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Ask HN: Do you miss 90s simplicity?

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

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cassettes? We had CDs before the 1990s, thankyouverymuch.

Course we did, but a CD in the car? I think that had to wait until about the millennium. Tapes were still hugely popular through the 90s, even pre-recorded. Never did understand that as pre-recorded tapes had abysmal quality compared to home taping. :)

CD players in cars were extremely common by the mid 90s.

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

#82

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…

In retrospect things seem simpler because you know how they turn out.

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

#84

I miss not worrying about the earth dying.

If it helps any, the earth is probably not dying. There have been mass extinctions, climate change, etc before.

After we cut our own throat as a species, Mother Nature will deal herself a new hand and continue her game of solitaire without us.

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

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

In retrospect things seem simpler because you know how they turn out.

I feel fairly safe in the assertion that DOS was simpler than Windows 10.

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

#86

Yes, very much (I'm 41). The running joke with my friends is that my tag line should be "I miss the 90s". Some things were much better then than today, for example: * Children and adolescents had freedom that seems to have been lost today. However, I think that a young person's virtual self extends far out into the aether compared to Gen X. * The lack of cynicism today concerns me. There are so many very.bad.things h…

Unfortunately I can't take the writing of someone that suggests people listen to Stone Temple Pilots seriously.

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

#87

I miss not worrying about the earth dying.

If it helps any, the earth is probably not dying. There have been mass extinctions, climate change, etc before. After we cut our own throat as a species, Mother Nature will deal herself a new hand and continue her game of solitaire without us.

I have no doubt it's not the end of life on earth - the earth will recover and life will continue for another 3 or 4 billion years, probably.

I'm more concerned about the short term - i.e. what will happen to us and our children and future generations.

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

#88

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 I certainly don't miss using the yellow pages to find a store or service, or looking on a paper map to find where the street is.

I think I do. The yellow pages never ran out of power, and wasn’t influenced by a spotty internet connection.

Same thing applies to paper maps.

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

#89
It’s so weird to me that more than half the answers here focus primarily on computing and programming. I mean, this is a tech-oriented community, but surely our experiences of the 90s and of the present day weren’t limited to tech.

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

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it helps any, the earth is probably not dying. There have been mass extinctions, climate change, etc before. After we cut our own throat as a species, Mother Nature will deal herself a new hand and continue her game of solitaire without us.

I have no doubt it's not the end of life on earth - the earth will recover and life will continue for another 3 or 4 billion years, probably. I'm more concerned about the short term - i.e. what will happen to us and our children and future generations.

I'm sorry this weighs on you.

FWIW: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19838229#19843507

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