Subj : Re: Old Geek Thoughts... To : GeekWisdom From : McDoob Date : Thu Dec 30 2021 19:59:52 Ge> A few intersting observations over the years: Ge> Ge> In the 80/90's if you new how to "make" the computer 'do anything' you Ge> were considered a computer 'genius'. With each passing year, this Ge> becomes exponentially more difficult to impress someone. Ge> Just like knowing how to 'program' the VCR! Another less than impressive skill, these days... (Q_Q) Ge> The invention of the GUI and the MOUSE, saw a huge increase in computer Ge> usage, which later exploded with the invention of the web and the web Ge> browser. It also saw a large decrease in productivity, open a black box Ge> 'DOS PROMPT' and people start to get scared you are messing with the Ge> 'internals' Ge> Hey. Shaddup! The only time my nerdiness looks cool is when I open up the scary black window! X-D Ge> There are so many areas a person can specialize in with computers. You Ge> can literally go your whole life doing nothing but administring Oracle Ge> databases, without knowing anything about how to script in a batch Ge> language. Ge> That is where 'a person' and I differ. I chose not to specialize. I chose to generalize, instead. You've heard of the 'grease monkey' from the auto world, yes? Well... I've tried to understand at least a little bit of everything software, but... honestly, my main focus has always been hardware. I am, basically, a computer mechanic. A 'grease monkey' for computers...a 'code monkey'? (Not to be confused with 'script kiddie'...) Ge> Usenet (Newsgroups) were once a fun (free) place to hop onto and read Ge> lots of interesting thoughts from people all around the world. Today Ge> Usenet is mostly a spot for downloading pirated content, and you have to Ge> pay to access it. Ge> I remember getting in trouble from my librarian for browsing Usenet, back in grade school...I mean, she had a point: "There's a lot of things on Usenet that you don't need to see." It never occured to me to wonder why she would know that. I had to find out for myself; another lesson I wish I hadn't learned the hard way! X-D Doesn't mean I've avoided it... Teh very idea of paying to access that cesspool both raises my eyebrows, and shivers my spine, at the same time... Ge> "Online" orginally meant logging onto a BBS, CompuServe/AOL Literally, Ge> you were Ge> on "using the phone line" at least until your mom picked up the house Ge> phone and Ge> @$%S23450s@@^ NO CARRIER filled up on your screen. Yep. I can still remember the first time my father heard my thoughts on this particular frustration. He was...not amused...which is why I sought out the school's network! His fault, not mine! (@_@) Ge> Chatting with someone Online was done over text only, later came IRC, Ge> and then ICQ. Today there are hundreds of messaging apps, such as Ge> discord and telegram, basically the same 'old' thing re-invented in a Ge> 'new' way Jeez. ICQ. There's something I'd forgotten. Mostly because I was a Microsoft fanboy by then. (Not so much, anymore...) Ge> Channels were once a physical knob on a television that you switched, Ge> and the very idea that video could be streamed over the network was Ge> laughable. It would Ge> take hours just to download an image! How could it be possible to send Ge> moving video? Today my kids don't even watch tv shows. The majority of Ge> the time it's YouTube videos, or maybe once in a while Netflix or Disney+ Ge> OMG I feel you so much right now! (@_@) The day I switched from 56k to (relatively) 'high speed' was the best day of my 20s...mostly because my college girlfriend and I started dating that same day...but, you know, that too! Even then, when songs took minutes, instead of hours...I thought of video as days or weeks...What is this Netflix you speak of, witch?!?! (O_o) ....back in my day, sonny...we had to wait 18 hours to listen to five minutes of MUSIC! No video! You kids and your Youflix, and your Nettube! Get off my lawn! X-D Ge> So yes -I'm an old G33k. And I think that many of the young folks out Ge> there don't know half of the history of what made the world the way it Ge> is today... and those that fail to learn from history...well you get the Ge> idea ! Ge> You're only as old as you feel! Agreed, there are days when time is heavy on anyone's shoulder...but: There would be no campfire, no technology(!), and no humans to enjoy it, if not for the ability for our elders to teach (and breed) the younger! You have the honour of being a teacher of the young. Don't forget that. Ge> Are you an old geek like me???? Ge> I'd like to think so! Ge> What other things can you think of? Ge> Um... The day I switched from a Walkman to a 'personal CD player' (Sony took a while to catch up)... Wait! No! The day I bought my first 'anti-skip' CD player! Which may or may not have been a Discman...(v_v) Music has always been a passion. Hence why I was willing to wait hours, just to listen to a few minutes... Ge> GeekWisdom The best kind of Wisdom. Cheers! McDoob SysOp, PiBBS pibbs.sytes.net --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A46 2020/08/26 (Raspberry Pi/32) * Origin: PiBBS (21:4/135) .