Things we did before the internet and smart phones

Augmerson

zcorpian88 wrote: »

Listening to your elders telling you if you put to put a telecom eireann card in the freezer that it would give the card full credit. Didn't try it but the myth goes that it worked, had to be bulls**t!

At the tender age of 7 I was entrusted with the intelligence and responsibility of recording Glenroe when my parents worked Sunday nights, didn't even have to be shown how to do it, felt like a right clever clogs!

Having a wind up clock next to the bed that used to rattle off the bedside locker and make a racket and scare the b'jesus out of me every morning.

Figuring out the pin to the sky decoder that my parents set and being able to watch stuff I shouldn't have been watching.

Nothing signified the spiritual death of the weekend like the end credits to Glenroe, jesus the depression.

AllGunsBlazing

Augmerson wrote: »

Nothing signified the spiritual death of the weekend like the end credits to Glenroe, jesus the depression.

Oh feck! I still haven't done me homework!!!!:eek:

mrsbyrne

Sitting upstairs on the bus smoking Silk Cut snd listening to Bat out of hell on my walkman.
Ringing home maybe once a week , 3 minutes only, from the payphone in the hall and just not even wondering how everyone was/who was dead/ what time they ate the dinner at until the next call.

DazHeath

Colour between the lines

SpaceTime

The bliss of being able to let people 'fade out of your life' when you moved on.

Now you collect friends and they're on Facebook 10 years later and you've no idea who they are anymore.
Then you take them off Facebook and they suddenly appear on Twitter or worse, LinkedIn!

keano25

Carried a 20p on a string for pay phones!

zcorpian88

Augmerson wrote: »

Nothing signified the spiritual death of the weekend like the end credits to Glenroe, jesus the depression.

Straight to bed after Glenroe haha, hated that show when I was a kid because I had no tv in my room then.

"Would ya like a cup of tea Miley?" "B'gor I will Biddy and then I'll go feed the cows!" Riveting stuff!

BeepBeep67

Used to get the bus into town on a Saturday and spend all day going through records in the sound cellar, freebird and the Georges St Arcade, finding something interesting, checking if it was in good condition and getting a few tracks played before deciding whether to buy it or not.

Links234

BeepBeep67 wrote: »

Used to get the bus into town on a Saturday and spend all day going through records in the sound cellar, freebird and the Georges St Arcade, finding something interesting, checking if it was in good condition and getting a few tracks played before deciding whether to buy it or not.

I can't go to Dublin without at least sticking my head into Sound Cellar

monflat

Watching the beat box on telly of a Sunday. Around12 ish before your dinner served on table !!!

Watched a lot of TV

kavanada

Augmerson wrote: »

Used to watch the Italian soccer show on Channel 4 to see what was going on in Serie A (when it was the good)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAo7TrQ0aXw

This! Coming home from morning mass and sitting down to watch it while mother got going on the roast. I enjoyed (for some weird reason) the reporter translating the headlines. Thought he had a great gig living out there. Loved the theme song too.

Also, anyone remember the Ryan Giggs soccer school with Bobby Charlton?? Think it was on after it.

Anyway, I digress. Sticker albums and swapping 10 crap cards for the really rare one with a mate in school.

dresden8

People used to turn up on time.

None of this "be there in 10" bullsh1t for an hour.

whisky_galore

zcorpian88 wrote: »

Listening to your elders telling you if you put to put a telecom eireann card in the freezer that it would give the card full credit. Didn't try it but the myth goes that it worked, had to be bulls**t!

Not being able to bust bullsh*t stories from others with a bit of googling, they call such BS 'urban legends' now.

Duggy747

smash wrote: »

Did anyone else have a pager?

Get a life

Get a minicall!

No. 1 One Direction Fan

No. 1 One Direction Fan wrote: »

Check football results on teletext

Ceefax page 302 if memory serves me correctly

fryup

GL scrappy wrote: »

Reading the Buy&Sell

is that still for sale anymore??

RobbingBandit

Bought the pink edition of the Evening Herald for the footy results.

The Strawman Argument

Before smartphones we pretended our mobile phones were fascinating things that could endlessly occupy us when we were stuck in a room with someone we didn't want to talk to.

pragmatic1

Links234 wrote: »

Honestly? There's just something about a physical product, and some special editions and the like can come with some really cool extras, especially the Japanese ones. Like the new Maximum The Hormone album came with an actual comic book, seriously. Haven't read it yet though. Or the special edition of Dir En Grey's Arche which was 2 CDs, DVD and book with a load of interview and stuff. I've gotten posters with the new Nocturnal Bloodlust, and other things. But there's just something about a physical album I can't put my finger on, buying it makes it seem that much more special, I feel as though I appreciate it and enjoy it that much more. I just get something that I don't get out of a digital download.

It's a bit strange, because for other things I'm all aboard with digital copies of things, games especially, I love Steam oh so much. But there's just some things I'm probably never gonna get onboard with for digital media, comic books for one.

Ah I understand. Personally haven't bought any music since around 2007. Got pissed off buying expensive CDs with maybe only a couple of decent songs on the entire album. I used to love going into old record stores though, so I understand the connection.

I'd be the same with books. Could never see digital books replacing hard copy for me.

Photo-Sniper

Spending 50 cent a text to get sms updates on all United matches from Vodafone. Cost me a fortune

Dexter Bip

Using Poste Restante to collect letters from the Ma when backpacking abroad.
Letter would be addressed to Dexter Bip c/o Alice Springs GPO or somewhere knowing that I would be passing through at some point.

Looking up phone numbers in a phone book.

Reading the small ads in the papers.

Buying airline tickets at a travel agent.

pragmatic1

StereoSound wrote: »

Spent a good bit of time on my Amiga and reading Amiga magazines. I didn't have the net so I could only use magazines to get updates in the technology world. Use to cycle a lot with friends and sit around the park chatting. Bought choc ices a lot too. Then Indiglo started offering cheap dial up internet so my dad got us a new windows 95 PC which we paid for on the old ESB bill monthly and everything changed forever.

Jaysus, Amigo and Indigo. Major blasts from the past.

pragmatic1

dresden8 wrote: »

People used to turn up on time.

None of this "be there in 10" bullsh1t for an hour.

Don't know about that. Irish people are notorious for being unpunctual.

foggy_lad

Buona Fortuna wrote: »

Phoning London in the 80s. You had to go into the post office and tell the woman behind the counter the number. Buy £5 of 10p coins from her. Go outside to the phone box. Pick the reciever and wind the windy handle. Speak to woman in post office and tell her again. She connects you and then as you're speaking jam the 10p s into the slot (about one every 4 seconds).

Some things are definately better.

women in our estate used to load up the one A/B payphone(2p, 5p & 10p) with 2p coins till the box was full as then it was free calls till it was emptied, there was always a Q when the free calls kicked in even up to 10 or 11pm when all the long distance calls were made.

_Whimsical_

Lay in the dark with nothing to distract us but our thoughts when we couldn't sleep.

I wonder if my insomnia would improve if I left my phone downstairs.

eviltimeban

SpaceTime wrote: »

I just remember the environmental damage.

Bins were thrown outside houses often in black bags that were torn up by roaming dogs. Plastic bags in the trees.
There was no recycling, no wheelie bins.

Dublin and Cork sat under a thick haze of coal smoke and you'd constantly have chest or ear problems as result. Even your laundry got soot on it.

I just remember being a kid and absolutely choking on coal smoke all winter.

The major urban rivers had raw sewage in them and would turn your stomach with the stench. I remember seeing clumps of toilet roll floating down the Lee!

It was a bit of a kip to be honest.

Not sure how the internet or smart phones would've helped with any of that.

Green Giant

Rang someone's doorbell to let them know when we were outside

Played Snake and boasted about polyphonic ringtones

Got out photos from a disposable camera printed in a camera shop

Used AA road maps for navigation

Taped songs off the radio hoping that the DJ wouldn't talk over them

Waited for the morning newspaper to find out the score of a match if I had no telly/radio to access

Relied on Encarta Encyclopedia

Had pen pals

Prayed to god I had 20p for the phone box

eviltimeban

Magazines would have pages and pages of ads for "the latest" ringtones.

You phone's battery would last for about 6 days.

People made fanzines before fansites existed (dial-up is still the internet btw!)

You'd promote your gig / event with flyers, not Facebook "event" pages.

The Golden Pages was a vital tool in any sales office. You could do a full day's work without using a computer - GP, telephone, refill pad.

You'd look at the road when you were driving.

chewed

You'd sit there looking awkward in a pub while your mate/mrs went to the jax!