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Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#111

Post by twilight00 »

mindcrime wrote: post #15

[a deleted post said] I miss the trajectory. Many things were exciting in the '90s, but many things didn't turn out so well. This is pretty much the same way I feel. I'm not sure exactly when things changed, but there is definitely a sense that we went off the rails somewhere along the way. Some time ago there was excitement, optimism, and a sense of boundless opportunity, associated with the Internet and tech in gen…

I think 9/11/2001 was that turning point. Then the crash almost exactly 7 years later made things even worse.

I can't speak for other countries, but both of these events were like a one-two punch to the gut socially, politically, and economically here in America, and we're still reeling.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#112

Post by JamesBarney »

wpietri wrote: post #31
smacktoward wrote: post #8

Let me answer your question with another question. How old are you? Because I'm in my 40s, which means I was in my 20s during the 1990s. And from my perspective, it was not a notably simpler time back then than it is today. It was not some pastoral idyll, it was just a time a lot like now, except it was a little harder to get a hold of people. But I do notice that when I talk to people in their 20s and 30s, they ofte…

I'm in my 40s as well, and I'd agree. It reminds me of the Douglas Adams quote: “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably ge…

This is applies to software too.

Software that comes out before your professional career is natural.

Software that comes out beginning and mid career is revolutionary and exciting.

And software that comes out late career is obviously an over engineered solution in search of a problem.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#113

Post by dingaling »

andrewstuart wrote: post #83

I miss not worrying about the earth dying.

> I miss not worrying about the earth dying.

Acid rain, hole in the ozone layer, Chernobyl radiation legacy, global deforestation, overfishing, air pollution; we had plenty of environmental worries in the 90s

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#114

Post by behnamoh »

wpietri wrote: post #31
smacktoward wrote: post #8

Let me answer your question with another question. How old are you? Because I'm in my 40s, which means I was in my 20s during the 1990s. And from my perspective, it was not a notably simpler time back then than it is today. It was not some pastoral idyll, it was just a time a lot like now, except it was a little harder to get a hold of people. But I do notice that when I talk to people in their 20s and 30s, they ofte…

I'm in my 40s as well, and I'd agree. It reminds me of the Douglas Adams quote: “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably ge…

I agree. However, people like Steve Jobs literally did their best after the above-mentioned 35 years of age. Apple basically introduced so many "new" technologies which "broke the wheel" under Jobs' leadership, and he was way passed 35.

Although there are always exceptions like SJ, I agree with the general notion you quoted.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#115

Post by behnamoh »

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #45
smacktoward wrote: post #8

Let me answer your question with another question. How old are you? Because I'm in my 40s, which means I was in my 20s during the 1990s. And from my perspective, it was not a notably simpler time back then than it is today. It was not some pastoral idyll, it was just a time a lot like now, except it was a little harder to get a hold of people. But I do notice that when I talk to people in their 20s and 30s, they ofte…

> except it was a little harder to get a hold of people Hmm. Really? Few call centres or queuing systems around yet. My bank had a local number that was answered in 3 rings - often by the same person. So did the phone and electric companies, and the tax office. They might actually remember you. I probably couldn't ping a friend if they were out with the dog, or on holiday, and definitely not in the car - few had mobi…

This.

I've often thought the main difference between us humans and other animals is that we come up with "complex" (not necessarily better or worse) solutions for our problems, even when those problems are also common in animals (e.g. hunger, mating, thirst, etc.)

Animals seem to find the shortest path: if a lion is hungry, it hunts a deer. But we have made this task [somewhat unnecessarily] complex: there are tons of foods available, each with a number of cooking methods, and thousands of combinations of those foods to sit on our table. Suddenly it's not about hunger anymore, rather it becomes another need (e.g. seeking variety) that arises due to our complexity-loving minds.

Complexity led us to build civilizations, but it also brought about more complicated new problems (e.g. air pollution). Complexity also consumes vast amounts of energy. With our limited power and time, this means extra complexity actually hurts our lives, leaving us with little energy (mental/physical) for ourselves. In my opinion, the most successful people just know the threshold/type of complexity they need in their lives.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#116

Post by esrauch »

gvd wrote: post #64
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also in my 40s, and I strongly disagree. While I don't see the 90s as some sort of idyllic calm Zen, the nature of discourse and social connection (or lack thereof) I feel has been seriously harmed by technology. While I think it's a mistake to look at the past through rose-colored glasses, I also think it's a mistake to think "Oh, well things have always been that way."

The 90s simpler? You try learning a new technology on YouTube in the 90s or reading blogs etc. Students have it so easy these days

I don't think easier and simpler are necessarily aligned. Ancient hunter/gather life could be said as simpler, but also could be brutally difficult compared to all of the modern luxuries.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#117

Post by return1 »

twilight00 wrote: post #111
mindcrime wrote: post #15

[a deleted post said] I miss the trajectory. Many things were exciting in the '90s, but many things didn't turn out so well. This is pretty much the same way I feel. I'm not sure exactly when things changed, but there is definitely a sense that we went off the rails somewhere along the way. Some time ago there was excitement, optimism, and a sense of boundless opportunity, associated with the Internet and tech in gen…

I think 9/11/2001 was that turning point. Then the crash almost exactly 7 years later made things even worse. I can't speak for other countries, but both of these events were like a one-two punch to the gut socially, politically, and economically here in America, and we're still reeling.

9/11 was definitely the turning point - the end of optimism. I never expected that the world would not have recovered 20 years later.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#118

Post by return1 »

lousken wrote: post #16

News websites https://web.archive.org/web/19990128201038/http://dnes.sezna... no spying, popups, animations, autoplaying videos, clickbait thumbnails... just a simple website with information now I have to use three addons just to get back this clean look

Seriously you dont remember the gifs, the flash , the unblocked popups/popunders/popovers/hijackers etc? It was far worse back then but the signal to noise was better. The reason: lack of social media which is 99.999999% absolute informational garbage.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#119

Post by return1 »

jon-wood wrote: post #41

The thing I miss about development in the 90s is that building a web application (such as they were) didn’t involve knowing at least two tech stacks. The backend just queried a database and then spewed out some HTML. In many ways the way we do it now is far superior, and there’s a swathe of things you simply couldn’t do in a web browser back then, but at least it was simple. Outside of tech? Life was not simple. Thes…

> didn’t involve knowing at least two tech stacks. The backend just queried a database and then spewed out some HTML

Actually this hasn't changed, you can still work the exact same way with a LAMP stack. The perceptions have changed, for some reason needless complexity has become the norm.

Re: Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

#120

Post by seventhtiger »

I think culture used to be more united. There were significant limitations in the channels for producing and consuming culture.

Used to be, to get people to read your writing, you had to go through either the effort of printing and distribution, or you had to submit to some editorial selection and review. Then the only channel people had to consume it was to get a physical print of it.

Now anyone can write anything and anyone can read it. The channels of culture have exploded to infinity. This has caused culture to be fractured.

Used to be that most people watched what was on tv, read what's in the paper, and listened to what's in the radio. This formed a foundation of shared cultural experience. It's more varied and accessible compared to centuries of only oral tradition and limited printing, but compared to today, pretty much everyone experienced the same culture.

Today it feels like culture has fractured. Even members of the same household might not watch, read, or listen to the same things. The physical proximity no longer guarantees any shared culture.

Now if you want to enjoy culture in a group, you must either find it online, or you must be a cultural advocate for whatever your views or media are and build a community around you.

Game of Thrones has been one of the most popular TV shows at all time, yet almost no one has found it just by flicking through the TV in that time slot. Game of Thrones was advocated for by superfans.

Although there are certainly advantages to access any type of culture we want, it's definitely more complex. I can't just talk to someone about sports, the show last night, or the new hit song. Because even though I might live or work with someone, first I have to figure our the cultural choice they've been making.

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