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re: Was Day-to-day American life in 1996 closer to 2016 or 1976?
Posted on 4/28/16 at 9:51 am to bdevill
Posted on 4/28/16 at 9:51 am to bdevill
quote:
If you were in high school in 1996, it's impossible to have any conception of what 1976 was like.
Well, yeah. That's why I brought it up and asked for comments from those who know.
0
Posted on 4/28/16 at 10:32 am to Napoleon
quote:
In 1996 I had the internet, access to a cell phone, email, video games and portable electronics. 1976 had none of those.
How common was a computer and internet though in 1996? Also, what were people using the internet for in 1996? As I recall, not too damn much.
As for cell phones, yeah they were around, but come on, in 1996 the typical American didn't have a damn cell phone. I was 10 years old in 1996 and I remember that it wasn't until about 5 years later that cell phones were becoming common. I had to remember everybody's phone number growing up because cell phones were only in movies and tv shows to the average American family.
I'll give you video games. The video game ownership and quality was definitely closer to 2016 than 1976.
I really think the answer might be 1976 to be honest. I wasn't alive then but the technology leap of the last 20 years has fundamentally altered a lot of our daily lives and connectivity than anything that took place from 1976 to 1996. When I look back on my childhood from 1996, I feel like you could time travel me to 1976 and I could get along pretty well. If you took a 10 year old or even an adult now from 2016 back to 1996 the transition I think would be much more difficult comparatively speaking.
This post was edited on 4/28/16 at 10:33 am
Posted on 4/28/16 at 12:22 pm to ChewyDante
quote:
In 1996 I had the internet, access to a cell phone, email, video games and portable electronics. 1976 had none of those.
quote:
How common was a computer and internet though in 1996? Also, what were people using the internet for in 1996? As I recall, not too damn much.
As for cell phones, yeah they were around, but come on, in 1996 the typical American didn't have a damn cell phone. I was 10 years old in 1996 and I remember that it wasn't until about 5 years later that cell phones were becoming common. I had to remember everybody's phone number growing up because cell phones were only in movies and tv shows to the average American family.
I'll give you video games. The video game ownership and quality was definitely closer to 2016 than 1976.
I really think the answer might be 1976 to be honest. I wasn't alive then but the technology leap of the last 20 years has fundamentally altered a lot of our daily lives and connectivity than anything that took place from 1976 to 1996. When I look back on my childhood from 1996, I feel like you could time travel me to 1976 and I could get along pretty well. If you took a 10 year old or even an adult now from 2016 back to 1996 the transition I think would be much more difficult comparatively speaking.
In 1976, there was no caller ID...so you could prank call someone 70 times a day and they didn't know who it was. In '96....much like today, they had caller id and could figure it out.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 12:24 pm to Evolved Simian
quote:
I had Pong console (I think I had the Odyssey console by then, as well)
I got my Odyssey II the Christmas of '81...so I'm betting that the original Odyssey came out a couple of years after '76. Love me some KC Munchkin.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 12:30 pm to Napoleon
Oh my god how did we survive back in 1976 without a computer or cell phones and e-mail.tidays generation has no clue what hard work is. They have been given everything on a silver platter and has made them to lazy and dependent on technology.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 12:31 pm to ChunkyLover54
Closer to 1976.
Girls still had bush in 96
Girls still had bush in 96
Posted on 4/28/16 at 12:33 pm to ChunkyLover54
It's interesting because there are a few periods where it is stark. In the U.S. at least, people in 1900 lived closer to the mid-1770s than they would in just 20 or 30 short years. Rapid electrification, expansion of the transportation network, rise of the automobile (replacing the horse) as local transportation, radio, etc., changed a lot of things.
The ubiquity of the smart phone combined with the internet have changed the way folks interact with the world and each other drastically over the past 2 decades.
A reminder of how quickly we adapt and consider something part of our environment - there was no Youtube in 2004. Think about that for a second. That was 11 years and change ago.
The ubiquity of the smart phone combined with the internet have changed the way folks interact with the world and each other drastically over the past 2 decades.
A reminder of how quickly we adapt and consider something part of our environment - there was no Youtube in 2004. Think about that for a second. That was 11 years and change ago.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 12:37 pm to ChunkyLover54
I was in HS in the late 70s. 1996 was closer to 2016, not really close. 1976 was a completely different era.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 2:53 pm to Atttaboy
quote:
I was in HS in the late 70s. 1996 was closer to 2016, not really close. 1976 was a completely different era.
This seems to be the consensus from those who actually lived it and certainly I can't dispute it.
In your opinion, at what point was 20 years prior, closer to 20 years in the future? Maybe 1970 was closer to 1990 than 1990 was to 2010?
Posted on 4/28/16 at 3:35 pm to SEClint
quote:
1996 felt "funner" than now. IMO anyways.
Of course. We were 20 years younger.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 3:37 pm to ChewyDante
quote:
How common was a computer and internet though in 1996? Also, what were people using the internet for in 1996? As I recall, not too damn much.
I was dimly aware of the Internet and cell phones but they weren't that common. I was still doing work on our IBM compatible Tandy.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 3:44 pm to ChewyDante
quote:
How common was a computer and internet though in 1996? Also, what were people using the internet for in 1996? As I recall, not too damn much.
Home PC's were very common in 1996. Also, schools had computers unlike 1976. Some of you will never know the joy of doing research papers using card catalogues.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 5:05 pm to RogerTheShrubber
I always thought one day people would wonder "what was life like in the 1990s?" but not so soon.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 5:10 pm to RogerTheShrubber
quote:
The only real difference today than '96 is the smartphone.
That's a more life changing difference than anything else you could name. Nothing compares to people having constant access to you and to you having constant access to that much entertainment, information, and most importantly, distraction. We are entirely different now, much closer to human-machine hybrids than we were before smart phones.
quote:
In 1976, people still had meals as families, lived in modest homes, worked on their own vehicles
We still do that.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 5:35 pm to ChunkyLover54
Graduated HS and joined the Navy in '96. No one I knew had a cell phone or Internet when I left for the Navy (was introduced to Internet late in '97). We did have pagers though if we were cool enough. My parents weren't about to pay for caller ID so we didn't have that either.
I can't have a real perspective since I wasn't here for '76, but 'Dazed and Confused' looked closer to my high school experience than the stories that show up in the news today.
I can't have a real perspective since I wasn't here for '76, but 'Dazed and Confused' looked closer to my high school experience than the stories that show up in the news today.
Posted on 4/28/16 at 5:39 pm to ChunkyLover54
1996 was a real transition year, or the end of an era in my mind. Definitely more like 1976 to me. The world has moved at warp internet speed since. Just having that phone with you and that computer access has changed everything.
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