With smartphones replacing landlines, the ability to slam the phone when things go wrong was taken away from us. Angrily pressing the disconnect button doesn't do anything for you and you don't want to throw an expensive smartphone down. Maybe that's why we're always angry.
With dating, almost everyone text and almost never talk on the phone. I missed talking on the phone. I was really good at it. Im super bad at texting. I remember when I thought if I get a girl to talk on the phone with me, I willwin her over as and she will be 100% my girlfriend. It feels like I had a superpower that doesnt working anymore. Like magneto from xmen in a city who doesnt use metal anymore. It is still great in a long term relationship to be a likable talker though.
@@alexlilano1931 yeah talking on the land phone had unlimited minutes. I remember when you ask for a girls phone number, you also gotta tell the exact time you're gonna call. So she'll be waiting by the phone.
Specifically prior to 2008. I swear, everytime I look back on it, the difference in the world between 2007 and 2008 is like night and day in terms of culture and tech.
More time to do homework without constant distractions. And socialize! I remember "computer labs" from high school. Also, physical card catalogs. Hmm! Rotary phones, we had two or more, were loud. I would get up early, I live in Massachusetts, and listen to the local tv or radio station for "cancellations". Then, go back to bed, then get up, breakfast, shovel the snow, get hot chocolate or tea, and catch up on homework(possibly missed). Then, relax.. My now, late grandfather would do "slide shows" a precursor to "Power Point" .
It amazes me to realise that the world I grew up, in is now gone. I saw the transition from b&w to colour tv, the end of rotary dial phones, a friend of mine even has a party line. And I've been through 4 music formats - records, 8tracks, cassettes, CDs and now streaming.
Yes, I do mean the card catalog. Kids really don't know the Dewey Decimal system either. They rely on the computer system. Thank you for watching Kerri!
Some people used the phonebook as toilet paper along with the sears and jc Penney and other department stores catalogs in outhouses. Others used them if they were short to put in the seat of a car or truck so they could see above the steering wheel. People in prison would use phonebooks taped together for body armor so they wouldn't get shanked. Still others used the phonebook to prank call people. The list goes on and on lol
We had one delivered the other day, it was so thin compared to what it used to be. And most of the book is just local businesses and older residents in the region.
When I was in 4th grade (1994) I had a beta fish. One morning it was gone and disappeared. Swore my mom flushed him. About 3 or 4 years later I was using a old phone book to find blockbuster video number in the yellow pages and BOOM! there was my fish from 4th grade. He musta hopped out his tank and landed on that phone book. Got closed up and no one noticed 😅
Library would stamp the return dates on the inside of books so you know when to bring them back. If you worked in a library that's all you heard all day, people taking books out and the librarian stamping them. Usually there was a queue to wait whilst the librarian stamped every book, if you wanted to renew a book you had to bring it back to the library to get stamped again but forced to give it back if there was a waiting list, it was very serious! Late fees were also very high because books were always in demand. Now they just let people scan their own books and walk out, sometimes with nobody at the entrance/desk, even renew them from home. Feels like shoplifting compared to old days.
I miss that “KA-THUMP!” that the old electric library date stampers made when the librarian would insert the card. Also the smell and sounds of flipping through the card catalog.
Yes, I remember the days of librarians stamping library books! I'm only 21 but my mom was a librarian back in the 2000s. As a kid I loved looking at the back of library books to see all the dates the book had been checked out.
And in 10 years, you'll be saying that about today. As much as I love the 90s, I try to stay present and be happy with what I have and who I have in my life.
@@the_kombinator more like in 10 years gen alpha will say that about today. If you pay attention to older generations people tend to long for/get stuck in the simpler days of their youth sub 25ish. Think Walt Disney for example. The disney land park Main Street was designed around his own memories of longing for the simpler times pre automobile.
@@Bonanzaking For me personally, it was grade 8. I loved it. I would take a day in late 95 or early 96 again. Not that my life is shit, far from it, with many, many good memories over the years... That just seemed like the last time I could get away with care-free behaviour, where I literally could care less and loved every moment of it. I tend to enjoy what I have now though, becuase in 20 years I'll be missing today, so why not enjoy it now?
I'm old fashioned. I still cling to things like a landline, a calculator, a camera, a vcr, cable tv and phone book. Yet, I also live in the present with all the modern stuff of the 21st. century. I manage pretty well for someone over 65 and continue to learn how to navigate this strange new world. Nostalgia makes me miss the simplicity of the past. I wonder sometimes how my parents would of faired in today's world if they were still alive. People who when young used horses to get to town.
@@pchound5962You can still get that kind of feeling. A smart phone is like holding a brick to your ear but fortunately they still sell flip phones they mimic landline phones much better
We still have the local phone book issued each year. Getting steadily smaller. My county's down 20 pages or so of numbers from the '22 one. Not many years left for "the phone books" in get. I would hang on to some, folks
The pace of life is faster than it used to be. Consolidation of tools and information makes us expect more situations where instant gratification is the norm.
I would add encyclopedias, the ding ding at a gas station, and spouts for the old oil cans. I teach engineering technology classes and my students and I still use scientific calculators. Interesting video Rhetty.
i'm gonna get a little tmi maybe but I was locked up for 11yrs and i read a book about every 2-3 days. At the end of my sentence I had read atleast 1,000 books. I have been out of prison now since 2017 and I haven't read one book since being out. I just can't focus on books when there's so much more going on. Also the year I got locked up was the year the first iPhone released. When i got out I got slider phone and was blown away by it even though it was a few years older then what was out at the time. Now I own a S22 Ultra, have a pretty nice gaming rig, have an iPad Pro and a 55 inch 4K TV, oh how times have and myself have changed.
Reading books and writing physically really keep the brain active and agile, plus satisfying. I’ve never valued local library as much as I do today - one of the few public spaces where you are welcome & warm without being expected to part with money (and sure, free Wi-Fi and computers)
Your comment says a lot about your age. Was never such a thing to save my homework to a floppy disk because all of my homework was on actual paper. Yes, we had a computer class, but everything stayed at school or on the computer.
I remember the fish and shark game as well and don't forget number munchers that game was very hard and challenging and they had other math games as well there was a space math gane as well Apple computers were decent back than but who knew they would be on top decades later
I still listen to vinyl, CD's and cassettes. Vinyl is the only one that I see still sold brand new in the stores. I have daughter that has started her own collection of newer ones. Thank you for watching and sharing what you love!
@@RhettyforHistory got well over 2600 DVDs/blu rays in my physical media collection a lot are freebies from my pa whose husband is the manger of a large recycling centre DVDs and blu's aren't their biggest sellers so after 3 weeks or so they go into the land fill so for all you physical media fans check your local recycling centre out first they may only ask for a couple of quid as a donation but you can have as many as you can get into a normal shopping basket
Who remembers all the really cool, creative magazines for kids in the 1970s? Magazines like “Dynamite”, “Highlights”, “National Geographic World”, “Bananas,” and the “Weekly Reader.” And don’t forget the “Mini Page“ that appeared in most newspapers once a week!
I strangely miss the days when TV stations would sign off at the end of the broadcast day. I found it to be strangely cozy knowing that the whole town has gone to sleep. I still remember the sounds of the radio at 1AM being interrupted by croaking frogs/toads in the nearby pond. Those warm summer nights were better than anything.
I had that argument with my 2nd grade teacher when I did not want to memorize my math facts. I actually did memorize them and now I never use a calculator.
I have fat fingers, there’s a good chance I’ll make a mistake putting the numbers in. So, it’s good to have a general idea of the answer you’re expecting.
Being born in the 70s, when I tell my son about the world I grew up in, he really does think of it as the "olden days", like I drove around in a horse drawn buggy or something!😆
@@cag19549 Born 1988. Think the only thing that I found genuinely strange from my parents era was rotary phones. Heavy metal base with a spinner to wind each number in and a real bell that rang loud shaking your eardrums as metal on metal does. Record players are also really fascinating in their analogue simplicity.
Just tell him how primitive you think the present is. In the eighties, we thought Xpengs and self driving cars would be the norm by now. And every single home would be a smart home. (I find it strange that people are amazed by smart home tech, when I think the AI should be way more advanced than the clunky 2010s crap we still use!)
The term "Olden Days" was popularised during the tech boom between the 1950s and 60s where everyone could start affording tech. Sure people did have cars/hoovers/fridges/tvs etc etc before then, but it was only the rich. The 1950s and 60s made having a fridge freezer common as muck, same goes for record players, toasters, electric kettles, hoovers, washing machines, tumble dryers, televisions and the like, ownership of these staple household devices really boomed during that time. So the term 'olden days' was used back then becaise no one had the tech so to speak...It wasnt called the technological era for nothing. We currently live in the "Digital Era" because everythings going wireless/no need for any physical things to play music, films or indeed actually having physical cash as we all go contactless. Anyway, the term as originally stated is used by kids today as the 1950/1960s boom is now over half a century ago! Sure some tech is similar like the vinyls to the CD but a CD could hold more songs and even now the CD is obsolete with the likes of Spotify. Back then a phone was a phone, not some touch screen PC that now has more computing power in your pocket, than all the entire computers needed to land a ship on the Moon back in 1969!
I will never forget the nightmare of taking Basic Programming for my computer science class. It actually turned me off to computers for years afterwards.
@@stevis8264 For me, it's "upgrades" FORCED down our throats by this stupid "cloud-based" software BS. Every "upgrade" sacrifices basic functionality for bells and whistles we don't need and aren't even given any information about. SOFTWARE SHOULD BE ON DISKS. Consumers should have the OPTION of having hours added to their workday because of stupid decisions by R&D departments. I teach exclusively online because I've had four heart attacks. I am tied to tech, and these days, I HATE it.
I loved these days! My mom let me go out in the morning and I’d be out on my bike all day and come back just before it got dark for dinner. Then we watched the same things every evening. Miss it!
I remember actually using the yellow pages to find a business or two. I know you've touched on it, but actually holding your media is something else, especially on tape. I also really love the stuff we had technologically from 1997~2007, it was very much a fun and exciting time to see all the advancement in all areas of tech. Very transitionary as well, you still had tube TVs used with DVD players, old home phones with DSL (or cable if you had the money) and record players at home, MP3 player in pocket.
I remember when t.v. watching was over with for the day for everyone, at midnight they played the national anthem, then static. Also my grandmother’s rotary phone that she had until 2013, you could break a car windshield or use it as a weapon with that thing. Good times! Thanks Rhett.
I was born in 2000 but I experienced some of these things. Such as computer labs, cd flipbooks, magazines, MapQuest, landlines, watching daytime TV when I was sick, cursive, and developing photos.
But computer labs aren't obsolete. Schools and colleges still have those. It's just that versions of the computers have been updated a lot from "big-back" to "flat-screens".
Loads of DVDs, blu-rays and 4K blu-rays are still released every week. There is nothing stopping you from buying them and are worth having if you are into the bonus content that comes with them.
I grew up in a country that was 50-100 years behind the developed West. And I still remember how we sent telegrams on important occasions (wedding, funeral, severe illness, etc.) We paid by the word, so many people were very skillful in composing a telegram text to pay a minimum price.
Hi, don't know if someone already mentioned it yet but I just watched and fax machines are definitely still used today between certain businesses and ESPECIALLY between doctors and specialists, maybe not as much as before, but they are still somewhat used. And I am a postal worker, although people may not buy magazines out of stores anymore, you'd be surprised how many households still have subscriptions to them, magazines aren't dying out just yet, but I really like this channel, it's cool to revisit the past.
True, many kids aren't being taught cursive but it's far from obsolete. Not only are many logos written in cursive, along with invitations and greeting cards, but those little home decor signs with words or sayings on them everywhere are often written in cursive as well.
I really don't get how such a basic skill is not taught anymore. Cursives are designed to be written faster than single letters and give a significant advantage in written tests.
@@alexanderfo3886 Most people don't write anything longer than to-do lists or a short note on a sticky these days. They type. Cursive is obsolete. The major general use cases for the general public was just writing letters and school papers. Typing superseded them.
I use email quite often on my job. In my opinion, it's the best way to communicate with a lot of people at one time because many people are not comfortable giving out their personal phone numbers.
I was born in the late 60’s, I remember all of these things, I don’t miss them much, I like the technology we have now, I don’t wallow in the past and I look forward to the future. It’s nice to reminisce and all but just remember, what we have today will also be outdated in the future.
Hearing the dial up sound for internet just pure nostalgia. Also, "You've Got Mail" message is just a joy. I still have those hard disks, and I think I have the original 1980s floppy disk that actually floppy when you use it as a fan in hand.
Even when I was in college back in 2008, there were still rooms with computers there on campus. The rooms had more than just computers though, but there were more than a dozen in each room.
Elementary schools had them by the mid 80s, at least around here. They kept obsolete computers for close to a decade tho lol I recall throwing out C64s in 1996.
In 1990s our lab contained lots of technology. Multiple types and makes of computer networked together, radio controlled devices, programmable robot (like roomba), different printers+photocopy, computer servers, personal floppy disk filing storage and 1 IBM PC that cost thousands with dialup internet (was supervised at all times).
I am born in 1992. I don't even watch movies on the DVD anymore. Dial-up internet was the only one available at first, and I can remember that. And when it was AOL keyword but not find us on social media. Smartphones, tablets, Bluetooth, WiFi and smart TVs weren't even imaginary when I was a kid. I'm glad for this technology today to allow us to listen to any music. Print encyclopedias were the thing before the Internet, and thankfully we now get more updated information online. It's been so long since I last used a phone book, and I am happy to see the Internet for addresses and phone numbers. It's been less than a quarter of a century and look how much technology has advanced already in the 21st century.
After I turned 16, one of my Christmas presents was an 8-track player for my car. When I was in the1st and 2nd grade, I could call a friend in town using only 4 digits, but I had to use a rotary dial on the phone. When I was a kid, we didn't have an electronic remote control for our TV. My parents often did have a remote control for the TV, this was usually me. The weatherman's forecast was correct less than half of the time. No breaker box, it was a fuse box that used screw in fuses that we had to buy. Rhetty, your cool video has put me in a nostalgic mood, I thank you for that.
Heck yeah. I'm not quite old enough to have been around when 8 tracks in cars were a thing, but I do remember fuse boxes and rotary dial phones. When I was around 10 yrs old in the late 90s, my parents rented a duplex, built in the early 40s during WWII, and it was a fuse panel with only 3 glass fuses for the entire home, the 4th socket had always been empty and I once stuck my finger in it and got buzzed. There were a couple of rotary wall phones. I do miss having the ability to swiftly end a conversation gone sour by slamming the phone down on the hook.
@@Sparky-ww5re You stuck your finger in the empty socket, LMAO. When I was a kid, we had steam radiators connected to the furnace for heat and a rug of shag carpet. I would drag my feet across the carpet then touch the metal radiator and get a static electricity shock. I would also do the same thing and touch my big sister to piss her off.
I really miss those reader information cards that were inserted between magazine pages. "Blown Ins" as they were called had a series of numbers printed on them. You'd comb through the ads in the magazine looking for the numbers of the products that interest you and circle them on the card. Then all you'd need to do is put a stamp on the card and drop it in the mailbox. A few weeks later, your name was sent to the advertisers and you'd receive back a some catalogs and a bunch of other stuff for free.
Rhetty is my guarantee against future dementia and memory loss! Absolutely perfect job nailing the era and sentiments of the time and funny as well! Soooo many memories!! Thank you!!!
Remember the thrill of getting lost in the mountains of West Virginia at 2am trying to bypass the toll? Then running out of gas and having to walk the lonely highway at night? Remember seeing headlights coming up ahead and wondering if you were going to be robbed or murdered or simply run over? That was a little bit thrilling, wasn't it? Don't you want to go back to those times?
As kids, we longed for whatever would be "futuristic". Here we are now reminiscing about simpler times...sigh...😌My parents had an Ericofon. It was off-white in color and chirped like a bird when the phone rang. It was rather bulky too. We called it the "banana phone". Thank you, Rhetty. Your videos are very soothing and appreciated. 😊
I don't remember when these became obsolete, but word processors were pretty common in the ninety's. What's strange is that VCRs and VHS tapes are pretty much not available, but stores still sell VHS head cleaners. I still use my VCR and a collection of VHS movies, but I'm slowly buying them on DVD or Blu-Ray as I find them.
EEk - I don't miss magnetic media. I have probably 500+ diskettes here at home, a lot of them work, but they're starting to fail. VHS though? That failed from the moment you watched it more than three times, let alone a rental.
Apparently empathy has become obsolete since 2000. That's why this country is in such a mess. Privacy has also become obsolete. Not only are we thrilled to give every corporation in the country access to all of our information and the ability to track our movements, we PAY for the devices that enable it.
Those are the types of videos we need on RUclips, but sadly, RUclips has silenced (shadow banned or deleted altogether) channels that talk about things RUclips doesn't want people to know.
You might - we have a subscription to nothing. Library cards, 486 computers for my kid to play games on, power wheels and GT snow racers. I haven't had a facebook account (outside of buying/selling) in about 5 years now.
The "terrible soap opera" shown in this video is "Young and the Restless" which aired on the same channel as "The Prices is Right" immediately after "The Price is Right" so watching either or wasn't really an option without a VCR. I sometimes watched both when I was home from school because my grandmother always watched both.
I was born late 2000s so naturally did not experience/have most of these things, but I do still have a landline, although it is scarcely used. The tv we had for quite a while had static, and my school still requires us to have calculators. I was also taught to write in cursive and still write like that now.
Remember the triple A flip maps, they would put together a full trip mapping system that you could just flip through to get to your destinations. Ohhhh that was great. ❤
Every once in a while I want to look for a letter that was written to me. I’ve saved them in a steamer trunk (I call it my archive) since the 1970s(!). Of course, one letter leads to another, then another. A treasure trove of memories that become vivid by way of the olfactory system (the weird way that a sense of smell is connected to memory). I’m always left with the impression that I communicated with friends and lovers in a deeper, more meaningful way. I see this across the spectrum: the more accessible the information, the less of a difference it seems to make in truly swaying my emotions. I deeply appreciate this channel, by the way - especially when you go into the 1970s, which was my coming-of-age decade. I often think we must have had the best childhood ever!
Ahh the memories! I am so grateful that we have cell phones now! I remember what a pain it was when you needed to contact someone when you were on the road and had to go find a pay phone! I loved my old Polaroid camera. You got a picture in your hand instantly. They were cool. (They were great if you wanted to take a risque picture of your girlfriend and not have to worry about the film developer seeing it!)
My Scottish High School did not have a computer lab in the early nineties - they had a computer studies classroom for teaching, but not a lab for students to use for their own work. I went to University - I think it was about 95/96 before they got a lab which everyone could use. I miss getting photos developed. You only took photos when you were on holiday and it was a sort of extension of your trip picking up the developed photos, especially if you had to wait a few days for them.
I wish I had never gotten rid of mine. I’ve tried a couple of times to get it back recently, but when I call AT&T, it seems like nobody there has any idea what I’m talking about.
@@spankynater4242 Just go to Walmat, for example, and buy a landline phone with a docking station. Assuming your home still has phone jack outlets, you can just plug it in and it should work.
Gen X here! I've been through it all. From almost no technology, to a whole bunch of it! I remember the computer lab! Hehe. Modern printers jam all the time too 🤣
Remember going from looking up a 1 sentence description of something in an encyclopaedia/dictionary book the size of my head, to Encarta encyclopaedia with pictures on computer.
These are great to look back for nostalgic reasons. It’s always an odd feeling of shock when I hear kids take their laptops to school. I had computer class with these clanky dinosaurs of computers that could barely run well and you hoped it’d fit in the floppy disk. While those were fond memories, especially when the CD was introduced, the new technology is something that was desperately needed. People are always bragging about how much struggle they went through as if it’s a good thing and all these youngins don’t know the struggle. Why is struggling seen as a good thing though? It’s always outstanding when a new form of technology is brought out to the civilization.
My friend, enjoyed this trip as usual. So much to the trip. Great memories and great laughs too. You are always a great read. Thank you fir all the effort. Haveca great New Year.. all the best
Rhett, I really enjoyed this video about things that have become obsolete. We now can have groceries delivered to our front doors and people don't send personal mail i.e. letters, greeting cards, like they used to. Have a fantastic holiday weekend to you and your family happy new year 2023. Take care 🐎
When schools closed due to the pandemic, I bought my teenage daughter some stationery, a cool pen, and a book of stamps. I suggested to her that it might be fun to write letters back and forth with her best friend even though her best friend lives in the same town. They started writing letters to each other and had a ball!! Yes, they have phones to text each other with, but they sure enjoyed writing old- fashioned letters to each other. They were writing to each other a couple times a week. 😄
@@jenniferhansen3622 Great and glad you encouraged your daughter to do that. I still do that with my buddies and nephews. Nothing beats a handwritten letter and card.
It really is crazy to think about having groceries delivered and some don't every go to the grocery store at all. Things have changed a lot and no telling what is in store in the future. Thank you for watching Brenda!
I understand that strange euphoric feeling of being lost. Which reminds me of one thing that I look back on that seems strange to me now is we used to go on drives simply to drive and see the country side. My parents would often go on a "Sunday Drive". I would never do that now. It would be too boring and gas costs too much.
@@citrine65 Yes. I really hate long drives now. In part, I have kids who get car sick easily and in part, I live out in the country and already drive in the prettiest parts of the area just for regular errands.
I'm always going to be grateful that I chose to take typing lessons both in junior high and high school! We had an antique Underwood manual at home to use and since my handwriting was and still is terrible I got through school that way more successfully.
I still have my vcr and still use my VHS tapes. We still have our landline too. I'm homeschooling my daughter and teaching her to write cursive. I used to type boobless on my calculator lol I used to watch Family Feud, Edge of Night, General Hospital, The Love Boat and Gilligan's Island in the mornings when I had to stay home from school.
but cursive is not needed though it's a nice art now like calligraphy or if you are interested in design. To get into college and in college all the papers and work is submitted online, same with note taking it's usually done on the computer, jobs same, jobs require you to know how to use Microsoft suite proficiently and depending on the job the applications and software that goes with that field. I went back to school a few years ago and it's not the same as it was back in the early to late 2000's. I'm looking for a new job and if you want to make above minimum wage it's important to learn those applications or even how to code would be better and i am not even in IT. i'm a project manager for non-profits and small businesses/creators. i'm only telling you this so you can have a heads up on what's going on out in the job market etc. to better prepare.
@@duanebouchard8736 ... why does it cost so much? Most slide rules were plastic and manufactured in the millions for high school and college students. Even today you can buy plenty of nice examples from antique dealers relatively cheap.
@@wizrom3046 mine was a Post that I bought for $25 in 1971. It was rather premium with a bamboo core and a hard plastic skin. There were many scales on both sides including trig functions and logarithms. It would cost $180 in today's money. It still works today and I never replaced batteries.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Sears catalog, considering how important and iconic it was. Remember waiting for the Christmas edition to show up?
Rhetty - my High School Libary had one Computer terminal , that was public use and on a Local Network , had its own Book catalog ( as opposed to the Card Catalog) and also had Public informatoion like NEWS, Weather, Stocks even EMAIL all through a BBS . the Principal had the Primary Computer and Server and Distributed informaton to all Terminals in the School & Computer lab / Computer class.
Every school I go to, to this day still has computer labs, even if it's a school that gives all the students a chromebook. What school doesn't have a computer lab?
Another great look back on a time gone by. I love these videos going back to a time when our lives were not controlled by electronics. I do have to confess, it would have been nice to have more than three tv channels to watch when I was home sick. Thanks, Rhett. I hope all good things for you and your family in the new year. I look forward to seeing what you will come up with next.
In 1982 our school bought 8 BBC Microcomputers, the first time any school in the city had any. I joined the 'computer club' and started learning BASIC. 6 weeks later somebody broke in and stole them all, and that was the end of computers for the rest of my school life.
Anyone remember learning about MS-DOS & carrying floppy disk during computer class at elementary school here? Or watching disney films on laserdisc/vcd? Or maybe playing around with your view master & tamagotchi during its peak year? Those simple experiences were really unforgettable & memorable indeed.
Sadly there still isn't a good replacement for floppy disks. They were rewritable, but cheap enough to be shareable. Cds aren't rewritable in the sense of deleting files and adding new ones, ever cdrw has to have the whole thing rewritten. Flash drives and SD cards are expensive. You can't buy a whole box cheap like you could floppys.
I remember having a “party line” on our phone when I was really young and my Mom told us not to listen to other people’s conversations or they’d yell at us. I also remember when doctors made house calls. That was something. I just read the other day that they’re getting rid of 411 and O for operator because no one uses them anymore since we have the Internet.
You looked right into my past and saw me watching Bob Barker on days I was out of school sick. I am sad to say that fax machines continue to haunt me thanks to public schools still insisting that they be used to send information “securely“. We still have a few computer labs, however most are gone.
You're right about tecchnology increasing exponentially. We get used to it as it moves along but looking back we can see the differences. Thank you for watching Nicki!
I remember my family having a rotary phone when I was a kid they were so loud whenever you would try to make a call it was hard to sneak and try to make a call when you were not supposed to be on the phone so every time I would call someone to keep my parents from hearing me dial the number I would cough to cover it up
I used a fax machine just a couple months ago, Government offices and some businesses still use them. when you need it and its not there its frustrating, they still have a use.
I kind of miss the days when if you weren’t home and someone tried to call you they’d have to leave a message on your answering machine or try to call you again later. Sometimes being reachable at all times stinks 😂
In the 70’s when I was in the military and on a deployment overseas. I always think how much I wish I would of had the opportunity to text or email back then. It took 2 weeks to get a letter from home then two weeks for home get your reply then another 2 weeks to get their answer.
Mail call used to be pretty special though. I think many people miss out on that. I understand the benefits of technology with families now though. Sure adds less stress for not being there. Thank you for watching and sharing some of your thoughts and memories!
I remember when calculators were very expensive and they didn’t fit in your pocket. Now you can get a calculator for just a few dollars. Or you can have a calculator on your phone.
Yes! I certainly remember computer labs! Going to college for a Graphic Design degree I, like almost everyone else at the time, had to complete my homework in that lab! Heaven help you if you forgot to reserve a block of time! 😥
Yes! Even those with other degrees had to worry about a spot in that lab to do research or complete essays, reports etc. It was not something you wanted to wait until the last minute on. Thank you for watching and sharing a memory!
Computer labs still exist in schools. Students use them for particular software or printing something. But yes, nowadays students still have access to computer and internet after they leave the lab.
Excellent stroll back to things we used every day! Sad, but now just about everything is gone and now accessible through a "phone". I actually tried to get landline service as I live in the country and wanted a real line for if the power goes out. The box by the road said Sprint, so I knew it was a lost cause. Couldn't find anyone as everyone now has "landlines" that go through a modem to make calls. Even if they are battery backup, I'd rather have a solid line
So much advancement, yet I miss the 70’s & 80’s We have already celebrated the New Year here, 🥂 been to bed and are now up on the 1st day of the year watching a video from Rhett. Definitely could not do that in the 70’s and 80’s though. Happy New Year Rhett 🥳 enjoy your night. ❤️Jodie 🇦🇺
I've alway wanted to visit Australia! My dad was like, It's where every poisonous critter lives! He's dead now, and I've still not managed to get to Aus...
With smartphones replacing landlines, the ability to slam the phone when things go wrong was taken away from us. Angrily pressing the disconnect button doesn't do anything for you and you don't want to throw an expensive smartphone down. Maybe that's why we're always angry.
That comment is gold sir!
My network sucks, calls always drop😅
You can still slam the phone, you just can’t if you are broke.
That's why flip phones were so satisfying, you could angrily shut the phone closed.
Yes that's the only way to deal with anger.
I'd go back to this past time in a heartbeat. It was a happier time of my life.
Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts!
I wholeheartedly agree with this comment! 👍
Watching this video made me realize there were better times
We all would the standard of living was so much better then now a days every month is a struggle to eat and pay rent
@@michaeldhondt368 Facts. Studio apartment in 2000. 600 a month. Studio apartment in 2023. 1500 a month.
I don't feel old watching this. I feel blessed to have experienced all of these.
Exactly! I feel sorry for the generations who didn't get to have these same experiences.
I mean, old and blessed aren't antonyms. 👌
Me to
With dating, almost everyone text and almost never talk on the phone. I missed talking on the phone. I was really good at it. Im super bad at texting. I remember when I thought if I get a girl to talk on the phone with me, I willwin her over as and she will be 100% my girlfriend. It feels like I had a superpower that doesnt working anymore. Like magneto from xmen in a city who doesnt use metal anymore. It is still great in a long term relationship to be a likable talker though.
@@alexlilano1931 yeah talking on the land phone had unlimited minutes. I remember when you ask for a girls phone number, you also gotta tell the exact time you're gonna call. So she'll be waiting by the phone.
Part of me misses the 2000s, a simple time when the internet was pure before social media defiled it.
you must be joking, the internet in the 2000s was just as worse then it is now
facebook, twitter, and myspace still existed in the 2000s. but society wasn't as crazy as it is today, that's for sure.
Specifically prior to 2008. I swear, everytime I look back on it, the difference in the world between 2007 and 2008 is like night and day in terms of culture and tech.
More time to do homework without constant distractions. And socialize! I remember "computer labs" from high school. Also, physical card catalogs. Hmm! Rotary phones, we had two or more, were loud. I would get up early, I live in Massachusetts, and listen to the local tv or radio station for "cancellations". Then, go back to bed, then get up, breakfast, shovel the snow, get hot chocolate or tea, and catch up on homework(possibly missed). Then, relax.. My now, late grandfather would do "slide shows" a precursor to "Power Point" .
The iPhone, really changed the game. Before that you’d check MySpace for a few minutes before bed on the desktop lol
It amazes me to realise that the world I grew up, in is now gone. I saw the transition from b&w to colour tv, the end of rotary dial phones, a friend of mine even has a party line. And I've been through 4 music formats - records, 8tracks, cassettes, CDs and now streaming.
😂I still don’t know how to stream! And I buy magazines because being on my device too much bothers my eyes!
I sill use CDs
I work in a library. We still use the Dewey Decimal System. I think what you meant is that the card catalog is obsolete. It's all computerized now.
Yes, I do mean the card catalog. Kids really don't know the Dewey Decimal system either. They rely on the computer system. Thank you for watching Kerri!
although it's used kids now days don't know it we used to be taught it in schools now it's all computer
it's always fun finding those cards in the back of older library books, like, did Johnathan Fletcher return this book on September 21st 1976?
@@RhettyforHistory Libraries: You look up a book on the computer, it tells you the Dewey number to find it.
I loved the card system and cabinets but i didn't know the new system still uses the dewey number. Great information.
You forgot telephone books. They could several inches thick. I fondly remember the phone book being underneath the phone on the kitchen counter.
Some people used the phonebook as toilet paper along with the sears and jc Penney and other department stores catalogs in outhouses. Others used them if they were short to put in the seat of a car or truck so they could see above the steering wheel. People in prison would use phonebooks taped together for body armor so they wouldn't get shanked. Still others used the phonebook to prank call people. The list goes on and on lol
We had one delivered the other day, it was so thin compared to what it used to be. And most of the book is just local businesses and older residents in the region.
@@paigealexandrabattley they just need to go away entirely. You can look up the number on your phone now.
I still like having a telephone book. Prefer them for that matter.
When I was in 4th grade (1994) I had a beta fish. One morning it was gone and disappeared. Swore my mom flushed him. About 3 or 4 years later I was using a old phone book to find blockbuster video number in the yellow pages and BOOM! there was my fish from 4th grade. He musta hopped out his tank and landed on that phone book. Got closed up and no one noticed 😅
My favorite takeaway. "Who could forget the excitement of almost being online?" 10/10
Thank you for watching!
The beautiful sound of "you've got mail" was gratifying. Like u entered another world
and the sounds the dialup made as it connected
Lol
Library would stamp the return dates on the inside of books so you know when to bring them back. If you worked in a library that's all you heard all day, people taking books out and the librarian stamping them. Usually there was a queue to wait whilst the librarian stamped every book, if you wanted to renew a book you had to bring it back to the library to get stamped again but forced to give it back if there was a waiting list, it was very serious! Late fees were also very high because books were always in demand. Now they just let people scan their own books and walk out, sometimes with nobody at the entrance/desk, even renew them from home. Feels like shoplifting compared to old days.
Our library recently got rid of all fees for overdue books. And they also automatically renew if you are late. They send you an email to inform you.
I miss that “KA-THUMP!” that the old electric library date stampers made when the librarian would insert the card. Also the smell and sounds of flipping through the card catalog.
Yes, I remember the days of librarians stamping library books! I'm only 21 but my mom was a librarian back in the 2000s. As a kid I loved looking at the back of library books to see all the dates the book had been checked out.
Honestly, I really wanna go back to this time when my life was far more simple and way happier.
And in 10 years, you'll be saying that about today. As much as I love the 90s, I try to stay present and be happy with what I have and who I have in my life.
@@the_kombinator more like in 10 years gen alpha will say that about today.
If you pay attention to older generations people tend to long for/get stuck in the simpler days of their youth sub 25ish.
Think Walt Disney for example. The disney land park Main Street was designed around his own memories of longing for the simpler times pre automobile.
@@Bonanzaking For me personally, it was grade 8. I loved it. I would take a day in late 95 or early 96 again. Not that my life is shit, far from it, with many, many good memories over the years... That just seemed like the last time I could get away with care-free behaviour, where I literally could care less and loved every moment of it.
I tend to enjoy what I have now though, becuase in 20 years I'll be missing today, so why not enjoy it now?
1992 was a great year. 🙂🇦🇺
Ted Unabomber Kaczynski thought the same thing about technology.
Some of these things may serve no purpose, but I collect old things and I just pretend like they still work. I know, it's really weird.
I don’t know why but my son loves his WalkMan
I had two WWII wired telephones in the 1970's , one was in the house and the other in my Treehouse.
you had to Crank it to power it.
nothing wrong with that. I love vintage things, too. They are just amusing.
You should make videos about your things 😁
@@985Mindy I actually did something like that when I first turned 18. And boy the guys like it.
I'm old fashioned. I still cling to things like a landline, a calculator, a camera, a vcr, cable tv and phone book. Yet, I also live in the present with all the modern stuff of the 21st. century. I manage pretty well for someone over 65 and continue to learn how to navigate this strange new world. Nostalgia makes me miss the simplicity of the past. I wonder sometimes how my parents would of faired in today's world if they were still alive. People who when young used horses to get to town.
You'll be ahead of the game when the grid goes down someday. Lol
@@Lili-xq9sn lol True. 😉
I do miss the grip-feel of the landline phones.
@@pchound5962You can still get that kind of feeling. A smart phone is like holding a brick to your ear but fortunately they still sell flip phones they mimic landline phones much better
We still have the local phone book issued each year. Getting steadily smaller. My county's down 20 pages or so of numbers from the '22 one. Not many years left for "the phone books" in get. I would hang on to some, folks
Sometimes I feel like we lost more than we gained before digital age. Thanks Rhetty! 🎈 HAPPY 🎉 NEW🎇YEAR!🍾
Very much so, I think!
Thank you for watching Robin and I hope you have a Happy New Year as well!
Agreed
The pace of life is faster than it used to be. Consolidation of tools and information makes us expect more situations where instant gratification is the norm.
Yes, I agree, I would prefer to live in the 80's.
I would add encyclopedias, the ding ding at a gas station, and spouts for the old oil cans. I teach engineering technology classes and my students and I still use scientific calculators. Interesting video Rhetty.
Take me back. It was a fun and simpler time.
Thank you for watching and commenting!
I don’t mind what we’ve got now, but a bit of retro stuff like reading for fun should be brought back
I still read for entertainment sometimes.
I still prefer reading and having physical books. Thank you for watching!
i'm gonna get a little tmi maybe but I was locked up for 11yrs and i read a book about every 2-3 days. At the end of my sentence I had read atleast 1,000 books. I have been out of prison now since 2017 and I haven't read one book since being out. I just can't focus on books when there's so much more going on. Also the year I got locked up was the year the first iPhone released. When i got out I got slider phone and was blown away by it even though it was a few years older then what was out at the time. Now I own a S22 Ultra, have a pretty nice gaming rig, have an iPad Pro and a 55 inch 4K TV, oh how times have and myself have changed.
Plenty pf people read books, whether digital or physical books.
Reading books and writing physically really keep the brain active and agile, plus satisfying. I’ve never valued local library as much as I do today - one of the few public spaces where you are welcome & warm without being expected to part with money (and sure, free Wi-Fi and computers)
I remember going to the computer lab and playing The Oregon Trail all the time. Also saving our homework on 1mb floppy disks.
That was a big game to play. Thank you for watching and sharing your memories.
Your comment says a lot about your age. Was never such a thing to save my homework to a floppy disk because all of my homework was on actual paper. Yes, we had a computer class, but everything stayed at school or on the computer.
1Meg floppys? I thought they were 750K or 1.44M
I remember the fish and shark game as well and don't forget number munchers that game was very hard and challenging and they had other math games as well there was a space math gane as well Apple computers were decent back than but who knew they would be on top decades later
Yess 🫶🏽
I still only listen to music on cds or vinyl. Just yesterday I got 10 used cds at the thrift store for $2.
I still listen to vinyl, CD's and cassettes. Vinyl is the only one that I see still sold brand new in the stores. I have daughter that has started her own collection of newer ones. Thank you for watching and sharing what you love!
@@RhettyforHistory cd's are also still sold brand new in stores
@@RhettyforHistory got well over 2600 DVDs/blu rays in my physical media collection a lot are freebies from my pa whose husband is the manger of a large recycling centre DVDs and blu's aren't their biggest sellers so after 3 weeks or so they go into the land fill so for all you physical media fans check your local recycling centre out first they may only ask for a couple of quid as a donation but you can have as many as you can get into a normal shopping basket
I was in Niles, MI over the weekend and there is a used record store. The store also had some other music formats.
Who remembers all the really cool, creative magazines for kids in the 1970s? Magazines like “Dynamite”, “Highlights”, “National Geographic World”, “Bananas,” and the “Weekly Reader.” And don’t forget the “Mini Page“ that appeared in most newspapers once a week!
No recollection. I remember the Playboy magazine, though.
P sure highlights is still around
You forgot Mad Magazine and Cracked.
My school uses Highlights comments
I loved the mini page.
I strangely miss the days when TV stations would sign off at the end of the broadcast day. I found it to be strangely cozy knowing that the whole town has gone to sleep.
I still remember the sounds of the radio at 1AM being interrupted by croaking frogs/toads in the nearby pond. Those warm summer nights were better than anything.
Remember when your teacher said you had to learn math because your not always going to have a calculator…..well look at us now lol
I do remember that statement being told to us. I would love to know how they feel looking back on those words. Thank you for watching Akire!
I had that argument with my 2nd grade teacher when I did not want to memorize my math facts. I actually did memorize them and now I never use a calculator.
I get lazy so I always use a calculator.
I have fat fingers, there’s a good chance I’ll make a mistake putting the numbers in. So, it’s good to have a general idea of the answer you’re expecting.
Yep, we've really been dumbed down, haven't we?
Being born in the 70s, when I tell my son about the world I grew up in, he really does think of it as the "olden days", like I drove around in a horse drawn buggy or something!😆
@@cag19549 Born 1988. Think the only thing that I found genuinely strange from my parents era was rotary phones. Heavy metal base with a spinner to wind each number in and a real bell that rang loud shaking your eardrums as metal on metal does. Record players are also really fascinating in their analogue simplicity.
@@cattysplat I didn't even find those strange as my grandma had one for the longest time. Born in 83
Just tell him how primitive you think the present is. In the eighties, we thought Xpengs and self driving cars would be the norm by now. And every single home would be a smart home. (I find it strange that people are amazed by smart home tech, when I think the AI should be way more advanced than the clunky 2010s crap we still use!)
The term "Olden Days" was popularised during the tech boom between the 1950s and 60s where everyone could start affording tech. Sure people did have cars/hoovers/fridges/tvs etc etc before then, but it was only the rich. The 1950s and 60s made having a fridge freezer common as muck, same goes for record players, toasters, electric kettles, hoovers, washing machines, tumble dryers, televisions and the like, ownership of these staple household devices really boomed during that time. So the term 'olden days' was used back then becaise no one had the tech so to speak...It wasnt called the technological era for nothing. We currently live in the "Digital Era" because everythings going wireless/no need for any physical things to play music, films or indeed actually having physical cash as we all go contactless.
Anyway, the term as originally stated is used by kids today as the 1950/1960s boom is now over half a century ago! Sure some tech is similar like the vinyls to the CD but a CD could hold more songs and even now the CD is obsolete with the likes of Spotify. Back then a phone was a phone, not some touch screen PC that now has more computing power in your pocket, than all the entire computers needed to land a ship on the Moon back in 1969!
I was born in 1980, and yeah/no, us in the city didn't ride on horses, nor hunt food with spear
I will never forget the nightmare of taking Basic Programming for my computer science class. It actually turned me off to computers for years afterwards.
For me it was Fortran. I saw the movie "Tron " when I was 17 and became interested in computers. I took Fortran and that interest died a quick death.
@@stevis8264 For me, it's "upgrades" FORCED down our throats by this stupid "cloud-based" software BS. Every "upgrade" sacrifices basic functionality for bells and whistles we don't need and aren't even given any information about. SOFTWARE SHOULD BE ON DISKS. Consumers should have the OPTION of having hours added to their workday because of stupid decisions by R&D departments. I teach exclusively online because I've had four heart attacks. I am tied to tech, and these days, I HATE it.
I remember my COBOL and FORTRAN program printouts being 12 feet long. One misplaced comma would ruin a whole process.
I took that class as well, and one 5.25" floppy disk was $4.00. I didn't see it as a nightmare though, but it did take some focus to get through.
I had those dang punch cards! A whole stack to say one sentence! I hated that "computer " class!
I loved these days! My mom let me go out in the morning and I’d be out on my bike all day and come back just before it got dark for dinner. Then we watched the same things every evening. Miss it!
I remember actually using the yellow pages to find a business or two. I know you've touched on it, but actually holding your media is something else, especially on tape.
I also really love the stuff we had technologically from 1997~2007, it was very much a fun and exciting time to see all the advancement in all areas of tech.
Very transitionary as well, you still had tube TVs used with DVD players, old home phones with DSL (or cable if you had the money) and record players at home, MP3 player in pocket.
I'd trade all of what we have today for the peace and security that we felt that we had back then.
Thank you for watching and sharing your feelings and thoughts.
@@RhettyforHistory Thank you for making the video, it brings back a lot of memories. Honestly, you rock.
Like the 1962 Cuban missile crisis ? The cold war ? Nam ?......You are just young
@@forbesmathews89 LOL, I'm older than you think and yes, I remember them well and I'd still take them.
@@pipkinrahl7264 75
I remember when t.v. watching was over with for the day for everyone, at midnight they played the national anthem, then static. Also my grandmother’s rotary phone that she had until 2013, you could break a car windshield or use it as a weapon with that thing. Good times! Thanks Rhett.
When we moved to rural Missouri in 1970, we had a rotary dial phone with an 8 party line. The monthly cost was about $4.00
My family had a rotary phone until the mid-1990s, it was super heavy. I finally broke it and we got a cordless phone after that.
Plus if you needed to hang up on somebody you could really slam down the handset. Now it's pushing a button
@@LassieFarm With a satisfying "ding!" as it used a real bell and clanger inside the phone.
Yes, yes, yes.
I was born in 2000 but I experienced some of these things. Such as computer labs, cd flipbooks, magazines, MapQuest, landlines, watching daytime TV when I was sick, cursive, and developing photos.
Thank you for watching and sharing some of your experiences.
But computer labs aren't obsolete. Schools and colleges still have those. It's just that versions of the computers have been updated a lot from "big-back" to "flat-screens".
I miss listening to director's commentaries on DVDs 📀 😢 They were so fascinating and informative.
Loads of DVDs, blu-rays and 4K blu-rays are still released every week. There is nothing stopping you from buying them and are worth having if you are into the bonus content that comes with them.
I was born in 92 and I remember pretty much all of these. I still buy CD's and have a continuously expanding collection.
93 for me, I mostly collect osts from animes and older video games. Found Eiffel 65 Europop for $3 at thrift store a decade ago.
You missed some fun times. 90-94 was a very rapid period of change. 1996 or 97 was a world away from 1989.
@@haloslayer255 Me discovering the magic of used CD warehouses as a middle school kid around 1995. Was a blast.
Buy several cd players too. You'll need backups for your backups 🙃
'97 for me, but I grew up in such a small town that tech was nearly 10 years behind the big ol' cities.
I grew up in a country that was 50-100 years behind the developed West. And I still remember how we sent telegrams on important occasions (wedding, funeral, severe illness, etc.) We paid by the word, so many people were very skillful in composing a telegram text to pay a minimum price.
The way he explains it may seem like obvious knowledge to older folks, but I love the way he speaks about the inventions in a fond manner.
Thank you for watching and I'm happy to know you enjoyed the video.
Rhetty, you ended the year on a bang ❣️ They may be obsolete, but I actually enjoy the simpler days. Happy New Year ❣️😊
Incorrect,modern technology IS THE BEST AS IT MAKES LIFE WAY EASIER
@@stephensnell5707 spoiled.
Hi, don't know if someone already mentioned it yet but I just watched and fax machines are definitely still used today between certain businesses and ESPECIALLY between doctors and specialists, maybe not as much as before, but they are still somewhat used. And I am a postal worker, although people may not buy magazines out of stores anymore, you'd be surprised how many households still have subscriptions to them, magazines aren't dying out just yet, but I really like this channel, it's cool to revisit the past.
I like all of the great music from the 70s and 80s. Easy to play from the phone but still have some vinyl and my old 8 track tapes 😊
True, many kids aren't being taught cursive but it's far from obsolete. Not only are many logos written in cursive, along with invitations and greeting cards, but those little home decor signs with words or sayings on them everywhere are often written in cursive as well.
I really don't get how such a basic skill is not taught anymore. Cursives are designed to be written faster than single letters and give a significant advantage in written tests.
@@alexanderfo3886 I learned Gregg Shorthand, otherwise known as 'Steno'/'stenography'.
Calligraphy is alive and well.
Those are niche uses. Cursive lacks a compelling general use case.
@@alexanderfo3886 Most people don't write anything longer than to-do lists or a short note on a sticky these days. They type. Cursive is obsolete. The major general use cases for the general public was just writing letters and school papers. Typing superseded them.
Even email itself while not obsolete, is no longer a primary method of digital contact. Especially with text messages and social media now.
You're right about that in many ways. Thank you for watching Christian!
I use email quite often on my job. In my opinion, it's the best way to communicate with a lot of people at one time because many people are not comfortable giving out their personal phone numbers.
Our weekend dose of nostalgia 😊 Happy New Year Rhetty👍💙🏴
So many memories….now I feel old 🤣 Happy new year!!!
@@RandomRetr0 gives us a reason to tell our kids "back in the day...." It's a badge of honor for me🤣
Happy New Year to you as well Tammie!
I was born in the late 60’s, I remember all of these things, I don’t miss them much, I like the technology we have now, I don’t wallow in the past and I look forward to the future. It’s nice to reminisce and all but just remember, what we have today will also be outdated in the future.
Hearing the dial up sound for internet just pure nostalgia. Also, "You've Got Mail" message is just a joy. I still have those hard disks, and I think I have the original 1980s floppy disk that actually floppy when you use it as a fan in hand.
70s/80s kid here! Happy New Year! 🥂 🎉 💥
Thank you for watching and Happy New Year to you!
Even when I was in college back in 2008, there were still rooms with computers there on campus. The rooms had more than just computers though, but there were more than a dozen in each room.
I’m 62 and in high school back in the late 1970’s computer labs did not exist! Boy am I old! 😂
Thank you for watching and sharing some of your memories.
Elementary schools had them by the mid 80s, at least around here. They kept obsolete computers for close to a decade tho lol I recall throwing out C64s in 1996.
My high school had a connection to the universities main frame
But still no internet
@@duanebouchard8736 That's an intranet. Close tho.
In 1990s our lab contained lots of technology. Multiple types and makes of computer networked together, radio controlled devices, programmable robot (like roomba), different printers+photocopy, computer servers, personal floppy disk filing storage and 1 IBM PC that cost thousands with dialup internet (was supervised at all times).
I am born in 1992. I don't even watch movies on the DVD anymore. Dial-up internet was the only one available at first, and I can remember that. And when it was AOL keyword but not find us on social media. Smartphones, tablets, Bluetooth, WiFi and smart TVs weren't even imaginary when I was a kid. I'm glad for this technology today to allow us to listen to any music. Print encyclopedias were the thing before the Internet, and thankfully we now get more updated information online. It's been so long since I last used a phone book, and I am happy to see the Internet for addresses and phone numbers. It's been less than a quarter of a century and look how much technology has advanced already in the 21st century.
After I turned 16, one of my Christmas presents was an 8-track player for my car. When I was in the1st and 2nd grade, I could call a friend in town using only 4 digits, but I had to use a rotary dial on the phone. When I was a kid, we didn't have an electronic remote control for our TV. My parents often did have a remote control for the TV, this was usually me. The weatherman's forecast was correct less than half of the time. No breaker box, it was a fuse box that used screw in fuses that we had to buy. Rhetty, your cool video has put me in a nostalgic mood, I thank you for that.
Heck yeah. I'm not quite old enough to have been around when 8 tracks in cars were a thing, but I do remember fuse boxes and rotary dial phones. When I was around 10 yrs old in the late 90s, my parents rented a duplex, built in the early 40s during WWII, and it was a fuse panel with only 3 glass fuses for the entire home, the 4th socket had always been empty and I once stuck my finger in it and got buzzed. There were a couple of rotary wall phones. I do miss having the ability to swiftly end a conversation gone sour by slamming the phone down on the hook.
@@Sparky-ww5re You stuck your finger in the empty socket, LMAO. When I was a kid, we had steam radiators connected to the furnace for heat and a rug of shag carpet. I would drag my feet across the carpet then touch the metal radiator and get a static electricity shock. I would also do the same thing and touch my big sister to piss her off.
Thanks for another AWESOME trip down memory lane, Rhetty!
You're welcome and thank you for watching!
I really miss those reader information cards that were inserted between magazine pages. "Blown Ins" as they were called had a series of numbers printed on them. You'd comb through the ads in the magazine looking for the numbers of the products that interest you and circle them on the card. Then all you'd need to do is put a stamp on the card and drop it in the mailbox. A few weeks later, your name was sent to the advertisers and you'd receive back a some catalogs and a bunch of other stuff for free.
And now, it’s impossible to get junk mail delivery stopped.
Rhetty is my guarantee against future dementia and memory loss! Absolutely perfect job nailing the era and sentiments of the time and funny as well! Soooo many memories!! Thank you!!!
Remember the thrill of getting lost in the mountains of West Virginia at 2am trying to bypass the toll? Then running out of gas and having to walk the lonely highway at night? Remember seeing headlights coming up ahead and wondering if you were going to be robbed or murdered or simply run over? That was a little bit thrilling, wasn't it? Don't you want to go back to those times?
As kids, we longed for whatever would be "futuristic". Here we are now reminiscing about simpler times...sigh...😌My parents had an Ericofon. It was off-white in color and chirped like a bird when the phone rang. It was rather bulky too. We called it the "banana phone". Thank you, Rhetty. Your videos are very soothing and appreciated. 😊
I don't remember when these became obsolete, but word processors were pretty common in the ninety's. What's strange is that VCRs and VHS tapes are pretty much not available, but stores still sell VHS head cleaners. I still use my VCR and a collection of VHS movies, but I'm slowly buying them on DVD or Blu-Ray as I find them.
I looooved Olivetti's word processor!
I still have vhs player
I still use my Montgomery Ward VCR all the time. I'm always amazed it's still going. Thank you for watching!
@Niklas S yeah, eBay. Tread careful there. What I call scalpers work overtime there. I'm not sure if any of our local thrifts still sell VCR players.
EEk - I don't miss magnetic media. I have probably 500+ diskettes here at home, a lot of them work, but they're starting to fail. VHS though? That failed from the moment you watched it more than three times, let alone a rental.
Fun. Creativity, Sense of wonderment. All obsolete in 2022
Apparently empathy has become obsolete since 2000. That's why this country is in such a mess. Privacy has also become obsolete. Not only are we thrilled to give every corporation in the country access to all of our information and the ability to track our movements, we PAY for the devices that enable it.
Those are the types of videos we need on RUclips, but sadly, RUclips has silenced (shadow banned or deleted altogether) channels that talk about things RUclips doesn't want people to know.
Our thoughts are the last form of privacy that we have left.
You might - we have a subscription to nothing. Library cards, 486 computers for my kid to play games on, power wheels and GT snow racers. I haven't had a facebook account (outside of buying/selling) in about 5 years now.
@@agomodern they are out there you just have to look, internettoday is a good one so is somemorenews
The "terrible soap opera" shown in this video is "Young and the Restless" which aired on the same channel as "The Prices is Right" immediately after "The Price is Right" so watching either or wasn't really an option without a VCR. I sometimes watched both when I was home from school because my grandmother always watched both.
I was born late 2000s so naturally did not experience/have most of these things, but I do still have a landline, although it is scarcely used. The tv we had for quite a while had static, and my school still requires us to have calculators. I was also taught to write in cursive and still write like that now.
Remember the triple A flip maps, they would put together a full trip mapping system that you could just flip through to get to your destinations. Ohhhh that was great. ❤
They really were good to have in your corner when you went on vacation. Thank you for watching and sharing some memories!
Every once in a while I want to look for a letter that was written to me. I’ve saved them in a steamer trunk (I call it my archive) since the 1970s(!). Of course, one letter leads to another, then another. A treasure trove of memories that become vivid by way of the olfactory system (the weird way that a sense of smell is connected to memory). I’m always left with the impression that I communicated with friends and lovers in a deeper, more meaningful way. I see this across the spectrum: the more accessible the information, the less of a difference it seems to make in truly swaying my emotions. I deeply appreciate this channel, by the way - especially when you go into the 1970s, which was my coming-of-age decade. I often think we must have had the best childhood ever!
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*Awesome video!*
*Thank you for all of your hard work, bringing these videos to us!*
🙂👍🌹
You're welcome and thank you for watching Bonnie! I'm happy you enjoyed them!
Wishing you and your family a very Happy, healthy, prosperous 2023, beginning tomorrow!
Ahh the memories! I am so grateful that we have cell phones now! I remember what a pain it was when you needed to contact someone when you were on the road and had to go find a pay phone! I loved my old Polaroid camera. You got a picture in your hand instantly. They were cool. (They were great if you wanted to take a risque picture of your girlfriend and not have to worry about the film developer seeing it!)
My Scottish High School did not have a computer lab in the early nineties - they had a computer studies classroom for teaching, but not a lab for students to use for their own work. I went to University - I think it was about 95/96 before they got a lab which everyone could use. I miss getting photos developed. You only took photos when you were on holiday and it was a sort of extension of your trip picking up the developed photos, especially if you had to wait a few days for them.
I still have a slide projector and lots of slides... and still have a landline. Never got rid of it.😅
My dad had one of those expensive cameras and always used slides and slide projectors. Once a month we had slide shows.
@@joeheid2776 my dad too ..
I still have some slides as well as 8mm and super 8mm film. Thank you for watching and sharing what you still have.
I wish I had never gotten rid of mine. I’ve tried a couple of times to get it back recently, but when I call AT&T, it seems like nobody there has any idea what I’m talking about.
@@spankynater4242 Just go to Walmat, for example, and buy a landline phone with a docking station. Assuming your home still has phone jack outlets, you can just plug it in and it should work.
That Dewey Decimal joke almost made my OJ spray out of my nose.
Thanks for the great video!
I'm happy to know you caught the humor. Thank you for watching!
Gen X here! I've been through it all. From almost no technology, to a whole bunch of it! I remember the computer lab! Hehe. Modern printers jam all the time too 🤣
Thank you for watching and sharing your memories!
I remember taking a summer school class learning how to make simple programs in DOS.🤣
What an absolute waste of time!
You are so right on the modern printers jamming so dang annoying. Anna In Ohio
Remember going from looking up a 1 sentence description of something in an encyclopaedia/dictionary book the size of my head, to Encarta encyclopaedia with pictures on computer.
The J.C. Penney’s Christmas catalog that came once a year! It was a thrill & a dream book!
These are great to look back for nostalgic reasons. It’s always an odd feeling of shock when I hear kids take their laptops to school. I had computer class with these clanky dinosaurs of computers that could barely run well and you hoped it’d fit in the floppy disk. While those were fond memories, especially when the CD was introduced, the new technology is something that was desperately needed. People are always bragging about how much struggle they went through as if it’s a good thing and all these youngins don’t know the struggle. Why is struggling seen as a good thing though? It’s always outstanding when a new form of technology is brought out to the civilization.
My friend, enjoyed this trip as usual. So much to the trip. Great memories and great laughs too. You are always a great read. Thank you fir all the effort. Haveca great New Year.. all the best
Thank you for watching and I'm glad you enjoyed this one. Happy New Year to you Albert!
Rhett, I really enjoyed this video about things that have become obsolete. We now can have groceries delivered to our front doors and people don't send personal mail i.e. letters, greeting cards, like they used to. Have a fantastic holiday weekend to you and your family happy new year 2023. Take care 🐎
When schools closed due to the pandemic, I bought my teenage daughter some stationery, a cool pen, and a book of stamps. I suggested to her that it might be fun to write letters back and forth with her best friend even though her best friend lives in the same town. They started writing letters to each other and had a ball!! Yes, they have phones to text each other with, but they sure enjoyed writing old- fashioned letters to each other. They were writing to each other a couple times a week. 😄
No, I still send letters, greeting cards and go to grocery stores. I am sure there are others that do too.
@@jenniferhansen3622 Great and glad you encouraged your daughter to do that. I still do that with my buddies and nephews. Nothing beats a handwritten letter and card.
It really is crazy to think about having groceries delivered and some don't every go to the grocery store at all. Things have changed a lot and no telling what is in store in the future. Thank you for watching Brenda!
There are still some cards, and even snail 💌 letters sent. I send a modest number yet myself.
I understand that strange euphoric feeling of being lost. Which reminds me of one thing that I look back on that seems strange to me now is we used to go on drives simply to drive and see the country side. My parents would often go on a "Sunday Drive". I would never do that now. It would be too boring and gas costs too much.
We did that, too! It seems comical now.
Boring? Discovering something new?
@@citrine65 Yes. I really hate long drives now. In part, I have kids who get car sick easily and in part, I live out in the country and already drive in the prettiest parts of the area just for regular errands.
phone busy signal was not only from the person your calling being on another call, it could also mean the phone was off the hook
Landlines, old format of music, real cameras, andcalculators will never be missed in my life. And I am just turned 47 years old
I'm always going to be grateful that I chose to take typing lessons both in junior high and high school! We had an antique Underwood manual at home to use and since my handwriting was and still is terrible I got through school that way more successfully.
Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences!
I still recall some of my shorthand.
I still have my vcr and still use my VHS tapes. We still have our landline too. I'm homeschooling my daughter and teaching her to write cursive. I used to type boobless on my calculator lol
I used to watch Family Feud, Edge of Night, General Hospital, The Love Boat and Gilligan's Island in the mornings when I had to stay home from school.
I do too. My VCR is from Montgomery Ward. I'm always shocked that it is still going strong. Thank you for watching Mary!
Ours is a Sanyo. I still have several VHS tapes including stuff I taped off the TV😁
but cursive is not needed though it's a nice art now like calligraphy or if you are interested in design. To get into college and in college all the papers and work is submitted online, same with note taking it's usually done on the computer, jobs same, jobs require you to know how to use Microsoft suite proficiently and depending on the job the applications and software that goes with that field. I went back to school a few years ago and it's not the same as it was back in the early to late 2000's. I'm looking for a new job and if you want to make above minimum wage it's important to learn those applications or even how to code would be better and i am not even in IT. i'm a project manager for non-profits and small businesses/creators. i'm only telling you this so you can have a heads up on what's going on out in the job market etc. to better prepare.
I remember in the late 1979's in college, the engineering students had slide rules in leatherette cases hanging from their belts.
Yup. And we sent man to the moon and back with slide rules and logarithm tables.
my slide rule case is real leather, and the slide rule itself has a serial number.
the cost of it could buy a car
@@duanebouchard8736 ... why does it cost so much? Most slide rules were plastic and manufactured in the millions for high school and college students.
Even today you can buy plenty of nice examples from antique dealers relatively cheap.
@@wizrom3046 mine was a Post that I bought for $25 in 1971. It was rather premium with a bamboo core and a hard plastic skin. There were many scales on both sides including trig functions and logarithms. It would cost $180 in today's money. It still works today and I never replaced batteries.
@@lxoxrxexnx ... cafeful! The batteries might leak if you dont' replace them regularly! 😎
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Sears catalog, considering how important and iconic it was. Remember waiting for the Christmas edition to show up?
Oh my gosh, yes! I was born in 81 those magazines were awesome especially during the early 90s late 80s all the toys and games and yeah 😀
Man... the price is right hit me in the feels. So many sick days watching the price is right as a kid. What a comfort.
Rhetty - my High School Libary had one Computer terminal , that was public use and on a Local Network , had its own Book catalog ( as opposed to the Card Catalog) and also had Public informatoion like NEWS, Weather, Stocks even EMAIL all through a BBS .
the Principal had the Primary Computer and Server and Distributed informaton to all Terminals in the School & Computer lab / Computer class.
Thank you for yet another trip down memory lane. As always great to watch!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you Rhetty and all your lovely followers 🎉🎉🎊🍾🍸
Thank you for watching and I hope you have a Happy New Year as well!
We were happier and healthier in all aspects especially mentally. wow how times have change.
Everyone longs for nostalgia
Every school I go to, to this day still has computer labs, even if it's a school that gives all the students a chromebook. What school doesn't have a computer lab?
Another great look back on a time gone by. I love these videos going back to a time when our lives were not controlled by electronics. I do have to confess, it would have been nice to have more than three tv channels to watch when I was home sick. Thanks, Rhett. I hope all good things for you and your family in the new year. I look forward to seeing what you will come up with next.
Actually, we have learned that having more than three channels is actually detrimental. All these channels, and nothing to watch.
In 1982 our school bought 8 BBC Microcomputers, the first time any school in the city had any. I joined the 'computer club' and started learning BASIC.
6 weeks later somebody broke in and stole them all, and that was the end of computers for the rest of my school life.
Oh that is sad that someone stole them. Thank you for watching and sharing your story.
Omfg BASIC. I forgot about it completely
@@jessied3696
10 PRINT "BASIC IS CRAP"
20 GOTO 10
30 RUN
😄
Anyone remember learning about MS-DOS & carrying floppy disk during computer class at elementary school here? Or watching disney films on laserdisc/vcd? Or maybe playing around with your view master & tamagotchi during its peak year?
Those simple experiences were really unforgettable & memorable indeed.
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Sadly there still isn't a good replacement for floppy disks. They were rewritable, but cheap enough to be shareable. Cds aren't rewritable in the sense of deleting files and adding new ones, ever cdrw has to have the whole thing rewritten. Flash drives and SD cards are expensive. You can't buy a whole box cheap like you could floppys.
We have lost far more than we gained . Social media is far less social than stopping by a friend's for a visit !
That was a great trip down memory lane. Thank you
Some magazines and newspapers have discontinued printing and are only digital while others have shut down completely
You're right about that and I wonder how many will go over the next 10 years or so. Buying a physical newspaper seems expensive now.
I remember having a “party line” on our phone when I was really young and my Mom told us not to listen to other people’s conversations or they’d yell at us. I also remember when doctors made house calls. That was something. I just read the other day that they’re getting rid of 411 and O for operator because no one uses them anymore since we have the Internet.
You looked right into my past and saw me watching Bob Barker on days I was out of school sick. I am sad to say that fax machines continue to haunt me thanks to public schools still insisting that they be used to send information “securely“. We still have a few computer labs, however most are gone.
"When was the last time you used a fax machine?" Literally yesterday lol
It feels like technology has inc4eased exponentially since 2000. When 8 think back, it's pretty amazing!
You're right about tecchnology increasing exponentially. We get used to it as it moves along but looking back we can see the differences. Thank you for watching Nicki!
Fax machines are far from obsolete. Especially in offices, like you mentioned.
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Yep we need them now an then. Usually for government departments that apparently don't have email.
They are far from obsolete in doctors offices and pharmacies. Realtors also still use them
The best and worst part abut dial-up was trying to sneak online after your parents went to bed and hoping the noise didn't wake them up!
omg i feel this in my bones hahahaha!!
I remember my family having a rotary phone when I was a kid they were so loud whenever you would try to make a call it was hard to sneak and try to make a call when you were not supposed to be on the phone so every time I would call someone to keep my parents from hearing me dial the number I would cough to cover it up
I used a fax machine just a couple months ago, Government offices and some businesses still use them. when you need it and its not there its frustrating, they still have a use.
I kind of miss the days when if you weren’t home and someone tried to call you they’d have to leave a message on your answering machine or try to call you again later. Sometimes being reachable at all times stinks 😂
In the 70’s when I was in the military and on a deployment overseas. I always think how much I wish I would of had the opportunity to text or email back then. It took 2 weeks to get a letter from home then two weeks for home get your reply then another 2 weeks to get their answer.
Happy New Yeats Paul.
@@JaneDoe-ps6ve You Too! 😁🎊🎆
Thank You Paul
Mail call used to be pretty special though. I think many people miss out on that. I understand the benefits of technology with families now though. Sure adds less stress for not being there. Thank you for watching and sharing some of your thoughts and memories!
So true Rhett. We still have a land line. Mainly for overseas calls. Happy New Year to you all. Love from Africa ❤️ 🌍
The relieved shepherd said when he found his lost sheep “Happy. Ewe Near!”
The old TVs had snow which was fine in winter. 🤣
I still have a landline phone and robo calls love them.
Floppy disk were never floppy!
I remember when calculators were very expensive and they didn’t fit in your pocket. Now you can get a calculator for just a few dollars. Or you can have a calculator on your phone.
Yes! I certainly remember computer labs! Going to college for a Graphic Design degree I, like almost everyone else at the time, had to complete my homework in that lab! Heaven help you if you forgot to reserve a block of time! 😥
Yes! Even those with other degrees had to worry about a spot in that lab to do research or complete essays, reports etc. It was not something you wanted to wait until the last minute on. Thank you for watching and sharing a memory!
Same
I was thinking playing Where in the world is Carmen San Diego to n school
I remember those days and I hated fighting for a computer at the lab until my family finally got a computer.
Heck you were lucky to be able to reserve time. At my university they had to just go wait in line and hope.
Computer labs still exist in schools. Students use them for particular software or printing something. But yes, nowadays students still have access to computer and internet after they leave the lab.
I still have and use many of these devices. I still have no need for a cell phone. I may get one, some day...but that day has yet to arrive.
Excellent stroll back to things we used every day! Sad, but now just about everything is gone and now accessible through a "phone". I actually tried to get landline service as I live in the country and wanted a real line for if the power goes out. The box by the road said Sprint, so I knew it was a lost cause. Couldn't find anyone as everyone now has "landlines" that go through a modem to make calls. Even if they are battery backup, I'd rather have a solid line
I actually have a landline and I’m glad I do.
Cable companies still do landlines.
@@luke125 That's awesome!!!
@@lainiwakura1776 I don't think we have any cable providers nearby. But good advice
@@luke125 Same for me, especially for safety. I refuse to rely on a cell phone alone.
So much advancement, yet I miss the 70’s & 80’s
We have already celebrated the New Year here, 🥂 been to bed and are now up on the 1st day of the year watching a video from Rhett. Definitely could not do that in the 70’s and 80’s though.
Happy New Year Rhett 🥳 enjoy your night. ❤️Jodie 🇦🇺
Where are you situated, swansfan? I'm in Denmark, and midnight is about 1½ hours yet 🙂
@@carolinevidemark8564 I live in Wollongong, about 1hr 20 minutes down from Sydney in Australia.
@@carolinevidemark8564 Happy New Year 🥳 to you Caroline.
@@swansfan6944 Awww! Australia! Yay! :-D Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! :-)
I've alway wanted to visit Australia! My dad was like, It's where every poisonous critter lives! He's dead now, and I've still not managed to get to Aus...