What do you miss the most about the '80s and '90s?

@Rebelofnj,

Never seen it, had to look it up, it's a rewrite of a British sitcom. Alf Garnett came back in the 80s, and his character had changed, after enduring Thatcher he wasn't such a Tory, still casually racist but not as bad.

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@JGoldman10,

Sanford and Son is another British comedy rewritten for Americans. It's got nothing to do with Alf Garnett and is not a spin off at all. It had different writers.

Quote:

Till Death Us Do Part is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast as a Comedy Playhouse pilot, then in seven series until 1975. Six years later in 1981, ITV continued the sitcom for six episodes, calling it Till Death.... The BBC produced a sequel from 1985 until 1992, In Sickness and in Health.

Created by Johnny Speight, Till Death Us Do Part centred on the East End Garnett family, led by patriarch Alf Garnett (Warren Mitchell), a reactionary white working-class man who holds racist, prejudiced and anti-socialist views. His long-suffering wife Else was played by Dandy Nichols, and his daughter Rita by Una Stubbs. Rita's husband Mike Rawlins (Anthony Booth) is a socialist layabout from Liverpool who frequently locks horns with Garnett. Alf Garnett became a well-known character in British culture, and Mitchell played him on stage and television until Speight's death in 1998.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Till_Death_Us_Do_Part

Quote:

Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about a father-and-son rag-and-bone business. They live at Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. The theme tune, "Old Ned", was composed by Ron Grainer.[1] The series was voted 15th in a 2004 poll by the BBC to find Britain's Best Sitcom.[2] It was remade in the United States as Sanford and Son, in Sweden as Albert & Herbert, in the Netherlands as Stiefbeen en zoon, in Portugal as Camilo & Filho, and in South Africa as Snetherswaite and Son. Two film adaptations of the series were released in cinemas, Steptoe and Son (1972) and Steptoe and Son Ride Again

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steptoe_and_Son

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@izzythepush,

Is it true the American sitcom Mr. Belvedere was based on some old British TV show or movie or play with the same name?

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@JGoldman10,

According to Wikipedia:
The series is based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Belvedere

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@Rebelofnj,

There were three films that featured Davenport's Belvedere character. I saw one of them on TV.

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@JGoldman10,

I've never heard of it. Can't you use google?

I've just followed Reb's link. It doesn't sound remotely British. It looks like something written by someone who's never met an Englishman. It's not about an English butler but what you think an English butler would be like.

It's the most American thing I've ever seen, nothing to do with us.

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@izzythepush,

Yes.

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Is radio still popular in this day and age? It used to be very popular, in the '80s and '90s, before the advent of commericalized internet access. I don't recall the last time I ever listened to any broadcasts on any radio receiver. I have an old HiFi that plays radio broadcasts I haven't used in a long time.

I've listened to audio clips of radio shows on YouTube, but the fact things like this are online doesn't mean they're popular.

I remember helping my pastor with an online radio show he ran.

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@JGoldman10,

Radio's popularity has been declining since the 80s, as evidenced by the 80s songs "Video Killed The Radio Star" by the Bungles and "Radio Ga Ga" by Queen, both songs are about how television has surpassed radio.

For any talk broadcast, people prefer to listen to podcasts. For music, people use music streaming services.

Personally, I only listen to the radio when I'm driving and I haven't connected my smartphone to my car so that I can listen through Spotify.

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@Rebelofnj,

You mean the Buggles.

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@Rebelofnj,

I've heard of Spotify. What is that?

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@JGoldman10,

A music streaming service. Basically, radio without the DJ hosts. I have mentioned this to you before, in this thread.
https://able2know.org/topic/524311-9#post-6978721

The free version has commercials after every couple songs played, or pay $10 per month to play unlimited music with no commercials.

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I'm wondering - is there a course people can take to educate themselves about 21st century technology? Like a course at a college, vocational school or any kind of school or specialized institution or facility? Or any kind of online course I can take?

If there's any kind of venue I can pursue that will help me familiarize myself with current 21st tech and will teach me how to use it for free I'd be very interested.

Is this something they teach in public schools or do kids learn this stuff on their own?

I should ask the head of my local employment center if they have any classes in this, or any kind of program at the center I can enroll in that teaches people this.

I had to teach myself how to use smartphones out of necessity. There's still a lot of stuff about 21st century tech that I don't know. I have a friend who told me about zip drives. I met a young man a couple of years ago at a local college who educated me somewhat about current 21st century tech.

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

From what I can find, there is the Older Adults Technology Services (OATS), as well as programs from The American Association of Retired People (AARP)

However, it seems both programs are catered toward retirees and adults over the age of 50.

https://learn.aarp.org

https://oats.org

As for how children learn to use technology, it is taught through everyday use as well as in school. I have family under the age of 5 that know how to use smartphones, at least to play games or watch Disney videos.

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@Rebelofnj,

Rebelofnj wrote:

....

However, it seems both programs are catered toward retirees and adults over the age of 50.

https://learn.aarp.org

https://oats.org
...

That's ridiculous and sexist. It's like there's some kind of general assumption that everyone under 50 knows how to use current 21st century tech and is familiar with it.

I've been using floppy disks for years. The only public facilities I know of that still use computers with disk drives in them are my nearby local public library and local employment center.

I also still have a landline phone and a VCR. I had to learn how to use some current tech out of neccesity. I had to learn how to use a smartphone because my landline phone is down. I need to have a separate phoneline I can use for situations like this and for emergencies.

I am glad I still have a VCR; certain things have never been released on DVD or Blue Ray.

I know must people use DVRs now. Sometimes a cable/satellite service provider companies give you free ones when technicians install equipment in your home. It's convenient to have something you can store recordings of TV programming by simply pushing buttons on your remote and following prompts on your TV screen.

That's a lot easier to program a DVR to record a TV broadcast for you than programming a VCR to do that.

Gen Y and the younger gens had the advantage of coming up with digital tech and commercialized internet access that commonly used now. Gen X and the older gens basically had to play catch-up.

There is still some old-school tech I still use.

It used to annoy me when Microsoft forced computer users to keep up with Windows upgrades.

I was somewhat introduced to current 21st tech on the tech showed they used to air on G4TV before that network disbanded years ago but at the time I didn't really pay attention to it. I was turned off by it. I thought the devices they were showcasing looked complicated.

As an artist and writer it's important for me to know something about current tech that is being used.

1 Reply

@Rebelofnj,

So you're saying students from Pre-K through college all know to use current 21st century tech because schools teach them how to use it?

Most people in my gen weren't subject to commercialized internet access until they were college freshmen or sophomores, or high school juniors or seniors at least. I don't remember what digital tech was commonly in use back in the mid- to late-'90s when commercialized internet access was first introduced aside from cellphones and pagers.

I recall cellphones at that time had screens that looked something like green-and-black or grey-and-black Gameboy or Tamagachi or digital watch screens. Smartphones or any kind of cellphones with internet access hadn't been invented yet.

I know was a pager aka beeper is. A lot of kids had those when I was in school. I never had one.

In the '80s and '90s pagers were as commonplace in schools as cellphones and/or digital tablets or whatever digital tech kids bring with them and use in schools now. I don't recall kids ever using cellphones in schools in the '80s and '90s.

I remember kids bringing portable gaming consoles like Gameboys to school.

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@JGoldman10,

JGoldman10 wrote:

Rebelofnj wrote:

....

However, it seems both programs are catered toward retirees and adults over the age of 50.

https://learn.aarp.org

https://oats.org
...

That's ridiculous and ageist.

I meant AGEIST not sexist. FIXED.

1 Reply

@JGoldman10,

How is that ageist?
I mean, AARP represents retired people. It is in their name. You can't blame them for helping the age group they represent that most likely need help with computers and phones.

You could call and ask to see if they will help you. I'm just going what is said on their websites, and I didn't even read all of it.

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@JGoldman10,

Quote:

So you're saying students from Pre-K through college all know to use current 21st century tech because schools teach them how to use it?

I did not say that. I said people learn through everyday use or tutorials. I doubt schools nationwide taught kids how to use smartphones, game consoles, and digital assistants. Schools mainly taught how to use the computer and the more basic office programs like PowerPoint.
Most technology nowadays try to be user-friendly, so that most people can easily learn how to use it.

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@JGoldman10,

Quote:

I don't recall kids ever using cellphones in schools in the '80s and '90s.

Well, duh. Cellphones were expensive and only used by businessmen and wealthy people in those days. Cellphones became more commonplace in the mid-2000s.

Also, kids nowadays know how to use smartphones, but because of their reliance of using touchscreens, they have limited knowledge on using computers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/11/16/todays-kids-may-be-digital-natives-new-study-shows-they-arent-close-being-computer-literate/

1 Reply

What do you miss the most about the '80s and '90s?

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