Modern Kids, old technology

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdSHeKfZG7c
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I like the host's response when the kid figures out the record player...
Sorry about the language, but its still good.
Le Ed

[RCMerchant]

I have one of those old,very heavy black phones.From the 40's. You could beat someones head in with it. Of course the cord is a huge 3 pronged thing-not compatable with anything now.....I just sit it on the endtable for looks.

[Hammock Rider]

I have one of those old,very heavy black phones.From the 40's. You could beat someones head in with it. Of course the cord is a huge 3 pronged thing-not compatable with anything now.....I just sit it on the endtable for looks.

  I have one of those too. Some of my very young cousins were visitng and they thought it was some kind of gum ball machine. They thought you put money in the dial. They also couldn't believe there was a time when you couldn't carry your phone aorund and watch movies on it.

[Flick James]

I find it funny when explaining old phone techology to people under the age of 25. When I was a lad, some people had answering machines, but most did not. This is what life was like before voicemail, answering machines, caller ID, wireless technology, etc.:

The phone rings. You have no idea who is on the other end. It could be a friend, an enemy, an unwanted pursuer, a family-member sharing urgent matters, a bill-collector, or an obscene caller (no consequences back then). There's no caller-ID, there's no *69, no answering machine, no way to know who it is without answering, unless you want to wait until next months phone bill. Then, if you answer, the phone you're talking on either has a cord that limits you to only walking a short distance, or even attached to the wall allowing you only a few feet of mobility. The person on the other end knows you're at home, and knows that he/she loses you it's not due to a drop in reception or atmospheric conditions or whatever. If you want to terminate the call, your only option is a loud click. The conversation is likely to be longer and more in-depth, because you can't go anywhere with the phone, you're not pumping gas, standing in line at Starbucks, watching a movie, etc.

This is not judgemental in any way. It's just a difference in persective. I wonder if anybody under the age of 25 can even relate to the scenario above.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

What about sitting on a central location to use the phone?  Try and explain that one.

[Mr. DS]

I honestly never thought I'd be the old guy who rags about how kids today have it so easy.  However, my I should have known my fate was sealed.  My big thing is when we wanted porn back in the day, we had to go to the newstand or video store and look a person in the face who you know was thinking "what a pervert". 

[Trevor]

My big thing is when we wanted porn back in the day, we had to go to the newstand or video store and look a person in the face who you know was thinking "what a pervert". 

 

Such things were banned in South Africa and where I was born so when you finally managed to get your hands on an adult magazine (via someone and someone else) all the pages were stuck together for some reason. 

[Ash]

I honestly never thought I'd be the old guy who rags about how kids today have it so easy. 

Me either.  Kids today wouldn't know what to do with themselves if their tech was taken away.
That is difficult for me to comprehend because I was raised very differently.

I read an ABCNews story recently where a teacher dared his students to go without their cell phones or Facebook for one week.
Several of the kids stated that it was hard for them and many of them slipped.

Is that sad or what?
What kind of pussies are parents raising these days!?

[Trevor]

What about sitting on a central location to use the phone?  Try and explain that one.

 

The youngsters I know have never even used a payphone.

[AndyC]

I knew a guy in my hometown who collected old phones. He not only had a variety of them around his house, including an entire phone booth in his living room, but they all worked. In his basement, he had a working telephone exchange - one of those huge, electromechanical jobs that used the pulses from your rotary dial to ratchet through a series of contacts from one relay to the next. And that was connected to the outside phone line. All the phones in his house could call each other, and all of them could dial a number for the outside line, and the exchange would click away as he dialed. The funny thing is, his exchange also sends a different ringback when you call him. It's apparently the ringback from the old exchange, what people would have heard making a call when it was in use.

I believe it was the old phone exchange from our town, or at least a couple of banks of it. A lot of attention to detail too. The phone numbers on his phones are printed with the town's old "Mohawk" prefix, which was before my time.

[The Gravekeeper]

I honestly never thought I'd be the old guy who rags about how kids today have it so easy. 

Me either.  Kids today wouldn't know what to do with themselves if their tech was taken away.
That is difficult for me to comprehend because I was raised very differently.

I read an ABCNews story recently where a teacher dared his students to go without their cell phones or Facebook for one week.
Several of the kids stated that it was hard for them and many of them slipped.

Is that sad or what?
What kind of pussies are parents raising these days!?

I would be able to go a week without either except that I have good reasons for using both at least once a week. My cellphone is my only phone line, so it'd be a bad idea to cut that off for a week (plus I use mine as a watch). As for Facebook, I use it to make sure my gaming group is on the same page about upcoming sessions. Otherwise I'd have to call or e-mail each on individually, relay information from each to the others, etc.

[Criswell]

I don't even have a Facebook, and Sometimes I leave my phone off to avoid talking to people. I guess I could win that teachers game.

[Couchtr26]

I find it funny when explaining old phone techology to people under the age of 25. When I was a lad, some people had answering machines, but most did not. This is what life was like before voicemail, answering machines, caller ID, wireless technology, etc.:

The phone rings. You have no idea who is on the other end. It could be a friend, an enemy, an unwanted pursuer, a family-member sharing urgent matters, a bill-collector, or an obscene caller (no consequences back then). There's no caller-ID, there's no *69, no answering machine, no way to know who it is without answering, unless you want to wait until next months phone bill. Then, if you answer, the phone you're talking on either has a cord that limits you to only walking a short distance, or even attached to the wall allowing you only a few feet of mobility. The person on the other end knows you're at home, and knows that he/she loses you it's not due to a drop in reception or atmospheric conditions or whatever. If you want to terminate the call, your only option is a loud click. The conversation is likely to be longer and more in-depth, because you can't go anywhere with the phone, you're not pumping gas, standing in line at Starbucks, watching a movie, etc.

This is not judgemental in any way. It's just a difference in persective. I wonder if anybody under the age of 25 can even relate to the scenario above.

It is funny because I have had many similar experiences.  What was it like before this thing or that thing?  What was like when you had to do this or that?  It is funny to think about in a way.  I can remember things like speaker phones were a big deal.  Actually, even seeing ads in the 80's when you had to distinguish between color and black and white TVs.  I'm in my early 30's and sad to think I am getting old.  Oh well, we can't change it we all do. 

[BTM]

Hehe.. the vid reminds me a bit of this show they had on VH1 for awhile called "Rock of Ages", where, among other things, they'd show old stuff (not just electronics, but album covers and whatnot) to younger and older people and ask them to identify what they thought it was.  They also showed the young people clips from various groups that were popular at the time, and older people groups that are popular today to get their reactions.  It was pretty funny.

[AndyC]

My daughter finally asked me about the 16mm film reels I have mounted in a frame. She wondered why I hung a bunch of wheels on the wall. Took quite a bit of explaining - how moving pictures work, how a film projector works, how movies have only come on tapes and discs for a relatively short time, and so on.

I actually have an old 8mm projector in the basement that I picked up at a rummage sale a couple of years ago. Thought I might put it on display or something. I should buy some films for it off eBay and show her how it works.