Author Topic: I am officially old (Read 5733 times)

rumborak · « **Reply #35 on:** April 05, 2015, 09:29:12 AM »

Quote from: KevShmev on April 05, 2015, 09:00:02 AM

I still remember when pagers were the rave.

They still exist. Friend of mine works atAmazon, and sometimes he's "on call" (if a server goes down) with a pager.

lonestar · « **Reply #36 on:** April 05, 2015, 09:44:08 AM »

Brilliant read, and I relate to the OP of course.

Quote from: kingshmegland on April 04, 2015, 06:15:41 PM

Same. It was around the 80's.

BTW, your officially old because you started a thread on a Saturday night.

ich bin besser · « **Reply #37 on:** April 05, 2015, 11:38:36 AM »

This is my phone at home:

El Barto · « **Reply #38 on:** April 05, 2015, 11:51:09 AM »

Everybody had rotary phones when I was growing up. Touch tones existed, but nobody ever upgraded their phones back then so you'd keep the old ones until they made you replace them.

I know one of the early phone hackers was able to whistle all of the touch tones, and while that's not particularly useful in and of itself, he could whistle all of the back-end service tones. Before computers hacking was trying to see if you could call China on Ma Bell's dime. What's fascinating to me is how much everything around the phone has changed. The only phone numbers I actually know anymore are from the handful of people that had their numbers before I got a cell. I don't even know my mom's number. How many youngsters today know that long distance was a thing back then? Or used a phone that was connected to something? Or even a pay phone?

Somewhat related, I was at La Madeleine a while back buying grub and their credit card machine crapped out. The manager came out of his office tried once or twice, then said hang on. Came back out a couple of minutes later with one of these:

Hadn't seen one in years and was amazed anybody even knew how it worked.

Orbert · « **Reply #39 on:** April 05, 2015, 11:55:07 AM »

I always call those things "kerchunkers" because you slide the thing back and forth and it goes "kerchunk".

Mladen · « **Reply #40 on:** April 05, 2015, 12:02:20 PM »

These were still around in the early 90's, which is back when I was born. Should I feel old as well?

rumborak · « **Reply #41 on:** April 05, 2015, 12:09:20 PM »

Yup, a few months ago somebody dragged out one of those too at a store. Was very excited, since I had only seen those in American movies.

bout to crash · « **Reply #42 on:** April 05, 2015, 01:29:07 PM »

Yeah, the liquor store I worked at still had one of those too, but I only got to use it once or twice. Pain in the ass.

Orbert · « **Reply #43 on:** April 05, 2015, 04:03:39 PM »

Yep. I remember going to stores and sometimes they'd try to kerchunk a couple of times, but it wasn't aligned properly or something, and they'd finally just write all the numbers on the charge slip by hand.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #44 on:** April 05, 2015, 04:14:42 PM »

Or they took a pencil and colored over the numbers tracing them.

JayOctavarium · « **Reply #45 on:** April 05, 2015, 04:53:38 PM »

Quote from: kingshmegland on April 05, 2015, 04:14:42 PM

Or they took a pencil and colored over the numbers tracing them.

Like Pizza Hut.

Because it's completely safe to give an underpaid 20 year old pizza driver a rubbing of my card...

Jaq · « **Reply #46 on:** April 05, 2015, 08:17:32 PM »

When I worked at a Musicland (record store), we had the kerchuckers still but they'd just started a primitive version of the modern day swiping where you entered the info on the register.

And then got out the kerchucker because nine times out of ten it didn't work.

rumborak · « **Reply #47 on:** April 05, 2015, 08:32:45 PM »

You know, it boggles my mind that to this day there a physical houses where all the paper checks arrive and then they all exchange owners, from one bank to another.

LCArenas · « **Reply #48 on:** April 05, 2015, 09:10:20 PM »

Shit I'm nearly 22 and I've used them. Both my Grandmas had them in their houses!

Sycsa · « **Reply #49 on:** April 06, 2015, 03:27:58 AM »

I recently started re-watching Breaking Bad and the abundance of clam cellphones make it seem strangely outdated already.

Tick · « **Reply #50 on:** April 06, 2015, 05:57:13 AM »

I remember calling girls to ask them out on those types of phones when I was a teen. I started out dialing fast but as I got close to finishing the number I would get nervous and scared and the last two numbers were done very slowly! The last one I would hold till I got the courage to let go as my heart was beating out of my chest!

lonestar · « **Reply #51 on:** April 06, 2015, 10:37:26 AM »

Quote from: Tick on April 06, 2015, 05:57:13 AM

I remember calling girls to ask them out on those types of phones when I was a teen. I started out dialing fast but as I got close to finishing the number I would get nervous and scared and the last two numbers were done very slowly! The last one I would hold till I got the courage to let go as my heart was beating out of my chest!

Oh shit, that's some fucking truth there

bosk1 · « **Reply #52 on:** April 06, 2015, 10:40:03 AM »

Quote from: lonestar on April 06, 2015, 10:37:26 AM

Quote from: Tick on April 06, 2015, 05:57:13 AM
I remember calling girls to ask them out on those types of phones when I was a teen. I started out dialing fast but as I got close to finishing the number I would get nervous and scared and the last two numbers were done very slowly! The last one I would hold till I got the courage to let go as my heart was beating out of my chest!

Oh shit, that's some fucking truth there

I know, right? I'm sure there are literally TONS of ladies out there who dialed the first 6 of my phone number and then stuck on that last digit only to not go through with it. Right?

RIGHT?

:foreveralone:

King Postwhore · « **Reply #53 on:** April 06, 2015, 10:43:52 AM »

Not me suckers. I just called the wrong phone number of this girl I went on a date with who I really liked for 3 days. Once I realized I was calling the wrong # she was done with me. What a knucklehead.

rumborak · « **Reply #54 on:** April 06, 2015, 11:50:55 AM »

What's truly amazing, or sad maybe, is how in all those advances, voice quality for the most part still the same as in those days.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #55 on:** April 06, 2015, 11:54:38 AM »

Well, a land line is always better quality for the most part.

I always think back to the times my car broke down and I had to knock on someone's door at 12 midnight to ask them to use their phone to call for a tow. Now, grab you cell!

bosk1 · « **Reply #56 on:** April 06, 2015, 11:55:10 AM »

I would say voice quality has declined, actually. (tempted to make joke post about overcompression and brickwalling)

Chino · « **Reply #57 on:** April 06, 2015, 11:57:43 AM »

Quote from: lonestar on April 06, 2015, 10:37:26 AM

Quote from: Tick on April 06, 2015, 05:57:13 AM
I remember calling girls to ask them out on those types of phones when I was a teen. I started out dialing fast but as I got close to finishing the number I would get nervous and scared and the last two numbers were done very slowly! The last one I would hold till I got the courage to let go as my heart was beating out of my chest!

Oh shit, that's some fucking truth there

Or even better... when her dad would pick up and you'd quietly hang up the receiver as though hanging it up normally would give away your identity.

rumborak · « **Reply #58 on:** April 06, 2015, 11:58:11 AM »

I would agree, bosk. The overall bandwidth of the audio hasn't increased at all, but latency has increased, and signal dropouts are common.
It's weird how with our "smartphones", the phone part is probably the worst of it.

Stadler · « **Reply #59 on:** April 06, 2015, 11:58:39 AM »

Quote from: Orbert on April 05, 2015, 04:03:39 PM

Yep. I remember going to stores and sometimes they'd try to kerchunk a couple of times, but it wasn't aligned properly or something, and they'd finally just write all the numbers on the charge slip by hand.

THIS!! I just watched them fail to operate one of the simplest mechanical gadgets in the store (but I'll bet that f****r can do an 8-move combo in Batman Arkham City like nobody's business).

TempusVox · « **Reply #60 on:** April 06, 2015, 09:27:36 PM »

What is amazing to me is the number of people who posted that their grandparents had this phone. I had this phone for years growing up. If you had to call someone with a bunch of zeros or nines in their number you were pissed!

Nefarius · « **Reply #61 on:** April 07, 2015, 12:38:39 AM »

Sure I remember those as a kid in the early 80s. A wall mounted version to be exact. I even remember the number we had back then, 780864. Was replaced by a wall mounted button phone later. No landline phones of any kind since moving out of that place though. They won't be missed.

Greetings...
Nef

lonestar · « **Reply #62 on:** April 07, 2015, 01:08:26 AM »

Funny, I remember my childhood number as well, 8376702, even though I can't remember any current numbers other than my own, my parents, and that of my meat, fish, and produce guys.

Orbert · « **Reply #63 on:** April 07, 2015, 07:10:32 AM »

When touch-tone phone service first started catching on, it was cool to have a phone with buttons instead of a dial. My buddy Dave's dad was a tech-head, so they were the first in the neighborhood with cable TV, and the first with touch-tone phones. Beep-beep-beep!

In our house, we eventually got new phones, but my parents didn't want to pay the extra charge per month to support touch tone (it was probably like $2 more per month), so we had push-button phones, and there was a little slider switch set to "Pulse" rather than "Tone". When you pushed the buttons, you heard clik-clik-clik-clik as it "dialed" each number. And if you pushed the buttons too fast, it got confused, because its buffer couldn't keep up and it could only dial so fast. So lame.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #64 on:** April 07, 2015, 07:26:22 AM »

Quote from: Orbert on April 07, 2015, 07:10:32 AM

In our house, we eventually got new phones, but my parents didn't want to pay the extra charge per month to support touch tone (it was probably like $2 more per month), so we had push-button phones, and there was a little slider switch set to "Pulse" rather than "Tone". When you pushed the buttons, you heard clik-clik-clik-clik as it "dialed" each number. And if you pushed the buttons too fast, it got confused, because its buffer couldn't keep up and it could only dial so fast. So lame.

I remember that.

Kotowboy · « **Reply #65 on:** April 07, 2015, 02:16:17 PM »

Relevant. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wgU_M0_L6kY

jasc15 · « **Reply #66 on:** April 08, 2015, 08:45:31 AM »

So THATS why my phone icon looks like this

Orbert · « **Reply #67 on:** April 08, 2015, 11:01:03 AM »

Yep. Phone icons don't look anything like phones anymore. Also "save" icons looks like 3.5" floppy disks, which aren't even used anymore and many people have never even seen.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #68 on:** April 08, 2015, 11:05:45 AM »

I have video games on 3.5" floppy disks.

Orbert · « **Reply #69 on:** April 08, 2015, 12:31:55 PM »

I have a few PC games on 5.25" floppies. The kind that actually flop.

News: Video of online chat between fans and members of Dream Theater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx8cLlXnHpA&feature=youtu.be (*no chickens were harmed during the filming of this chat)

Author Topic: I am officially old (Read 5733 times)