Friday, November 15, 2013

Friday Loose Bloggers Consortium: When I Was Young

I know I can't compete with some of the older members of our Consortium when I write about life when I was young, but I thought I'd give it a stab anyway.  I always think of myself as being young, but actually, I think I'm about to pass the "middle aged" status, so I can officially talk about the "good old days". 

I remember telephones that were "dial" phones.  The receiver was quite heavy, and we had to "turn" the dial using the number we wanted.  These phones were stationary, meaning you couldn't really walk around holding them.  So when you were using the phone, you were tied to one location.

I remember hearing about computers, but the computers back then took up an entire room.  The first "personal computer" I ever saw belonged to my husband.  His grandparents had bought it for him to use in college, and back then, it was fairly expensive.  His computer came with several hi-tech games, such as "pacman", and "asteroids".  Although the graphics weren't as good as the games in the bowling alley, still, it was amazing to us!

Our television was about the size of a clothes dresser.  For many years, we only had black and white.  And you had to physically change the channel by walking over to the television and turning the dial.  But eventually my parents got color, and that was incredible.  I remember watching the first moon landing.  We made sure to watch every Apollo launch.  Even as a young child, that was magical to me.

It's amazing how we didn't miss all of today's technology.  If we needed to call someone, we didn't whip out our cell phone, we just stopped and used a pay phone.  If we needed information, we went to the library, or consulted the encyclopedia.  When we prepared an essay for school, we used a typewriter.  And if we typed a mistake, we used correcting tape or fluid.  It worked.  It all worked. 

My fear is that with modern technologies, people spend less time associating with each other face to face.  Children spend hours on end playing video games instead of enjoying the smells and sights of nature, and playing street games with their friends..  Teenagers spend hours on end texting friends, but don't go out and really play!  Adults spend their time surfing the internet instead of reading classic books.  As a people, we spend more time playing with technology than working on developing a talent, or pursuing a hobby.  I think we are losing touch with nature, and with our own creativity.  Some days I long for the "good old days".....

Check out what the other consortium members have to say on this subject:
Rummuser, Anu, Ashkok, Gaelikka, Grannymar , Padmum, Magpie11, andAkanksha,Will Knot, Maria the Silver Fox, Anki, Nema Noor Paul Plain Joe, and Rohit, Black watertown, The Old Fossil, our newest member MAXI! and last, but not least SHACKMAN! :)

4 comments:

Grannymar said...

When I left work(IBM)in 1977 to get married and move north, computers were the size of a room and kept in a dust free environment.Now we all seem to carry thwem in our pockets or in the palm of our hands. We had a dial fixed phone for years, I think my sister still has the original somewhere in the house! I am glad I no longer have to depend on that for making calls.

Rummuser said...

Yes, many things that we had when we were young like friends with who you could share information by just looking at each other, or the rare, because of the expense long distance telephone call, or the long bicycle rides, have all but disappeared. There are compensating factors now but I somehow find the young of today more keen on instant gratification unlike my young days where we knew we had to wait for just about every thing.

Maria said...

Oh, things havae changed a lot in our time, that is the truth.

Maxi said...

Omg D, I remember it all so well. Today people sit across the table from one another texting.

How sad!

blessings ~ maxi