Stuck in the 21st Century

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

I see your point, but we're probably gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. Video and photos can be scripted, or simply doctored, and most importantly taken out of context to prove whatever the photographer or videographer wants. They're imporant tools, but you still need an unbiased journalist (or historian) to validate them and ensurre they're in the proper context. Look at the video of Webb Simpson bumping his ball last Sunday. I know he did it, because I saw it in the grainy aerial video.

This all true, and very valid, but this happens with books too, and stories. Once a story is passed through generations it can turn into chinese whispers.

They both have their advantages and disadvantages. I choose to use both, and I think most people should too.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

This all true, and very valid, but this happens with books too, and stories. Once a story is passed through generations it can turn into chinese whispers.

They both have their advantages and disadvantages. I choose to use both, and I think most people should too.

I guess we actually agree to agree. Cool (a word that never goes out of style).

[BruceMGF]

There must be something else going on.  Back to the example from the Wheen book:  is it true?  Would "young people" really not be able to understand if PM Wilson didn't have a cellphone to use?  Or is it the other way around?  People like that producer are hiding even innocuous truths like that from them?

My generation was the first to grow up with television, but, as I said, we understood that the sheriff in a 19th-century Western had no telephone, no television, no squad car, etc.

[newtogolf]

From an opposite perspective, I remember reading 1984 by George Orwell in highschool and thinking how crazy it was to think that it would be technically possible for the government to track our activities with computers and video.  Between government installed cameras, ATM cameras, store security camers, Facebook, and all these little "club cards" that track our purchases at every store we do business with, it seems we've come closer to making it a reality than I ever imagined.

I also agree with Sean, as a Comp Sci major and graphics artist / web designer I've learned first hand to question any picture or video I see.  With the computer tools available today, you can add or remove any object you want with almost no visible artifacts if viewed at normal print resolution.  The biggest challenge we will have in the future is to ensure the past is not doctored to fit what our governments would choose to have future generations believe is actual history.

[newtogolf]

Quote:

There must be something else going on.  Back to the example from the Wheen book:  is it true?  Would "young people" really not be able to understand if PM Wilson didn't have a cellphone to use?  Or is it the other way around?  People like that producer are hiding even innocuous truths like that from them?

My generation was the first to grow up with television, but, as I said, we understood that the sheriff in a 19th-century Western had no telephone, no television, no squad car, etc.

Ask an 8 year old what a pay phone or 8 track tape is, maybe even a cassette tape.  Unlike past generations the current generation does seem to be quite out of touch with the past.

[BruceMGF]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

Quote:

Ask an 8 year old what a pay phone or 8 track tape is, maybe even a cassette tape.  Unlike past generations the current generation does seem to be quite out of touch with the past.

That was my original point!  Not just eight-year-olds.  I doubt that a docudrama about Harold Wilson is aimed at eight-year-olds.

[Fraser]

As someone who travels quite a bit I can't fathom how people arranged vacations and travel back in the pre-internet, or even early internet days...I travelled quite a bit as a kid and remember going to the American Express travel agent to collect our carbon paper tickets but in terms of planning, well most TAs are utter bozos. I look at how I plan my trips now and the tools I use...hotel websites to look up floor plans, look up best seats onboard, manage frequent flyer schemes, research things to do at various places...My head hurts thinking about planning travel without the internet.

[Swampy79]

Sorry guys, I think my age group was the last to make it through with more than 50% of us untarnished by the technological handicaps.  I was born early enough that personal computers had not entirely invaded our households, and cell phones existed but we didn't know what they were (I didn't know single family that had one).  Gaming consoles were the demise of my generation though, thankfully my parents lived by the motto "i didn't have it so you don't need it either" which now I look back at fondly and think to myself "thank god".

[Mattplusness]

Originally Posted by BruceMGF

The question isn't about liking modern pop culture or not.  It's about the phenomenon that people under a certain age (30?  40?) largely seem to be one or more of the following:

1)  They don't know that there ever was a past in which anything was different than it is now (no cellphones, e.g.)

2)  If they DO discover something about the past that was different in any way, they find it incomprehensible or mind-bogglingly strange.

I think you're taking their words too literally. Sarcasm is a big part on the language of us Gen X/Gen RX'ers

[nevets88]

I think the divide is not as wide as everyone thinks. Humans are very adaptable. Throw them in the fire and they'll adjust.

I used eight track, rotary phones with no answering machine, did things without computers and now I use a smartphone, think nothing of putting my swing on video, read the newspaper from a tablet or smartphone, put my travel info in TripIt, cut the cord and use Netflix and stream TV, read ebooks, do everything digitally.

I think the difference between me, a digital "immigrant" and a digital native, is that although I'm an immigrant, I'm just as adept as natives, OK, WOW and games, I'll get killed by the kids at first, but I can downshift to low tech no problem whereas natives will need time to adjust.

Music, mainstream, has been watered down by Clear Channel and the like even before the internet came to fore. The internet and technology freed us from that by making it easy to get any music you want anytime so that you're not limited by the radio anymore. The internet gave us more choice. Look at all the genres of music now. It's mind boggling. What I regret about mp3s is overproducing recordings to have "pop" which has taken out all the subtleties of a music recording. It's not that mp3s lose fidelity. It's how studios make the recordings.

[ghalfaire]

Originally Posted by Uber$winG

I find it incomprehensible that people could survive an Arizona summer before the advent of either air-conditioners or swamp-coolers.

I survived it.  We took a lesson from our southern neighbors.  We worked early and late and took a nap in between.  In the Summer we moved out beds outside on the porch. We swam in the canals or irrigation ditches to cool off.  I was a kid but don't remember it being that bad.  It did cool down at night in those days as there wasn't a bunch of concrete, asphalt, buildings and air conditioners radiating heat.

[max power]

That's probably the largest difference between Tucson and Phoenix, besides population and air pollution.  Both get plenty hot during the day, but the temperature in Tucson plummets when the sun goes down.

Originally Posted by ghalfaire

I survived it.  We took a lesson from our southern neighbors.  We worked early and late and took a nap in between.  In the Summer we moved out beds outside on the porch. We swam in the canals or irrigation ditches to cool off.  I was a kid but don't remember it being that bad.  It did cool down at night in those days as there wasn't a bunch of concrete, asphalt, buildings and air conditioners radiating heat.