The spoiled under-30 crowd!!!

[aeon]

I wonder about us mid-20's. We had to take part in this 'grand' technological change in our most formative years.

I for one had to take part in the switch from phone lines to cell phones, usps to email, and library to internet at the end of elementary school . Remember those middle school classes where they had to teach you how to use AOL? HAH! I also remember it was soooo cool to have a pager in school. I can't imagine what it's like growing up now, when you can cheat on your homework with your iPhone... Man I wish I had powers like that back then.

Also, we didn't really grow up much with Atari. Sure I kicked some serious Pitfall butt with my dad when I was like 8, but when I came of age it was all about SNES and Genesis. I feel like most of us even skipped the NES era and went straight to 16bit. I am a child of the bit-wars my friends, and I fought hard on behalf of SEGA fans everywhere (although I secretly desired a Super Nintendo). With that understood, I can't imagine what it's like to be 14 right now chillin with my XBOX 360- thinking things won't ever be better than this.

Man I remember chillin with my N64 and thinking things wouldn't ever be better. And that was like, what, a dozen years ago? Sheesh.

[GSZX1337]

Remember those middle school classes where they had to teach you how to use AOL?

A... O... L?

[the7k]

Yeah, AOL... not sure what they did exactly, I just know that they kept sending us frisbees.

[GSZX1337]

Yeah, AOL... not sure what they did exactly, I just know that they kept sending us frisbees.

Oh, those guys. I used their CDs to keep my couch level.

[aeon]

Yeah, AOL... not sure what they did exactly, I just know that they kept sending us frisbees.

Oh, those guys. I used their CDs to keep my couch level.

[Ivo]

Yeah, AOL... not sure what they did exactly, I just know that they kept sending us frisbees.

Oh, those guys. I used their CDs to keep my couch level.

Does this work decently or is it just a joke? I guess it depends a lot on the Pizza... Maybe I should try it

Ivo.

[Luke]

And when we were kids, if we wanted to see nude women, we'd have to go over to someone's house whose parents would let their kids watch PG-13 movies or look at a magazine.

A magazine!

If we got an RC Car as a gift, you couldn't play with if for four hours, had ot wait to charge the battery. I would just hold and stare at the thing, waiting for all the fun to happen. And when the battery was fully charged, you got an entire 20 minutes of fun, then another 4 hours of waiting.

Beepers were a mess too. It's like having a cell phone where you can't answer or make calls.

We did have much more style, clothing wise. And you can't beat the 80's for great action movies.

You know what else was awesome in the 80's? MTV. Videos, videos, and more videos. There also used to be people called vee-jays.

I remember seeing a lot more punk rockers when I was a kid too. They always looked bad ass in the arcades, with their spiky leather jackets and mohawks, but were always nice enough to spare a quarter for a game of Spy-Hunter if you had the guts to ask them.

Speaking of arcades, we had them when we were kids. None of that Token mess either. Insert quarter, play game. You'd go to the mall with your parents, if you were lucky you had a dollar or two, they'd shop, you'd scope out the arcade. And with so few precious quarters, you'd check out each game carefully before inserting a coin. Golden Axe usually took all of my quarters.

[gtmtnbiker]

And when we were kids, if we wanted to see nude women, we'd have to go over to someone's house whose parents would let their kids watch PG-13 movies or look at a magazine.

A magazine!

Ha ha ha. Yeah, I remember it was cool if you knew someone who had HBO and watch an R-rated movie to get a glimpse of the flesh. Our town had yearly or bi-yearly cleanup days. We would look through the piles of trash to see if there was a stack of Playboys/Penthouse thrown out.

You know what else was awesome in the 80's? MTV. Videos, videos, and more videos. There also used to be people called vee-jays.

Yeah, MTV was really good. I remember watching JJ Jackson, Martha Quinn and others. It was good music/videos. None of this reality TV crap.

Speaking of arcades, we had them when we were kids. None of that Token mess either. Insert quarter, play game. You'd go to the mall with your parents, if you were lucky you had a dollar or two, they'd shop, you'd scope out the arcade. And with so few precious quarters, you'd check out each game carefully before inserting a coin. Golden Axe usually took all of my quarters.

Yup, arcades were great. I spent my quarters on Dig Dug, Pacman, and Donkey Kong. We looked forward to going to the malls to check out the arcades and the latest games.

Other things that I remembered from my childhood: Getting cable for a better picture. The control box had 30 channels on a slider. A 19" color TV was pretty good. Going to hardware store and they had a device for testing vacuum tubes.

I don't really lament for things that I had growing up. I love technology and I think the age that we live in is cool. If there's anything that I miss is the prevalence of kids in the neighborhood and how we played kickball, hide-n-seek, tag, etc. I vaguely remember riding over to my friend's house (1/2 mile away) when I was in second/third grade something that my fourth grader has not done. It seems that we were less worried about predators and bad stuff happening to kids.

[dsheinem]

[fastbilly1]

No, SNL's just sucked since like 2002-2003.

^opinion. Would be cancelled if no one liked it. Nbc has alot of stuff they could air instead, but obviously people like it.

True, but it's one of those shows that can't be canceled all that easily. What would happen is a ton of people that haven't seen the show in years would start coming back and it would get a ratings boost leading to new seasons. Think of how the Simpsons are no longer funny yet FOX refuses to kill the show thanks to legacy viewers.

What are you talking about, these shows make money that is why they are still on the air. Its not because they are TV hallmarks, just look at Guiding Light. It was a soap opera that ran on radio from 37-56 and on TV DAILY since 52 till 2009. Thats long enough three generations of a family could have worked on the same show - four if you really stretch it. It is considered one of the defining soap operas but it was taken off the air last year since it stopped making money. SNL has only been on the air 35 years, Guiding Light had been on, in some form, for 72 years. And now it is over. If you dont think it is comparable, well thats your take, but I know when I was a child my grandmother and her friends would talk about it daily. Twenty years later, when I was working in a hotel, ALL the house keepers watched it. Some of them couldnt speak a whole lot of English, they knew all the plots of Guiding Light (and some Spanish soap operas).

Simpsons and SNL started catering to a different audience and alot of us stopped thinking they were funny. Both are very unique in that they have been on so long that the original writers have mostly moved on and they had a bad period, then people who grew up watching the show started writing it - Simpsons more so than SNL. I know that when I watched a new episode of The Simpsons with my old man a couple weeks ago he was laughing his ass off, while only about every third joke made me laugh. Thats not to say my father is an idiot; he is by far one of the most brilliant men I know - and Im not saying that since he is blood, I actually hated him for a large chunk of my life, but he really is brilliant: He got a call from Emory Kristof yesterday asking his opinion on some new camera - Kristof was one of National Geographic's photographers from the mid 60s till last year (he was the last of their still photographers on staff - now everything is outsourced), and my old man hasnt officially been a professional still photographer since the 70s but his opinion is still highly praised.

Now dont get me wrong, they have dumbed down alot of the jokes, but the show still has its moments and still draws numerous new fans every year. The Simpsons will be on air until the voice actors decide to stop doing it, everyone who works on it has said that. And believe you me, that is a sweet gig. Voice Acting is probably the easiest job in the world. For a few hours in the booth and you go on your way. Ive done it for some indies and fan films, but hope Ill get in on a radio production this year - Sorry thats all I can say NDA. FOX is a business, they dont really care that much about the show is aslong as it makes money. And once it stops making money, theyll can it in a heartbeat. They did it to Futurama theyll do it to the Simpsons. Then Comedy Central will buy the rights, run a marathon, and we will all fall in love with it again.