutely no use for me, personally. Hey...I play Strats and Teles through tube amps. How weird is that?!?!
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Post by LesTele on May 23, 2020 19:40:00 GMT -5
It’s funny that a few analogue technologies have been seized on by millennials and other categories of young whippersnappers.
stratcowboy mentions film photography. This has really taken off in the past few years with some new film stock being reintroduced and film sales rising. The prices for some very unremarkable second hand film cameras have gone through the roof as the film boom continues. Very few new film cameras around if you discount Leicas and the Nikon F6, as far as I’m aware.
Vinyl is another area that has increased in market share over the past few years. The whippersnappers seem to be buying LPs, singles and EPs and most current releases include a vinyl edition. I’m all for that but I wish they wouldn’t refer to records as ‘vinyls’. There are even new releases on cassette!
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hilltop87
Wholenote
My Strat is my friend
Posts: 885
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Post by hilltop87 on May 23, 2020 19:40:04 GMT -5
I still vividly remember the day when my Dad finally broke down and bought a telephone with buttons. On the wall to boot. I stood and stared at it for hours.
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Post by Taildragger on May 23, 2020 20:00:49 GMT -5
I still have several hundred LPs and carry CDs around in my truck to listen to (it has a "CD player").
I hope this admission doesn't result in jail time...
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hilltop87
Wholenote
My Strat is my friend
Posts: 885
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Post by hilltop87 on May 23, 2020 20:07:27 GMT -5
I still have several hundred LPs and carry CDs around in my truck to listen to (it has a "CD player"). I hope this admission doesn't result in jail time... Same here my friend. |
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Post by LesTele on May 23, 2020 20:08:21 GMT -5
I still have several hundred LPs and carry CDs around in my truck to listen to (it has a "CD player"). I hope this admission doesn't result in jail time... It should result in ‘hero status’. I don’t know how it’s possible to support musicians if you don’t buy their music. I know that you can buy MP3 music but that seems to going by the wayside as lots of people now stream. I saw a graph last week which demonstrated how many streams were required to earn $30 for the artist. It was an incredible amount. I’ll look it up. Edit to add link to article Article |
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matryx81
Wholenote
I think I know the reason but I can't spell it.
Posts: 771
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Post by matryx81 on May 23, 2020 20:43:29 GMT -5
I remember needing maps or detailed directions to get somewhere, and there definitely weren't actual pictures of the road or the building you were looking for. Yep, and the trouble for the generation behind us is that knowing how to use maps without a phone is a real skill that can come in handy. |
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kirk
Quarternote
Posts: 27
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Post by kirk on May 23, 2020 21:27:16 GMT -5
+1 for drum brakes on the rears anyway. Seem less maintenaince and less touchy. Glad for radial tires though, better riding and gas mileage. still remember my first pair!
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Post by stratcowboy on May 23, 2020 22:44:08 GMT -5
I like maps. I enjoy looking at them and using them when needed. Again...not having a cellphone, it's basically not an option.
As for analog music...I've still got most of my music on a reel-to-reel Akai tape deck. Recorded all my old albums eons ago (my friends still have my albums). Now I'm trying to get some of it onto CD as not sure how much longer the reel-to-reel can survive.
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Post by Mfitz804 on May 23, 2020 23:18:15 GMT -5
Definitely have used maps, and definitely am way out of practice with them. I navigate by phone.
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Post by stratcowboy on May 23, 2020 23:23:52 GMT -5
Very few new film cameras around if you discount Leicas and the Nikon F6, as far as I’m aware. Definitely true. Several years back when I finally sold off my film Nikons (F5), I took an absolute beating on the price. Probably should have kept them for paperweights! |
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JDC
Wholenote
I STILL say: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"
Posts: 528
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Post by JDC on May 24, 2020 3:21:13 GMT -5
I still vividly remember the day when my Dad finally broke down and bought a telephone with buttons. On the wall to boot. I stood and stared at it for hours. My folks had a rotary dial phone right up until their small town local phone company replaced it with a push button model, sometime in the mid 1980s, I think. Don't remember when we got our own dedicated line (we WERE on at least a 3 house party line, at one point) but I do remember only having to dial the final four digits of the number for a local call. Today, I guess, within the states, a call is a call (as far as charges go) whether to a phone across the street or one across the country. When I was a teenager, any call farther than a few miles away was long distance. I remember my aunt lived in the neighboring town,4 miles down the road, and it was a long distance call. |
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Post by gato on May 24, 2020 6:10:29 GMT -5
I am impressed! They still have pneumatic "banking tubes"?
I just changed out a set of brake shoes on one of my VWs a couple of weeks ago. (and all four have ye olde carburetors)
I still have a Thomas Guide map book in each of my cars.
Right next to my desktop computer where I'm seated now, I have a file cabinet, bursting with folders I use all the time.
On my hearth next to my practice amp, guitar and bass is my "G" tuning fork.
I still have many hundreds of feet of 8mm films that my dad took of the family when I was growing up. (they've been transferred to DVD, but I keep the film reels.
Our future archeologists may be startled to find the chaotic jumble of classic and modern when they sort through the rubble. Kinda like finding a cigarette lighter among the animal bones of a Neanderthal campsite.
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Post by budg on May 24, 2020 7:11:37 GMT -5
I remember with fondness all those things. I am greatful for those things we have now like direct deposit , google maps, online banking and youtube.
I remember hoping my mortgage payments made it to the bank on time , balancing the check book(havent done it in years) and going through the Atlas and writing out in word form turn by turn directions to our vacation destination so my significant other could read it back to me as I drove. I remember having to have a Motors or Chiltons manual to work on my cars. Today anything can be found on Youtube . Oh and the shopping . So easy to price shop than before .
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Bronx
Wholenote
Posts: 273
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Post by Bronx on May 24, 2020 9:30:19 GMT -5
Growing up we had a rotary phone because NY Bell charged extra for touch tone. We were on a party line too.
Was thinking about the old TV sets; turn it on and wait for it to warm up. I suppose it's similar to today's turn it on and wait for it to boot.
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Post by Ragtop on May 24, 2020 9:33:37 GMT -5
My first Honda Pilot had AM/FM, a CD player, AND a cassette player. I used all three.
My current Pilot has a big screen that is impossible to operate while driving; too complicated. Nor does it have a CD player, which pisses me off to no end. And forget about the cassette player. So I got Sirius radio. It ain't cheap, but it's good. Still would like to play my CDs, though.
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Post by Taildragger on May 24, 2020 10:21:39 GMT -5
I think that part of the thing with paper maps vs. cellphone navigation is kind of like the thing with books vs. Kindle: some people (myself included) just prefer the tactile aspect of the old tech. Also, I've been misdirected more than once by the wife's cellphone.
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Post by hushnel on May 24, 2020 11:13:53 GMT -5
It certainly is a different world. I’m OK with a lot of the technology. Some of it is really convenient, learning curves at times are frustrating but I work through it. Instant information when you need it, GPS and maps, finding the closest gas or food, cool stuff. Being able to fix my own refrigerator watching a few minutes of YouTube is cool.
Being born in 1953 I was exposed to craftsman, engineers, etc. I saw people who could fix or build anything, I grew up knowing that nearly anything anybody could do I could learn. I have always been interested in how craftsmen accomplished such amazing stuff back in the earlier centuries with hand tools.
So the younger generations don’t really have that background. Plus the technology is so sophisticated it’s nearly impossible to fix anyways, like a cell phone, you can replace parts but fixing is a whole different story. The old MaBell stuff could be repaired. If the car stoped running ya’d have a decent chance of fixing it roadside. So the youngers don’t don’t need to repair stuff as it’s a bit more stable and really couldn’t anyways with it’s complexity, no tools, or experience in their background.
My biggest concern, are they going to lack ingenuity, will mechanical problem solving or logic get lost in this transformation and how will that affect them.
When I was demonstrating traditional skills and the like out at the State Park I couldn’t tell you how many kids and young adults said “I could never do that” and I fear they may be right. Then again, since we went bipedal every generation figured the next would be the last
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Post by HenryJ on May 24, 2020 11:59:28 GMT -5
Sometimes in my mind I compare the mechanics of opening up and removing either an LP or a CD from its packaging and putting it on or in its player, to people who smoke cigarettes and are almost addicted to the action of grabbing a pack, removing a cigarette, perhaps tapping it on something, grabbing the lighter, and lighting up. It is said that people who quit smoking miss the actions required in lighting up.
Some of us miss the actions involved in playing an LP, a cassette, or a CD, compared with the ease of streaming music. I about halfway miss getting up out of my chair to turn over the Beatles' Abbey Road LP after hearing that abrupt ending of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)."
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Post by Rick Knight on May 24, 2020 12:18:21 GMT -5
After recently using the phrase "wound tighter than a cheap watch" I realized that a significant portion of the population would not understand it.
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Post by oldfartbassplayrwalt on May 25, 2020 15:34:39 GMT -5
Speaking of clocks, how long before this becomes replaced with a digital version?  |
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