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Life before smartphones (2020)

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Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#51

Post by OJFord »

ASalazarMX wrote: post #27
KineticLensman wrote: post #19

A couple of things not mentioned: * Half of the population watching the same episodes of the same programme simultaneously. If you missed an episode, it was gone forever * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled.

> * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled. I don't miss those. Before the Internet, if it wasn't on an encyclopedia and you weren't at the library, you had no way of corroborating information. On the other hand, since facts are so accessible right now, those arguments have shifted to voicing their feelings and wishes because those can't be falsified.

Perhaps 'inane arguments in pubs' isn't the best framing, but I do find the ability to ~instantly search for an answer online kills a lot of discussion.

I find it quite irritating sometimes - can we not just talk about it! - and it's not like I have a long memory before it was possible. (I grew up with phones certainly, was in school when they became 'smart'.)

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#52

Post by pram »

gopalv wrote: post #28

> Were those the good old days? I've heard this from several generations that the time when you were still under the protection of parents, but not their attention are the "good old days" of your life - like if your biggest worry if you flipped a car was "My dad will kill me!" and not "phew, not a scratch on me & my friends are all alive". Must be the youth and opportunity of that phase of life rather than the actual…

It's practically nonsensical. I had a "dumbphone" up until 2011. I'm not even a luddite, I just did everything on my computer (and still pretty much do) because the general early phone OS experience was vastly inferior. 'Life before smartphones' was thus almost essentially the same going back to like 1996. I still spent all day on the internet, except now I can read it while I take a dump I guess.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#53

Post by sosuke »

KineticLensman wrote: post #19

A couple of things not mentioned: * Half of the population watching the same episodes of the same programme simultaneously. If you missed an episode, it was gone forever * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled.

Just a random thought you inspired. If any "collective consciousness" ideas are grounded at all in reality does missing the shared episode experience negatively change it?

I remember that the Game of Thrones red wedding event still seemed to happen at the same time even though it was re-watchable on demand.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#54

Post by don-code »

legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

Much like living outside the Matrix, would you really want to go back, knowing what you know?

Yes, you can use a paper atlas. I have an 8-year-old car with GPS, and a 34-year-old car without. I bought a map book for the 34-year-old car, thinking it'd be a "period accurate" way of driving it; it's anachronistic at best, and frustrating at worst - can you read the street signs, and did you drop your compass under the seat? In the 8-year-old car, I can hit a button, say "Navigate to (an address)" _while driving_, and it figures it out.

Some of these I do on principle (only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, etc.), and I accept a compromised UX as a result. Your mileage may vary, depending on how much you get out of these things, but the immediate impact of them seem generally negative.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#55

Post by [deleted] »

kernoble wrote: post #14

The unmentioned thing here is why? Why does the world with a smartphone and today's hyper-connectivity seem so different now compared to what it used to? Did people feel the same way when the railroad and other forms of rapid transport showed up? What makes things feel so different? Is it more competition, and for what? Is it that things are just faster, and the certainties have changed? Has it fundamentally changed…

[deleted]

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#56

Post by adam12 »

legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

Your friend won't wait an hour for you, though.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#57

Post by krylon »

Now I feel old. I remember vividly running around with my first camera, looking for objects worthy of being photographed. The film cost money, so did developing it into pictures. I really had to weigh the pros and cons of taking a particular picture. And in a class of ~25 kids, I was one of three who owned a camera. Not that it was such a luxury item, but most people weren't into that.

These days, (nearly) everyone carries a camera around all the time, and one that is quite probably much better than the one I had in 1992. They can take dozens, even hundreds of pictures without breaking a sweat, and it does not cost anything.

Nostalgia is a very warped mirror. Back then, I did not miss the ability to take dozens of pictures at no cost, because the option did not exist. Was it better? Worse? Neither, I think. But this is the first time I feel old and appreciate it for the history I have lived through. Getting old is weird, but it sure is interesting. (For reference, I'm 40. "That's not old", I hear someone say, but I have never been this old before, so for me it's all new.)

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#58

Post by galfarragem »

Maybe is just me but I read this as a satire of modern days and not as a satire of the old days. Most things the author hints as awkward in the past, the “optimized” version sounds frivolous.

I’m not a zealot of old times but if we are honest with ourselves we realize that most new stuff is crap. 90% somebody said. Few changes are net improvements.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#59

Post by kenjackson »

KineticLensman wrote: post #19

A couple of things not mentioned: * Half of the population watching the same episodes of the same programme simultaneously. If you missed an episode, it was gone forever * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled.

Another thing was regional music. I used to hear about GoGo music in DC, but I couldn't get access to it on the West Coast. People who had access to lots of different music were the music elites. I worked in college radio and set up the college's first Real Audio server and that was a game changer (we were admittedly late to the game, but the whole notion was a game changer).

And now music really knows no bounds.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#60

Post by _ea1k »

ASalazarMX wrote: post #27
KineticLensman wrote: post #19

A couple of things not mentioned: * Half of the population watching the same episodes of the same programme simultaneously. If you missed an episode, it was gone forever * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled.

> * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled. I don't miss those. Before the Internet, if it wasn't on an encyclopedia and you weren't at the library, you had no way of corroborating information. On the other hand, since facts are so accessible right now, those arguments have shifted to voicing their feelings and wishes because those can't be falsified.

You aren't kidding, I'm also seeing a trend of people claiming that any information that doesn't match their viewpoint must be faked or dishonest.
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