Chuck and I are being nostalgic. Please humor us. We remember when:
1. ...neon wasn't just worn by construction workers.
2. ...there was no internet.
3. ...we used electric typewriters or word processors - Chuck particularly remembers the soothing hum they made.
4. ...it was cool to show to people exactly where you were sweating via your Hypercolor shirts.
5. ...they turned on the No Smoking light on for the entire plane ride, and yet the cabin still smelled like smoke.
6. ...you had to physically flip the tape from side A to side B - nothing automatic.
7. ...manual windows in cars.
8. ...our first cell phones - and how crazy heavy they were.
9. ...rotary phones.
10. ...the television stations would go to the test pattern at the end of their broadcast day.
Now, I know our more senior readers (Hi Old People! Wave at the nice computer!) will say that they remember many more things than these and how silly we are for thinking that physically flipping your tape was bad because that was NOTHING compared to when they didn't even have tapes, when their wax cylinders would crack, or worse yet, when there was no music at all because it hadn't been invented yet. So I know my generation had it pretty good, what with talkies and indoor plumbing and all.
But it's fun to think about what the next generation will say in lists like this. And I can't see into the future, but here is a list of things they WON'T remember.
1. ...a time before wireless (cell phones, wi-fi).
2. ...having to watch TV live and in standard definition.
3. ...when alternative energy was "alternate" - and just for hippies.
4. ...when presidents could only be white men.
5. ...when the U.S. was THE super-power.
6. ...when it was unheard of for women to dunk (or play all the sports men do).
7. ...a time before instant replay in sports.
8. ...the big 3 automakers.
9. ...when you had to go to a different store to get organic food.
10. ...a time before technology helped you do everything - Roomba cleaning your floors, TomTom telling you how to get places, Tivo figuring out what shows you like and then recording others as suggestions, etc.
I hope that the innovations that come in our kids' lifetimes don't limit their creativity - doing everything for them. I hope they use the tools they are given to expand their horizons far more than we did, and to dream big.
5 comments:
I wore my hypercolor shirt to bed last night in honor of your list! The shirt used to be purple and would turn pink when warm. Not it is just permanently pink. I wish they still made them!
papa thinks the biggest changes will be in the medical field. Our grandkids (your kids) will see organs grown from their own bodily fluids if they will need a transplant, diseases cured (MSD, some cancers, diabetes would all be great start), nerve damage reversed in our own bodies to stop paralysis.... the list goes on and on. If they get some luck in their lives they could easily live to be 125 or more. Question.... could they afford to retire at 70?
wow thats interesting! and so true. I've only had my iphone for not quite two years, and I am always thinking how in the world I kept up with my job before I had it to help me!
I don't remember tv stations going to the test pattern at the end though. How much older than me are you?? :)
I think my memory of the test pattern has less to do with how much older I am than you and more to do with the fact that I watched a lot of TV! I LOVE TV.
I remember the test patterns!! I am vastly older than both of you and remember not only the test patterns but also when CHiPs was a real show, not just reruns.
My kids definitely do not remember or understand a time before handheld/wireless everything. Interesting to think about!
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