51–60 of 149 posts
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…
For the first part of the 90s we still had Commodore. Now they’ve been airbrushed from history by those left.
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…
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."
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…
Also the 90s kind of sucked. Otherwise grunge and goth culture would have never taken off. Was a teenager then, but here are some of the things that I can think of: - recessions in many countries '91/'92 - Asian financial crisis '97 - higher crime rates - reunification in Germany (causing massive budgetary/cultural issues) - nuclear testing in the Pacific (was a big issue here in NZ at the time) - threat of nuclear m…
Goth culture was a thing of the 80s. Grunge didn't suck, it was a reaction to overly commercial music and rock losing its roots.
>recessions in many countries '91/'92
Countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, etc had it worse in 2008 and on.
>higher crime rates
Depends on the country. Some have their record highs these days.
>reunification in Germany (causing massive budgetary/cultural issues)
But hardly a bad thing in itself.
>collapse of Soviet economies, esp. Russia
But also dissolution of the USSR and Eastern Block...
>WTO riots in Seattle 1999
That wasn't a bad thing, that was resistance. It looks like you've just posted news items from that era as downsides of the era...
Dial-up Unix shell/internet access was free through the university. I picked up an original 128k Mac and Mac Plus with 40 MB SCSI HD at a local thrift shop for $40, both of which I still own.
A CD cost $25, a pack of cigarettes was $5, and pitchers of beer were $8.
Ten short years later I would be walking around with an always-connected Blackberry in my pocket wondering how I ever survived without Google Maps, push email, and IM.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Truth. In the 90's, if you went to a party and sat in a corner reading a book, it was usually....odd. The idea was that you were supposed to at least try to be interacting with others. Some of us were geeks, some of us found social interaction difficult, but since there wasn't a real substitute for it, we had to stick it out and learn how to be with people. And then we got the benefits of being with people. Now there…
Usenet. Fandom. CW. I was born in 1991, and there has always been a technical subculture ever since Edison.
Yes. The thing I miss the most is the sense that I, and everyone around me, used to be mentally in the same place they were physically. Obviously people were distracted or preoccupied from time to time, perhaps they had a sick far away relative, say, that dominated their thoughts. But those kind of situations were the exceptions. Now literally every single person you interact with is mentally in the middle of several…
Truth. In the 90's, if you went to a party and sat in a corner reading a book, it was usually....odd. The idea was that you were supposed to at least try to be interacting with others. Some of us were geeks, some of us found social interaction difficult, but since there wasn't a real substitute for it, we had to stick it out and learn how to be with people. And then we got the benefits of being with people. Now there…
Or, we could just avoid being with people and play with tech instead. Many a geek kid, myself included, planted seeds for their future careers this way.
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…