Another retro thread: What did you use that your kids/grandkids will never use?

[trinityroyal]

That brings me to something else our kids will never know: Curlers, ironing your hair because there was no such thing as a straighter such as the one Jumper uses to get her African American hair to be perfectly straight, and I'm not even sure hair blowers existed until I was in my teens.

Long before flat irons were available, we used to use a torture device called a hot comb to straighten our hair. It was a comb made of iron, that you'd heat on a stove burner or in the fireplace, and then comb out your hair. They were heavy and awkward, and easy to drop. Hanks of scorched hair falling off your head, and top-of-ear burns were commonplace with those things.

And I remember pin curls well. If my mother and auntie had used up all the hair rollers, then my Grannie would do pin-curls for me before sitting me under the dome hair dryer. Shirley Temple's hair style was made from pin curls.

Can anyone think of ANYTHING that has changed faster and more than telephones?

Computers.

The first computers back in the 1940s took up entire buildings. Now, you can have one in your pocket.

 

[AnnieO]

My cell phone has many times more computing power than Apollo...

 

[InsaneCdn]

... and most of that power is wasted on useless apps and un-necessary high-speed graphics.

When they took the big IBM mainframes from 1k (yes K, not M or G) of main memory to 4k, the new versions of the operating system instantly made use of all of that... with very little improvement in the end result. Programmers are resource hogs... nothing new!

 

[AnnieO]

LOL Depends on what you mean by useless and unnecessary... I deleted everything I don't use.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Just because you use it, doesn't make it necessary!
<duck>

 

[trinityroyal]

And just because it's "unnecessary" doesn't mean it's unwanted.

One man's "unnecessary" is another man's "essential". I would have a great deal of trouble doing my work successfully without the enhanced graphics and presentation capabilities of newer computers. I know, as I had to do it the old way before the new tools became available.

 

[AnnieO]

Just because you use it, doesn't make it necessary!
<duck>

necessary for my mental health!

 

[InsaneCdn]

I would have a great deal of trouble doing my work successfully without the enhanced graphics and presentation capabilities of newer computers

And *I* would rather have the OLD stuff back - the stuff with NO graphics on the screen. Imbedded formatting commands in the text that give you EXACTLY what you ask for and are easy to correct...

I HATE GUIs.
(rant not typed out in full)
(but for the record... it takes me 10 minutes to find the smiley I want on this board and paste it in here, which is why I don't use them much... I'd rather just be able to type in a command and have it show up!)

 

[trinityroyal]

Different requirements, different tool preferences.

Embedded commands are a total PITA when you need them to manually define rows and columns in a spreadsheet or GANTT chart. Honestly, if I were forced to revert to using the old tool sets, I would go a whole generation back and build my spreadsheets and charts on graph paper with coloured pencils and rulers. At least that way I'd get to the point of analysing data, and not spending all my time building the framework that allows me to analyse the data.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I DID entire GANTT charts the old way.
We developed frameworks and templates... and it was LESS hassle (for me) than fighting against all the MS garbage that gets imposed on you and I can't get it turned off so I spend hours and HOURS trying to get stuff to line up, and fit on the page, and flow arrows in the right places...

(no I don't love Microsoft)

 

[AnnieO]

LOL... I have smileys I use a lot. I know the code. is colon-hugs-colon. : hugs : with no spaces.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I tried that... and they didn't convert for me. Because the : ROFL : one is... my favorite.

 

[BusynMember]

I GOT ANOTHER ONE! JUST WHEN I THOUGHT WE'D ALL RUN OUT!

Although some people may own one still, at this time, I am sure our grandchildren will have no idea of what these are:

MAPS!!! No longer will anyone mark "the route" with a Sharpie to get from point A to point B. No more pulling off the road to read the directions with a magnifying glass.

Agree?

LOL to Step that Onyxx wears false eyelashes and her brother calls them spider eyes. I didn't know they sold false eyelashes anymore, except maybe for theater or Halloween

 

[AnnieO]

Walgreens, meijer, walmart...

 

[BusynMember]

Hey...don't get me wrong. I don't WANT any...lolol Just don't see kids or adults wearing them anymore!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Maps... will still be around.
Even if just for tracking "where we've been"... you just can't do that as well with technology.
Even if just for nostalgia... "this is what the town was like when we moved here"....

 

[InsaneCdn]

Hankies (handkerchiefs).

Dickies (that's what we called them... those collar-only tops that you could put under another layer, to make it look layered, without getting so hot... could be turtleneck style, or a real collar).

Starched slips - or shirts, or skirts, or ... does anybody starch ANYTHING any more?

 

[AnnieO]

I had a couple dickies. I hated them. Never wore them. Mom gave up.

Dad still carries hankies! And I am thinking they would be a lot cheaper than paper towels, where Meggie is concerned.

Starch. *shudder* Just the thought brings out sensory issues. And slips... OMG, I don't even know if I own one anymore...

 

[BusynMember]

Dickies!!!! YES! In this day and age they sound kind of.....sexy...lol. I doubt anyone under 55Fa knows what they are...lol.

Farrah Fawcett hair is no longer seen either.

Nehru jackets...I doubt we'll ever see those again

 

[AnnieO]

LOL... One of my best friends has FF hair... Has since I have known her (15+ years)