Was there life before technology?

We had to watch TV in Black anbd white when I was a youngster. We didn't get color until 1970 when I was 10! And there were only 3 channels. We had to do more things like "have conversations" and "socialize".

Technology is cool, convenient yes, but in my opinion it sucks. Of course i'm usually an outdoor person and don't like t.v, movies, cell phones....I do like the computer, but I also could live without it. Wouldn't bother me.

Thanks for your comments guys!

I find that technology is a big distraction and I don't get to do or see the people I want to see because of it.

Do you think that because of the variations in technology, it affects the way you interact with people?

Hey I remember in the old days when you said "I'll give ya a call around 5", then you knew that that guy would be at home! And we wrote letters! By hand! With whole sentences! Amazing!

I still write letters.....errrr..um...okay very rarely, but if I wanna say something from my heart, then I sit and write a letter instead of an email...

Oh, I totally agree nothing beats actually writing a letter thats from the heart.

My cousin was so good at english but now that he has a mobile his grammar has gone out the window. He writes everything in text language! And to top it off he sees nothing wrong with it, he says its easier to write in shorthand than to write in full sentences!

Is technology our saviour or downfall?

Language wise, a downfall. Otherwise, it does a lot for my communication with my parents, and my sister, since they live in Sweden and I live in Germany.

But then again, anyone who uses technology wisely and is a member of a2k, will never lose his/her vocabulary, I could give you that in writing!

When you think of technology what comes to mind?

Like this 'puter that I'm using this very instant, my cellphone and such for me personally.

Universally, dialyzers for kidney patients, heartlung-machines, well actually the whole medical technology is very important, perhaps not for me personally today, but it might save my life, or yours, should it ever be necessary, g*dforbid.

I try not to buy any senseless gadgets for my own fun, except like 15 years ago when I bought my GameBoy.

Hope I understood your question correctly! ;-)

BTW, welcome to a2k, nat!

technology
Life before modern technology:

We had one telephone company phone firmly attached to the wall and one black and white television. We had two channels: NBC and CBS.

On Saturday morning, my brothers and sisters and I would watch cartoons. Popeye was always saving Olive Oyl from Brutus's lustful grasp. Whimpy was always scamming money for a hamburger and promising to pay it back on Tuesday.

On Sunday night, the whole family watched a rousing episode of Bonanza.

On a school night, we had to get a bath in the evening and roll up wet hair in pink curlers (and wake up in the morning with a curler headache). I didn't get my first blow dryer until I was a sophmore in high school. Electric rollers were a dream come true.

We didn't have a computer, but we had a set of World Book Encyclopedias and access to libraries.

We typed up our book reports, papers, etc., on a standard typewriter. We had to use a typewriter eraser to correct our mistakes (which was a big pain if using carbon paper for copies). White-Out was an amazing development!

A Polaroid camera was a nice Christmas gift.

The technology today is more advanced, but we survived just fine with what we had just like every generation before us.

What I find extremely disgusting with today's technology is all the people you see walking around with a phone glued to their ear. Why can't people go shopping or go to the state fair without that thing attached to their heads? I don't get it.

In the past 20 years we have seen the introduction of VCR's, CD's, personal computers, internet, DVD's, and everything else we take for granted. Mosy of these advances are fantastic. For example, I hated my old typewriter. Nothing worse than making a mistake and it's either there for eternity or you have to re-type the whole page. Damn! What a pain in the ass that was!

Thanks bigdice67 and I do feel welcomed!

I'm glad you mentioned technology used for medial facilities as not many mention that at all.

nat23, just noticed that you are from London !! Welcome !!

We are shortly abt to have a a2K London mini meet - if you feel like it, then you ar emore than welcome to join us !

Cheers Gautam! sounds good I think I'll join in.

Well, i was raised by my grandparents, both of whom were born in the 1890's. We didn't get a television until 1956, and then there was a single channel, and it did not operate 24-7. We had our favorite radio programs, and much of television was a disappointment in comparison.

So, we went outside and played. Kids organized their own baseball and football games, they rode their bikes to a favorite location without adult supervision, to fish, or skinny-dip, or to try to throw rocks through the open doors of empty railroad freight cars without hitting the car.

When you wished to make a telephone call, you picked up the handset and asked Betty to put you through. (Don't know who worked the overnight shift--i was too young to stay up that late making phone calls.) If you had a report to write for school, that meant you wrote it, in long-hand, and five pages meant five pages on closely ruled paper--the equivalent of about eight pages of double-spaced, type-writing. You were graded on penmanship as well as content.

Reading was my favorite leisure activity, when my preferred radio programs were not airing. If you suffered a serious injury, you were likely to die, because there were no emergency medical services, and no helicopters to whisk you away to a large metropolitan medical center. Then again, many potentially serious illnesses were nipped in the bud, because the doctor did make house calls. If cigarette smoke bothered you, you would wait outside at the doctor's or the dentist's office, which were all provided with ash trays, as well as magazines. If you got out of line at school, there was a good chance you would get smacked for it. Truly abusive teachers, though, might get a visit from pa and the older boys, which discouraged too liberal an application of corporal punishment.

We drew our drinking water from an artesian well which stood just outside the back door. We ran a tab at the grocery store, and got our milk from the milk train every morning.

What can i say, it was a different world altogether.

Hi Setanta!
Sounds like a world where people were really close because they didn't have the distractions of technology. Seems like you had fun growing up!

How does everything compare, now that technology is at the forefront of people's lives?

Hmmmm


Wait for a response later, i'd need to give that some thought.

Nat, the London meet is being planned here

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22804&start=170

You know, what occurs to me is how some things have changed in a shabby way--i was thinking about this last evening.

The large coffee can in the store is called a three pound can. It doesn't contain three pounds, it contains about 33 ounces. As recently as 25 years ago, it actually would have contained three pounds. The small can would then have contained one pound, rather than the 11 ounces they now contain. Sugar was sold in five pound bags, as opposed to the similar in appearance four pound bags sold now. The small box of fetucinni (sp?) i took out to cook last night would have contained one pound of pasta, rather than the 12 ounces one gets these days.

In many ways, the honesty has gone out of society. These changes are pretty universal in the U.S. (it is still possible to buy a five pound bag of sugar, but you pay more per pound than with the smaller bag), and result from the manufacturers wishing to charge more without actually appearing to do so. In the mid- to late-1970's, these changes started to occur as prices climbed steadily, but the companies concerned did not wish to acknowledge as much.

Other things will occur to me, i'm sure, but that was something which occurred to me as i was getting ready to cook some pasta last night.