Now and then Part 1
Today I am thinking about the world. Thinking about how much it has changed. I wrote the other day about how there are so many things that children have today, that I didn’t have, and wonder what my life would be if I had had them. Today I decided I was luckier to not have them. I didn’t have Direct TV, 400 channels, digital cable, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, Nintendo DS, or the Internet. I didn’t have all sort of fancy computer gizmo’s and chat rooms. In fact here is a computer ad from my day.
It’s amazing to me that that was only 20 some odd years ago. I still remember us buying our first home computer in 1983, and yes it was a Commodore. It was a family experience, and you got to play exciting games like Paperboy, Bruce Lee, and others. All were basic 8-bit games, that would embarrass even the most modest gamer today.
I didn’t have the Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, or TIVO. We had a TV with a dial, and my sister and I alternated as the remote. No Best Buy, just places like Nobody beats the Wiz (New York), as well as Rickel Home Stores, others.
Think about the TV shows we had, I remember watching the Thundercats, Voltron, and even the Transformers when they were brand new, not like today. There was no computer assisted animation, or anything other than hand drawn cell animation.
I remember coming home, doing homework, and in the spring and fall heading to my friend Danny’s house, or having him come to mine. In the winter I watched my cartoons and got ready for dinner. There was no TV with dinner, just family conversation, and then if everything was done we watch family TV as a family, since we didn’t have TV’s in our rooms. I remember shows like Cheers, Family Ties, and so many others that had a message, a message of family.
So today we have Blackberry’s and cell phones. Our kids come home to their in room TV’s, and video games, and spend more time on IM with their friends than they do with them. We have email, Match.com, and direct deposit. Did you know for example that 25% of children under the age of 18 have never been to a bank? Why with the ATM machines we find everywhere.
I am not jealous anymore of all of the things my children have, I am sad for what they don’t have. So now that I have figured out that I do have things to say, I am going to start a special series, on this blog, called family through time. Just because I hope it will give everyone the idea of what we have gained, but what many of us have lost. I hope you’ll tune in for it, and I hope that if you like it you’ll have others read it too. So for today let me leave you with one more thought from the 80’s. It’s one of the best commercials I have ever seen.
~Another Day
Sounds like an interesting series. I give a lot of thought to this too… My kids won’t be allowed to have TV’s in their rooms, for example. We don’t have to give in to the “modern” ways completely! We sure did have to think harder back then, contemplate more. I worry about what all the gizmos mean for our future… though I really think parents have a responsibility to help their kids know what is important. There is no reason you can’t teach your kids the values you grew up with, they sound pretty nice! I’ll check back for the series!
~Jess
Thatks for the feedbak, and I hope you’ll check back!
Hi Ian,
Technologies and knowledge had changed the world. What we have can shape our future. Our children are living in different time. Thus, they will be influenced differently. However, moral values that we value must remain unchanged.
Best Wishes
Let’s Acquire Wisdom and Live with Passion
I grew up in the 80s and 90s so 20 years ago was childhood for me. Had a Commodore 64 and my parents got me an Atari for Christmas one year. Pole Position, Pitfall, Dig Dug, those real classic games for me. My TV had buttons on it and could hold 13 channels. Sometimes the tube would take awhile to get going before a picture would display too. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a huge part of my life. I am part of the Nintendo generation when the NES came out. Played with Legos and still have all my sets to this day. MacGyver was my favorite show. My first car was a 1984 Pontiac Sunbird.
Something you have to consider is what we see today and how we used see will never be the same. Everything will progress because that’s what history does. My great grandpa grew up before electricity and land line phones were common. Hand cranked cars and there was no such thing as automatic transmission or fuel injection. Before he passed, he never could grasp the concept of how a cell phone did what it could do. Who knows what type of cars we will see in the next 20 years. I just hope someday we will have flying cars because every prediction of the future has this.
I’m a little bit older than you. I grew up in the 70s and 80s. No cable, no computer, I remember when MTV was “born”, wrapping the rabbit ears with foil to watch HBO, and I owned Pong. I work with kids on a daily basis and agree with you that they are missing out. Perhaps if they had more human interactions the world would be a different place than it is. Maybe kids would respect themselves and others. Maybe crime wouldn’t be so bad.
Anyway, looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
dumb Hallmark commercial . . . (sniffle, sniffle, weep, weep)
why do they always make me cry?
Hi Family Man
You did an excellent job with your choice of this topic and I enjoyed it very much.
Oh yes! I so agree with what Sam Chan said!
[...] of designing, and somehow got on to the topic of the special series he did last August called Now and Then. Knowing him for as long as I have I know he just scratched some of the surface, so I hope he [...]
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