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Every generation looks back at its youthful period with nostalgia; everything was better when we were kids and nobody can convince me otherwise! However, there's something about my generation, the early millennials, that does make us special. We grew up in a time of unprecedented technological change; for example, we were born with the cassette, the CD came and went (don't even get me started on the Minidisc), then it was Mp3, iTunes, and finally Spotify. All in the space of a few years!
The technology that kids now take for granted was refined over the years through our experiences. We eventually got the internet but we needed to wait for it to connect. We had phones, but they were connected to our houses until Nokia came along with SMS and snake. Oh, and we had something similar to Netflix too, but you had to go to rent a tape or DVD at the videostore. Looking back, these things might seem incredibly basic and inconvenient now, but we loved them! And I'll take my Nirvana/Soundgarden/Faith No More mixtape over your Jonas Brothers Spotify playlist any day of the week...
We here at Bored Panda have created a list of all those 'struggles' that we had with technology back in the day, and they are sure to bring back some good memories. Do you recognize a few of these? Scroll down to check them out for yourself, and share your own stories in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Luis Milian 6 years ago
I knew people who would text with this type of phones without looking at the phone
athornedrose 6 years ago
i was boss at T9 typing. i could type with my phone still in my hoodie pocket. loved it. the most useless skill i ever mastered
Clockworkstella 6 years ago
I loved texting with button phones, it was so fast. I never mastered the touchscreen keyboard. Texting with a smartphone takes much longer for me!
Christina Sersif 6 years ago
I miss these types of phones as I actually got so used to it I did it super fast. I even won a texting contest because of course I did lol
Rebekah Blankenship 6 years ago
I could text without looking but now my " smart phone) I make a lot more.mistakes because the phone thinks it knows
Foxxy 6 years ago
I will eventually get a smart phone so I don’t have to do that anymore. Takes me ages to send a text.
Violaine LB 6 years ago
Same! I am 30 and never owned an iPhone lol. I am too cheap to buy one.
Load More Replies...What has happened to some of these technologies? Have they become completely obsolete, or are some still in use? Let's have a brief look at some of the old 'essentials' that are no longer in everyday use.
Fax machines: According to Pocket Lint, the fax machine was essentially a modern version of the telegram. "It allowed people and businesses to transmit scanned documents from one phone number to another," they write. "The recipient would have the joy of a printed copy of the document bursting forth from their machine. This was all done by a transmission of audio frequency tones that were deciphered at the other end. These days, fax machines have largely been rendered obsolete by the invention of email, the internet and advancements in computing technologies."
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#2
Just Kristi 6 years ago
Yeap, had one of those myself... Was always a hard choice, which one to pick
Madzdad the bard 6 years ago
Just tell the kids it was like spending an hour trying to find something on Netflix!
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Katrina B. 6 years ago
No because I have them too! I don't want to pay for a ton of data so I can't use my phone for music and I hate driving in silence. So CDs and my ipod are my sources of music
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Angelina Bolanos 6 years ago
I have one on the back of my sun visor and a case that holds 100 cds that I still use everyday.
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Now I have over 30 million songs on a damn app much harder decision
#3
Luis Milian 6 years ago
when someone would pick up the phone without asking if you were using AOL. lol
Zenozenobee 6 years ago
56k and the modem sound... I never thought I would be nostalgic of that XD
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Analogue and dial-up modems: Before broadband and 4G networks came along we connected to the World Wide Web via analogue and dial-up modems.
"These marvels of technology required an open phone line and a lot of patience to get working. If anyone called while you were connected to the 'net then you'd immediately lose connection. Browsing the web was slow and painful, but it was a thing of beauty and showed promise for the future that we now live in," Pocket Lint explains.
Floppy disks: Floppy disks first appeared in the 1970s, as a means of storing data from the first 'personal' computers.The first was the 8-inch floppy disc, capable of storing just 80 kilobytes of data. "As the floppy disks got smaller, their storage capacity grew and by the mid-1980s the 3.5-inch floppy disk was able to store a respectable 1.44 MB. Floppy disks were unfortunately vulnerable to magnets and heat, and easily corrupted. By the 1990s software size meant many disks were required for most applications (Adobe Photoshop required over a dozen disks to run) so CD-ROMs began to take over. The floppy disk now only lives on as a save icon in most software applications."
#4
Bored Moogle 6 years ago
It wasn't amusing. You were frantically trying to close them out while they kept duplicating and duplicating until you had to hard close your computer.
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knittin' kitten 6 years ago
When my computer did this and reminded me of the Solitaire program. remember the cards that bounced down? I would try to color my screen Black by dragging it really really really slow
Yael 6 years ago
Yes!!!! I always used to change the deck pictures around lol still have no idea how to actually play
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#5
Hard 2 Guess 6 years ago
Yes, I did many times. Some times if it gets pulled or becomes crumble I would just go ahead and splice it.
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Mama Panda 6 years ago
I hated it when I would get it all wound up and would notice a small kink and would have to pull it all out again just to rewind it the right way.
Kim Shannon 6 years ago
OMG, this brings back a highly traumatic memory for me. We were driving along, minding our business when all of a sudden the tape deck ATE the cassette. And it was Prince 1999! We immediately rerouted to Kmart and replaced it. Meltdown averted.
ANDREA SERRANO MORALES 6 years ago
stab and turn for hours just to find the one piece that dont work :(
sequoia hawes 6 years ago
yup. im only 11, but my dad got me a cassette player. i love old stuff. fav oldish band: the cranberries
Whit 6 years ago
Up vote for the love of cassettes and old stuff. Down vote for cranberries is oldish and loving them. 😂
Load More Replies... knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Have you ever seen how long a roll of cassette tape was its amazing actually
Fred Burrows 6 years ago
Flipping and rewinding to the right spot to hear your song again on the mix tape .
Hugh Cookson 4 years ago
oh yeah - smuggled a recorder into a Led Zep concert back in the 70's, quite close to the front so the sound quality was bloody loud but sort of ok - a year down the line, my ancient Nissan 200L managed to mangle it completely, it was never the same after that !!
Portable music players: There have been many types of portable music player over the last few years, from cassette players like the Sony Walkman, CD players like the Sony Discman, Minidisc players and MP3 players.
"We have both fond and frustrating memories of each of these players," Pocket Lint writes. "Whether it was fighting Walkmans to save a chewed up tape or desperately trying to fit a portable CD player into a coat pocket."
"Perhaps one of the least popular formats of optical-based digital storage was the MiniDisc. With a high storage capacity of as much as 1GB, these discs could hold up to 45 hours of audio in a compact format. The MiniDisc appeared at a time when CDs were still dominating and thus struggled to gain popularity in the marketplace. MiniDisc sales began to dwindle when MP3 players started to gain popularity and were finally killed off as a format in 2011 when Sony ceased production."
#6
JessG 6 years ago
There was that big clunky accessory you could put on it to light the screen, but it was a terrible glare
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Ah the lamp. The way too bright thing that kept falling off my at the time fancy game boy pocket. That's right I had the pocket I was a fancy 6 year old lol
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The Girl on Fire 6 years ago
And your parents would act like it was illegal to turn the car light on at night
John Montgomery 6 years ago
It isn't? My mom got pulled over once when the light wouldn't go off in our car. I don't think she got a ticket though.
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Anna Ashley 6 years ago
I am not a 90s kid I'm gen z but I remember doing this but with reading a book
#7
Kaisu 6 years ago
I never learned how to play minesweeper, so I just clicked at the squares, hoping the next one wouldn't blow everything up
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
The numbers were the amount of bombs adjacent to that square I used to love playing Minesweeper
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Shull GaRett 6 years ago
To use this that long ago youd have to be a kid of the 80's... I know iv been there ;)
ADHORTATOR 6 years ago
Solitaire, still the only game I have on my smartphone....which is a Blackberry :-)
ANDREA SERRANO MORALES 6 years ago
i taught myself how to play solitaire out of boredom at school ( im kind of a modern 12[almost 13] yo)
Rebecca Cote 6 years ago
Naw, it's easy-ish. If you click a square and it says 1 that means that's how many bombs are touching it :)
Vinyl records: This is one piece of technology that has been reborn, while other audio formats have come and gone. "Vinyl records are probably one of the oldest and most long-lasting formats for storing audio recordings. Available in varying formats since the late 1800s, the vinyl record is still in production today and is another format that's sworn to be the best by audiophiles and sound enthusiasts alike. The format has even had a sales resurgence of late."
Another piece of retro technology that seems to remain relevant for enthusiasts is the Film camera. "The traditional film camera has basically long since been pushed from the mass market by the modern age of the digital camera."
"No longer do we need to rely on reels of film or trips to the local shop to get them processed. Digital cameras, SD cards and modern computing systems mean we can snap away happily and see the results of our photos instantly with far less hassle and expense."
Still, for artists, professional photographers and retro lovers, the process of creating a photograph the old fashioned way represents a challenge and a certain satisfaction that digital photography lacks.
#8
Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
As the youngest in my family, I was not only the remote, I was also the indoor antenna. I remember, especially in bad weather or when the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, standing next to the TV with the antenna (which sometimes had aluminum foil wrapped around the top lol) in my hand so everyone else could watch the program--- which I generally got to see sideways. Sometimes I think that was part of the reason my parents had me (JK!).
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
I still have a t.v. like this. It works good so why throw it away for one that dies in 10 years. This thing is 70s old I'm sure of it
Sveta Smirnova 6 years ago
I remember the static if you place your hand on the screen after you turn off the tv
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Jon Parker 6 years ago
Yeah, but did you also have to change the channel with a pair of pliers because the turner was missing? =P This kid did.
Janice Seagraves 6 years ago
My dad always bought old black and white TVs because they were cheaper.
Christine Holl 6 years ago
I WISH ours looked like this. Ours was similar but missing a few buttons (as in, they'd broken off) and was missing even more labels. You never knew if you were about to change the channel or retune the entire tv set.
#9
Carol Emory 6 years ago
And if you wanted to record your favorite songs..you'd better break out the cassettes
Daniele Giuffrida 6 years ago
Haha it's because you're burning the disc too fast and most probably you forgot to close it. 😉
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Sancho Cruz 6 years ago
Lol.. then after it took 3 hours to burn, excitement rushing ready to play it in the car the player spits it out....
Bertrand de GALBERT 6 years ago
I ruined so much of those cds, i still have no idea what i was doing wrong
Bertrand de GALBERT 6 years ago
I really thought it was just me, though. Closure ftw
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Paul Minard 6 years ago
I like how we were all urged to break copyright law with 'dual' cassette players and recorders...then you could create your own 'mixes', now called 'playlists'...
#10
No Internet struggle.
Giorgio Prodoti 6 years ago
are you sure it was on win98 and not on winxp?
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knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Why was the volume on that game so damn loud no other game that I started with blow my ears out quite so bad it had to be a setting thing but being born in 89 I might have been too young to understand how to work it
the Lemon Queen 6 years ago
that's the pinball game I had on my windows 7! I miss it fondly :')
#11
Kururi.Orihara 6 years ago
They still have WordArt in Microsoft Word. It just looks different with new styles.
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Sterre Leeft 6 years ago
Oh I spend so many hours, trying all the styles! The colorful one was my fave <3
Samantha Robinson 6 years ago
I thought I was a freaking artist each time I used the blue wave one.
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Then you click how the text lays and pick the circle one. What point did circle have it was illegible
#12
Lorraine R 6 years ago
Bells were the best! They made your hips and waist smaller. Skinny jeans cut off your circulation, make your butt look huge, and look good on no-one.
Mewton’s Third Paw 6 years ago
I kinda miss this being socially acceptable. Standards are so much higher now.
Eugene Carman 6 years ago
I returned from deployment in the far east in 1979; and was certain, based on the looks I got, that I was the last person wearing these in North America.
Laura Perkinson 6 years ago
1999? wait also 1960's without the side pocket! Seems no matter how something changes it comes back over and over .
Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
fashion designers ran out of ideas years ago so they just crank out something that was popular at least 20 years earlier.
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#13
Mewton’s Third Paw 6 years ago
The left picture is kinda disgusting though. People dressing up their kids like little adults is gross. Unless your kid is in show business or something, you look lame. Kids should be kids.
debrina blackmoon 6 years ago
this does not look like an inappropriate outfit, though. her dress or blouse is clearly over leggings or stretch jeans, well- covered and not necessarily adult-looking
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KT Trondsen 6 years ago
i'm a newish mom of young kids and i think dressing them all "stylish is rediculous unless it's a special event. Comfort is always the best option for your kids.
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
I will never forget my different multi-colored overalls with the frilly edges that was a staple to my wardrobe as a child. I remember my second grade picture my big round glasses my plastic necklace with heart-shaped beads my white leotards bright colored running shoes and purple corduroys it's still my favorite picture of me.
Gerry Higgins 6 years ago
I've noticed this. It's time to let them be kids again and stop making little adults of them.
Laura Johnston 6 years ago
At least we looked like kids. Today they are trying to look like their 21 at age 9.
Sancho Cruz 6 years ago
I agree, no way would i dress my girls like their grown. Kids need to stay kids instead of that hot mess. Not cute
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Enola Brinkley-Crayton 6 years ago
90's kids' pics were all about being "cute" today it is all about making them look "sexy" it is way too early for this
#14
TheExtremeSmell 6 years ago
Much like a problem I have now with something else
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#15
Daria B 6 years ago (edited)
To be honest, I actually like that sound. I'm not even kidding. I think it should be used as part of a sample in a song.
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Hard 2 Guess 6 years ago
Did anyone else subconsciously imagined THAT SOUND when you show above image?
Toujin C'Thlu 6 years ago
I remember that sound. My dad explained it as 'the computers talking to each other'.
Origami Chik3n 6 years ago
I once put a wrong number in while setting up a connection after re-installing Windows 98 (which was pretty regular thing). Had a chuckle at confused "Hello? Hello!!!" coming from the computer.
Artur Niedzielski 6 years ago
After buying Half Life 2 i took a 56k modem from my company to my house. I didn't have an internet at this time. Anyway the bill for dialing and downloading game patch to finally play it, was much much higher then the whole game. And it was nice...
#16
Daria B 6 years ago
And they were decorated with Disney princesses or other cute characters. ♥
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knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Loose one replace with wad of paper your good to go what a waste of plastic though
#17
Kaisu 6 years ago
Having to constantly delete texts was so annoying, I used to have a phone that had room for only 30 messages
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
I remember when text messages used to cost $0.25 a piece and my step-brother would just send the word "hey" what text messages are expensive like that you think you'd have more to say
misteriosa 6 years ago
Or when someone just replies "Ok", I've still got the chills :D
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Ayan Milante 6 years ago
The struggle when you don't want to delete a message from your crush :)
Luisa Vasconcelos 6 years ago
Sometimes I miss the old phones. This seems easy. At the moment my phone is without space and only have 4 apps that I put in. All was already there and I don't even use, no music . My photos are going to a cloud or Google account that I don't know the location. I have 16 GB and too embarrassing to ask for help at a store. 😢 I'm almost buying myself a Nokia 3310.
#18
Sivi 6 years ago
On car rides I had mine on a pillow while I slept on a thin jacket against the car window.
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knittin' kitten 6 years ago
It worked on my CD player it would record 10 seconds of song in advance and that'll play if it skipped. Never had a problem.
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#19
DP von Icecream 6 years ago
The times when Kodak still was a multi billion revenue global company ;-)
Catlady6000 6 years ago
Anybody else remember the Photo Hut, usually randomly placed in a strip mall parking lot? More of a '79s, '80s thing
Magpie 6 years ago
Oh god the pain, tears and drama when I forgot. And yes it was my pain and tears and tantrums raging at myself of 2 seconds ago.
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Freya the Wanderer 6 years ago
I actually remember film cameras - I still have a few of the plastic film containers. They're good for storing all kinds of things.
#20
Sunzilla 6 years ago
We used to pull the jack out of the wall, then there would be ringing, instead of a busy tone for the caller. Made them think we weren't home...
Jasmine Walker 6 years ago
I agree!! Now, if you slam the phone down, you have to get a while new screen, or phone.
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Mama Panda 6 years ago
This was also a great way to get back at someone. This guy pissed me off one time so I dialed a 1-900 number and just left it off the hook. His bill was over 2k hahahaha
Sandra Mason 6 years ago
what I miss is the ability to SLAM the phone down in someone's ear. pound the receiver on the desk a dozen times.. hoping you don't break it and then hang it up. the best you can do now is.. click.
#21
Michele Ottone 6 years ago
Sometimes I can't help it and have to untangle my coworker's cord. Sounds neurotic, I know...
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Rob Williams 6 years ago
There is a reason why this happens and it's surprisingly simple! Most people are right handed so answer the phone with their right hand and place it against their right ear. Very often there is a need to take a note or write down a number so you swap the handset to your left hand and left ear. This puts a turn into the wire which doesn't get unwound because you usually just put the phone down at the end of the call. In a busy office this can happen dozens of times a day and you end up with a cable like the one in the picture. Mine never did that because, although I'm right handed, I'm slightly deaf in my right ear so I got into the habit of using the phone left handed which allowed me to take notes right handed without twisting the cable.
Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
It depends on which side of the desk the phone cord allows you to put your phone. I use the ear and shoulder closest to the phone myself. Thing is, it's rarely happened that I got a new phone, so this is mostly an inherited problem for me!
Load More Replies... Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
How about those mile and a half long phone cords, especially on the wall phone in the kitchen? You could practically walk around the entire house with it! Of course, that also meant they usually ended up just as twisted as the one in the picture...
Ang.stl 6 years ago
I have a land line because I live in the knee pit of America and have horrible cell service and crappy health. I keep one corded phone, just in case I need a phone during a power outage (you'd be surprised how often that happens in the knee pit!!) Luckily it's not used much, so it hasn't gotten this lovely curl in it, but I think the super old school rotary wall phone that I took down might.
#22
DforDorothy 6 years ago
Dropped the Ball once on my toenail as a kid and it went all black... Glad the "laser" mouse doesn't cut my toe if i drop it. 😕
Kristy P 6 years ago
How old were you? You must have been a little kid, they were dense, but, not that heavy.
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Calypso poet 6 years ago
Am I weird, I used to love cleaning those things!
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Kari Panda 6 years ago
I miss cleaning the mouse sooo much. I know this sounds weird, but freeing the little wheels inside it from dust always gave me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.
Calypso poet 6 years ago
Omg that’s me! I thought I commented here that I liked cleaning my mouse!
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kalle1724 6 years ago
Someone I know **coughs*** removed all of the balls from a High School keyboarding class once.
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
It was me!!! Seriously though my friends and I stole these regularly
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 6 years ago
The common joke amongst kids...take the ball out of the mouse at the end of class....
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
My friends and I had a pretty sizable collection of these (we were a******s)
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Aahzmandus Pervect 6 years ago
I always loved cleaning my mouse. That feeling you got when peeling the layers of dirt was truly something else!
Erwin Sanz 6 years ago
Feels like yesterday I open the cover and clean the dust and some hair on the ball.. 😅
#23
rena 6 years ago
Yeah we also had to sing that song we were looking for to that cute guy in the CD store so he could hopefully help us find it.
danielw 6 years ago
...so, did you get his number? Seems like a really useful guy to know. :P
Load More Replies... sunnyrei82 6 years ago
I hated that. Here you are... all excited leaving the store with your brand new cd or cassette... open it thinking you will FINALLY learn all the lyrics of that song you like so much... and.. BAM! just pictures. Ugh.
Neill Powell 6 years ago
R.E.M. was notorious for doing this, it was only their album "up" that hand ANY printed lyrics
Jennifer Gould 6 years ago
Play song, pause, write lyrics, play song, pause, write lyrics, pause, rewind, play....3 days later you have your (incredibly inaccurate) lyrics!
Shelley Jennings 6 years ago
Then you got darklyrics.com for metal lyrics now its Google everything
John Shannon 6 years ago
If any of you are a little older, the lyrics to Get a Job were "Every morning 'bout this time she throws a warm egg past my face, says, Get a Job." Even then you could buy a little booklet (what's a booklet?) of lyrics.
#24
Daria B 6 years ago (edited)
Oh, one of the computers I used had that sign written in big yellow letters all over the screen. Also, do you remember when you had to type "win.exe" to start your computer, and then restart every time you wanted to play a DOS game by typing in the respective file name of the game you wished to play? HA!
Miztre 6 years ago
DOS games were the best! I loved Jane of the Jungle lol
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Adam Francis 6 years ago
I was annoyed when they added this. You used to be able to just click the off switch.
First.time.in.Space 6 years ago
Windows is such a kind system. I feel so good when a program is telling me I'm Safe.
Sophie Hobson 6 years ago
I still have to do that today at my church; that's how long it's been since we've updated ou technology
TheExtremeSmell 6 years ago
I always wondered why it wasn’t safe to before it said and tried it once and my life and kidneys have never been the same
Jewels Vern 6 years ago
DOS did what you told it to do, not what you wanted it to do. Windows was never that reliable.
#25
Foxxy 6 years ago
Always gotta have quick fingers to hit the record button when you hear a song you like on the radio.
Boudica 6 years ago
And stop it quickly before the dj started speaking over it! And they always spoke over the last part of the song, which was often the best bit :-(
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Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
it's stuck in my head now
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#26
Антон Христов(Anton Hristoff) 6 years ago
soooo you are struggling going back or not going black? :D :D :D
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#27
Daria B 6 years ago
Two of my cousins and I actually managed to get the three of us on one keyboard playing Bomberman. ♥
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Picturing 3 gamers huddling in front of a tablet with there Nintendo switch. Times haven't changed that much lol
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Flash Henry 6 years ago
That's how we played Wolfenstein. One person on the controls, the other strictly responsible for the cheat code that restores all your health and ammo.
Dan Johnston 2 years ago
That, and if you were playing Nintendo or Sega and you were visiting a friend, you always had to use the crappy ghetto knockoff controller...
the Lemon Queen 6 years ago
my brother and I still do that with my laptop and a bunch of two-character games. His favourite is fireboy and watergirl.
Marosfalvi Balázs 6 years ago
Actually we were playing AvP (Alien versus Predator) like this just 3 of us. One guy handled the mouse other the movement keys and the third was using the "tool" buttons (flashlight, switching stuffs etc.) An Alien was jumping onto our face from the dark of course and we just got so scared and screaming like all of us were falling down from the chair like domino :D (was 2000 or 2001 but still that is the "90s" feeling) Lovely era of the planet!
Jace 6 years ago
Also, this would usually result in keyjamming because the PC BIOS couldn’t handle more than four or five keys (depending on which) pressed at a time. This might still be an issue. My 2009 MacBook Pro has keyjamming issues when using the QWERTY keyboard as a piano in GarageBand and Logic.
#28
Hard 2 Guess 6 years ago
You aren't alone. You and many millions of people who know of this game don't know how to play it. I found out how to play it after many years but by then I am just used to smashing buttons and making kind of Russian roulette of that game.
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Francisco Alonso 6 years ago
I finished the difficult level many times. I loved that game!
Load More Replies... Daria B 6 years ago
Not sure exactly, but it has to do with numbers. Like, the greater the number, the bigger the quantity of mines in the surroundings. But you still need luck and instinct.
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#29
First.time.in.Space 6 years ago
It still is.. For me.. Even if there would be a world war, I could still gather my looser friends and watch 500 DVDs before we die..
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frederic eeckman 6 years ago
Actually I miss the ritual of getting out of the house, choosing, arguing with the family or the friends to know what to rent... Now I'm just lazy, I don't even go outside, just press one button on the remote and here we go :/
Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
And the disappointment of getting there too late, and all the new movies you wanted were already out on rent. You then had to look through the older movies to see if there was something else to watch. There were times I came home empty-handed. Of course, I then didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drop my returns in the slot on the side of the building, just so it'd look like I returned them by midnight the day before...
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NQ L 6 years ago
Our DVD player broke (yeah we still watch DVDs). Went to electronics stores and couldn't find a freaking DVD player. Urrggg. Had to order online. Guess people don't watch DVDs anymore??
knittin' kitten 6 years ago
Never underestimate the stock in a second hand store I still watch VHS and DVD they sell both at most second hand stores
Load More Replies... Kim Shannon 6 years ago
Oh, yes, we went to Blockbuster every Friday night to rent our entertainment for the weekend.
Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
I hated Blockbuster, they censored their movies and they never had any "cult movies"
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Oathbraker 6 years ago (edited)
Ah, I still remember watching The Matrix on VHS on New Years in '99.
#30
Ugnė K. 6 years ago
It is not like 90's related stuff just ended when clock hit 00:00 in 2000. I mean it also depends on the household that you grew up in. I was born on 1997 and I can easily relate to most of the stuff, NOT EVERYTHING, but most of it. There are kids who were born in early 2000s and they were raised in household full of oldies (maybe couldn't afford it, maybe didn't see the rush, idk).
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Enola Brinkley-Crayton 6 years ago
Yes! My MIL became addicted to the internet this all stopped when FIL got a $900.00 bill for 1 month!
Sandra Lent 6 years ago
Unlike, in today's world, when the kids just run it up, and the parents whine and complain that they didn't know, the bill is a rip off, etc.
#31
Foxxy 6 years ago
We have gone from having 2 large phone books delivered down to 1 small phone book.
Darryl Kerrigan 6 years ago
I spent a minute reading the listings wondering 'what's odd about these?' before I realised it's the phone book (and me) that's old and out of date!
#32
Oathbraker 6 years ago
That's more like early 2000's, but I still remember doing it. The quality was terrible though. Thank god for lossless audio.
Kira Leseman 6 years ago
Oh god I had the keyboard music from closer by nine inch nails as my ringtone for quite a while.
Giorgio Prodoti 6 years ago
this was already future. back in the 90's no recording, no color screen, no personalisation
Zenozenobee 6 years ago
My first phone ( a sagem in 1999) had no color, but I could record something like 20s to make a ringtone.
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#33
Jill 6 years ago
I was recycling these last year and when I asked the high schooler at the recycle station where I should throw them, she replied, "What are those?" I never felt so old.
Flame Phoenix 6 years ago
As a Gen Z child, I would like to tell you ik what these are! Don't feel old. These are floppy disks
Kioh81 6 years ago
These were the floppy hard disks!! Real floppy disks were terrible!!! Hahaha
Load More Replies... Mama Panda 6 years ago
I just found a few of these in the back of one of my file cabinets. It had a c**p ton of gifs on them lol
#34
Kaisu 6 years ago (edited)
Or if you were home sick and there was nothing in the middle of the day except like infomercials and chats
Katie Smith 6 years ago
There are actually channels that play nothing but cartoons all day now. Lol weird shows like clangers come on at night tho
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Sarabelle Palsy 6 years ago
I guess I was rich AF because we always had cartoons on day and night... does everyone forget about Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Disney Channel? I mean, yeah, they had infomercials and adult programming at the late hours but that stuff came on after 11 pm and turned off at like 5 am. lol. I guess I was lucky and had cable lol
Mamia 6 years ago
No infomercials in where I come from. Just ugly stripes like this and a horrible tone, until the programme started depositpho...38c2dd.jpg 
Nicola Morley 6 years ago
Infomercials are better than a picture of a girl holding chalk towards a chalkboard and a scary clown (know idea why) seemingly overseeing her ‘work’. This picture was on from midnight to 6 am with a single tone throughout that was headache inducing after just 1 minute.
#35
Tracey Hall 6 years ago
Getting upset because someone said they would look after this while at school. Die because it went to the toilet too much or not feed.
ANDREA SERRANO MORALES 6 years ago
u had to keep em alive or else its like throwing money to the trash :(
Randomcthulu 6 years ago
I had a glitched Salem the Cat virtual pet, if you didn't feed it etc hourly, it would starve to death as if you'd left it alone all day, got it past 24 hours once...have seen some other horribly glitched ones at a toy store
Hans Felsh (TheRealMoleman) 6 years ago
Today's Fitbits are just updated Tamagotchi and the stupid thing you have to keep alive is yourself.
#36
Cassie 6 years ago
I figured out how to connect mine to my dad's TV receiver so I could record show and movie soundtracks, too!
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Metro Pcs 6 years ago
Yep! Been there, done that! Listening & waiting with my radio for my favorite jam to come on just so i could hurry up and push the play and record buttons @ the same time and cassette in my cassette player making sure the tape had enough play/record time left the that one side so not to be cut off in the middle of a good song. Dang that sucked when it happened but never again after that first mistake. Play/record was my pet peeve, obsession, addiction, the best and only way at these times and i made damn sure all my favorite songs were recorded in the order i wanted and could go fast foward or rewind to listen to the best of my favorite songs over and over again which also gave me the idea to write the words to my song down on paper, then by the end of writing one whole fav song, i already knew every word to that song so i started enjoying lip-sync, karaoke, or just straight out singing loud and proud all out of tune but still felt real cool because i knew all the words! Yes, days of record/play, cassette tapes, and break-dancing past. How could i forget. It was my teenage yrs & i was doing & being a teenager
ispeak catanese 6 years ago
I was the only one who could speak English in my h.s. class so people would ask me to transcribe lyrics. The funny thing is my English skills weren't that great and I still sing some 80's songs with screwed up words.😄
VeryDarkMatter 6 years ago
The happiness when the song you waited for finally came up and you hit "record" in the right moment. Sometimes I think we had the better times. Not everything was available immediatly. We valued simple things like a song recorded from the radio. Gawd, am I old ! lol
Shull GaRett 6 years ago
Thats how i got my first Mike Oldfield song, and i managed to record it with speaker saying in the end what it was... that was a winning day for me ;)
Daria B 6 years ago
'70s, '80s and '90s. Yep. Up until you could download songs from the internet.
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#37
Sveta Smirnova 6 years ago
Mine was PC XT 8086. 6Mhz with 10Mhz Turbo. DOS 2.0. Drive A and B 5.25" without harddisk. Monochrome monitor. I was sooo happy with the PC.
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Kristine Phillips 6 years ago
It had awesome screensavers. I still have windows 98 installer cd.
Toujin C'Thlu 6 years ago
I remember seeing Windows 3.1 for the first time, and thinking it was pretty cool
#38
Katie Smith 6 years ago
And having to wait until they got off the phone to use the internet. I swear my grandma stayed on the phone for hours on purpose.
Load More Replies... Tracey Hall 6 years ago
The other way around finally get on the internet and someone picks up the phone.
Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
That's why you got two landlines, if you could afford it, back in the day.
Dagmara Gorczyńska 6 years ago
Nope. The modem was on a free military phone, it didn't interfere with the private phone. It disconnected automatically every 2h and changed your IP. If my friend made a server and prepared a song for me to download I could never download it because it took more than 2h and didn't resume.
Steve Cruz 6 years ago
Searching on the internet in the office and someone picks up the phone.
Toujin C'Thlu 6 years ago
That was a problem until we got a phone line for the internet. But then I had to compete with my dad and sisters for computer time, since we only had one.
#39
Shull GaRett 6 years ago
Here is the reference so you will have more context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdUq2opPY-Q
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Marky Mark And The Funky Bunch 6 years ago
Only 80's kids will remember Roy Batty's beautiful speech at the end of 1982's Blade Runner.
Terri Rimmer 6 years ago
My dad was a computer tech for The Omni in Atlanta in the early 70s and I used to go to work with him sometimes in the summer. I saw some of the first computers. They were huge, like dinosaurs.
#40
Kaisu 6 years ago
The era before texting was a nightmare for introverts like me who hate not knowing who might answer the phone
Non-New-Toni-An 6 years ago
But, texting has made it too easy for everyone to avoid overcoming any social anxiety!!! I have always struggled with social anxiety but in the late 90s I just had to bite the bullet which was much better!
Load More Replies... Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
And you had to be home, or at a pay phone, to do it. No texting during class, no calling at lunch. Nope. You always had your parents in the next room, within earshot, because the only phones in the house were in the living room and kitchen. Or you had to stand on the public street, with countless people passing by. If you were in a phone booth, it was boiling hot in summer and usually filthy and stinky AF too. Privacy? Bwahahahaha!
Alusair Alustriel 6 years ago
Parents taught me that when I call I had to introduce myself first. They hated when someone called and was like "Hi, can I speak to [insert name]." Mom always was asking in a viscious tone "Who is this?" XD
Marianne Contrino 6 years ago
On a side note, my best friend in high school and I got in trouble for something big, so much so, my parents forbade me from hanging out with her, which of course only made us want to more. So, to avoid my parents spotting her number showing up on caller I.D., we would plan a time when she would call, and I'd call the number for the "time" or the "weather forecast", and wait for her to come through on the call waiting. Made it through the last two years of high school doing this. Now I teach middle schoolers, and they look at me like I'm crazy when I mention those services because all they have to do is turn on their phones to get that info. Too funny.
PyroarRanger 6 years ago
Sometimes when I call someone's home phone (friend from class), I get so nervous about their parent picking up.
Kim Shannon 6 years ago
Every time a guy called me and my dad answered, they would hang up. He had a deep voice so they thought he was a giant. The joke's on them. He was 5'6" and 120 pounds soaking wet.
#41
ANDREA SERRANO MORALES 6 years ago
this happened to one of my toy story disc and i cried for hours begging my mom to go back and buy me another one, and shes like" u already watched that movie, dont u think u watched it too many times" not the motivational quote that i was looking for mom.
Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
DVDs still exist, this isn't just a 90s thing
Katie Smith 6 years ago
I found my old burned CD's from 2007, I was in middle school, and they all look like this.
Bobbi Newell 6 years ago
If you color it with a green highlighter it'll read better (urban myth from when CDs first came out).
Martti Laurson 6 years ago
You can just polish this side and it will work again. The other side would be trouble if scratched.
#42
Jarno Flinkers 6 years ago
I loved the old cardridges. Those were finished products, no DLC, no updates, no what so ever. Yes some games were buggy, but it had charm.
Stephanie Bladyak 6 years ago
Just blow into the bottom...until your face is red and your cheeks hurt.
Load More Replies... Taryn Wallace 6 years ago
Goldeneye and Ocarina of Time will ALWAYS be the greatest games ever made... then Conker's Bad Fur Day.
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Jenna McCoy 6 years ago (edited)
Is it sad we still have all our game systems from the Atari on and games for each?
Desiree Cretan 6 years ago
I still have a few (nes, snes, gameboy, and some more) old consoles in my house and my kids love it, my oldest likes to play the original donkey kong for NES.
#43
Foxxy 6 years ago
You could also remove the little tab on the side or cover it in black tape, that way it can’t be recorded over.
Sunzilla 6 years ago
Removing the tab wasn't full proof. If you put Prestik in the hole, it you tape over it.
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Kelly 6 years ago
Remove the tabs. In case you need to recover, put some adhesive tape on ithe whole.
Alex Grosdanofski 6 years ago
I had a VHS with a sticker threat just like that to keep my sisters from ruining my recordings :"don't tape over, or I'll tape over your stuff too!!" 😁😂 One day I lent it to a good friend and he thought the threat was directed at him, so I had to explain it was intended towards my bratty sisters LOL.
Bruno Mruzin 6 years ago
i wouldn't rape over this. rape should always come from your own motivation :D
#44
Waiting an eternity for one song.
Taryn Wallace 6 years ago
Limewire gave my computer the neatest virus.... the whole screen turned red then little cockroaches came out and ate the red screen then my computer was screwed and somehow I managed to get it working again by resetting it at its factory settings or something like that but that was a pretty inventive virus
Load More Replies... Kathy Baylis 6 years ago
How about 24 hours to download a 90 minute movie? And if anyone DARED pick up that phone before it was done, they lived to regret it!
HoffLensMetalHedLovesAnimalsUK 6 years ago (edited)
Kazaa was great and also terrible, more than once i downloaded a picture which turned out to not be what i thought it would be and it would be the worst things i have ever seen in my life, and i have seen some horrible stuff, or downloading the latest Korn album in exe format?? haha.
Lisa Shelton 6 years ago
Napster was the bomb before they had to shut down. Never had any virus problems with Napster. You had to have 10 different anti-virus and anti-malware programs running with Limewire.
Jane Alexander 6 years ago
'90 s? I remember that one from the '50s. The 'top' too many before they'd play That song!, and no recording- you only got to hear it. -but I had to hear it before I would go out and play.
#45
Carol Emory 6 years ago
Hey..I used to work at Nintendo in the 90's. All these sheets of paper were common in our call center...lol
Mewton’s Third Paw 6 years ago
That seems like a fun job. Did you like it?
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Rob Chapman 6 years ago
Yeah, no. Cheat codes existed long before the PS2 or the 90's. Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A The Konami Code. NES 1986. Codes got ever more complicated.... Then, the Game Genie was invented. The greastest "unauthorized" game accessory ever made.
Taryn Wallace 6 years ago
I have most of the Game Genie codes still memorized for ToeJam and Earl on Genesis
Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 6 years ago
ILM: God Power for Wolfenstein 3D! DNCORNGOLIO for Duke Nukem... good times
#46
Spirit Tae 6 years ago
The costs of it was enough to have parents request a detailed bill. Discovered when those calls were made: internet after midnight, give away
Christophe Ferreira 6 years ago
The day I discovered that, my life changed.
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Audrey Davis _ Student - BuggES 5 years ago
you where always like "well c**p, I'm going to die."
Shull GaRett 6 years ago
dragged phone cable to my room under carpets and it took a while to get discovered ;)
Fonzie Bulldog 6 years ago
Dial up sound, beeep bop bop bep beeep shhhhhhhh bop bop bop bep shhhhhhh brrrrrrrrr ...... online. :)
Ashley Say Whaat?!? 6 years ago
What? Dang it, I never even knew this was possible!
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#47
Daria B 6 years ago
Come back to me when you tell me about your Walkman struggles. *fancy hand gesture*
Dippin Dot 6 years ago
Yes, walkman.... which was PRE diskman! Having to either rewind or play through BOTH sides of the tape in order to get back to the beginning. At least when diskman's came out you could easily skip and restart songs...
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Rob Chapman 6 years ago
I still use my iPod every day. I OWN all the music on it. The hell with paying for cell service AND paying for a streaming service to listen to music.
William Teach 6 years ago
Heck, I worked for a wireless company, so I carried a Blackberry for corporate email, and a phone for calls. Some of the earlier type smartphones, up through iPhone. Plus, then had an MP3 player for music.
MyrkurRaven 6 years ago
I still use my mp3, it's way nicer then listening to music on a phone :')
somnomania 6 years ago
I still do, because my phone that I can't even use as a phone has limited storage space and also I love my classic ipod.
Bored Fox 6 years ago
Downvoted. This was 2000's problem (iPod was released in 2001). The iPod model in this picture was released in 2004 or later - the earlier versions had different control panel.
Alexandra Davis 6 years ago
Do you think 00's kids were using them though? 90's kids were because they were babies/ not born whereas 90's kids were. Like I was born late 80's but was a 90's kid because I was a kid in the 90's, therefor the issue in the picture was an issue for me because it happened to me and not anyone born in 2000-2004 when this issue occurred.
Load More Replies... Bored Moogle 6 years ago
My phone is still like that. Just a cheap, Dollar General prepaid phone. My MP3 player too for that matter. Can't afford a smart phone.
#48
Dippin Dot 6 years ago
Sitting on one of these bad boys in the middle of summer was hell. You'd sweat and then stick to the damn thing!
Kathleen Barlow 6 years ago
I had an orange one...it was my only piece of living room furniture when I first moved out of home.
Cristina Steele 6 years ago
Haha. If you leaned back in one of these babies you’d just roll backwards all a*s over tea kettle.
Tracey Hall 6 years ago
Stick to them in summer and so cold in winter. Just keep the animals away from them.
Katie Smith 6 years ago
I literally had a hot pink one and my Barbie had one for her dream house. I thought I was so cool.
Erin Sheppard 6 years ago
Had the whole blow up furniture living room till our living room set arrived about a month later
#49
Always running out of credit.
Jarno Flinkers 6 years ago
Still have this phone. It belonged to my grandfather and he accidentaly made some selfievids on them. So every time i feel like it, i can listen to his voice.
HoffLensMetalHedLovesAnimalsUK 6 years ago
I still have a pay as you go sim, i top it once a month and done.
Rob Williams 6 years ago
The SIM card for my first two mobiles was the full, credit card size!
#50
Renee Kamphuys 6 years ago
We still have this in the Netherlands because ppl went mental when it was supposedly to be discontinued.
Daria B 6 years ago (edited)
It is called Teletext (or other names, depending on the country you live). I'd say it's the predecessor to nowadays internet. Old TVs' remote controllers had this one button that would open the Teletext, a source of information about TV program of the respective channel (each channel had its own Teletext), about happenings (concerts, events etc.), about news in general, horoscope, weather, sports, traffic etc. You could access various pages for more information by typing in the given number code you'd mostly find on the guide/front page.
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Just Curious 6 years ago
What in heck’s name is this? And don’t say “teletext” b/c I don’t know what that is...
Pretty Pangolin 6 years ago
Looks like a TV guide plus short headlines...?
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Daria B 6 years ago
As a fellow Croatian, this is surprising to hear. I recall they'd officially end analogue TV for good 10 years ago or so. Then our family had just IPTV, so no Teletext. Then I moved to Korea and don't know now about the TV situation back there.
Load More Replies... Tracey Hall 6 years ago
So forgotten about this, trying to remember the page you needed and that it loaded properly.
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Carol Emory 6 years ago
Everyone has old Windows programs to show how old they are. I learned to use a computer when all we had was a Tandy 1000 and cassettes to download information. And there was no windows back then..only DOS. Boy..we really thought we were living in the New Age when 5 1/4 floppy disks and Commodore 64's hit the market....
Molly Cule 6 years ago
I used to love playing on my Amstrad. Sometimes my dad would let me hook it up to the "big TV" so I could play Punch & Judy in colour instead of on the green screen.
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Kururi.Orihara 6 years ago
Here's one older generations probably don't get (as much, anyways): Remembering that one cartoon you used to watch as a toddler and having the vaguest memories of it and not the name. Then you spend hours online searching through you're vague memories to find this show because "Gods damn it I know I didn't dream this!!!!"
April Simnel 6 years ago
Yes, that happened to me recently (i'm Gen X). I Googled "Gordon, you drive me up the wall", and boom! Someone had put the clip of this cartoon from the old Electric Company on YouTube. It actually freaked me out to see it again after not having seen it for 45+ years.
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Deena Salzman 6 years ago
Yeah. I came here to say it's as much younger Gen Xers as older Millenials
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Madzdad the bard 6 years ago
Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Taipan and, of course, Oregon Trail! I died of dysentery so man times...
boredkoala 6 years ago
Also King's Quests and Day of the Tentacle and all the LucasArts point and click adventures!
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Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
this is the first time I've seen this and there's only 50 of them
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Darius Navickas 6 years ago
These weren't a struggle, it was just a part of life. Why dramatize.
Carol Emory 6 years ago
Everyone has old Windows programs to show how old they are. I learned to use a computer when all we had was a Tandy 1000 and cassettes to download information. And there was no windows back then..only DOS. Boy..we really thought we were living in the New Age when 5 1/4 floppy disks and Commodore 64's hit the market....
Molly Cule 6 years ago
I used to love playing on my Amstrad. Sometimes my dad would let me hook it up to the "big TV" so I could play Punch & Judy in colour instead of on the green screen.
Load More Replies... Kururi.Orihara 6 years ago
Here's one older generations probably don't get (as much, anyways): Remembering that one cartoon you used to watch as a toddler and having the vaguest memories of it and not the name. Then you spend hours online searching through you're vague memories to find this show because "Gods damn it I know I didn't dream this!!!!"
April Simnel 6 years ago
Yes, that happened to me recently (i'm Gen X). I Googled "Gordon, you drive me up the wall", and boom! Someone had put the clip of this cartoon from the old Electric Company on YouTube. It actually freaked me out to see it again after not having seen it for 45+ years.
Load More Replies... Deena Salzman 6 years ago
Yeah. I came here to say it's as much younger Gen Xers as older Millenials
Load More Replies... Madzdad the bard 6 years ago
Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Taipan and, of course, Oregon Trail! I died of dysentery so man times...
boredkoala 6 years ago
Also King's Quests and Day of the Tentacle and all the LucasArts point and click adventures!
Load More Replies... Crouching_Penn_Hidden_Teller@yahoo.com 6 years ago
this is the first time I've seen this and there's only 50 of them
Load More Replies... Darius Navickas 6 years ago
These weren't a struggle, it was just a part of life. Why dramatize.
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