I told my mom the only wedding gift I want from her is the Atari 2600 I grew up playing.
I still love Atari.
My grandpa still has the old family Atari (and the original giant ancient box TV). We spent SO many hours playing that thing. Frogger and Space Invaders and some racing game.
Post by 2curlydogs on Apr 27, 2015 13:29:07 GMT -5
I see nothing about IRC or ICQ though. Am I the only one who was on those? (probably)
One of the funniest things I've ever heard was Scott Stratten's bit on the early internet in college. I was recovering from bronchitis and I thought I was going to pass out I was laughing and coughing so hard.
"I thought this thing was going to go away. So I spent all of my printing credit on the Monty Python and the Holy Grail script." *wheeeeeeeeeeeeeze*
I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my favorite memories was my school district spending tons of time and energy wiring our schools for internet and then took forever to figure out how to block adult content. The poor librarians were in for a shock when kids doing research could access whitehouse.com instead of .gov. LOL!
I think the part about us literally being the last people to graduate from college without a facebook account is really spot on. That really did have a huge affect on how you experience your peers.
Also, I think another way to categorize our mini-generation is by 9/11. If you were in college during 9/11 (or if not in college, just 18-23). I would say that experience really sets us apart in some meaningful ways as well.
'84 checking in! Though I was in the tail end, and social media became a thing while I was in undergrad, I relate to all of this so much!
Hell, I still use my aol address from way back when as my primary personal email.
NO YOU DO NOT. My MOTHER uses her aol address. Nobody else in my life still has one of those things. For the love of god just get a gmail account and have it autoforward.
How late is late 70s? I feel like I fit into this at 77, but I did not write research papers in high school with the internet's help. I don't think I even did that in college.
I fit. I was born in '76, so I can definitely relate to all of this. I LOL'd when my 12 yr old asked when I got my first cell phone. Ummm - I was in my 20s because you didn't just GET a cell phone. You had a beeper. Then some 80s/90s decade thing was on and I called her in the room to see what the 1st cell phone looked like. She was amazed.
I did write some papers with the internet - but that was largely because we had access to InfoTrac by then. I was able to pull up periodicals from that database, but I did use books too.
Microfilm. Remember that?!
These whippersnappers have it so easy.
I got my first cell phone after college. Then it broke and I couldn't afford it (paying my own bills, TYVM) and only like three other friends had them anyway, so I gave it up. I didn't have another until I graduated law school.
I think I've mentioned this before, but one of my favorite memories was my school district spending tons of time and energy wiring our schools for internet and then took forever to figure out how to block adult content. The poor librarians were in for a shock when kids doing research could access whitehouse.com instead of .gov. LOL!
lol I remember this happening in middle school!! Scandalous.
I'm not part of this generation, but I remember all of this. I think I was into the Internet earlier than my peers, though.
Post by klingklang77 on Apr 27, 2015 13:52:48 GMT -5
I was born in 77, but I didn't play Oregon Trail...
We had a DOS computer at home with Zork and a few other games on it, but not Oregon Trail.
I took typing classes in High School, typed my papers on a typewriter, and used a card catalog. I didn't get AOL until I was 20 or so. Social Media was after I graduated college (the first time- I went back to do another degree).
Where does Atari fit in? In this generation or Generation X? The neighbors had Atari, but we had Coleco.
I SOLD Apple IIE (and IIc and IIGS and Mac) computers to your parents, you little turds.
(We were backwoods but still had a computer lab in one of our high schools that all the high schools in the county travelled to for class. I learned to program on an IBM 3741/3741 back when they were still using PUNCH CARDS, for Heaven's sake. And in college, we had desk top monitors and keyboards that were all linked to a mini-frame in another room. This was back in 1980-83.)
I see nothing about IRC or ICQ though. Am I the only one who was on those? (probably)
I was on both. I hated that ICQ would show things as you were typing them.
I don't remember this bothering me.... maybe it did? Hm.
People will watch me type at speed while maintaining eye contact and asking questions and ask "Where the hell did you learn to do that?" And when I respond "IRC" I almost always get blank stares. I work with a lot of folks who fall in this age group, so I just never know.
I was an op on the Undernet for a couple channels.
I actually remember the first time I used a web browser for anything. It was in 1996, during my sophomore year of college. I was in the computer lab with two classmates working on a project. One of them decided to open up the web browser and was like, "do you guys know how to do internet searches? It's really cool!" The other person asked her to do a search for Mel Gibson because he was so attractive. That was my first ever introduction to the internet.
I was on both. I hated that ICQ would show things as you were typing them.
I don't remember this bothering me.... maybe it did? Hm.
People will watch me type at speed while maintaining eye contact and asking questions and ask "Where the hell did you learn to do that?" And when I respond "IRC" I almost always get blank stares. I work with a lot of folks who fall in this age group, so I just never know.
I was an op on the Undernet for a couple channels.
Yeah, ICQ really helped me speed up my typing and accuracy game.
My sophomore year of high school our Mac lab got those candy colored iMacs. I wanted my own so bad.
We got a Tandy computer (from Radio Shack) when I was in 4th grade and an IBM aptiva when I was in 9th grade, but no dial-up until my senior year of high school.
My friend coordinated her freshman dorm room decor around her red Mac.
Post by jeaniebueller on Apr 27, 2015 14:14:36 GMT -5
I remember using a computer to get on internet explorer for the first time ever in the computer lab my freshman year of college in 1996. I clicked on the internet explorer icon, typed in the web address and....nothing. I was perplexed. I didn't realize you had to hit 'enter.' LOL forever. I also remember when my friends and I discovered aol chatrooms. Do those still exist?
Y'know, I'm still friends with people from my very first internet message board. That was 17-18 years ago I "met" these people.
We had one ongoing thread where we wrote an epic fantasy story. We would write it from the point of view of our characters. What was going on with our characters often reflected the inner romances/feuds of the board. LOL!
I sometimes miss writing collaboratively like that.
'84 checking in! Though I was in the tail end, and social media became a thing while I was in undergrad, I relate to all of this so much!
Hell, I still use my aol address from way back when as my primary personal email.
NO YOU DO NOT. My MOTHER uses her aol address. Nobody else in my life still has one of those things. For the love of god just get a gmail account and have it autoforward.
COME ON.
Lol I already have 2 separate gmail accounts, too. One of which gets forwarded to my aol .
Y'know, I'm still friends with people from my very first internet message board. That was 17-18 years ago I "met" these people.
We had one ongoing thread where we wrote an epic fantasy story. We would write it from the point of view of our characters. What was going on with our characters often reflected the inner romances/feuds of the board. LOL!
I sometimes miss writing collaboratively like that.
I'm still friends with someone that I met on an "underground" raver website. My name there was SparklesNShines