Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (Full Version)

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aaatoysandmore -> Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 1:23:11 PM)

Could you go back and live in the oh say 15th to 20th century?

I wonder how much whining kids did in those times for want of something?

I remember stories my mom told me of about getting a quarter .25 cents for the fair each year and being happy as a lark to get a candy apple, some cotton candy and a ride on the merry go round.

Stuff like a new pair of old looking shoes for chirstmas and a candy cane.

Walking to school everyday barefooted in the snow uphill both ways

Man are we spoilt or what?

I can only imagine a childs life from the 15th to the 20th century though.

Did we get lucky or what?



Max 86 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 2:45:47 PM)

It definitely would take some time getting used to. No child labor laws so put those buggers to work, no sitting on your @#$%.




warspite1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 6:27:14 PM)

Could we go back? We're humans - we would adapt.

Without the computer to fire up and games to play, we would simply find something else to do.

One thing for certain - we were pretty damn poor, but I was never bored because I had few toys or no computer games (which didn't exist) to play with. My brother was excellent with his hands and he used to make our toy guns from pieces of wood and a few nails (splinters were a pain though). Most times I would play football on the estate with the other boys or, in winter, make Airfix models or play board games.

Are kids luckier nowadays? Not necessarily.



terje439 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 6:51:40 PM)

Yeah, I like to think so. When I was a kid, we would nail two pieces of wood together to make a sword, declare the neighbours weeds (not the kind you smoke), to be soldiers loyal to the Sheriff of Nottingham, and let them have it.
In my teens, my friends and I were scouts, and would spend pretty much every weekend camping out in the woods.

Thinking about it, I think I prefer those days to nowadays (but THAT is probably due to having to work to paythose bills :p)


Terje



Capt. Harlock -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 7:30:02 PM)

quote:

Could you go back and live in the oh say 15th to 20th century?


Not having a computer can be dealt with. But if you don't have indoor plumbing, the median (as opposed to mean) age of death drops to about six.



Jeffrey H. -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 7:37:33 PM)

Well, we had vaccuum tube televisions, B&W so it wasn't so so bad. In fact it was very much the same for me as it is now, except I have more of everything and I have the joy of ownership and providing for myself.

As a family we were very poor by comparison to most families today. I didn't get new clothes and we didn't have new cars, dad did all the maintenance and trades type work, mom kept house and tried to keep us inline. Money was very tight, credit cards were so expensive we didn't have them. No paper towels in the kitchen, no soft drinks.

We did have imaginations and Avalon Hill boardgames, YAY !




Twotribes -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 8:33:23 PM)

I grew up as a kid in the 60's and 70's. No computers for me. And very little money. Discovered war games around 14. Had a huge collection I just recently gave away so someone else could play them.

We did fine. Played outside mostly or read. Had a b&w TV so could watch TV in the evenings. We made our own fun.

When I was younger we had horses so one could go riding. Lots of dogs too. For awhile we took care of a neighbors cow. And we had a pig that grew up with dogs, it thought it was a dog. Funny as hell when it would break into the house and try to snort its way under the couch. It ran with the dog pack.

Gave all that up when we moved to Germany, Dad was in the Army.



pmelheck1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 8:52:36 PM)

what's funny about this discussion is that you wouldn't miss anything. You can't miss anything you know nothing about. I can't drink spirits as I'm allergic, but it's amazing how many people think I'm terribly missing something when I have never drank anything and will never drink anything. They always assume that you will keep all of your current memories and preferences and that everyone you know will have those same preferences along with everyone in the time you go to. What I would miss would be modern medicine antibiotics ect. Most of us would not be alive at those times at our current age as the first infection would be a death sentence. Life span was MUCH shorter than as opposed to now. But on the plus side it may have been much shorter but it was also much simpler. Just hope the local noble didn't need sword or cannon fodder for his summer vacation.



Gilmer -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 9:41:48 PM)

Everything before the 20th century would suck, because medicine was really bad and dentistry was nonexistent as well.

I am familiar with being poor as a young person and getting a man's coat from Goodwill when I was 13 or so. It was about 3 sizes too big and the pockets were all ripped out and it was corduroy-ish on the outside. A lot of my other stuff was handme downs and tshirts.

It was a simpler time. I remember thinking how much I wanted a computer. I read about a review in a magazine of a game about Midway, in about 1984 or so and thought it sounded like the best thing ever.



Terminus -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 10:39:39 PM)

Of course not. Not because of computers directly, but because the vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast majority of people in the western world don't do manual labour like farming anymore. Nobody actually knows how to do anything useful to survival.



Chickenboy -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (2/28/2014 10:47:40 PM)

The vast majority of us should say "no" to that. Why? Average life expectancy would have 'timed us out' after about age 35. All things being the same, you'd be dead. Lots of 40+ people on this site that just plain wouldn't have existed any longer.

Medicine, nutrition, sanitation, education, etc., etc. have influenced our lives so much. Go back to the dark ages? No thanks! [:-]



Qwixt -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 12:26:53 AM)

I did live in the 20th century, and I could go back then without difficulties. I at least need indoor plumbing and electricity. So that rules out 15th-19th centuries. Also, I am kind of partial to modern dentistry, and drinking water clean water.



TulliusDetritus -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 12:41:20 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

The vast majority of us should say "no" to that. Why? Average life expectancy would have 'timed us out' after about age 35. All things being the same, you'd be dead. Lots of 40+ people on this site that just plain wouldn't have existed any longer.

Medicine, nutrition, sanitation, education, etc., etc. have influenced our lives so much. Go back to the dark ages? No thanks! [:-]


Not really. This is a common mistake. When they say life expectancy was 30, this does not mean the majority of people dropped dead at er... 30 [8D] The horrendous child mortality is distorting everything.

To use a simple example: two persons; one dies the day s/he was born and the other at 60. Average life expectancy of this pair? 60 / 2 = 30

Plenty of old people in the old times. Remember the Roman citizens were supposed to serve in the Legion like 20 years, starting at 16 or 17, I can't remember exactly.

And after the many campaigns, the retirement.



aaatoysandmore -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 2:05:06 AM)

Interesting some of the stories you all have. Some of us did live in some poor times that's for sure. I just think back to when comic books were a dime and a small coke a nickel or a small mug of root beer from K&N or A&W. I remember the .15 hamburger from McDonalds when I was in highschool and got a full lunch for less than a $1. How times have changed. For me seeing phones in everybody's ear everywhere I go just drives me nuts. I mean in my day we had walkie talkies. [:D], CB radios, convoy's. Penny candy was still around then although a lot of it was 2 penny to a nickel. Remember that bubblegum in the baseball card packages? I was fortunate though really as I got a lot of stuff growing up. Electric football sets, huge slot car racing sets, train sets and of course AH board wargames. I just wish my brother hadn't sold it all in a garage sale when I went into the service, I'd be a rich man right now or well off at least. My early edition issues of spiderman and superman and fantastic IV..gone for a nickel or worse a penny in a garage sale. The idiot.



warspite1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 4:07:51 AM)

When I saw the original OP (which is an interesting topic btw - thanks) I completely ignored the reference to early times and simply responded on going back to my childhood (which was pre-computers).

The main reason is that - as others have said - the idea of living without some of the things we take for granted like medicines, is really not hugely attractive - the reference to computers (and would we miss computer games?) just becomes redundant the further back you go.

Would I miss my computer if I went back to being a child in the 70's? As I say, probably not - certainly after a short while - as I was quite happy doing cheaper, simpler (and actually more healthy) things.

But go further back and it becomes a case of who gives a damn about computers? I've got other things to worry about: like just staying alive. Yes life is stressful and complicated nowadays, but it was a damn sight more stressful when the focus was on actually putting food on the table without a nanny state to support you, rather than which of the 300 T.V channels I've got to choose from shall I pick?

As an example, as a wimpy bloke I find the whole childbirth thing just plain scary even nowadays (the birth of little warspite No.1 was fraught) - such that, if I come back in the next life as a woman, I'm defo going to be a lesbian - but can you imagine facing childbirth in say the 18th century? [X(][X(]

Nah, if I was transported back much beyond when I was really born, I suspect I would forget about my computer within a few minutes - or immediately I found myself, as a small boy, stuck up some rich blokes chimney! (if you'll pardon the expression)...



Chickenboy -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 4:20:14 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

The vast majority of us should say "no" to that. Why? Average life expectancy would have 'timed us out' after about age 35. All things being the same, you'd be dead. Lots of 40+ people on this site that just plain wouldn't have existed any longer.

Medicine, nutrition, sanitation, education, etc., etc. have influenced our lives so much. Go back to the dark ages? No thanks! [:-]


Not really. This is a common mistake. When they say life expectancy was 30, this does not mean the majority of people dropped dead at er... 30 [8D] The horrendous child mortality is distorting everything.

To use a simple example: two persons; one dies the day s/he was born and the other at 60. Average life expectancy of this pair? 60 / 2 = 30

Plenty of old people in the old times. Remember the Roman citizens were supposed to serve in the Legion like 20 years, starting at 16 or 17, I can't remember exactly.

And after the many campaigns, the retirement.


Dude...

I follow the math. Don't correct me over picayune misinterpretations.

My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.



warspite1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 4:37:14 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


quote:

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

The vast majority of us should say "no" to that. Why? Average life expectancy would have 'timed us out' after about age 35. All things being the same, you'd be dead. Lots of 40+ people on this site that just plain wouldn't have existed any longer.

Medicine, nutrition, sanitation, education, etc., etc. have influenced our lives so much. Go back to the dark ages? No thanks! [:-]


Not really. This is a common mistake. When they say life expectancy was 30, this does not mean the majority of people dropped dead at er... 30 [8D] The horrendous child mortality is distorting everything.

To use a simple example: two persons; one dies the day s/he was born and the other at 60. Average life expectancy of this pair? 60 / 2 = 30

Plenty of old people in the old times. Remember the Roman citizens were supposed to serve in the Legion like 20 years, starting at 16 or 17, I can't remember exactly.

And after the many campaigns, the retirement.


Dude...

I follow the math. Don't correct me over picayune misinterpretations.

My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.
warspite1

Good use of the word Picayune there CB. Never heard of it before so had to look it up. My challenge for the week. Use the word Picayune in conversation with a customer....



GaryChildress -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 4:44:33 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

Could you go back and live in the oh say 15th to 20th century?

I wonder how much whining kids did in those times for want of something?

I remember stories my mom told me of about getting a quarter .25 cents for the fair each year and being happy as a lark to get a candy apple, some cotton candy and a ride on the merry go round.

Stuff like a new pair of old looking shoes for chirstmas and a candy cane.

Walking to school everyday barefooted in the snow uphill both ways

Man are we spoilt or what?

I can only imagine a childs life from the 15th to the 20th century though.

Did we get lucky or what?


For me, personally and honestly speaking, computers have been a mixed blessing. On the one hand I rarely EVER get bored anymore when I have nothing else to do than play on the computer. On the other hand computers are addictive and I can definitely see where my other responsibilities are suffering because I can't seem to tear myself away from the computer at times. I don't get a great deal of exercise either. Before computers I would go out and do things with friends, play tennis and other physical activities. Now it seems like friends are no longer needed to entertain myself. I've always been a bit on the reclusive side relative to most but now computers seem to have emphasized and exaggerated that reclusiveness beyond reasonable bounds. The saddest part of it is that I really don't want to change. I wish I could sit in front of a computer and dork around with games 24/7. I just know rationally that it isn't really good for me. Work is probably the only thing that affords me substantial physical contact with people these days.



GaryChildress -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 4:51:12 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.


Huh? [&:]



budd -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 5:28:09 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.


Huh? [&:]


Mortality rate higher and life expectancy lower.

Another question... if you could pick a time to live in which would it be? I think i'd like to see my country a bit after discovery. Maybe Lewis & Clark & Budd[:D]




warspite1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 5:54:26 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: **budd**


quote:

ORIGINAL: Gary Childress


quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.


Huh? [&:]


Mortality rate higher and life expectancy lower.

Another question... if you could pick a time to live in which would it be? I think i'd like to see my country a bit after discovery. Maybe Lewis & Clark & Budd[:D]


warspite1

I think that could depend to a large degree on what position you had in society [:)]



budd -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 6:50:23 AM)

probably if thats where you chose to hang your hat,society that is, me& lewis & clark are in the wild[;)]



terje439 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 9:14:56 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Terminus

Of course not. Not because of computers directly, but because the vaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast majority of people in the western world don't do manual labour like farming anymore. Nobody actually knows how to do anything useful to survival.


Guess that means I would be one of the popular guys then as my time in the scouts taught me how to manage in the wild with nothing but a knife, and my archeology classes thought me how to make flint tools : )
Ofc swimming to Denmark to get said flint might be a hassle though...



TulliusDetritus -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 11:24:38 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

I follow the math. Don't correct me over picayune misinterpretations.

My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.


So the age of death is a trivial matter eh? You say you follow the math but you talk as if you did not follow it at all [;)]

People did not drop dead at 40. Full stop... And Period.

Some people just can't accept they might be wrong [8|]



warspite1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 11:29:11 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

I follow the math. Don't correct me over picayune misinterpretations.

My point being: Most of the people here wouldn't have been people here in the 1500s. Whether they were infant or child mortality, most 40+ YOs currently here wouldn't have been here. Full stop. That's my point.


So the age of death is a trivial matter eh? You say you follow the math but you talk as if you did not follow it at all [;)]

People did not drop dead at 40. Full stop... And Period.

Some people just can't accept they might be wrong [8|]
warspite1

Really? No one died at 40? Wow [X(].... sorry, just being picayune [:D]



TulliusDetritus -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 11:54:46 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Really? No one died at 40? Wow [X(].... sorry, just being picayune [:D]


The Legionnaires example should ring you a bell... If most of +40 year old people would not have been *here* then this means the Legion was keeping in the ranks totally decrepit people, poor souls with one foot and a half in the coffin. Weird, don't you think?

The problem is the first let's say 10 years! That's where the Angel of Death is doing his "harvest". But if you survive that age, you're not one of those printers designed to fail aka obsolescence [:D]



Neilster -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 12:03:41 PM)

I was born in 1971. I was lucky enough to have two older brothers with great imaginations. The oldest was into science and technical stuff, the next loved history and J.R.R. Tolkein, so I was exposed to a broad range of influences. Also, my Dad was very keen on history, liked talking about it and encouraged us to watch documentaries.

During long Summer holidays my brothers would invent a theme and all the local kids would participate. One year it was the spy club and we would use lemon juice to write messages in invisible ink etc. Next year it would be the Roman Army and we made shields and weapons and drilled with them and staged battles. We were eager foot-soldiers in whatever they were doing.

We were lucky to live near the southern edge of town. All the houses in our street were arranged around a large park. In Summer we played cricket and in Winter we played Australian Football. The bush started just behind our house and we spent countless hours in it, exploring, building forts and generally feuding with rival kids (often the Mungala Crescent gang [:D])

I constructed heaps of model aircraft and hung them from fishing line in my bedroom. I read voraciously (The Lord of the Rings when I was eight [;)]). We played Dungeons and Dragons. We camped. It was great. Personal computers were an expensive dream early on but my best friend was an only child and he was pretty spoilt. His parents bought him an Atari 2600 when they were new and then many cartridges. The fun we had on that was incredible. Space Invaders, River Raid, Pitfall...

When I was in my last year of primary school, there was one computer, a BBC micro, at the back of the class. I taught myself to program on it. When I was about 15, I was doing quite well at school and Mum and Dad decided to buy me a computer. I requested an Amstrad CPC6128, which came with a built in disk drive, colour monitor and a mind-numbing 128Kb of RAM. It had a much better BASIC than the Commodore 64 and the drive worked in seconds, whereas the C64's was the size of a Winnebago and took minutes to do anything.

I programmed that thing into the ground. I wrote graphics packages that used speech synthesiser software. I wrote programs to keep track of sport with all sorts of graphs and prediction functions. My crowning glory was a Where Eagles Dare inspired illustrated text adventure game where I used DATA statements to encode the graphics for objects you could collect, like an MP-40 sub-machine gun, and had a random landscape or room picture generator that constructed everything from triangles.

That said, I'd really miss a world without fast PCs and the internet. Wargaming and keeping up with science and technology is a big part of my life now.

Cheers, Neilster

The mighty CPC6128, playing The Sentinel...great game...I had that one...10,000 levels in 42Kb of RAM!


[image]local://upfiles/10515/D7C303F110F14AC9844842B9E1A04AE5.jpg[/image]



warspite1 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 12:12:34 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: TulliusDetritus

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Really? No one died at 40? Wow [X(].... sorry, just being picayune [:D]


The Legionnaires example should ring you a bell... If most of +40 year old people would not have been *here* then this means the Legion was keeping in the ranks totally decrepit people, poor souls with one foot and a half in the coffin. Weird, don't you think?

The problem is the first let's say 10 years! That's where the Angel of Death is doing his "harvest". But if you survive that age, you're not one of those printers designed to fail aka obsolescence [:D]
warspite1

Yes I fully understand the point - I was practising my new found word of the day [:)]



TulliusDetritus -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 12:27:55 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1
Yes I fully understand the point - I was practising my new found word of the day [:)]


I have learned a new word here too. Merriam Webster online is my friend [:)]

It is true that before computers, games involved social interaction and a lot of imagination: playing with your mates in the street etc. etc.

Computers have sort of isolated us, I guess. I'm not counting the online interaction (ie these or other forums) as genuine interaction.



z1812 -> RE: Now that you have lived in the computer age.... (3/1/2014 12:59:20 PM)

I was born in 1952. I had a wonderful childhood. We were poor in the West European and North American sense. That is we had very little disposable income. However there was always food and shelter. My Dad made me a lot of my toys when I was young.

Initially there was no TV or car. We ate our dinner on an old card table. But there was a lot of love and happiness in the home. My Dad worked, eventually my Mom worked too. We were able to afford items like a refrigerator, a washing machine etc.

Children had more freedom then. We would do all sorts of things and have adventures here and there, by ourselves, like little explorers. By what I see today that does not happen. Communities were different. People knew one another more. Trusted one another more. Proper manners and behaviour were expected and rewarded.

It was far from perfect but it was more like life. Technology matters much, much less than happiness, whatever age we live in.





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