The technology of the last 50 years is almost unrecognizable when compared with the technology of today.
To the point that today's children often just have no frame of reference for what things from our childhoods were like.
Whether it's older media formats, methods of communication, or the toys of yesteryear, things have certainly changed.
Redditor LastPoopOnTheLeft asked:
"Without revealing your age, what is something from your childhood that 'Kids These Days' wouldn't understand?"
"Not only did only 'rich people' have more than one phone or even just one with touchtone, most of us had a party line. It meant you and your neighbors had different phone numbers, but you all shared the same line."
"You could pick up the phone and listen to your neighbor's call. And if they were using the phone, you couldn't."
"If you had an emergency, you'd have to interrupt their call and ask them to hang up."
-LakotaGrl
cassette tape GIF"Calling into the radio station to request your favorite song for your mixtape then waiting with your fingers over the record button to see if they play it."
-HazySnowDays
Who Was Going To Answer The Phone
"Calling a girl and her dad answers the phone. That sh*t was rough, kids."
-clydem
Giphy"Calling a guy on the phone and his dad answers and they sound alike so you just start talking and then he cuts you off laughing and you realize you may have been a little too familiar and now he can probably guess you're banging his son on the regular."
-lolabythebay
TV Was A Lot Different
"I recently had to explain what 'changing the channel' meant to my small kid because he only knows streaming."
"We’ve already covered CDs, VCRs, and what it means to roll down a car window."
"It was a little rough (for me, not him). Edit: oh and we watched 'Turning Red' and I got to explain what a flip phone is."
-Proper-Emu1558
Giphy"I was the youngest so I had to sit by the TV and hand turn the channels for my siblings. This was the 1980s."
-harlemhon
"It’s not working, cuz it’s not on Ch3"
-moridin82
Be Kind. Please Rewind
"Rewinding vhs or a cassette before returning."
-est1979
"Cassette tape rewind with a pencil ✏️ 😂"
-Sparkedmoon
Giphy"And those rewinders that looked like cars and were super fast."
-BussHateYear
"Lol I remember when we got our first DVD and DVD player, and my mom (bless her heart), was like 'how do you rewind it?' And my dad was like 'woman it's like a CD, you don't need to rewind!'"
-bcoftheimplication7
Chains Of Ignorance
"The things on Facebook that say repost this… they were called chain letters back in the day, and you got them in the mail."
-Plenty_Surprise2593
Giphy"Chain letters! I’d forgotten all about those. 'Make ten copies and mail them within 10 days or evil will befall you…' Ha."
-BrnEydGyrl
No Saving It
"Playing the same level on a game over and over because there’s no Saves"
-drevilishrjf
"Writing down codes after passing a level"
-Duochan_Maxwell
Giphy"Got a PS1 and MGS1 (secondhand) for Christmas, little did i realise i need to buy a memory card to save my games. For months i got through the game by speedrunning it from the start to whatever level i last played."
"When i beat sniper wolf pt 2 the console tells me to insert disc 2, only had one disk lol. Never played the game again"
-blinky9021Flow
"KEEP ON PUTTING IN QUARTERS!!!"
-Pentacostal-Haircut
"And your *ss better be up to watch them or you're waiting until next Saturday."
-Facelesspirit
"And god forbid the episode this weekend had any relevance on the following weekend."
-LazyTitan39
Art That Glows
"That Lite Brite was peak technology"
-shanecdotes
"Lite Brite IS the peak of technology"
-Lukas7088
Giphy"I still have the lite brite jingle stuck in my head."
'🎶lite Brite, making things with light!!!🎶'"
-F**kYouImFineThanks
"Yeah, and they played the national anthem before they did!"
"Then, it was the test image, until 4 p.m. on the next day, except during school holidays, when there was a special holiday program which started at 3 p.m. :-)"
-P44
Technology has evolved explosively over the last few decades, but some things have absolutely stuck in our minds.
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