“Hearing a rumor about a video game at school and having to play for hours to find out it was a lie.”
“Going to your neighbors house to ring the doorbell to see if your friend was home and wanted to play/hangout.”
“Going off with friends riding bikes all day- parents not being able to call you to track you down. you return home when you do. Some of my favorite experiences.”
“To call people you had to use a landline and if not you got on a bicycle and rode over to their house and knocked on the door. Boys all had game boys and razor scooters or skateboards. Your days were preoccupied playing outside until the streetlights came on. Parents largely had no idea where you were, they just knew you were out playing.
The tv would come on and you didn’t know what episode was gonna come on. Nintendo 64 and PlayStation you just put a game in and played. No online profiles etc… it was whacky, it was fun and kids had no preoccupation with being online because social media did not exist.”
“Life was so much healthier for kids back then. Social media is a killler for the self esteem.”
“Having to stay in one place to use the phone. The sensation of wrapping the cord around your hand. The satisfaction of actually hanging up.”
“Having to call your potential prom date’s parents’ number on a landline and ask her to the prom hoping to avoid her father. Terrifying.”
“Being in the moment. Seems like anytime you see a concert or a large gathering everyone is viewing it through the screen on their phone as they try to get the best footage.”
“Going through childhood and adolescence without the fear of constant, pervasive cyberbullying, or AI-generated deepfake videos of yourself circulating online or in school.”
“Having a settled meeting spot. A place everyone would come at their free time to find their friends without any prior communication.”
“Privacy. Being actually alone. I didn’t even have a telephone in my bedroom until I was 16 or so.”
“Using your imagination to turn a boring item like a box or couch cushions into hours of entertainment.”
“Being unreachable. Like whenever someone leaves the house, there’s no getting in touch with them. You just have to wait till they get back. I guess you could still do it now by leaving your phone at home but I know you won’t.”
“Prank Calls!”
“The arcade. My brother and I could go our local arcade and play video games for hours. Now, it’s all done at home with a console, computer or phone.”
“One big thing was people didn’t have a camera on them at all times.
If something embarrassing happened, at least people wouldn’t pull out phones to record it and upload it to facebook/twitter/whatever.”
• Don't insult other visitors. Offensive comments will be deleted without warning.
• Comments are accepted in English only.
• No swearing words in comments, otherwise such comments will be censored.
• Your nickname and avatar are randomly selected. If you don't post comments for 7 days, they both are reset.
• To choose another avatar, click the ‘Random avatar’ link.
Absolutely this, you could act like an idiot with your friends and not worry about a video of it showing up later. (so many things from when I was a kid went undocumented and I'm forever grateful for it...)