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Retro-Tech Parenting

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Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#151

Post by Karrot_Kream »

doctorpangloss wrote: post #143
pendenthistory wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the double standard... We are here on hacker news probably because our parents let us freely explore computers and the internet. "Screen time" wasn't even a concept. Most friends I talked to had really off-hands parents as well, parents were rarely involved or interested in what the kids were doing. Glad I didn't have overbearing parents who limited my technology use to the radio and LPs.

Well a lot of people, which must include many parents, cannot limit their screen time so is it any wonder they fixate on this with their kids?

My guess is this type of screen addicted user is overrepresented among internet commenters as only a small fraction of the population actually comments on anonymous/pseudonymous forums. Which is why it attracts so much energetic negativity on HN.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#152

Post by Multicomp »

nostrademons wrote: post #63
hx8 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What age were you in 2011? I'm willing to bet 14-21. I think the pinnacle was 2003, right when the internet was becoming good but before World of Warcraft launched which changed how the attention economy worked by introducing the subscription model for digital content to millions of people. I happened to be in that 14-21 range. It's an age range most people have rose tinted nostalgia glasses for.

I was 30 in 2011, and working on building that Internet future. 2011 was the first year that I got told "No, you can't build that feature because we're renegotiating our contract with Twitter and they want too much money." It was also the first year I got told "We're killing products beloved by users because we need to compete with Facebook." And it was the first year I was told "How can we appeal to users' egos to g…

I divide up the world into the pre-iPad world and the post-iPad world.

Less because of the iPad itself (though it was the first mainstream 'consumption first' device in my mind) and more because of those sorts of early user-hostile and spyware-first models that were coming out around that time.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#153

Post by wl »

trumpdong wrote: post #138
japhyr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many areas in the US are much less walkable and bikeable than they used to be. I say that as someone who bicycle commuted for years. When I rode my bike to school as a kid I dealt with 25-35 mph traffic. The traffic was much lighter, the vehicles were much smaller, the drivers weren't perfect but they were way less distracted, and the shoulders were in better shape. We can try to raise our kids with values that ar…

Is it true that pickup truck drivers often threaten to run over bikes to assert dominance or is that just one of those myths about how crazy America is?

I wear Lycra, ride a funny-looking carbon road bike, and average about 3,000 miles a year. In college, I rode a beater bike everywhere for transportation instead of owning a car. I’ve never experienced that kind of thing, though I’ve heard occasional stories.

Drivers don’t pay attention and seem like they’re trying to kill you, but that feels more like recklessness than malice.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#154

Post by wrxd »

sghiassy wrote: post #52

In 30 years, won’t today’s tech be retro tech Did the parents of 30 years ago, think the tech you’re giving today had gone too far?

In 30 years most of today tech won’t work at all. Think of everything that depends on a server being online and on you paying a subscription.

I can still listen to CDs from 30 years ago, read books from centuries ago and so on. I can play all my Game Boy and PC games. At a certain point society collectively accepted to pay rent rather than own stuff and in 30 years time we won’t have much left from this era.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#155

Post by masterj »

trumpdong wrote: post #138
japhyr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many areas in the US are much less walkable and bikeable than they used to be. I say that as someone who bicycle commuted for years. When I rode my bike to school as a kid I dealt with 25-35 mph traffic. The traffic was much lighter, the vehicles were much smaller, the drivers weren't perfect but they were way less distracted, and the shoulders were in better shape. We can try to raise our kids with values that ar…

Is it true that pickup truck drivers often threaten to run over bikes to assert dominance or is that just one of those myths about how crazy America is?

This is true, but it varies a lot based on local culture. "Let me buzz 'em / roll coal to teach 'em a lesson"

but you're not really going to see that in, say, Seattle

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#156

Post by geophph »

hx8 wrote: post #58
nostrademons wrote: post #29

I'm not quite going back so far - IMHO the pinnacle of technology was around 2011, enough that you had smartphones and could use them as a tool but before engagement-hacking got so good that everything became an addiction. I am sitting here using Claude to get Proxmox and Debian up and running with my ~50TB of local hard drives though, so that I can get most of our digital life hosted locally and independent from the…

What age were you in 2011? I'm willing to bet 14-21. I think the pinnacle was 2003, right when the internet was becoming good but before World of Warcraft launched which changed how the attention economy worked by introducing the subscription model for digital content to millions of people. I happened to be in that 14-21 range. It's an age range most people have rose tinted nostalgia glasses for.

For me I think 2004 with the launch of Halo 2 and playing over xbox live with the homies.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#157

Post by japhyr »

trumpdong wrote: post #138
japhyr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many areas in the US are much less walkable and bikeable than they used to be. I say that as someone who bicycle commuted for years. When I rode my bike to school as a kid I dealt with 25-35 mph traffic. The traffic was much lighter, the vehicles were much smaller, the drivers weren't perfect but they were way less distracted, and the shoulders were in better shape. We can try to raise our kids with values that ar…

Is it true that pickup truck drivers often threaten to run over bikes to assert dominance or is that just one of those myths about how crazy America is?

It depends on your definition of "threaten", but the short answer is yes. I live in a mountainous area that's a destination for road bikers and mountain bikers. There's lots of sources of tension between cyclists and drivers.

On a regular basis I see people racing past cyclists, rolling coal at cyclists (I can't believe that's even a term now), blaring horns, and a number of other behaviors that fall under "threatening".

US vehicles, especially pickups, have outgrown a lot of rural roads that had their origins as footpaths and horse paths. Even with well-intentioned cyclists and drivers, it's often times a setup for conflict.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#158

Post by geophph »

guizzy wrote: post #50

I really like the idea conceptually, but I have two issues with it. 1. I sympathise a lot with the impulse here, as I do also feel personally that the way I grew up had the right balance of convenience and dangers, but I suspect all generations feel the same, and I'd be afraid that this is just imposing my nostalgia on my kids. I know, I know, kids seem scarily hypnotized by screens and social media, and trashy onlin…

Yeah I agree with you fully here. As much as the nostalgia twinges my heart and I want the same for my kids, I’m not sure it’s doing them any favors. Us holding onto a past they never knew doesn’t mean we’re doing “the right thing” for them. Alas, parenting is hard.

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#159

Post by aidenn0 »

When my oldest two kids were tweens, it seemed like the average age of first-cell-phone was about 10 in their social circles.

I didn't want to do that, but not being able to text also amounted to social exclusion, so I got them each a jmp.chat line and they could send and receive texts from the family computer.

Haven't had to do it for my youngest kid yet as the age that her friends are getting cell phones is much older (she's in 7th and less than half of her friends have a phone on them at all times -- though many have a phone to take when they e.g. go on bike rides).

Re: Retro-Tech Parenting

#160

Post by floren »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #120
j45 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Emulators are a great idea. Makes me want to 3D Print a mac classic, then put a tablet in it running an emulator with the touchscreen disabled. Touchscreens can quickly be disracting, finding ways around that are important.

Another option: buy a real Mac SE (re-capped), then put a scsi2SD in it with whatever cool stuff you'd like your kids to have on the SD card.

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