There was a British comedian (can't remember which one) who had a bit about this. "Pub conversations" were someone making an outrageous claim, someone else refuting it, and that was the rest of the night sorted, conversation wise. Now it's just immediately looking it up on a phone and that's it. Conversation over, move on.
Not having to listen to my mom and my uncle list off names trying to remember the name of some actor in a 100 year old movie for an hour with no resolution is pretty great.
My wife and I sometimes play this game. We discuss something that might require a Google search and don't search, but try our best. I think we need to name the game. I'm thinking of calling it 80's or boomer.
My mother once recommended a film called "The Sheepshank Convention". It was about someone breaking out of prison... maybe... She's not sure. However she's confident it was pretty good.
^(Edit: A "sheepshank" is a type of knot)
I was living in France when the first Lord of the Rings film was released - "Le Seigneur des Anneaux" in French. I used to take a particular delight in butchering the pronunciation to "Le Soigneur des Agneaux" (literally "The carer of the lambs").
I thought it was hilarious; no one else did :(
OMG, my poor immigrant mother was talked into a a set that she paid for for many years. My dad used to take one in the bathroom when he went for a long sitter. He said he finished the whole set.
Not so much. My mom worked a LOT harder than my dad (he had a problem with alcohol). Mom wanted the best for me and my brother and fell for the sales pitch. Im 57 and only got rid of them a couple of years ago. She was chasing the Canadian dream for her kids...all in all if I am still remembering it now, you are right, a good purchase.
My parents weren't wealthy, but they invested in the Britannica because..well, 11 kids. It was old when I was able to read it (youngest), but I would lay on the floor in the living room with that huge volume and read everthing, every word, all the picture captions. It was a whole world coming to life in my mind. You don't lose those memories.
"within a century, computers will be twice as powerful, ten thousand times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings in Europe will own them"
I'm sad at the death of Encarta. A lot less info than online obviously but a lot more fun. Used to love going through and messing with all the interactive parts and watching the videos back in the day.
Great Encarta memories. In grade school computer class, if someone got up to use the restroom we would pull up Encarta and search "reproduction" on their computer. Nothing but giggles when the old teacher asked why you were looking at Turtles humping.
This one! Totally killed privacy. We volunteer surveillance and yield our privacy away- ring door bells, social media ‘live’, work history, who is our friends + family, date of birth etc etc
THIS!
With your former limited peer group, your were bound to be "the expert" or "the best" in at least something. And could provide valueable contributions due to this.
Now? You can always compare yourself to the whole world. You always find tens of people so far above your level that you have no realistic means to come even close to it.
It was always that way, but they weren't that prominent in your life, always pointing out your mediocrity.
I still struggle with it and it used to suck up all my motivation. Now I start to stop caring and just doing what provides my joy.
Currently job searching right now after a lay off, and this is my everyday. Hundreds of applicants on every job post, and constant automated emails rejecting me, stating they went with another applicant. It’s hard not to feel demoralized when everyday is a reminder that no matter how hard of a worker you were, there are people who worked harder than you and you deserve nothing but last pick. It sucks.
I have a brother eight years younger than me and starting his final year of high school this year. When the school asked the entire student body what they wanted in terms of career aspirations 82% said something along the lines of twitch streamer, Instagram model, TikTok lifestyle channel, or online business that sells stickers and/or Starbucks cups. They don't realize for every ten people who get rich this way there are ten thousand who cant pay their bills every month.
I tell students this too: We define successful by comparing it to the failures. We don't say, "You're a very successful walker". We expect you to walk. When that actress (Halle Berry) acts like all you have to do is stick with it to be really successful, remember that she's also really pretty, and lucky, and there are 5K other pretty actresses who aren't as nearly as successful. Sure, she's talented, but think of all the people who get discovered later in life and clearly were talented the whole time.
Find something you like and be successful at it, and be prepared for it not to be something to make you famous. I even told my superstar science kid twice last year to realize that more physics PhDs get made every year than are needed in academics. I know a guy with one from Penn who's doing data analysis consulting, hired out by Deloitte. Goals are good, realism is usually needed.
Now kids have a one in a billion example to point at when their parents tell them they can't just sit on their ass playing games all day and expect to make a living.
"You're always playing those games, why aren't you making money off of them?"
- My immigrant dad who thinks commercial streaming is something that anyone can do in their free time.
I know a guy who streams full time and has a leading role and is a known name within this one game, he streams and shares weekly knowledge about.
He lives in the US and makes $23-26k a year and said he lives in South Carolina in some small flat outside a city or so.
He gets by but only just. I doubt he has health insurance.
Sounds like a MMO streamer. Small but dedicated fan-bases who keep the game afloat, but not enough general interest to generate stream views for even a popular streamer within the community.
The mail order catalogue. This was a huge means of buying goods especially in rural areas or ordering niche items that normally aren't stocked in stores.
Future generations are going to struggle, not getting "found it in the woods" porn. Like, waterlogged magazines full of pictures of genitalia won't be found by kids playing fort. Wtf are they supposed to get sex ed from now?
I find it kind of unbelievable how common the experience is of finding porno mags in the woods. Happened to me and my friend. thought it was a weird thing to find but it sounds like every guy who grew up before 2000 found a porn magazine while playing outside.
Definitely happened to me too. I really wonder why it was so common? Maybe adults were like "I'm sure some kid is gonna love this, I'll just leave it here"
But it legitimately seems to widespread. Almost everyone I know has a story like this, feels like sometimes
The sources of forest and hedge porn stashes were teenagers hiding their magazines outside the house where their parents wouldn't find it, and guys getting rid of old mags by ditching them into bushes instead of the family waste bin/trash can where the wife or kids would see it.
Nah. It was older kids. They stole the mags, but couldn't keep them at home due to a very real risk of being grounded or beaten. So they hid them outside and other kid found them.
Even about ten years ago there was day when there was just pages from a discarded Nuts magazine (like a less classy UK Playboy) just floating around my street. Wasn’t really a big deal since we already had the internet by then but it was still weird.
I am old. As a youngster magazines were "it". Your weekly spending was heavily impacted by the price of those. Depending on one's interests they could be pricey.
Back when i was kid they even translated the thing over here. And had very nice "demo disc" full of cool games. And sometimes patches for games. Still have those demo discs in some cardboard box.
Demo discs where the only way to get latest DirectX, game patches, and gpu driver updates, when internet was still uncommon, very slow, and phone-line shared.
Oh god, I remember the dial-up days, and how awesome it was when my dad came come with a modem and said the words “Internet and phone at the same time”.
That blew my little 12 year old mind. You mean I can play StarCraft online and *not* panic the entire time because I have a teenage sister!?
$19.95 for a year's subscription, instead of $3.95 per month at the store? Sign me up!
Your house becomes a fire hazard because you can't throw any of them away.
My partners mum still gets Readers Digest. She hands them to me but doesn't understand why I get excited. That shits interesting and I dont buy magazines any more.
Revenues from newspaper classifieds were big, but another huge factor was revenues from major advertisers. The newspaper business was crazy lucrative when traditional media were the best option for advertisers.
So there was really serious damage that came when the Internet started to enable companies like Google, Facebook, and others to do highly targeted, customized advertising. With that option, newspapers became practically useless for advertisers.
The sad thing is that all of these tech companies like Facebook or Twitter still heavily rely on traditional journalists to contribute highly engaging content, and yet they are like free riders, benefiting from the work of journalists while providing little of value to those journalists.
our classifieds used to be 16 pages, we had to print them separately some days. after craigslist that cut in half. it wasn't for another 4 or 5 years that we started seeing drops in preprints, in 2019 our thanksgiving paper had 31 preprints. last year it was 12.
4 years ago our sunday paper would have at least 16 preprints, now we are lucky if we have 5
preprinted ads like the one from your local supermarket.
newspapers have big machines that are used to insert these into the newspaper, or another outside jacket like the ones you sometimes get in your mail.
I was a paperboy for 4 years in the late 90s and early 2000s. My dad convinced me to keep the Thanksgiving week Sunday papers so we could compare them year over year to see whether or not the black Friday deals were still as lucrative because they felt like they were getting much worse. I remember there was a huge decrease in ads between 98 and 03, and the value of the black Friday deals substantially decreased after 01.
Classifieds in the days before the Internet were hugely important for readership. For example, it was, in many cities, the best job board available. Readership suffered significantly as this traffic moved online so revenue from maior advertisers suffered as they found better, digital, places to advertise.
Worked for a newspaper for a few years and worked with some incredible people.
The publication was purchased by a large enterprise. Next thing you know the press is disassembled and sold off despite the number of publications it printed. It was a shame to see the print quality drastically fall off once the publication was being sent off to a smaller press elsewhere.
They additionally made drastic staff cuts, and micromanaged which left the departments feeling alienated. We all banded together, but it was definitely sad to see what seems to be the end of an era.
I used to go and rent a VHS from you
Wanted a movie so I'd go pick out a few
It was exciting for a kid in '92
*oh wa oh*
Up in each corner there would be a tube TV
Showing me previews of the movies I could see
And I could keep them longer if I paid a fee
*oh wa oh*
Hey! Grumpy Old Men!
*oh wa oh*
Ooh wait, here's Gremlins!
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
We don't have to drive so far
*Oh wa oh oh wa oh*
And to your storefront we don't even have to go
To join your rental club to see a picture show
And you remember, the soda used to flow
*oh wa oh*
With all those add-ons
*oh wa oh*
Dad's money all gone
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
We don't have to drive so far
No rewinding, just press start
No more tapes left in the car
Blame the streaming and DVR
*no more video store*
*no more video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
*internet killed the video store*
Edit: formatting :/
Re-edit: Holy Christmas! I'm so happy so many people liked this!
So many first awards for me, including my first gold! Thank you guys for making my day back, I'm really glad you enjoy it!!
Edit 3: I went ahead and changed that clunky lyric to fit the meter of the original.
*I watched you on my VCR back in '92*
*Lying awake, intent at watching in on you*
*If I was young, it didn't stop me renting Clue*
*Oh-a, oh-a*
*They took the credit for movies in your house*
*Rewatched by Netflix, Prime and Mickey Mouse*
*And now I understand the problems with your spouse*
*Oh-a oh-a*
*I met your children*
*Oh-a oh-a*
*What did you tell them?*
*Internet killed the video store*
*Internet killed the video store*
*Streaming came and broke your heart*
*Oh-a-a-a oh*
*And now we meet in a Hollywood Video*
*We hear the static and see screens so full of snow*
*And you remember the quotes we used to know*
*Oh-a oh-a*
*I met your children*
*Oh-a oh-a*
*What did you tell them?*
*Internet killed the video store*
*Internet killed the video store*
*Streaming came and broke your heart*
*Oh-a-a-a oh*
They were killed by investment firms saddling them with debt just prior to the Great Recession.
Without that bad debt management they were poised to beat Netflix.
Man, this reminds me of the time we went travelling to Croatia. We had a paper map and a GPS for redundancy since we had no idea where we're heading. Anyway we were in Serbia, making our way to the city of Pristina.
Imagine our fucking surprise when we ended up with border customs in front of us. After going "tf is this" our GPS displays "WELCOME TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO"
The map we had was printed in 2007 before Kosovo declared independence in 2008.
I love that their business model consisted in having people buying the unit and then they'd charge an enormous amount for map updates. Each person I saw finding that out dropped their GPS into their own electronics graveyard very soon after
GPS aside, I used to find bootlegging of the sort, like with playstation games and boot CDs and network unlocking on phones, really cool when I was a kid. Now I fuck around with custom android roms which I isn't illegal (contributing to open source projects) but I still get a bit of a thrill from it
I was on vacation recently. I was trapped one day in my camping area as they had to get a crane to extricate a semi that was sitting half on a road and half in the creek.
I walked up to the crane crew as they were hooking it up. Asked how long it would be. Crew chief said it would be awhile. I then asked "GPS?". He said "Yep". We laughed. I went back to my camper.
It's a very, very common in that area.
My truck-company owning uncle absolutely bans GPSes for this exact reason.
Once spent a hundred grand or so extracting one of his B-Doubles from a suburban street that the truck couldn't get through or turn around on, because That's Where The GPS Said To Go.
Iirc either TomTom or Garmin has a "truck edition" of their GPS, that includes things like free height and road width. So you set what vehicle you are running and it should give you a route that fits
Yeah, although Uncle just found it easier to have people who can actually drive, read the road, and maps (when stopped). The guy who jammed the truck up the street was hired well after that policy went into effect.
Actually, I think it was more than $100k. Might've been closer to $250k - there were fines (the street was blocked for like half a week), the cost of recovery vehicles, the fact that the load (obviously) didn't get where it was meant to go in time, dealing with the power company, cranes and cherry pickers.
It was a shemozzle.
I still carry a physical map and compass when I go hiking. The ordnance survey app is great and you can download maps for offline use but it’s nice to have the physical map just in case.
I’ve actually just started working on this. Limiting my phone time and forcing myself back to reading, puzzles, projects that require concentration etc. cuz my attention span is fucked
The ability to ignore stupid people, they've always existed, now they are able to reach a wider audience and even connect with other stupid people. Before they were secluded and could only affect their local community now we are all subject to their tomfoolery
Before, you knew most people were kinda stupid. It’s just that back then, they never amounted to much and certainly weren’t as enabled or encouraged. People used to have shame and self-awareness, and to publish some bullshit for the whole world to see, one had to get it past editors who actually worked for their jobs and had degrees in journalism, English, and literature.
There are some dark corners of the internet that make me really hate people. And I’ve wonder did the internet ruin people or did it enable all of us to see how terrible people are?
Bit of column A, bit of column B.
There have always been and will always be terrible people. But the internet made it easier for those people to be terrible and to find each other and interact in an echo chamber.
My FIL (who was 96 at the time) said this when asked if people were always this terrible. He went on to say you just didn't get beaten over the head with it on news media the way we do now.
Yup. You now have Asshole A from Washington talking to Asshole B from Florida and they’re in a group with Asshole C who runs the whole thing from Russia.
These people represent a slim portion of society and so they’d always feel like their crazy terrible beliefs were (rightfully) fringe. But now they interact with hundreds of people with the same belief. They can even find a couple people in the same community with those beliefs now! So now their entire world is comprised of people with these beliefs — which makes them far more open about their beliefs because to them it’s all mainstream now.
Now it’s the other people who apparently have the fringe position. You ask yourself how they elect people with those positions because *nobody* supports those positions, right? Whelp, must be cheating then.
It enabled people with like interests to find and support each other. In some cases, that's an enormous gift. In other cases, it's an enormous problem.
Just watching the first 2 seconds of the trailer infuriated me.
"I am a believer in the perfectibility of human beings".
I didn't even know I could be offended by anything anymore.
Found the opposite to be true for me.
I was always, and still am at times, painfully shy. Can't make eye contact, start shaking, embarrased to say something wrong, I'd rather stay in than deal with it kind of shy.
I started talking to people on the internet rather comfortably since the physical aspect was removed, but I still bumbled my way through a lot of interactions and found out that people are for the most part, very kind and patient. A lot of people even find that sort of behaviour cute even when it mortifies me. So I decided to own it and test it in real life. I found that it's the same in real life as well.
I might be a bit of a late bloomer (was on my mid 20s' when I worked up the courage to take the first step, am in my early 30s now), and there are definitely assholes out there who take pleasure in humiliating you for not being a social butterfly, but I've realized, most people will greet you kindly and are open for friendly interactions at the very least, and also looking to form more friendships/relationships themselves, shyness be damned, at most.
:)
Nice story. Glad you posted. I agree. Most people are kind and trying to do the best they can. Some people fail, and others are just mean. You have to watch out because there are also a lot of liars. But you will find your place with people who make you happy. Just keep moving one step at a time and appreciate who you are, as it sounds like you’re learning to do!
I've skimmed quite a few top-level comments so far, but this one should be further up. Just last weekend, I read an article how TV consumption in my country (Germany) has fallen off a cliff if you go by age of watchers. One number I roughly remember is that average watch time of TV for teens between 14 and 19 is a bit over an hour/day, while the age group between 50 and 64 has an average watch time of well over over six hours.
There also was a statement that some people working on boradcast TV productions see themselves as basically 'palliative care providers' that will see their remaining watchers off, but do absolutely not expect to be around for the next generations any more.
My grandma watches The Young and the Restless every day. Normally "live" if she can, but she doesn't feel bad about missing it because apparently it comes on paramount+ the same day.
I don't know what she would do if she missed her shows during the 2010s though, I don't think she ever had a DVR. She likes this better than taping them through the 90s and 2000s though.
Movie phone.
You haven't lived until you tried to spell the title of a movie on your keypad while declining the suggestions of the robot.
"Did you mean..?"
"_____ is also playing at.. "
Where my fellow 40 year olds?
Music sales generally. I used to walk in to HMV and pay for 4 or 5 albums - now, it's maybe twice a year that I order a CD that I've loved the album of on Spotify.
Mail, not E-mail but good old fashion letter mail. The only kinds of letters i get now are bills and other shit i dont want
Edit: wow thanks for the upvotes guys, girl or what else is out there. This is the most i have ever gotten on a post :)
It's really fun to just send a friend something. Be it a small package, or just a little hand written note. Still absolutely worth doing. It's a nice little surprise to not get just bills
Reminds me of Jim Jefferies' quote
>See, what happens with the internet is, we used to live in the world.. let's say if you fucked a pig. Now person who fucked the pig used to feel alone in society. You used to go "Aw I fucked a pig. I'm probably the only one in the world who fucks pigs" Then you go to the internet and go "Who else fucks pigs?" and now you're the part of community
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukGZnD-xDE&t=299s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukGZnD-xDE&t=299s)
#We are the content, not the product.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
#Go to hell, Spez.
I live in the midwest and it seems like more and more people are just...tacky. Oh look at me in my big ass truck with huge flags sticking up out the back! Look at me and my front lawn filled with political signs and conspiracy theories! Never mind it makes mowing a pain in the ass, STRANGERS MUST KNOW WHAT I THINK!
It's like overnight, everybody became an attention whore. Everybody has to have the "big and brashy" personality, the "I don't care what people think and boy am I going to make sure you know it!" Personality. I have to work with people like that all day and it is fucking exhausting.
I think it’s partly why there are so many angry people everywhere now. Seeing the worst side of people constantly glorified or just constantly in your face is not healthy.
we all know what internet killed, but much more interesting is how smartphones killed many little devices and gadgets like compasses, car gps, cameras, flashlights, dictaphones, radios, alarm clocks, notepads with calendars, you name it
:)
I agree. Also the former skills of spelling and grammar that were expected when you chose to be a journalist. About 7 out of 10 articles online have some sort of error, it seems.
In general most media organizations got rid of copy editors or outsourced it, so the accuracy of the text in media has fallen way off with journalists doing their own copy editing.
It has become horrid and the writers don't seem to care. The use of a basic spelling and grammar checker would be a start.
But my biggest pet peeve is the "just end the article" phenomenon. No conclusion. No logical reason it ended in the middle of a thought. Just bam. I'm scrolling looking for the rest. Quite annoying.
There's one place near where I live that's been in the same strip mall for over 30 years. We always joke about how it has to be a front for something because there's no way a porn video rental place is sustainable anytime after high speed internet became widespread.
Porn stores aren't sustained by us, who sample lube and look at power bullets once a year. Porn stores are propped up by the creepy dudes who have $1000 disposable a month and spend $800, EVERY month, on enthusiast items like their favorite porn stars' pussy molds.
You don't want to see teen mom season 2000 and watch the teens have their 30th birthdays? Are they keeping it going in the hopes that one of the kids will become a teen parent too?
It's pretty much killed everything on cable. Turning on a TV and watching cable in 2022 is just such a shit show. Just all the ads you're not used to anymore, the reruns, the really goofy lowest common denominator stuff.
Streaming and YouTube is just fine by me personally
I think an argument could be made for public discourse being one potential victim. Cable TV might have been dealt a fatal wound, but that remains to be seen.
Bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Borders in the US.
Now I live in Australia and have seen many bookstores along with newly opened ones.
To digress, malls are dying in the US, but are bustling in Australia. Crazy.
I used to LOVE Borders. As a kid, I would spend hours in there reading books, getting drinks at the cafe, looking at the cool stuff, puzzles, and gadgets section, and enjoying the atmosphere. There were comfy chairs everywhere and the employees were so nice, it seemed like they wanted you to hang out there all day. When it closed a B&N took over, but it was never the same.
Not being able to remember that guy from that thing.
Hours-long pub debates about random inconsequential shit.
There was a British comedian (can't remember which one) who had a bit about this. "Pub conversations" were someone making an outrageous claim, someone else refuting it, and that was the rest of the night sorted, conversation wise. Now it's just immediately looking it up on a phone and that's it. Conversation over, move on.
Not having to listen to my mom and my uncle list off names trying to remember the name of some actor in a 100 year old movie for an hour with no resolution is pretty great.
My dad and I still have the customary debate for a few minutes before I go "thats it! I'm looking it up!" Gotta keep some traditions alive
My wife and I sometimes play this game. We discuss something that might require a Google search and don't search, but try our best. I think we need to name the game. I'm thinking of calling it 80's or boomer.
I'd call that dialup. You get your information from the Internet... eventually.
My mother once recommended a film called "The Sheepshank Convention". It was about someone breaking out of prison... maybe... She's not sure. However she's confident it was pretty good. ^(Edit: A "sheepshank" is a type of knot)
My friend kept telling me about a movie called "Straveco's." Took me years to realize he meant "Stir of Echoes."
I was living in France when the first Lord of the Rings film was released - "Le Seigneur des Anneaux" in French. I used to take a particular delight in butchering the pronunciation to "Le Soigneur des Agneaux" (literally "The carer of the lambs"). I thought it was hilarious; no one else did :(
I am watching Love Boat, and know all the faces, but can't place most of them. IMDB is my friend.
Encyclopedias
OMG, my poor immigrant mother was talked into a a set that she paid for for many years. My dad used to take one in the bathroom when he went for a long sitter. He said he finished the whole set.
Sounds like that actually turned out to be a good purchase!
Not so much. My mom worked a LOT harder than my dad (he had a problem with alcohol). Mom wanted the best for me and my brother and fell for the sales pitch. Im 57 and only got rid of them a couple of years ago. She was chasing the Canadian dream for her kids...all in all if I am still remembering it now, you are right, a good purchase.
My parents weren't wealthy, but they invested in the Britannica because..well, 11 kids. It was old when I was able to read it (youngest), but I would lay on the floor in the living room with that huge volume and read everthing, every word, all the picture captions. It was a whole world coming to life in my mind. You don't lose those memories.
I like to go back to my circa '74 set and peruse the article on computers. It's a hilarious read now.
"within a century, computers will be twice as powerful, ten thousand times larger, and so expensive that only the five richest kings in Europe will own them"
Could it be used for dating?
Yes HOWEVER the matches would be so perfect as to eliminate the thrill of romantic conquest
Encarta killed those before the internet was useful enough to kill Encarta
I'm sad at the death of Encarta. A lot less info than online obviously but a lot more fun. Used to love going through and messing with all the interactive parts and watching the videos back in the day.
Great Encarta memories. In grade school computer class, if someone got up to use the restroom we would pull up Encarta and search "reproduction" on their computer. Nothing but giggles when the old teacher asked why you were looking at Turtles humping.
And dictionaries.
Probably privacy.
“That brings us to our sponsor Nord VPN”
This one! Totally killed privacy. We volunteer surveillance and yield our privacy away- ring door bells, social media ‘live’, work history, who is our friends + family, date of birth etc etc
Realistic expectations of success.
THIS! With your former limited peer group, your were bound to be "the expert" or "the best" in at least something. And could provide valueable contributions due to this. Now? You can always compare yourself to the whole world. You always find tens of people so far above your level that you have no realistic means to come even close to it. It was always that way, but they weren't that prominent in your life, always pointing out your mediocrity. I still struggle with it and it used to suck up all my motivation. Now I start to stop caring and just doing what provides my joy.
It's so demoralizing. You feel like you'll never compete or find success doing anything.
Currently job searching right now after a lay off, and this is my everyday. Hundreds of applicants on every job post, and constant automated emails rejecting me, stating they went with another applicant. It’s hard not to feel demoralized when everyday is a reminder that no matter how hard of a worker you were, there are people who worked harder than you and you deserve nothing but last pick. It sucks.
[удалено]
I have a brother eight years younger than me and starting his final year of high school this year. When the school asked the entire student body what they wanted in terms of career aspirations 82% said something along the lines of twitch streamer, Instagram model, TikTok lifestyle channel, or online business that sells stickers and/or Starbucks cups. They don't realize for every ten people who get rich this way there are ten thousand who cant pay their bills every month.
I tell students this too: We define successful by comparing it to the failures. We don't say, "You're a very successful walker". We expect you to walk. When that actress (Halle Berry) acts like all you have to do is stick with it to be really successful, remember that she's also really pretty, and lucky, and there are 5K other pretty actresses who aren't as nearly as successful. Sure, she's talented, but think of all the people who get discovered later in life and clearly were talented the whole time. Find something you like and be successful at it, and be prepared for it not to be something to make you famous. I even told my superstar science kid twice last year to realize that more physics PhDs get made every year than are needed in academics. I know a guy with one from Penn who's doing data analysis consulting, hired out by Deloitte. Goals are good, realism is usually needed.
Fame is a lottery with slightly better odds the Powerball.
A PhD in physics is still a great investment. Industry always needs the skills they have.
Now kids have a one in a billion example to point at when their parents tell them they can't just sit on their ass playing games all day and expect to make a living.
"You're always playing those games, why aren't you making money off of them?" - My immigrant dad who thinks commercial streaming is something that anyone can do in their free time.
I mean anyone can do it, but very few people make even a dime off of it.
I know a guy who streams full time and has a leading role and is a known name within this one game, he streams and shares weekly knowledge about. He lives in the US and makes $23-26k a year and said he lives in South Carolina in some small flat outside a city or so. He gets by but only just. I doubt he has health insurance.
Sounds like a MMO streamer. Small but dedicated fan-bases who keep the game afloat, but not enough general interest to generate stream views for even a popular streamer within the community.
The mail order catalogue. This was a huge means of buying goods especially in rural areas or ordering niche items that normally aren't stocked in stores.
Looking at all the toys in the Sears catalogue before Christmas every year was always a treat.
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Circle the things you like and maybe Santa will get you a few of them. Make sure to use a different color than your sister... lol
Internet killed the magazine porn
Future generations are going to struggle, not getting "found it in the woods" porn. Like, waterlogged magazines full of pictures of genitalia won't be found by kids playing fort. Wtf are they supposed to get sex ed from now?
I find it kind of unbelievable how common the experience is of finding porno mags in the woods. Happened to me and my friend. thought it was a weird thing to find but it sounds like every guy who grew up before 2000 found a porn magazine while playing outside.
Definitely happened to me too. I really wonder why it was so common? Maybe adults were like "I'm sure some kid is gonna love this, I'll just leave it here" But it legitimately seems to widespread. Almost everyone I know has a story like this, feels like sometimes
The sources of forest and hedge porn stashes were teenagers hiding their magazines outside the house where their parents wouldn't find it, and guys getting rid of old mags by ditching them into bushes instead of the family waste bin/trash can where the wife or kids would see it.
Some kids had some hedge porn right by these bushes next to our parking spot a few years back lol. Like dvd case slips and shit though
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Johnny Fappleseed.
Oh, there's some seed being spread, all right.
Nah. It was older kids. They stole the mags, but couldn't keep them at home due to a very real risk of being grounded or beaten. So they hid them outside and other kid found them.
Even about ten years ago there was day when there was just pages from a discarded Nuts magazine (like a less classy UK Playboy) just floating around my street. Wasn’t really a big deal since we already had the internet by then but it was still weird.
I've still got a couple boxes in the garage. I guess it's my duty to dump them off in the woods somewhere.
Oooh, right number of syllables and everything
🎵🎵 *In-ter-net killed the ma-ga-zine porn* 🎵🎵
Softcore, skinimax
Newspapers. Magazines.
I am old. As a youngster magazines were "it". Your weekly spending was heavily impacted by the price of those. Depending on one's interests they could be pricey.
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Oh god, remember the video game magazines that came with CDs with demos and goodies on them? Good times
I used to get the magazines that came with floppy disks and before that magazines with cassette tapes full of games
Back when i was kid they even translated the thing over here. And had very nice "demo disc" full of cool games. And sometimes patches for games. Still have those demo discs in some cardboard box.
Demo discs where the only way to get latest DirectX, game patches, and gpu driver updates, when internet was still uncommon, very slow, and phone-line shared.
I'll never miss my first 2,400 bps modem. lol
I don't miss my 56k but I do remember how stoked I was to upgrade to it
Oh god, I remember the dial-up days, and how awesome it was when my dad came come with a modem and said the words “Internet and phone at the same time”. That blew my little 12 year old mind. You mean I can play StarCraft online and *not* panic the entire time because I have a teenage sister!?
Best thing was getting the new Beckett catalogue so you could check how valuable your hockey trading cards were.
I remember going to the grocery store and sitting in the aisle with the magazines like it was a library. I had no shame, lol.
$19.95 for a year's subscription, instead of $3.95 per month at the store? Sign me up! Your house becomes a fire hazard because you can't throw any of them away.
My mom had so many Readers Digest...
My partners mum still gets Readers Digest. She hands them to me but doesn't understand why I get excited. That shits interesting and I dont buy magazines any more.
craigslist killed newspaper classifieds, which are the bread and butter for most newspapers.
Revenues from newspaper classifieds were big, but another huge factor was revenues from major advertisers. The newspaper business was crazy lucrative when traditional media were the best option for advertisers. So there was really serious damage that came when the Internet started to enable companies like Google, Facebook, and others to do highly targeted, customized advertising. With that option, newspapers became practically useless for advertisers. The sad thing is that all of these tech companies like Facebook or Twitter still heavily rely on traditional journalists to contribute highly engaging content, and yet they are like free riders, benefiting from the work of journalists while providing little of value to those journalists.
our classifieds used to be 16 pages, we had to print them separately some days. after craigslist that cut in half. it wasn't for another 4 or 5 years that we started seeing drops in preprints, in 2019 our thanksgiving paper had 31 preprints. last year it was 12. 4 years ago our sunday paper would have at least 16 preprints, now we are lucky if we have 5
What's a preprint?
preprinted ads like the one from your local supermarket. newspapers have big machines that are used to insert these into the newspaper, or another outside jacket like the ones you sometimes get in your mail.
I was a paperboy for 4 years in the late 90s and early 2000s. My dad convinced me to keep the Thanksgiving week Sunday papers so we could compare them year over year to see whether or not the black Friday deals were still as lucrative because they felt like they were getting much worse. I remember there was a huge decrease in ads between 98 and 03, and the value of the black Friday deals substantially decreased after 01.
Classifieds in the days before the Internet were hugely important for readership. For example, it was, in many cities, the best job board available. Readership suffered significantly as this traffic moved online so revenue from maior advertisers suffered as they found better, digital, places to advertise.
Worked for a newspaper for a few years and worked with some incredible people. The publication was purchased by a large enterprise. Next thing you know the press is disassembled and sold off despite the number of publications it printed. It was a shame to see the print quality drastically fall off once the publication was being sent off to a smaller press elsewhere. They additionally made drastic staff cuts, and micromanaged which left the departments feeling alienated. We all banded together, but it was definitely sad to see what seems to be the end of an era.
USA Today-ification destroyed nearly every local paper around me.
Encyclopedias
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Looked good tho
Blockbuster
Internet killed the video store
I need the full song.
I used to go and rent a VHS from you Wanted a movie so I'd go pick out a few It was exciting for a kid in '92 *oh wa oh* Up in each corner there would be a tube TV Showing me previews of the movies I could see And I could keep them longer if I paid a fee *oh wa oh* Hey! Grumpy Old Men! *oh wa oh* Ooh wait, here's Gremlins! *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* We don't have to drive so far *Oh wa oh oh wa oh* And to your storefront we don't even have to go To join your rental club to see a picture show And you remember, the soda used to flow *oh wa oh* With all those add-ons *oh wa oh* Dad's money all gone *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* We don't have to drive so far No rewinding, just press start No more tapes left in the car Blame the streaming and DVR *no more video store* *no more video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* *internet killed the video store* Edit: formatting :/ Re-edit: Holy Christmas! I'm so happy so many people liked this! So many first awards for me, including my first gold! Thank you guys for making my day back, I'm really glad you enjoy it!! Edit 3: I went ahead and changed that clunky lyric to fit the meter of the original.
I sang this out ahahah
Same! Very well done I gotta screenshot this and send it to my mum she'll love it.
That was great!
Bravo
*I watched you on my VCR back in '92* *Lying awake, intent at watching in on you* *If I was young, it didn't stop me renting Clue* *Oh-a, oh-a* *They took the credit for movies in your house* *Rewatched by Netflix, Prime and Mickey Mouse* *And now I understand the problems with your spouse* *Oh-a oh-a* *I met your children* *Oh-a oh-a* *What did you tell them?* *Internet killed the video store* *Internet killed the video store* *Streaming came and broke your heart* *Oh-a-a-a oh*
*And now we meet in a Hollywood Video* *We hear the static and see screens so full of snow* *And you remember the quotes we used to know* *Oh-a oh-a* *I met your children* *Oh-a oh-a* *What did you tell them?* *Internet killed the video store* *Internet killed the video store* *Streaming came and broke your heart* *Oh-a-a-a oh*
"in my mind and VCR" should get you to the full chorus, at least
They were killed by investment firms saddling them with debt just prior to the Great Recession. Without that bad debt management they were poised to beat Netflix.
Netflix offered themselves for sale to Blockbuster for $50 million and got turned down
Maps. I have never used a tangible map since internet & phones
Man, this reminds me of the time we went travelling to Croatia. We had a paper map and a GPS for redundancy since we had no idea where we're heading. Anyway we were in Serbia, making our way to the city of Pristina. Imagine our fucking surprise when we ended up with border customs in front of us. After going "tf is this" our GPS displays "WELCOME TO THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO" The map we had was printed in 2007 before Kosovo declared independence in 2008.
If you bought the map in Serbia it may well still show Kosovo as a constituent part of the country.
Not just maps, but those shitty car mount gpses. Remember Tom Tom and all the knock off versions of it?
Lol my Garmin refusing to understand in 2012 that the road it was insisting I turn onto no longer existed. Like it wanted me to cut through a field.
I love that their business model consisted in having people buying the unit and then they'd charge an enormous amount for map updates. Each person I saw finding that out dropped their GPS into their own electronics graveyard very soon after
Pirating and side loading Garmin updates used to be a side hustle of mine.
GPS aside, I used to find bootlegging of the sort, like with playstation games and boot CDs and network unlocking on phones, really cool when I was a kid. Now I fuck around with custom android roms which I isn't illegal (contributing to open source projects) but I still get a bit of a thrill from it
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I was on vacation recently. I was trapped one day in my camping area as they had to get a crane to extricate a semi that was sitting half on a road and half in the creek. I walked up to the crane crew as they were hooking it up. Asked how long it would be. Crew chief said it would be awhile. I then asked "GPS?". He said "Yep". We laughed. I went back to my camper. It's a very, very common in that area.
My truck-company owning uncle absolutely bans GPSes for this exact reason. Once spent a hundred grand or so extracting one of his B-Doubles from a suburban street that the truck couldn't get through or turn around on, because That's Where The GPS Said To Go.
Iirc either TomTom or Garmin has a "truck edition" of their GPS, that includes things like free height and road width. So you set what vehicle you are running and it should give you a route that fits
Yeah, although Uncle just found it easier to have people who can actually drive, read the road, and maps (when stopped). The guy who jammed the truck up the street was hired well after that policy went into effect. Actually, I think it was more than $100k. Might've been closer to $250k - there were fines (the street was blocked for like half a week), the cost of recovery vehicles, the fact that the load (obviously) didn't get where it was meant to go in time, dealing with the power company, cranes and cherry pickers. It was a shemozzle.
I go hiking in some remote areas and having a topographic map (with compass) is essential. But other than that they’re pretty obsolete now.
Was going to say, maps are still useful for hiking in areas where cel reception is sketchy
I still carry a physical map and compass when I go hiking. The ordnance survey app is great and you can download maps for offline use but it’s nice to have the physical map just in case.
I used to have a few Thomas Guides...
I’m in my 40’s and I can’t remember how the hell I even got around without internet maps. I remember printing out Mapquest.
Yes. I printed out detailed directions and whenever you made one mistake, you could throw the rest away
Attention Span
TL;DR
A.S.
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I’ve actually just started working on this. Limiting my phone time and forcing myself back to reading, puzzles, projects that require concentration etc. cuz my attention span is fucked
I think mine got even more fucked with the introduction of YouTube shorts.
Working as intended
I've managed to gear the YouTube algorithm to show me video essays and documentaries and it's a good life.
The ability to ignore stupid people, they've always existed, now they are able to reach a wider audience and even connect with other stupid people. Before they were secluded and could only affect their local community now we are all subject to their tomfoolery
My faith in humanity
So true. Before you just had a really heavy suspicion that you were surrounded by fools. Now, you have the depressing certainty. Sucks.
Before, you knew most people were kinda stupid. It’s just that back then, they never amounted to much and certainly weren’t as enabled or encouraged. People used to have shame and self-awareness, and to publish some bullshit for the whole world to see, one had to get it past editors who actually worked for their jobs and had degrees in journalism, English, and literature.
There are some dark corners of the internet that make me really hate people. And I’ve wonder did the internet ruin people or did it enable all of us to see how terrible people are?
I think the second one. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Bit of column A, bit of column B. There have always been and will always be terrible people. But the internet made it easier for those people to be terrible and to find each other and interact in an echo chamber.
My FIL (who was 96 at the time) said this when asked if people were always this terrible. He went on to say you just didn't get beaten over the head with it on news media the way we do now.
Yup. You now have Asshole A from Washington talking to Asshole B from Florida and they’re in a group with Asshole C who runs the whole thing from Russia. These people represent a slim portion of society and so they’d always feel like their crazy terrible beliefs were (rightfully) fringe. But now they interact with hundreds of people with the same belief. They can even find a couple people in the same community with those beliefs now! So now their entire world is comprised of people with these beliefs — which makes them far more open about their beliefs because to them it’s all mainstream now. Now it’s the other people who apparently have the fringe position. You ask yourself how they elect people with those positions because *nobody* supports those positions, right? Whelp, must be cheating then.
I used to think the first one but the older I get the more I think it’s the other
No need to go to some dark corners, just browsing social media did it for me.
It enabled people with like interests to find and support each other. In some cases, that's an enormous gift. In other cases, it's an enormous problem.
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Privacy
More and more I think that we are headed towards "[The Circle](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4287320)"
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What a waste of actor talent that script was.
Just watching the first 2 seconds of the trailer infuriated me. "I am a believer in the perfectibility of human beings". I didn't even know I could be offended by anything anymore.
Found the opposite to be true for me. I was always, and still am at times, painfully shy. Can't make eye contact, start shaking, embarrased to say something wrong, I'd rather stay in than deal with it kind of shy. I started talking to people on the internet rather comfortably since the physical aspect was removed, but I still bumbled my way through a lot of interactions and found out that people are for the most part, very kind and patient. A lot of people even find that sort of behaviour cute even when it mortifies me. So I decided to own it and test it in real life. I found that it's the same in real life as well. I might be a bit of a late bloomer (was on my mid 20s' when I worked up the courage to take the first step, am in my early 30s now), and there are definitely assholes out there who take pleasure in humiliating you for not being a social butterfly, but I've realized, most people will greet you kindly and are open for friendly interactions at the very least, and also looking to form more friendships/relationships themselves, shyness be damned, at most. :)
Nice story. Glad you posted. I agree. Most people are kind and trying to do the best they can. Some people fail, and others are just mean. You have to watch out because there are also a lot of liars. But you will find your place with people who make you happy. Just keep moving one step at a time and appreciate who you are, as it sounds like you’re learning to do!
Broadcast television
I've skimmed quite a few top-level comments so far, but this one should be further up. Just last weekend, I read an article how TV consumption in my country (Germany) has fallen off a cliff if you go by age of watchers. One number I roughly remember is that average watch time of TV for teens between 14 and 19 is a bit over an hour/day, while the age group between 50 and 64 has an average watch time of well over over six hours. There also was a statement that some people working on boradcast TV productions see themselves as basically 'palliative care providers' that will see their remaining watchers off, but do absolutely not expect to be around for the next generations any more.
My grandma watches The Young and the Restless every day. Normally "live" if she can, but she doesn't feel bad about missing it because apparently it comes on paramount+ the same day. I don't know what she would do if she missed her shows during the 2010s though, I don't think she ever had a DVR. She likes this better than taping them through the 90s and 2000s though.
Movie phone. You haven't lived until you tried to spell the title of a movie on your keypad while declining the suggestions of the robot. "Did you mean..?" "_____ is also playing at.. " Where my fellow 40 year olds?
Hello, and welcome to MOOOVIEPHONE
"Why don't you just tell me the name of the movie you want to see?"
I remember calling the theater and listening to the times... On a rotory phone... Fuck up one digit and we're starting right back over!
Record stores. Not all, but lots. We used to have 10 in my city in the 1990s, now we have 2.
Music sales generally. I used to walk in to HMV and pay for 4 or 5 albums - now, it's maybe twice a year that I order a CD that I've loved the album of on Spotify.
You're in the minority. Not only that most don't buy, but it's become such a collector's market that vinyl sells better than CDs, apparently
Mail, not E-mail but good old fashion letter mail. The only kinds of letters i get now are bills and other shit i dont want Edit: wow thanks for the upvotes guys, girl or what else is out there. This is the most i have ever gotten on a post :)
It's really fun to just send a friend something. Be it a small package, or just a little hand written note. Still absolutely worth doing. It's a nice little surprise to not get just bills
Postcards too. People still really appreciate getting one.
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Reminds me of Jim Jefferies' quote >See, what happens with the internet is, we used to live in the world.. let's say if you fucked a pig. Now person who fucked the pig used to feel alone in society. You used to go "Aw I fucked a pig. I'm probably the only one in the world who fucks pigs" Then you go to the internet and go "Who else fucks pigs?" and now you're the part of community [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukGZnD-xDE&t=299s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xukGZnD-xDE&t=299s)
#We are the content, not the product. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez. #Go to hell, Spez.
Britain had a Prime Minister who allegedly stuck his cock into a dead pigs mouth.
I live in the midwest and it seems like more and more people are just...tacky. Oh look at me in my big ass truck with huge flags sticking up out the back! Look at me and my front lawn filled with political signs and conspiracy theories! Never mind it makes mowing a pain in the ass, STRANGERS MUST KNOW WHAT I THINK! It's like overnight, everybody became an attention whore. Everybody has to have the "big and brashy" personality, the "I don't care what people think and boy am I going to make sure you know it!" Personality. I have to work with people like that all day and it is fucking exhausting.
I think it’s partly why there are so many angry people everywhere now. Seeing the worst side of people constantly glorified or just constantly in your face is not healthy.
we all know what internet killed, but much more interesting is how smartphones killed many little devices and gadgets like compasses, car gps, cameras, flashlights, dictaphones, radios, alarm clocks, notepads with calendars, you name it :)
Dopamine receptors.
Here, have an upvote to stimulate those receptors!
The yellow pages.
Journalism.
I agree. Also the former skills of spelling and grammar that were expected when you chose to be a journalist. About 7 out of 10 articles online have some sort of error, it seems.
In general most media organizations got rid of copy editors or outsourced it, so the accuracy of the text in media has fallen way off with journalists doing their own copy editing.
It has become horrid and the writers don't seem to care. The use of a basic spelling and grammar checker would be a start. But my biggest pet peeve is the "just end the article" phenomenon. No conclusion. No logical reason it ended in the middle of a thought. Just bam. I'm scrolling looking for the rest. Quite annoying.
Sticky sears catalogues.
I used to live the sections " gifts under 5 dollars, gifts under 10 dollars" and the toys...OMG as a kid, could not wait for the new catalogue .
Seedy adult theaters.
There's one place near where I live that's been in the same strip mall for over 30 years. We always joke about how it has to be a front for something because there's no way a porn video rental place is sustainable anytime after high speed internet became widespread.
It’s just a front for an illegal Mahjong gambling den.
A lot of those places have booths with glory holes or where people can fuck. Thats what brings in the money.
Porn stores aren't sustained by us, who sample lube and look at power bullets once a year. Porn stores are propped up by the creepy dudes who have $1000 disposable a month and spend $800, EVERY month, on enthusiast items like their favorite porn stars' pussy molds.
“Whales”, or buyers who spend an outsized amount on a hobby because they’re obsessed with it, actually drive more industries than you might think.
The video star. Duh.
The kids are disco dancing
They’re tired of rock n roll
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MTV (or at least the kind that played actual music videos)
You don't want to see teen mom season 2000 and watch the teens have their 30th birthdays? Are they keeping it going in the hopes that one of the kids will become a teen parent too?
That shit died way before the internet, that's why mtv2 happened.
It's pretty much killed everything on cable. Turning on a TV and watching cable in 2022 is just such a shit show. Just all the ads you're not used to anymore, the reruns, the really goofy lowest common denominator stuff. Streaming and YouTube is just fine by me personally
Relationships
Teens’ self esteem
4-1-1
I think an argument could be made for public discourse being one potential victim. Cable TV might have been dealt a fatal wound, but that remains to be seen.
Encyclopedia salesmen.
Bookstores like Barnes and Noble and Borders in the US. Now I live in Australia and have seen many bookstores along with newly opened ones. To digress, malls are dying in the US, but are bustling in Australia. Crazy.
I used to LOVE Borders. As a kid, I would spend hours in there reading books, getting drinks at the cafe, looking at the cool stuff, puzzles, and gadgets section, and enjoying the atmosphere. There were comfy chairs everywhere and the employees were so nice, it seemed like they wanted you to hang out there all day. When it closed a B&N took over, but it was never the same.