[thunderingelephants Posts: 1,262 Status: Offline]

A recent discussion on Social Media and an episode of Family Guy (particularly poignant since I am a Griffin and my uncle is Dr. Brian Griffin) got me thinking. This is particularly aimed at pre-00's:
What is the one aspect of modern technology or activity which you participated in that has seen the demise in the new millennium?
For me, it is not only the art of handwritings but also music. My collection is of vinyl is mere but precious.
My characters are conversing with an elder neighbour who is attempting to explain the concept that not everything is downloadable & cars with power windows were a new phenomenon in the 80's.
Any thoughts?

[Vijaya Posts: 7,164 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Even CDs are going extinct with people streaming music.

The art of handwriting reminded me that the art of letter-writing is also disappearing.

Oh, and working on cars is next to impossible. Now cars have electronic doo-dads so you have to take them to a dealer to see what's wrong. We sure miss our old cars.

[Pons Posts: 2,465 Status: Offline]

I remember a thread where a lot of us reminisced about things that have changed in our lifetime. I'll see if I can find it. It was fun and informative.

eta: Sorry, I can't find it.

[thunderingelephants Posts: 1,262 Status: Offline]

Even CDs are going extinct with people streaming music.

The art of handwriting reminded me that the art of letter-writing is also disappearing.

Oh, and working on cars is next to impossible. Now cars have electronic doo-dads so you have to take them to a dealer to see what's wrong. We sure miss our old cars.

On that "note", (pardon the pun!), Vijaya, last year in my brief time at college we were asked to "handwrite a personal letter" as part of a communications class. I wrote a letter to my grandmother who had just become a great-grandmother at the age of 91. A few idioms brought a smile to my tutor's face.
Also, a joke that a favoured comedian of mine quoted:"I used to play a vinyl record (that's a music playing system for those of you released in the 90's, much like the record itself)".
That always makes me smile.

[dkshumaker Posts: 1,448 Status: Offline WWW]

Maybe not exactly what you are looking for, but my husband and I love telling the story to our boys (14, 12, 10) of how he and I would have never met in 1997 if smart phones existed. I was traveling for work to Dallas/Fort Worth area and we had mutual friends who suggested I give him a call, though we had never met. He was game for meeting me for dinner and when I told him where the hotel was at, he said he thought he knew where it was. (He lived in Dallas, I was in Fort Worth.) If he had a smartphone, he would have immediately looked to see where my hotel was, and realized I was on the far west side of Fort Worth and not agreed to go out! (Yes, a 26 y/o guy could have looked at a map, but well, he's a guy.)

Needless to say, he was REALLY late in picking me up, but we ended up having a great time and ended up exchanging numbers/emails (I had just gotten an email address!) and the rest is history.

But again, probably not what you are looking for. If I think of something else, I'll chime in!

[dkshumaker Posts: 1,448 Status: Offline WWW]

Just thought of something else. Recording music off the radio with the built-in cassette player in your boom box. Trying to time it just right to get the beginning of the song but not the DJ introducing it. A very fine art form, indeed. And now realizing that was probably totally illegal!

And actually having to wait to find out what the number one song of the year was on America's Top 40 for the last Sunday of the year because that was the only time they played it. You couldn't look it up in advance on the Internet.

And not knowing the lyrics for songs because unless you bought the sheet music or rewound a tape over and over again, you obliviously sang the wrong words for weeks/months until someone finally corrected you. Now my kids just look it up on the Internet and seem to know every word for every song they like.

[Vijaya Posts: 7,164 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

DKS, I love that story about you and your husband!!!

Your tape story reminded me of 8 track recordings and the necessity of having at least 2 tracks when you didn't have 8 and wanted to record a duet but your sister would be gone so you had to do the whole thing by yourself. Fun times.

[thunderingelephants Posts: 1,262 Status: Offline]

DKS, I love that story about you and your husband!!!
So do I!

Your tape story reminded me of 8 track recordings and the necessity of having at least 2 tracks when you didn't have 8 and wanted to record a duet but your sister would be gone so you had to do the whole thing by yourself. Fun times.

John still has a collection of around 3000 soccer matches (he's a bit of a football, as we call it, freak) on video tape. I have a few cassette tapes but we can't play either because the stereo is bust. As is the video player. We also have a record player with collection vinyl but can't listen to them because most stereos aren't compatible. Kind of saddens me since modern times don't cater for traditionalists.

I also love your story.
All of this is really helpful. Remember the days when Polaroid's existed and Smartphones would likely be inconceivable? My Mum and I cleared out some stuff from her loft yesterday & she gifted with a polaroid of me in my uniform from 1987. It made feel so old. At 43 I was reminded of that last year! Also, in 1996, I rejected a house-share in a swanky house because there was no installed telephone:all of the other tenants had mobiles and I couldn't conceive how much their pay cheques would be.

Keep them coming, if you can. This is wonderful.
Did any of you wear stone-washed denims with rips in them? Some of those fashions are returning and I can't help wonder to myself: Were you even "conceived of" when those trends were going around the first time?

[Vijaya Posts: 7,164 Status: Offline Encourage WWW]

Fiona, I forgot about the polaroid. I still have mine but don't know whether it works. Should try it out ...

And I came to the US when I was 14 and very surprised that some people bought expensive clothes to look like they'd already been worn. And camping! To think people wanted to be without the necessities. Though I've really enjoyed camping in the US.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,001 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

I had the same music ideas as above, but I own working tape players an old Fisher Price record player and a VCR/DVD player so we can transfer our video tapes to DVD.

Black and White TV and filmed in Technicolor. My older brother had a black and white in his room. I threw out that TV ten years ago because you couldn't sell them at a garage sale. Old gaming systems were far different too. There were few graphics in Pong.

[read lisa scott Posts: 128 Status: Offline middle grade, chapter books, picture books]

The idea that you used to take a picture and have no idea what it was going to turn out like. I always loved picking up pictures from the photo lab.  And having to be choosy with what you photographed because you had limited film.

Missing a phone call and having no idea who called.  Or even that someone did call!

And remember how hard it was to write stories on a typewriter? You couldn't move around blocks of text, or zoom to the end of the document. (I probably never would have written a book if I had to do it on a typewriter!)

[thunderingelephants Posts: 1,262 Status: Offline]

I'm pretty certain I have a few undeveloped films from my antiquated camera lurking around somewhere. My mother also gifted me a polaroid of myself and my cousins from the early 90's. Do these cameras still exist?

Debbie: I didn't take a house in 1996 because all of the tenants had mobiles. I have epilepsy and always preferred to have access to a mobile. I thought they were super-rich.

[Debbie Vilardi Posts: 7,001 Status: Offline Language is so cool! WWW]

Yes, Polaroids do still exist. Google them.

I left out pagers. Watch old medical shows and you see the beeper go off to bring the doctor in. My husband used to work for a company that did billing software for paging companies. Now, only cows have pagers.  (The pager beeps and the cows know to come in. It's Pavlovian.) In the early 90s, everyone had one. Before that it was doctors and drug dealers. The cell phone sank (almost) the entire industry.