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I miss the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s

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First post, by Intel486dx33

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This thread is about things you liked about the 1970’s 1970’s thru 1990’s

For me it was about shopping and browsing computer stores and book stores.

They are all but gone today in California.
There are very few computer builder stores around and book stores are extinct.

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2022-05-12, 11:33. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 1 of 202, by Shagittarius

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Almost everything I enjoyed as a hobby and its supporting infrastructure is dead and replaced by online stores. I much prefer my old life. I much prefer networked home computers being the exception not the rule. I much prefer longer development and sales cycles for hardware. I even miss the community that was built around the need for information for our hobby. I think the internet is super important for protecting liberty and freedom, but it has killed off a lot of enjoyable things about the past as well.

Reply 2 of 202, by Errius

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California in the 70s must have been exiting place for anyone interested in computers. Everything was taking off then.

I've seen a theory that the closure of the Apollo program the early 70s caused a lot of smart people to stop thinking about rockets and start thinking about computers. A lot of these rocket guys were already based in California (North American, Rocketdyne, Douglas, etc) so it was logical that the new computer industry would also get started there.

(The Russians of course just kept making rockets and missed out on all this. Failure to keep up with American advances in computers was probably the single biggest economic failure of the USSR.)

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 4 of 202, by ThinkpadIL

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I missed 70's completely since I've been born later.

Regarding missing times that have long gone, I actually do not miss them. I consider life as a trip, so it doesn't really matter for me what time is it now. I just live life and enjoy a trip.

If I want to tinker with old hardware I just look for one wherever it is available at this moment. If I want to browse old-style book store I just look for the place where they are still working and enjoy the experience.

Reply 5 of 202, by gerry

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there is a period of time, roughly from somewhere in the 1950's to the 1980's which had a way of life now gone.

The 'globalism' of the 90's made things abundant and cheap and communications & computer technology accelerated. The difference in the way of life between 1990 an 1999 is in some ways more than the difference between 1960 and 1990

New technology felt more exciting and more serious back then. It was pioneering. Do we recall the serious 'men in white coats' feel to technology back in that era, almost always optimistic with talk of living on the moon and the sense of wide open potential that technology presented, as part of the human program

it somehow feels less optimistic and less clear now, with grand ambitions watered down, it doesn't feel as focussed as it was

Almost everyone would go about their lives with no one else knowing where they were or how to get in touch with them! You paid in cash, your number plate wast 'recognised' by cameras, there'd be no digital trace. No one could ring you unless you arranged to be near a specific land line phone. You'd read maps to get places. You really were more self reliant. Hardly 'soloing in the jungle' self-reliant but more so than now.

All interaction with other folk was by phone, written letter or face to face. Having to be face to face now and then with people you disagreed with was part of life

I'm not saying it was all better then, it wasn't - think of medicine just as one example. Yet some things seemed better perhaps even if they were not. It's like smoking - we all know it was bad for you - but back in the post-war period most adults smoked yet most achieved as much in their lives as we will, most were of a healthy weight and made into their 70's and were just as happy with their lives. Sure it was bad for them and we know it now, but somehow they we're not living worse lives because of it!

I like this kind of thread but suspect it wont be read as much as a thread on some tiny unimportant specific difference between revisions of a graphics card though 😀

Reply 7 of 202, by ThinkpadIL

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konc wrote on 2022-05-12, 08:18:

To miss the 70s you'd need to be at least 10 years old then. So born around 1960. So at least 60 years old today. I don't believe we have many people above 60 in this forum.

No country for old men ... 😃

Reply 9 of 202, by Intel486dx33

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Yeah, retro arcade machines were everywhere like Coffee machines. Every convenient store had one. ( Pac-Man or Donkey Kong or Street fighter ) These Arcade machines were everywhere.

Reply 10 of 202, by Intel486dx33

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kolderman wrote on 2022-05-12, 08:53:
Intel486dx33 wrote on 2022-05-11, 18:47:

There are very few computer builder stores around and book stores are extinct.

There were very few computer stores in the 70s I am guessing too.

Oh boy, My Mistake. I meant to write “I miss the “90’s”
But I will include the 70’s and 80’s too.
My mistake sorry guys.

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Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2022-05-12, 11:34. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 11 of 202, by ThinkpadIL

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gerry wrote on 2022-05-12, 08:09:
there is a period of time, roughly from somewhere in the 1950's to the 1980's which had a way of life now gone. […]
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there is a period of time, roughly from somewhere in the 1950's to the 1980's which had a way of life now gone.

The 'globalism' of the 90's made things abundant and cheap and communications & computer technology accelerated. The difference in the way of life between 1990 an 1999 is in some ways more than the difference between 1960 and 1990

New technology felt more exciting and more serious back then. It was pioneering. Do we recall the serious 'men in white coats' feel to technology back in that era, almost always optimistic with talk of living on the moon and the sense of wide open potential that technology presented, as part of the human program

it somehow feels less optimistic and less clear now, with grand ambitions watered down, it doesn't feel as focussed as it was

Almost everyone would go about their lives with no one else knowing where they were or how to get in touch with them! You paid in cash, your number plate wast 'recognised' by cameras, there'd be no digital trace. No one could ring you unless you arranged to be near a specific land line phone. You'd read maps to get places. You really were more self reliant. Hardly 'soloing in the jungle' self-reliant but more so than now.

All interaction with other folk was by phone, written letter or face to face. Having to be face to face now and then with people you disagreed with was part of life

I'm not saying it was all better then, it wasn't - think of medicine just as one example. Yet some things seemed better perhaps even if they were not. It's like smoking - we all know it was bad for you - but back in the post-war period most adults smoked yet most achieved as much in their lives as we will, most were of a healthy weight and made into their 70's and were just as happy with their lives. Sure it was bad for them and we know it now, but somehow they we're not living worse lives because of it!

I like this kind of thread but suspect it wont be read as much as a thread on some tiny unimportant specific difference between revisions of a graphics card though 😀

It is a nostalgia. Some people have it, some people don't.

If you have it, you will feel it no matter what, and if you don't, you'll find out quickly that you always can come back in time to 90's, 80's, 70's and even to some year B.C. There are always places on Earth where time has stopped. But if you'll get there and will spend some time you'll find out very quickly that life with time becomes only better and quickly you'll want to come back to your today life.

Just a small example. If you think that there wasn't an eBay in 70's, you're wrong. It was even in year 70 B.C. But then you had to wait quite a lot of time just to receive a catalog which would arrive in a form of rolled paper with some guy on horse. Then you'd have to wait few months till you'd get your order. Of course packaging materials were very primitive back then, but you are able to experience that kind of eBay even today. There are still some sellers who have no clue that bubble wrap is already invented and package things with crumpled sheets of newspaper. And you always can order shipping by Sea. It will take about the same time to arrive as in year 70 B.C.

Reply 12 of 202, by Intel486dx33

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I guess I am just attached to the physical tangible stuff.
It nice to see things displayed in front of you and being allowed to touch and feel the stuff and examine it closely.
I just don’t trust shopping online. And without purchaser comments its hard to trust any item online.

Thats why I like shopping local at big warehouse stores. You get to see everything in front of you and you can examine it for quality.

Reply 13 of 202, by ThinkpadIL

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Intel486dx33 wrote on 2022-05-12, 09:35:
I guess I am just attached to the physical tangible stuff. It nice to see things displayed in front of you and being allowed to […]
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I guess I am just attached to the physical tangible stuff.
It nice to see things displayed in front of you and being allowed to touch and feel the stuff and examine it closely.
I just don’t trust shopping online. And without purchaser comments its hard to trust any item online.

Thats why I like shopping local at big warehouse stores. You get to see everything in front of you and you can examine it for quality.

Well, it seems like you don't remember quite well how it was back then. You could see and touch things, but those were things on display and what you'd actually get was mostly some thing closed in the box and you couldn't be quite sure even if it will be of a right color. 🙂

Reply 14 of 202, by ThinkpadIL

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I'll just put it here ... 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKHFZBUTA4k

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Reply 15 of 202, by TrashPanda

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what really hits home is that we are closer to 2050 now than we are to 1980 ...the 80s were 40 years ago.

do you feel old now ?

I for sure as hell do, but I dont miss the 80s or 90s .. I grew up during both and fuck ever doing that again, thank god I now have the money to relive the best parts and to forget the worst parts.

That said . .I really miss the crazy TV shows the 80s had, the lack of fast and easy access to information sure did make TV far more entertaining.

Reply 16 of 202, by Intel486dx33

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Yeah, I guess I just miss spending Friday nights and weekends at the local video store checking out the latest blockbuster movie rentals.
And chatting with strangers about movies.
Or hanging out at the bookstores checking out the latest books and magazines by bookstore section.

These GIANT store chains have put allot of “Mom&Pop” stores out of business. Allot of Coffee shops and bakeries and restaurants
Have gone out of business since these retail GIANTS have taken over.

Reply 17 of 202, by TrashPanda

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Intel486dx33 wrote on 2022-05-12, 10:25:
Yeah, I guess I just miss spending Friday nights and weekends at the local video store checking out the latest blockbuster movie […]
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Yeah, I guess I just miss spending Friday nights and weekends at the local video store checking out the latest blockbuster movie rentals.
And chatting with strangers about movies.
Or hanging out at the bookstores checking out the latest books and magazines by bookstore section.

These GIANT store chains have put allot of “Mom&Pop” stores out of business. Allot of Coffee shops and bakeries and restaurants
Have gone out of business since these retail GIANTS have taken over.

*nod nod

yup me too, going to the video store as a kid was so much fun, I used to love renting B grade sci fi movies on beta, there was some really crazy movies released in the 80's and my mum was a fan of binge watching them on a late Saturday evening with me.

Video game rentals were also fun as hell, renting the game on a Friday night and trying to finish it by Sunday evening!.

Reply 18 of 202, by Namrok

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I mean, clearly the 90's were just the best time. I kid, I know everyone has their own perspective.

But the 90's didn't give us It's All About the Pentiums for nothing. If you were into technology, the leaps and strides taken from the 386 or 486 you might have started the decade with to the Pentium III you ended the decade with were bonkers. Games went from looking like Wolfenstein 3D to Quake III. Master of Orion 2 was the defacto best Space 4X game for nearly a decade. I cannot think of a single other game which dominated it's genre so thoroughly. To the point where companies nearly gave up making them, because it was impossible to be better than MoO2! 3D accelerators were invented, matured, and then consolidated into the Geforce series that largely still dominates today. I think Nvidia is the only company still around making cards from back then, although I guess ATI still kind of still exists under AMD.

And then of course there were the LAN parties. I have no idea what my own kids are gonna do when they are a teenager, but there was something simultaneously subversive and wholesome about lugging your treasured gaming rig/hand me down spare parts to a friend's basement using your new drivers license. Play Quake until you couldn't see straight, and then start file sharing. Terrible, mislabeled porn clips you got off Kazaa or Limewire. Blurry scanned VHS fansubs of anime encoded in RealMedia. Tons and tons of music. Things that took you entire nights to download on your dial up modem. Maybe one friend had high speed internet, and downloaded entire CD-ROM releases off mysterious IRC rooms. Sure we got into a ton of porn, but we were mostly kept out of other trouble. Nobody ODed, got anyone pregnant, got into bad accidents racing, or other assorted hazards of youth.

Ah well, what's gone is gone. But those were the days.

Win95/DOS 7.1 - P233 MMX (@2.5 x 100 FSB), Diamond Viper V330 AGP, SB16 CT2800
Win98 - K6-2+ 500, GF2 MX, SB AWE 64 CT4500, SBLive CT4780
Win98 - Pentium III 1000, GF2 GTS, SBLive CT4760
WinXP - Athlon 64 3200+, GF 7800 GS, Audigy 2 ZS

Reply 19 of 202, by TrashPanda

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Namrok wrote on 2022-05-12, 11:57:
I mean, clearly the 90's were just the best time. I kid, I know everyone has their own perspective. […]
Show full quote

I mean, clearly the 90's were just the best time. I kid, I know everyone has their own perspective.

But the 90's didn't give us It's All About the Pentiums for nothing. If you were into technology, the leaps and strides taken from the 386 or 486 you might have started the decade with to the Pentium III you ended the decade with were bonkers. Games went from looking like Wolfenstein 3D to Quake III. Master of Orion 2 was the defacto best Space 4X game for nearly a decade. I cannot think of a single other game which dominated it's genre so thoroughly. To the point where companies nearly gave up making them, because it was impossible to be better than MoO2! 3D accelerators were invented, matured, and then consolidated into the Geforce series that largely still dominates today. I think Nvidia is the only company still around making cards from back then, although I guess ATI still kind of still exists under AMD.

And then of course there were the LAN parties. I have no idea what my own kids are gonna do when they are a teenager, but there was something simultaneously subversive and wholesome about lugging your treasured gaming rig/hand me down spare parts to a friend's basement using your new drivers license. Play Quake until you couldn't see straight, and then start file sharing. Terrible, mislabeled porn clips you got off Kazaa or Limewire. Blurry scanned VHS fansubs of anime encoded in RealMedia. Tons and tons of music. Things that took you entire nights to download on your dial up modem. Maybe one friend had high speed internet, and downloaded entire CD-ROM releases off mysterious IRC rooms. Sure we got into a ton of porn, but we were mostly kept out of other trouble. Nobody ODed, got anyone pregnant, got into bad accidents racing, or other assorted hazards of youth.

Ah well, what's gone is gone. But those were the days.

AMD bought ATI lock stock and barrel so really regardless of the name change its still ATI under that hood and Radeon wouldn't exist without ATI. (Heck a lot of 3d GPU tech wouldn't have existed without ATI pulling nVidia along and forcing them to compete)