Magic vs. Science...

[The Captain]

Ok, I know I'm dating myself with this.  But when I was 10...

1.  Phones were attached to walls by a wire
2.  Computers capable of operating a spaceship filled a whole room
3.  If you got into an auto accident you might just as well kiss your ass goodbye...

Now we have

1.  Cell phones that have more computing power than Nasa computer's of the early 70's
2.  Laptops that can do calculations  100X's more complex then the above
3.  Wireless internet.  I know how much everyone takes this for granted, but I remember some pretty heated discussions among tech geeks in the late 70's as to why data HAD to be transmitted over physical lines.

My new all in one has a touchscreen.  It's amazing to me that I don't even have to touch it to expand and contract the images.  It's that sensitive (just to my fingers hovering over it). 

Airbags and anti-lock brakes.  Think about those. 

The touchscreen all in one would look unrecognizable to someone from the 1800's.

I'd love to be able to see what the world will look like in 200 years.

[dannylion]

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  --- Arthur C. Clarke

[The Captain]

Jan 7, 2015 14:19:53 GMT -5 dannylion said:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  --- Arthur C. Clarke

I was wondering how long it would take someone to quote that.  Thanks for sharing some brainwaves.

[swasat]

Jan 7, 2015 14:21:16 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

My kid still doesn't believe ipads weren't around when I was a kid.

Mine tsk tsk me and  look at me with pity in thier eyes when I tell them there were no cellphones when I was growing up and no internet either,
 and that communication with distant friends and relatives used to rely heavily on USPS.

They think life was not worth living back then with no internet

[Bob Ross]

But yet...

They still haven't done what every 80's movie about the future promised, which was to make shit hover.

And I'm not talking about shit that can already hover, like hovercraft (boooooring).  I'm talking about shit that currently can't hover, but desperately needs to be able to hover, which is pretty much everything.

I want a hovercat.  I'd train it to poop on your head, and yoink bald eagles from the skies.  That would be awesome.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I remember getting computers at school in the 1st grade. They were IBMS and Apples that took up the entire desk. I remember staring at a black screen with green letters.

I also remember playing Oregon Trail. Your wagon was a solid green rectangle on two solid green circles.

Now my husband plays games like Assassin's Creed and God of War. I can hold more computing power in my hand in the form of a smart phone than all those IBM computers in our school lab combined.

Not technology related but I managed to date myself when my brother said he saw the new Ninja Turtle movie. I asked if they used "Ninja rap" in the sound track. He looked at me like I had three heads. That might have had to do with the fact I felt I had to sing it to prompt his memory.

I tried to prompt him again "You know Ninja rap by Vanilla Ice"

"Who is Vanilla Ice"

Geez when did I get old?

[weltschmerz]

Jan 7, 2015 14:21:16 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

My kid still doesn't believe ipads weren't around when I was a kid.

My kid thought there was no COLOUR when I was a kid. After all, photos, movies and TV were in black and white.

Therefore, the world was black and white.

[justme]

If those that are my age really think about it, it's crazy how on the cusp we were between two times. When I was real young even the house phones were still pretty much wired, we even had one rotary phone. Sometime in elementary school we got a wireless house phone with a huge antenna. I got my own Nokia cell phone when I got my car. The dichotomy alone is crazy, it gets crazier the more you think about what happened with technology in the 90s and being a young kid during that.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Welcome to the 1970's - and the greatest thing since sliced bread - these first mobile (cell) phones were like carrying around a large brick.

You almost needed a separate briefcase just to hold your phone.

[swasat]

In the 80s my aunt used to have the TV that had a shutter in front of it. It would sometime sget all grainy and stop working. We used to "slap" the tv on the sides and it would come on again 



I remember getting our first push button phone. That thing was SO COOL, after owning the dial phone for so long. My brother and I felt we would be the envy of our friends

[wyouser]

until the late 60's we had party lines and the phones all had kranks. You could call the neighbors with a series of long and short revolutions of the krank.  Being "HACKED", totally unknown....but everyone in the neighborhood just listened in to your conversation.  To connect to the outside world required a living breathing "operator"
 in town. TV? Black and white, 3 channels of which two were the same network.  But hey, the music was great!!

[billisonboard]

Jan 7, 2015 14:32:47 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Jan 7, 2015 14:21:16 GMT -5 @anne81 said:

My kid still doesn't believe ipads weren't around when I was a kid.

My kid thought there was no COLOUR when I was a kid. After all, photos, movies and TV were in black and white.

Therefore, the world was black and white.

Thought there was more to this:

[MarleyKeezy78]

Jan 7, 2015 14:29:14 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I remember getting computers at school in the 1st grade. They were IBMS and Apples that took up the entire desk. I remember staring at a black screen with green letters.

I also remember playing Oregon Trail. Your wagon was a solid green rectangle on two solid green circles.

Now my husband plays games like Assassin's Creed and God of War. I can hold more computing power in my hand in the form of a smart phone than all those IBM computers in our school lab combined.

Not technology related but I managed to date myself when my brother said he saw the new Ninja Turtle movie. I asked if they used "Ninja rap" in the sound track. He looked at me like I had three heads. That might have had to do with the fact I felt I had to sing it to prompt his memory.

I tried to prompt him again "You know Ninja rap by Vanilla Ice"

"Who is Vanilla Ice"

Geez when did I get old?

Go Ninja, go Ninja, go!!!! <<busts out into the running man>> I   the original TMNT movies 

[Anne_in_VA]

Huh - I guess I'm older than a bunch of you guys. I remember having a black phone in the basement and you had to lift the receiver, listen to see if anyone was talking (it was a party line), and if it was free you would push the lever up and down a few times to get the operator, then give her the number of the house you wanted so she could connect you.  All phone numbers began with two letters (ours was CH for Chapel). If you didn't know the number she could look it up if it was a local number or connect you to the long distance operator.

One of my first jobs out of high school was as a switchboard operator in a sales office and I used a cord board.  When you received a phone call you pulled one of a pair of cords, plugged it into the jack and answered.  If you needed to transfer the person to someone in the office, you would touch the appropriate extension's jack to see if they were on the phone.  If they weren't on the phone you could then plug it in to make their phone ring.  I had to watch and listen to see how long the person's phone rang and if it was more than 4-5 rings, I had to then disconnect from the extension and take a message.

We played outside all the time and my grandma would ring the big bell when it was time for us to come home for dinner.  We rode our bikes for miles every day and no one ever worried where we were.

Boy have times changed!

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

I remember when we had heavy black wall phone with rotary dial. Phone numbers were 5 digits.

When we became "big-city", two letters were added in front of the original 5-digit number - for example, our original home phone # was 76**2 - then around the mid 50's or early 60's, it became CR-76**2.

I can't believe I can still remember that phone number from childhood/teen years, but usually draw a blank when it comes to remembering my cell #.

And now we also have to include area code when keying in the number - even for local calls. Thank goodness for speed-dial.

[Deleted]

Was going through a box of old stuff the other day... came across an old cassette tape. took forever to explain that it was what portable music was on BEFORE the CD, to The 11 Year Old.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

Jan 7, 2015 21:02:46 GMT -5 @richardintn said:

Was going through a box of old stuff the other day... came across an old cassette tape. took forever to explain that it was what portable music was on BEFORE the CD, to The 11 Year Old.

Too bad you didn't have an 8-track tape to use as a pre-cassette example of portable music.

The 8-track was the ground-breaker in portable music technology..




Once they jammed in the player, they were pretty much a write-off - at least with cassettes, if you managed to dislodge a jammed cassette, you could rewind it using a pen or pencil in the sprockets.

[Jaguar]

My BIL STILL has his 8-track tapes AND PLAYER in his car.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

[weltschmerz]

Jan 7, 2015 20:49:04 GMT -5 ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ said:

I remember when we had heavy black wall phone with rotary dial. Phone numbers were 5 digits.

When we became "big-city", two letters were added in front of the original 5-digit number - for example, our original home phone # was 76**2 - then around the mid 50's or early 60's, it became CR-76**2.

I can't believe I can still remember that phone number from childhood/teen years, but usually draw a blank when it comes to remembering my cell #.

And now we also have to include area code when keying in the number - even for local calls. Thank goodness for speed-dial.

It's common to have better long-term memory than short.

I remember the address and phone number of when I was 5, but I now I need a bracelet with my address on it in case I get lost.

[Deleted]

Funny thing about the Cassette story earlier (that I just now connected in my mind with)... The 11 Year Old thought RECORDS were what came before CD's. He already knew about records ("they are CD's that are read with a needle instead of a laser... had to be that big because lasers are smaller than needles, duh, Grandpa!")

[marvholly]

captain
i am sure I am older than you because every example you gave was tru when I was in college in the mid-late 60's.

[The Captain]

Jan 8, 2015 6:06:54 GMT -5 marvholly said:

captain
i am sure I am older than you because every example you gave was tru when I was in college in the mid-late 60's.

Heh Heh...

Yea, nothing like having a kid when you're older then having the blank look from your tween when you talk about how long it used to take to save programs to cassete tape...(she starting to teach herself some basic).

[Wisconsin Beth]

"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"

I love Girl Genius. 

[The Captain]

Jan 8, 2015 9:36:42 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"

I love Girl Genius. 

GEESUS!!!  I've been reading your tag for years and finally went to the web site to check it out.

WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS BY PHIL FOGLIO!   I wondered where he went after the Myth series...

[Bluerobin]

I remember car phones!!!  Thought they were great.  Alas, they were only a forerunner.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Jan 8, 2015 11:06:44 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Jan 8, 2015 9:36:42 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

"Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science!"

I love Girl Genius. 

GEESUS!!!  I've been reading your tag for years and finally went to the web site to check it out.

WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS BY PHIL FOGLIO!   I wondered where he went after the Myth series...

  I didn't make the connection between his Myth book and GG for a long time.  I'd found, read and adored the Myth series and bought the graphic novel because it was Myth.  Then purged it in one of the moves. 

And here notmsnmoney.proboards.com/thread/36679/thread-exists-make-beth-jealous


ETA - it may be a few days before The Captain comes back.  It seems to take people 3+ days to read though the entire archive of Girl Genius online. 

[The Captain]

Jan 8, 2015 12:56:22 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Jan 8, 2015 11:06:44 GMT -5 The Captain said:

GEESUS!!!  I've been reading your tag for years and finally went to the web site to check it out.

WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS BY PHIL FOGLIO!   I wondered where he went after the Myth series...

  I didn't make the connection between his Myth book and GG for a long time.  I'd found, read and adored the Myth series and bought the graphic novel because it was Myth.  Then purged it in one of the moves. 

And here notmsnmoney.proboards.com/thread/36679/thread-exists-make-beth-jealous


ETA - it may be a few days before The Captain comes back.  It seems to take people 3+ days to read though the entire archive of Girl Genius online. 

I'm such an obscenely fast reader - I'm betting I blow through it on the train tonight. That is if I don't get distracted by some other fanfiction I've found.

Do you think it's appropriate for a 12yo girl?  I like his characters have realistic proportions AND are intelligent.

[Wisconsin Beth]

Yep, they rate it for teens and up.

Oh, and please be aware that we recommend Girl Genius for an audience of teens and up. Why? Well, let's see.....we have lots of running around in Victorian underwear, occasional innuendo, a certain amount of violence and the occasional "damn!" Will this deprive us of future happy meal toys? Probably. Are we having fun making our story our own way? Oh, yes! A lot of our readers still say they read GG to their kids, (and, of course, our kids like it,) but now you can make an informed choice. Thank you!

Be aware they are also turning it into a novel.  A real novel, so no artwork by Phil.  I think vol. 3 of that was published a few weeks before Christmas.  I told DH to look for it for V-day for me.  The novels have more detail in them.  And I think are now going to be telling the story ahead of the comic (the entire storyline was plotted out before Phil started drawing, supposedly.) 

The first page online is dated 11/4/02.  So you've got 14 years of 3x a week to work though.  Happy reading!