Many people say that today is too hi tech for its own good.  Was there similar sentiment in the '80s?

There wasn't enough Hi-Technology in the 80's to complain about.  It was simpler times of computers with green and black screens, Atari games with really bad graphics and telephones with bell rings and no call display features. 

I still think it was a better time.  Nowadays, too many people rely on cell phones, pagers, blackberries, the internet, etc ... Makes you wonder what they did in the 80's without all of it

[quote author=whis

People complained about the ultra-modern, fast-paced society of the '80s though, right? 


There were some complaints, sure, but not like it is today.  There were some people who thought that the typewriter was better than the computer ever would be, and there are some people today who still believe that. 

People did complain, just like they probably complained about technology being too fancy in the 1950s.  It's hard to give an answer because I didn't pay attention to this aspect of the 80s much, and I'm looking back at it from a 2006 perspective.  And it just feels like people complain more about that today.  Back then it felt like was some real old timers that were complaining about silly little things they didn't understand like VCRs, walkman radios, CDs or those new pair of Nikes some kid was wearing.  Today we are all linked up through the internet and cell phones, information can be obtained very quickly, so it actually is much different.

The other day, I was watching an episode of "The $100,000 Pyramid" on Game Show Network, and the female contestant won a Video Cassette Recorder.  The day before, she had apparently won a Compact Disc Player.  See, in those days, they were relatively new thigns, and cost alot ... plus, they called them by their full names, instead of just saying VCR or CD Player. 

Nowadays, if you go on a Game Show, and you don't win, you get VCR's and CD Players as parting gifts ;D

They should've, seeing how it was so primative and simple in comparison to today's... :D

They should've, seeing how it was so primative and simple in comparison to today's... :D


How would they know about today's technology though? ;D

You'd never hear someone in the 80's say "This Atari has terrible graphics compared to the XBox" :D

[quote author=whis

Now I do remember my friends and I laughing at early-mid 80s ATARI graphics in the late 80s, but we were using the then high tech 8 bit Nintendo and Sega systems as our reference point.


The Nintendo was like realistic graphics compared to the Atari ;D

Didn't they tout the Nintendo 64 as the 'next big revolution' in gaming? True 64-bit graphics, whoa, that's revolutionary...

^yeah dude, but that was from your childhood era....the 90s. 

I wouldn't think they did, they most likely thought the technology was great, like we do about today's technology. I know I always thought the technology in the '90s was so high-tech, now a lot of stuff is dated of course.

I'm sure some people liked it, but there's always gonna be people who won't warm up to anything "new" that easily, because they're comfortable with what they're familar with. The '80s (especially the first half of the decade) had alot of new technology becoming "household" items, even if they weren't 100% brand new (i.e. VCR's, video games), so I'll bet it left certain people in the dust.

Middle aged person in 1982: What do we need these silly VCR's for? Only a total couch potato would want to record shows. When I was a kid in the '50s, I went to a good old fashioned theatre to watch a movie! ;D

A million bucks says that was as commonplace in the '80s as people who embraced it.

I think today is WAY too high-tech for its own good without examination of the downside of tech, but the '80s and '90s were more tech-forward and embracing of tech without any examination of the downside at all, in alot of ways. I think the '10s will see more people "b*tching", as you say, about tech.

Now that I think back, yes it is true that in the 80s VCRs were a constant whipping boy of the tech-phobic older generation.  I remember being told that people couldn't record their favorite shows back in the day.  So obviously was MTV and CD players.  CDs mainly in the late 80s from what I remember.  What's with these new shiny discs that play music?  In my day...

[quote author=whis

Home answering machines were definately a new technology that confused or annoyed the older generations.

Microwaves and VCRs were also relavtively new, even though they were kinda around in the 70s, most people didn't have them until the 80s.  Home computers, as primitive as they were....were one of those new technologies that impressed your teacher.  "Hey I did my homework on my computer!"  And you say that thinking you are so cool and cutting edge because you'd then have to listen to them tell you how they didn't have computers when they were growing up. Walkmans and CDs were also pretty new.  CDs were around in the early 80s, but it didn't seem to penetrate the masses until the late 80s.  That's when I first started seeing them anyway.  Video games like ATARI and Nintendo were a big deal, just because it was so cool to have the ability to control the little animated characters you would see on screen.  That was a big deal to us in the 80s.  Remember the Nintendo game Duck Hunt?  Where you took the laser gun and shot at the geese?  That was considered really hi-tech back then.

It all seems so primitive today.

People have always griped about new technology. I remember people having *fits* in the 80s over computer billing errors. Nowadays, you just call up the company and they fix it. People complained as much about computer-generated billing back then as they do about talking to Voice Response Units today.

'Course my dad complained about all this computer stuff back in the '80s and today he's a total Email junkie. So make of that what you will.

people may have complained then, and they may complain now, but if it wasn't for the progress that has been made since then, we wouldn't be here, on this message board, reliving that wonderful decade.  what would we do instead?  write letters?  i'm thankful for the technology we have, like being able to see toys that we had when we were kids on Ebay and watch old 80's TV commercials on websites.  These are things that, without the huge gains made in internet techology, we would never have been able to see again.  all we would have is our memories, which fade.  at least this way, we can see and hear and even buy things that we cherish so much.

They complain because they're too lazy to learn how to use technology...I know some people who don't how to use a photocopier, or a coin-fed parking metre. A short 5-minute lecture drilled into their old skulls should do the trick. Like it or not, we're dependent (sometimes, I agree, TOO dependent) on technology. Computer server goes down...everything goes to a standstill. If a blizzard comes across town and takes out the power...it's even more of a disaster.
I've always found it fascinating how some people can be so intelligent and tech-savy to be able to build super-computers, build rockets and send rockets to the moon, yet others don't even know how to turn on a friggin' computer! Perhap's it's the new natural selection, some people really are more valuable than others...

People did complain, just like they probably complained about technology being too fancy in the 1950s.  It's hard to give an answer because I didn't pay attention to this aspect of the 80s much, and I'm looking back at it from a 2006 perspective.  And it just feels like people complain more about that today.  Back then it felt like was some real old timers that were complaining about silly little things they didn't understand like VCRs, walkman radios, CDs or those new pair of Nikes some kid was wearing.  Today we are all linked up through the internet and cell phones, information can be obtained very quickly, so it actually is much different.


That's true.  The '80s weren't really advanced enough to have any serious complaints. Today, the world is very, very small, in the '80s, it was pretty small, but the Information Age still wasn't totally realized yet.

Hell, even as late as 1997ish the Information/quasi-sci-fi era wasn't fully realized.  There is way too much technology today, but we should make the most of now, because it will only get more hi tech.  I can almost guarantee that by 2050 we will have almost no privacy, assuming we still have a way to power ourselves.

Assuming we have a way to power ourselves?

...

You know, you got to wonder what would happen if 15 or 20 years from now after we've been getting used to all of this technology, all of a sudden we had a worldwide energy failure?  It might be dangerous, but it also might be an adventure.  Afterall, I'm sure the Old West was an interesting place to be, but it was no cakewalk.

Assuming we have a way to power ourselves?

...

You know, you got to wonder what would happen if 15 or 20 years from now after we've been getting used to all of this technology, all of a sudden we had a worldwide energy failure?  It might be dangerous, but it also might be an adventure.  Afterall, I'm sure the Old West was an interesting place to be, but it was no cakewalk.


I would almost think a long-term energy outage was cool.  Yeah, it would be tragic, but it would be very interesting.

I would almost think a long-term energy outage was cool.  Yeah, it would be tragic, but it would be very interesting.


Have you ever had that happen at home? Sure, it s*cks, but you also do things you probably otherwise wouldn't have (i.e. even just simple talking and interacting with people). I'm sure it would be the same collective thing with the world if that were to happen.

Have you ever had that happen at home? Sure, it s*cks, but you also do things you probably otherwise wouldn't have (i.e. even just simple talking and interacting with people). I'm sure it would be the same collective thing with the world if that were to happen.


Tons of times.

Actually, I kind of see it as being temporarily sent back to pre-electric times.

Have you ever had that happen at home? Sure, it s*cks, but you also do things you probably otherwise wouldn't have (i.e. even just simple talking and interacting with people). I'm sure it would be the same collective thing with the world if that were to happen.


Yes!  That's kinda what I was thinking about.  Whenever it goes out here, it's really interesting because we live in the country.  It went out last summer all day once, and so we opened up the windows.  And I remember how it felt strangely nice to sit there looking out the window, no articifial lighting or anything around.  I sat and thought about how it would be to live like that all the time..

Yes!  That's kinda what I was thinking about.  Whenever it goes out here, it's really interesting because we live in the country.  It went out last summer all day once, and so we opened up the windows.  And I remember how it felt strangely nice to sit there looking out the window, no articifial lighting or anything around.  I sat and thought about how it would be to live like that all the time..

All day huh? I remember one particular winter storm that knocked the power out for 2 weeks in 1978, and I also live in the country. You have to adapt. Cooking meals was a new experience and board games got real popular again. It was actually a nice change of pace, kind of like camping without leaving the house.
The group I was around in the 80's was very much into technology. I don't remember any complaints about the technology itself. The complaints came from not using the technology properly and getting less than acceptable results. Once mastered it often made life easier.  Personally, I couldn't wait to learn something new, It was like living in a "future world" of sorts. In fact, I still enjoy learning new stuff.
Microwaves were common in the 80's, not "new" technology. We had a Litton Radar Range w/ electric oven & cooktop in the mid 70's. Even HDTV was around in the 80's, there just wasn't a market for it.

Yeah you're right about microwaves, they actually came in in the 70s.  Perhaps it didn't get to where almost everyone had one until the 80s, but they were definitely around in the 70s.  Same thing with cable and VCRs.  Both around and somewhat common in the 70s, but they didn't get truely widespread until the 80s.  Video games too.  Infact basically all the technologies we associate with the 80s really came from the 70s.

Yeah you're right about microwaves, they actually came in in the 70s.  Perhaps it didn't get to where almost everyone had one until the 80s, but they were definitely around in the 70s.  Same thing with cable and VCRs.  Both around and somewhat common in the 70s, but they didn't get truely widespread until the 80s.  Video games too.  Infact basically all the technologies we associate with the 80s really came from the 70s.


Just like all the technologies associated with now are 1990s (and thus, 20th Century) technologies, and those of the '90s are '80s technologies (the WWW, while invented in 1990 could have easily been invented during the actual 1980s)