The world to an 18 year old

niallb

Oryx wrote: »

Or queued at the same phone box when it was refusing to take money, so you could phone australia for free. Even if you didnt know anyone in australia!

I remember ringing from a phonebox in London at an arranged time every week to a phonebox in Ireland where a friend would accept the charges for a "Reverse Charge call".

That got sorted though when Eircom sent all their engineers over to the UK to upgrade their network!

Payton

Tapping the phones was the normal, And the 2 channel tv. I remember my father going down to Wicklow to watch a world championship boxing match that was only shown on HTV (wales).

confusticated

The first post is a little frightening in that there's more than one person out there who doesn't know half this stuff...and I'm 21, so I don't remember it either, but some of these people must be living in terribly small little bubbles not to know about it...

reverenddave

mtb_kng wrote: »

:eek:

*Runs to get dictionary!*

you're showing your age there
if you were under 35 you'd say **checks Wiktionary** :D

Rubecula

I remember our first tv being pink and white plastic with a small screen, and a huge transparent dial to change the channel. What we changed it to I can't remember but it always need to be tuned in..... once it had warmed up that is.

And when you turned it off there was a white dot that took ages to vanish. My sisters and I used to sit and watch the dot vanish, it was as entertaining as the shows to us.

"Time for bed"

"Not yet mum, can we watch the dot"

LOL simple times, simple entertainment.... and sadly simple minds:pac:

Beruthiel

I distinctly remember a man coming to our house to set up Network 2 which came on at 6pm in the evening.
Why did we need some bloke to come to our house to do that?

Zaph

chucken1 wrote: »

Or using ring pulls from cans instead of 2p pieces in the public phone...or was just my misspent youth?

Of course you have to be over a certain age to remember when the ring pull actually came away from the can rather than it pushing a tab of metal downwards into the can.

dohouch

Rubecula wrote: »

"Time for bed"

"Not yet mum, can we watch the dot"

:pac:

Don't know whether you've made me feel very old or very young.

Rubecula

Definitely very young Dohouch.... no I do believe I am very young so you must be too.:)

up for anything

OldGoat wrote: »

Obviously where the idea for skateboards came from.

Draught Guinness in a can. Foul stuff. Harp lager and lime. Milk in a bag (early 70s).

FoxT

Oh, yes, we had skillz too!

We could
- Operate a coinbox telephone (with or without ringpulls)
- change TV channels with the big rotary switch on the front
- Operate a record player, reel-to-reel tape machine, and an 8-track
- tune a short-wave radio
- use a book of log tables
- and a slide rule
- do mental arithmetic
- solder
- use a pressure cooker
- look hot in a duffel coat (well, the ladies of the time could...)
- make a sandwich with real butter, w/o ripping the bread to bits
- tell the difference between a mortal sin and a venial sin
- In Irish
- list the gifts that the Holy Spirit bring when you are confirmed
- in Irish
- Name all the 32 counties
- Yep, in Irish
- it just goes on & on....


- FoxT

TheMilkyPirate

Scarlett68 wrote: »

The Soviet Union has never existed

There has always been only one Germany

“Google” has always been a verb

Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.

“So” as in “Sooooo New York,” has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.

They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.

Every adult had, and has always had, a mobile phone. They've had one of their own since they were eleven

The internet has always been around. Cable or satellite TV has always been around. CDs and DVDs have always been around (and are boringly bulky). Freeview has always been around. iPods have been around since they were ten. They've never seen a Sony Walkman, though they've probably heard old farts mention them. And what did the coffin dodgers do with those big black round things, exactly?

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Ask those students about football and see what answer you get.

I was talking to my Leaving Cert students about football one day about 3 years ago. They were bemoaning Ireland's poor performance in a match the night before and the topic turned to World Cup. I mentioned Dave O'Leary's penalty against Romania in the World Cup to which I was met with blank looks. I had to elaborate that it was World Cup 90, to which they replied 'I was born in 91/92' Obviously they didn't witness it but were completely oblivious to Ireland's performance that year!

Your students are either incomprehensibly stupid or have lived in a bubble their entire life. I was born in 1990 and no a lot about everything you've mentioned i also owned a walkman and had a 12" black and white tv in my room until i was 6. What irish person regardless of age doesn't know about italia 90?

p1akuw47h5r3it

Oryx wrote: »

My first walkman was square. It took casette tapes, another thing 18yo's giggle at.

If I want to feel ancient I only need to mention the two terrestrial channels only, black and white tv we had when I was a kid.

hahahahah my mam showed me one of these things they are gas looking haha

Bearhunter

FoxT: "- make a sandwich with real butter, w/o ripping the bread to bits"

For that matter, cut bread off a loaf without destroying the loaf. And fix things. Does anyone even bother to try to fix things these days?

OldGoat

FoxT wrote: »

Oh, yes, we had skillz too!

We could
- use a book of log tables

Ah now here, stop exagerating. No one could ever do logs. We all just guessed the answer and the teachers were just as clueless so they told us we were right.

Rubecula

I still own a slide rule, just have trouble remembering how to use the thing:pac:

chucken1

OldGoat wrote: »

Ah now here, stop exagerating. No one could ever do logs. We all just guessed the answer and the teachers were just as clueless so they told us we were right.

I still dont know what they were for! Do they still use them??

FoxT

Yes, I use logarithms almost daily, they are very, very , useful indeed!

I use dB, which for my purposes is 10xlog of the ratio of 2 power levels, but you can use them to measure virtually anything...they are the mathematical equivalent of in-laws...can be wonderful, once you get to know them....;)

Zubeneschamali

I was in the Science Museum in London there recently, and in the basement, there's an exhibition of household stuff from historical times.

Including a Pong machine hooked up to a black and white TV so you can play Pong!

Myself and my wife played for a couple of minutes in a happy glow of remembered youth until we realized that Pong is a really crappy game.

Rubecula

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I was in the Science Museum in London there recently, and in the basement, there's an exhibition of household stuff from historical times.

Including a Pong machine hooked up to a black and white TV so you can play Pong!

Myself and my wife played for a couple of minutes in a happy glow of remembered youth until we realized that Pong is a really crappy game.

OI I still have one of those in a box somewhere:D

whiskeyman

Getting out of your chair to change the channel...

Bearhunter

whiskeyman wrote: »

Getting out of your chair to change the channel...

...and only having one other channel as an option.

Dimitri

whiskeyman wrote: »

Getting out of your chair to change the channel...

I believe it was make the youngest get out of the chair to change the channel.....I don't have a chip in my shoulder.

Bearhunter

Dimitri wrote: »

I believe it was make the youngest get out of the chair to change the channel.....I don't have a chip in my shoulder.

It was make the youngest do shaggin' everything. Having to climb the cold dark stairs to put hot water bottles in my parents' bed, having to answer the door when I was watching Top of the Pops, having to resist the urge to stab the parish priest with a fork when he'd come in at teatime and starting picking food off my plate...Oh no, no chips on my shoulders either.:D

Rubecula

Anyone remember the first 'remote' channel changers. Worked by a thin hose between the hand set and the tv.

Things nearly killed me a few times by tripping over them.:pac:

niallb

The next generation of remote controls worked on ultrasonic sound before they went infrared.

A friend of mine told me about a problem involving a Mynah bird.
It really hated people ignoring it when they were watching the telly.
it could hear - and mimic - sounds that humans can't hear.
Took the TV repairman a lot of visits to work out what the problem with the TV randomly turning itself off was caused by!

vampire of kilmainham

Scarlett68 wrote: »

Ring pulls....how antiquated:D

I was the master at "tapping" them:cool:...I remember the only number you had to dial was zero!...I spent most of my college days tapping calls for all my class mates....ah the beautiful memories!

a yes i rember doing that the ol tapping the phone thing:D and getting the change in the coin phone to spill out:D:eek: did i say that shhhhhhh:D:D:D

vampire of kilmainham

Bearhunter wrote: »

My god, tapping phones, I'd forgotten about that. Luckily most local country numbers were only four digits long.

"You had TWO"

My thoughts exactly. RTE was a single entity, starting at 5 and finishing about 11. How did we live?

And what still amazes me is that kids born in the 1970s are legally allowed to vote and drink. I can't even think about 90s kids doing the same.

we had one of those ariel thingies on the roof ya rember the ones they were all over dublin ya could get bbc itv and of cours rte a them were the days wanderley wagon coranation st etc etc a i rember them well de ya rember jem.......will i ever forget....now wheres that remote:D:D:eek::eek:

vampire of kilmainham

Bearhunter wrote: »

FoxT: "- make a sandwich with real butter, w/o ripping the bread to bits"

For that matter, cut bread off a loaf without destroying the loaf. And fix things. Does anyone even bother to try to fix things these days?

yep i do recession ya know:eek::eek::eek::D:D:D

vampire of kilmainham

Rubecula wrote: »

Anyone remember the first 'remote' channel changers. Worked by a thin hose between the hand set and the tv.

Things nearly killed me a few times by tripping over them.:pac:

yep i rember them :D:D