Potentially the longest thread in history...

[hikaricloud]

So much for National Guard.

 

[PP Mguire]

Re: Today I have...

You know what, let me expand on this. Think about where we are in technology right now. We have magic in our pockets. We can look up anything, listen to anything, watch anything, damn near DO anything with computers in our pockets. We have an average of computer speeds that boggle the minds of anyone involved in the first steps of the internet's deployment and development. The biggest library in the world is at our fingertips. Just 6 years ago, cell phones were completely different. Mobile browsing was different, smart phones were for business people, and touch screen phones were Palm branded devices and devices running mobile Windows OS versions that were clunky and barely usable at times. Just 6 YEARS AGO.

About the same amount of time ago, while it was common that people had computers, it wasn't as common as now with everyone assuming people have computers, I can't think of anyone besides my grandparents that don't have some form of computing device in their houses.

I remember when gaming was more about gameplay and not about how it looks, and then the bit wars came with the PSX, N64, Dreamcast, then the PS2, and suddenly everything is about realism and how amazing graphics look while story and gameplay development is going by the wayside. How many different shooters have shown up that are essentially the same systems with similar stories and no imagination?

As technology continues, so does the human capacity to take things for granted. I'm not exempt, I expect to have decent speed internet, to be able to find anything online, complain when things run slow...but I don't forget where I came from and where we were less than a decade ago.

You say you were waiting for internet from the late 90s to early 2000s? I didn't even have a regular computer in my house until 2001, and we didn't have dialup right away. We got it soon after and had to wait until after I graduated high school and went to college to even have slow as molasses DSL that my mother is still stuck with today. My first computer was a Commodore 64/VIC 20, and that was the only computer I had until I was 11, and didn't have anything else besides libraries until I was 15.

I honestly can't take teenagers seriously with the things they complain about nowadays. It's a bit sad to me. [/rant]

I'm the same way, but fortunately for me my dad was an electronics and computer nut so we always had some form of computer in the house all the way as far back as I can remember. Hell, my literal birth day present was an NES and I still have it to this day.

That's why I pushed for a projector so bad. So I could play all my old consoles and games again. I really don't like newer games all that much anymore. I play them, but it's nothing like how the older games used to be.

 

[Oreo]

Re: Today I have...

Try again. Look at how far you are zoomed out. I know your country is much smaller and all, but that little map I had was zoomed almost all the way in to show that whole area. Lookup the directions from your house to the nearest house with 120Mb that you outlined. I bet it's way more than 1.5 miles. Still though, you have access to hard lines. That is what people from where I come from beg for. 5Mb is nothing if during an important time the signal drops due to some rain.

1.6miles.

If you really wan't an argument about which country is better tech wise, be prepared to loose We are always years behind the US. And you are years behind Japan. Thats how its been for decades.

We just got 4G today in London. You've had it years now. We got HD TV years after you had it too. Phones, Games, Tablets.. they all release in the US first too.

You know what, let me expand on this. Think about where we are in technology right now. We have magic in our pockets. We can look up anything, listen to anything, watch anything, damn near DO anything with computers in our pockets. We have an average of computer speeds that boggle the minds of anyone involved in the first steps of the internet's deployment and development. The biggest library in the world is at our fingertips. Just 6 years ago, cell phones were completely different. Mobile browsing was different, smart phones were for business people, and touch screen phones were Palm branded devices and devices running mobile Windows OS versions that were clunky and barely usable at times. Just 6 YEARS AGO.

About the same amount of time ago, while it was common that people had computers, it wasn't as common as now with everyone assuming people have computers, I can't think of anyone besides my grandparents that don't have some form of computing device in their houses.

I remember when gaming was more about gameplay and not about how it looks, and then the bit wars came with the PSX, N64, Dreamcast, then the PS2, and suddenly everything is about realism and how amazing graphics look while story and gameplay development is going by the wayside. How many different shooters have shown up that are essentially the same systems with similar stories and no imagination?

As technology continues, so does the human capacity to take things for granted. I'm not exempt, I expect to have decent speed internet, to be able to find anything online, complain when things run slow...but I don't forget where I came from and where we were less than a decade ago.

You say you were waiting for internet from the late 90s to early 2000s? I didn't even have a regular computer in my house until 2001, and we didn't have dialup right away. We got it soon after and had to wait until after I graduated high school and went to college to even have slow as molasses DSL that my mother is still stuck with today. My first computer was a Commodore 64/VIC 20, and that was the only computer I had until I was 11, and didn't have anything else besides libraries until I was 15.


I honestly can't take teenagers seriously with the things they complain about nowadays. It's a bit sad to me. [/rant]

Nice story and all but..

Your parents thought the exact same about you when you were a teenager. Thats just how it is. Younger people grow up taking stuff for granted because they've always had it. Older people won't.

I dunno what you expect us to do. Remember back to a time, ergh, before we were alive ? if I grew up with internet naturally I am going to take it for granted.

 

[hikaricloud]

Re: Today I have...

I'm the same way, but fortunately for me my dad was an electronics and computer nut so we always had some form of computer in the house all the way as far back as I can remember. Hell, my literal birth day present was an NES and I still have it to this day.

That's why I pushed for a projector so bad. So I could play all my old consoles and games again. I really don't like newer games all that much anymore. I play them, but it's nothing like how the older games used to be.

I only had computers around in schools and such growing up but my interest in computers remained unchanged. I remember working with the VIC 20 command line, creating simple commands and such. Playing games from a tape deck. Having 5.25 floppy disk drives.

As for games, I have a separate TV for my older systems that thankfully can take all the inputs, even if I have to move them around a little bit.

 

[PP Mguire]

Re: Today I have...

1.6miles.

If you really wan't an argument about which country is better tech wise, be prepared to loose We are always years behind the US. And you are years behind Japan. Thats how its been for decades.

We just got 4G today in London. You've had it years now. We got HD TV years after you had it too. Phones, Games, Tablets.. they all release in the US first too.



Nice story and all but..

Your parents thought the exact same about you when you were a teenager. Thats just how it is. Younger people grow up taking stuff for granted because they've always had it. Older people won't.

I dunno what you expect us to do. Remember back to a time, ergh, before we were alive ? if I grew up with internet naturally I am going to take it for granted.

We may have had HD sets, but nothing really to take advantage of them for a while. Digital TV itself finally became a standard in 2009, and it took till about last year for local channels to finally start offering HD. The only reason we get certain things first is due to our market being larger. That's really the only reason.

Spoiled brats grow up taking things for granted. The only thing I took for granted growing up was having both of my parents.

 

[Oreo]

Re: Today I have...

Oh, you will have taken stuff for granted. Like shoes. TV. A phone. Car. Stuff that practically everyone has access too. But somewhere along the line, people didn't have that stuff.

I was kind of joking about shoes. But even then, somewhere in the world a lot of people would love a pair of shoes right now. Your telling me your grateful and thank god or whatever you beleive in everyday that you have some shoes ? you think about how lucky you are everytime you put your shoes on ? everytime you switch your tv on ? no you don't.. don't even pretend you do. No one does. Everyone in the western world has a certain amount of stuff they take for granted. Rock bottom in the western world is living the dream in the 3rd world.

Again, just an over the top example. But yeah.

As for the tech thing, I think we only turned off our analogue TV signals a few months back.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Re: Today I have...

We didn't get rid of analog till what, 2010? 2011? Yea, we was broadcasting digital, but, most people didn't make the switch, and many just didn't bother.

The US may not be behind when it comes to speeds, but, they US average is skewed. You have one home in a town pulling 300Mbps while everyone else can only get 10-25, that throws the entire area off. I am considered to be in an area flooded with broadband. Yea.. With ridiculous caps if I can get a signal. The day they have at least DSL down every road to every home is the day that america can start to play catch up IMO.

 

[Fat.Clown]

Re: Today I have...

found out my what.cd account has been deleted... probably due to being an inactive user.

 

[PP Mguire]

Re: Today I have...

Oh, you will have taken stuff for granted. Like shoes. TV. A phone. Car. Stuff that practically everyone has access too. But somewhere along the line, people didn't have that stuff.

I was kind of joking about shoes. But even then, somewhere in the world a lot of people would love a pair of shoes right now. Your telling me your grateful and thank god or whatever you beleive in everyday that you have some shoes ? you think about how lucky you are everytime you put your shoes on ? everytime you switch your tv on ? no you don't.. don't even pretend you do. No one does. Everyone in the western world has a certain amount of stuff they take for granted. Rock bottom in the western world is living the dream in the 3rd world.

Again, just an over the top example. But yeah.

As for the tech thing, I think we only turned off our analogue TV signals a few months back.

My earliest childhood memories are cuddling with my biggest sister during a storm while our whole family was living in a tent in the backyard of my god parents. I didn't live in an actual house or a place I could call a house until the middle of 99. I wear the same pair of shoes for years, and when I was a kid I never had anything new. Thrift market clothes/shoes, sheets, pillows, ect. The first thing I actually got new was a Playstation, and the year after a 64. I opted for these game systems as birthday presents rather than having brand new clothes or shoes. I was greatful to have these systems while we were living in an RV, but when I was younger I didn't really understand that we could afford such things because rent was simply almost nonexistent and my mom and dad had better jobs. I appreciated these systems so much that I still own them, and they still work and look relatively new. Fast forward to today, I have paid for my own food, clothes, shoes, and vehicles, phones, and pretty much everything else since I was 16. I worked hard with my dad and the only thing my parents provided me was a roof over my head, and electricity to run my gizmos. I don't count the presents I may have gotten which was pretty much only musical gear, but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate fully the things I got when I was younger.
Thing of it is, you took it a little too far what I meant. By taking things for granted, I mean I have seen kids ***** and complain about how they want this or that, when what they have is perfectly fine. For instance, the other night when I was at Walmart I saw this kid that couldn't be more than 10 walking around with an ATT GS2 just like mine and screaming at his mom that he wants the GS3. It's like seriously? Then we have examples like you, complaining about your 2Mb internet. When I was living in Venus I would have killed to have actual DSL even if it was 2Mb.
Sure when I was younger I took for granted the usual things that average kids have like a house, food, ect, but I never took for granted the "things" I had. I was pretty much always happy with hand me downs, or whatever because it didn't matter to me. I'm only 24 and I realized at 22 that I should have stayed at my parents house in 2008 instead of moving out because you just don't realize how much you have it made until you have to pay for absolutely everything. Even if it is only 2Mb internet. I can't possibly sit here and fully explain to you what I mean. You will just find it out later on in life. Everybody does.

 

[Trotter]

I am the opposite as far as remembrance goes. What you do not consciously remember you soon forget, and we should never forget what happened to our country... as well as to all of us.

The tragedy of 9/11 shattered America's bubble of being invulnerable on our own soil. An attack carried out by civilians killed thousands of innocent lives. That is a fact should always cause us to stop and give pause. We may not say much about the dates that the atomic bombs were dropped but the Japanese do remember them in a solemn way so as to remind themselves of the folly that has gone before.

My generation will be the last to say much about 9/11 as we were adults when it happened and it made such a huge impact on our lives. My daughter and her generation were there but it did not have the same context, the same depth. Once we are gone it will just be another paragraph in the history books.