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Post by kateln on Sept 26, 2012 6:19:41 GMT -4
I was class of '99 in college, though I didn't finish until 2000, and there was such a huge leap in technology between then and my first visit back in 2006. I remember my mom had a cell phone with the little antenna in summer '97, and I think it was like $2.00 a minute or more. It wasn't until maybe 01'/'02 that all my friends had one. I don't think I bought my first DVD player until 2001, so I remember renting early seasons of The Sopranos and Sex and City on VHS. Going from CDs to MP3s was probably the most significant to me personally. Converting and selling 300+ CDs was like my little leap into the future. Oh yeah, and flat screen tvs. I spent way to much money in 2004 to be first of my friends with an HD LCD TV. Now they go for a tenth of what I paid. I'm right there with ya. My freshman year the internet was this sort of exotic thing and people didn't do much beyond email. By senior year, they were moving everything online and everyone was always on the internet. It just exploded in such a short amount of time. In college I was the only one in my circle of friends with a cell phone (the old-school Scully kind with the antenna) and everyone thought I was a pretentious weirdo for having one. Now I'm willing to bet that many of these same people just stood in line for the iPhone 5. Same here. In college I really couldn't prepare for the career I have now, because it didn't exist. I started college in 1995! But at the time, companies didn't need to have dedicated people to Mobile Device Management, but here I am. It's funny though, because as much as I LOVE new technology, and playing with the toys my office provides, I HATE buying new things while their is still life in the old ones. My television? While having a "flat screen" is still one of those big/bulky things. With a built in VCR and DVD player. I don't watch a lot of tv ON my tv, so it's not a huge deal to me. I haven't bothered to buy a tablet yet (though, will be provided one with the job), and I just bought a Kindle a couple of months ago (while looking around the store to make sure that nobody I know spotted me...I prefer books still). That's right people. I'm a professionally tech-savvy luddite.
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Post by tabby on Sept 26, 2012 9:44:57 GMT -4
Mr. tabby is a retired software engineer, and I work at a supercomputing center. We're both pretty tech-savvy, but we tend to use our tech until it gives up the ghost and we have to get something new. We don't have smartphones. I have an old-style "sunflower" iMac. I have an iPad, but only because I won it last year.
We still use our VCR a lot, because we don't have a DVR and I'm too old to stay up late to watch The Daily Show and Colbert. We also tape Dr. Who for my stepdaughter to watch on Sundays when she's with us - her mom doesn't have cable, they watch everything online, and I guess Dr. Who's current season isn't available online yet.
We still use an old-style tv. (It works fine.) Our apartment building has a "give-away" table where you can put stuff you want to get rid of. We're still hoping someone will put a flatscreen tv on it someday, when they upgrade to a bigger one.
We are an advertiser's nightmare, basically.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 5, 2024 18:52:21 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2012 10:51:23 GMT -4
Heh. Same here. If it still works, I am keeping it! I still have a sweater from 8th grade and a t-shirt from 9th grade! Neither of these articles is in particularly lovely shape, mind, but I still wear them around the house/as PJs, so that means they still "work," dammit. Don't even get me started on phones. I have one that slides open to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and that suits me just fine! I just don't NEED a smartphone, so why pay for the data plan?
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Post by Shalamar on Sept 26, 2012 12:50:21 GMT -4
Heh, I remember when my phone started dying, and I called Roger's to get a new one. The guy immediately tried to get me to upgrade, because that's what those guys do. I stubbornly insisted on getting the one that was currently on sale. He said "You don't want that one. You can't surf the Net on it." "I never do that anyway." "It won't play music." "I have an iPod for that." "It doesn't take pictures." "I have a CAMERA. Are we done here?"
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Post by margojata on Sept 26, 2012 13:31:06 GMT -4
Sigh, I remember switching to a push button phone from the dial (says the old lady).
Our microwave was the one given away regularly on Let's Make a Deal. The sheer joy of watching cheese melt...
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Post by kanding on Sept 26, 2012 15:25:15 GMT -4
Or water boil!
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Post by chitowngirl on Sept 26, 2012 15:32:15 GMT -4
Remember TVs with tubes in them? And the repairman came to the house to fix it!
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newmanium
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 395
Dec 18, 2008 17:28:55 GMT -4
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Post by newmanium on Sept 26, 2012 15:45:13 GMT -4
My dad designed vacuum tubes so he'd fix the TV himself with his custom made tubes . . . back in the Jurassic era.
When I was your age, we upgraded to a fancy-schmancy TV antenna that was electronically controlled from inside the house! No more Dad up on the ladder yelling 'how does it look now?' before the big game.
We could even pick up a Canadian TV station, bringing our total to six whole stations! Livin' large, we were.
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Post by tabby on Sept 26, 2012 16:09:41 GMT -4
Six stations! Dude! I don't think we ever got more than four, pre-cable.
I remember putting aluminum foil on the ends of the rabbit ears to improve reception. I also remember the gradual switch from black-and-white to color tv. During the mid-sixties, the directors of shows filmed in color had to remember that a large portion of their viewing audience would be watching in black and white - it makes a difference for special effects and graphics and such.
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Gigiree
Sloane Ranger
Procrastinators Unite. . . Tomorrow.
Posts: 2,554
Jul 23, 2010 10:27:31 GMT -4
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Post by Gigiree on Sept 26, 2012 16:21:29 GMT -4
I remember my father not only having me adjust the foil-flagged antennae but then stand there holding it just so until he was finished watching whatever show was on. Damn, but my arms got tired. Sometimes I think that is why he had children--so he had someone to switch channels for him ("Nope...uhn-un...go back, and...nope.") and fetch him beer.
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