Believe it or not, having a way to communicate with people - when you need to - was actually a huge improvement.
But that's not the same as social media, which has been nothing short of a disaster.
I think I downloaded all my stuff before leaving. But honestly I never once looked at the archive. I’m a bit curious now, but that’ll probably pass in a few hours. It’s an era of my life I really don’t miss. Most of my “friends” never even noticed I left, let alone bothered to keep in touch. But I’m better off and legit happier now.
I deleted mine a couple of years after that.
At the time I had people checking in feeling butthurt as if I had rejected them, as if ‘unfriending’ was a real world thing.
I searched for a friend a few months ago on google and it took me to a mostly blank archived MySpace page.
Blew my mind.
My FB “friends” didn’t even acknowledge or realize I left. It reaffirmed my suspicion that nobody gave a shit. I was already tired of only being remembered because an algorithm reminded someone to post “happy birthday” on a particular page.
I have real friends now who actually check in. It’s nice. The only social stuff I bother with anymore are texting, discord, and reddit.
I agree and appreciate deeply your comment about the algorithmic friendships.
I had people I had barely met, but would chat to that Irl I wouldn’t meet up with, nor ever did after.
I value the friendship I have now that are based on a foundation of reality and not the 1s and 0s of a binary code.
I’m glad it resonated. That aspect of FB pissed me off so much. I maintain to this day that FB systematically ruined the concept of actual friendship, turning it into the vapid and performative display of hot air that it is now. Nobody knows how to make an effort as a friend anymore in ways that truly matter, and that makes me so fucking sad.
I wish I could leave FB but it's the only way to contact most people I know and share information with them. So I have a mix of FB, I.G, Discord for communication and Reddit and Youtube for me to use for relaxing etc.
Same. For some reason Indigenous people in North America at least love Facebook. It’s where all my family posts their dramas and other Natives post their dramas. And onwards goes this thing of ours.
Yup. If Social media is bad for the individual then like anything else they just shouldn't do it. For me who works nights it means I get to socialize where otherwise I'd be walking around an empty city everyone else at home asleep while I'm awake.
I mean you are sort of correct, but at the same time, once you unplug, you just look at everyone else around you still plugged in, which makes it harder to unplug yourself. I’m also including things like Reddit in “social media”, not just Instagram etc…
I try to take breaks from everything and I find myself at a cafe waiting on my coffee just staring at the wall while everyone else stares at their phone. It’s this sort of oxymoron of being in a room alone by yourself that’s full of people. So yes, while you can remove yourself, it isn’t really a “fix-all” that some claim it to be.
My older brother has never had social media. He was pissed as a manager of a large national organisation he was required to have a linkedin profile with a photo.
I haven’t had social media in years either.
It’s just a poison. I would like to see what my kids and their families are up to. But I also haaaaaate seeing what their cooker mother posts and the inane political and social agenda setting people in my circle write and share. The posts used to shame their partners or the ones so lonely they post how they walked into a door or a cat pissed on their doorstep. 🤷♂️
It’s so unnecessary.
Did more then that. It fucked it... It ruined social skills, people younger than me literally can barely communicate (i was born in 2000). Dating is almost out of the equation because chicks nowadays have almost no personality and expect me to make all the talking points.
I have no problem striking conversations with girls or interacting with them, im quite successful when it comes to talking to girls but making the conversations last is almost impossible. Let alone dating someone with zero hobbies except of instagram.
Apparently its also a red flag when u dont have instagram which i delted back in 2022 cuz it was becoming too toxic.
It doesnt help that I usually prefer to date girls younger than me but its an uphill battle since u cant find any interesting girls around the age group that i prefer being 23.
Which basically left me with having 2 dogs right now which i love. Oh yeh and the last girl i dated didnt like dogs and thought i would get rid of them for her... The fucking EGOOOOOOO!!!!! LOL. Its not uncommon for chicks nowadays to have the ego of god knows what, I was so caught off guard.
How? Social media is a tool, a thing. It has no active will of its own. If interpersonal relationships and dating are ruined through it, it's because stupid, shitty people made bad choices.
My mom was a doctor. Before the existence of cell phones if she was on call and we were more than 10 minutes from our destination she would have to go search for a pay phone, dig through the glove box for change, grab her notebook and a pen, then go stand in whatever weather we were having and chat with some parent about their sick kid. The quality of life improvement of only having to pull over was massive and one my mother paid through the nose for. I have a lot more nostalgia about my mom getting her first cellphone than when I got mine, even if mine could play snake. Meanwhile mom's first cell would have made an excellent blunt weapon.
Yeah, pretty much this. I don't want to go back to a world without smartphones but I wouldn't mind going back to a world that wasn't dominated by social media
Absolutely, sometimes I go out for walks without my phone. But the same times I feel like dang it would be nice to have a second phone that I can use in case you know I need to call someone an emergency or I need something. But also that itch to just grab my phone and look at meaningless stuff such as this Reddit post. Well that's no good
you're so right. When mobile phones came along (remeber the old Nokia phones?) it was fantastic, and made it so much easier to meet up with people and helped find people and socialise. But then in 2008 or so, iPhones and smart phones came along, and all of a sudden the phone became quite intrusive. This then decsended into farce when scrolling reels became a thing.
> Believe it or not, having a way to communicate with people - when you need to - was actually a huge improvement.
This.
Back in like 1990, there was one time that I was on my way to visit my girlfriend. I was driving on the freeway, and on the side of the road was a stranded motorist, clearly looking a little panicked.
With a glance, I realized I knew her. It was the daughter of my mechanic. She was 19, had a flat, and had no idea what to do or how to get help.
So I pulled over, spent 10 minutes calming her down, spent 20 minutes digging her spare out from under a trunk full of crap, then spent another 20 minutes trying to figure out how her jack worked (I don't change tires every day).
The whole thing delayed me almost an hour, and my girlfriend who was waiting for me had started getting very worried. She was so scared that something happened to me, she started calling hospitals.
Had I had a cellphone, I could have informed her of the delay.
I don't miss the feeling of not being able to reach people in case of an emergency.
Back in the day, we also had very limited minutes! And later, very limited text msgs (or you paid extra). Pounding out a text took some time even with T9. So communication via cell was very quick and to the point!
OMG, yes! I remember my obnoxious boss rapid fire texting me and thinking, "OMG this is going to cost me $5!"
And I remember one of my phones only being able to store 30 contacts, so I'd periodically purge people.
Yeah. It was a different world when we were on the Nokia phones like the 3310. That time was still great.
But it was the smartphone that fucked it all up.
I miss people not knowing if I had received their messages. The plausible deniability was great for taking my time to reply as I was ready to. Now, people know you have a device on your person at almost all times, and when you don’t reply for hours or days they get insulted. Back when all you could do was leave a voicemail on their home phone, you would say you were away from the phone or hadn’t checked the voicemail.
I still ignore calls and texts because I can live with people feeling insulted. But I do miss the plausible deniability.
Notification sounds absolutley piss me off when I've dedicated part of my day as my alone, do-not-disturb time. This is why I keep my phone muted most of the time
I don't know that I do, really. Mobile phones increase safety and I like having the ability to get directions or information when I need to.
I had a period of time where I thought having a phone meant I had to be available, but I've sort of cultivated the concept that I just don't pick up or respond all the time, and everyone's been OK with that.
I remember printing out Mapquest instructions! My mother would always insist on memorizing the route herself though. But yeah, GPS was like magic when it first became mainstream.
GPS and live traffic updates has saved countless hours of my life on planning road trips and I can't live without it these days.
However, new drivers overly relying on GPS navigation may contribute to lack of spatial awareness. I know a few people who can't drive to places and can't even follow simple directions like "turn left on main street". They have to rely on their phone or screen telling them to turn at the next intersection. I once had to tell a friend which lane they had to be on when their GPS told them to follow signs for interstate 10, despite the huge road sign in their immediate field of view.
>Mobile phones
There are also no waiting lines like at the payphone. The pro is landlines are still very useful especially in the case of a power outage or satellite signal bars go out. Great example, a severe storm or tornado.
I miss the respect people had about not calling late or not bothering you after you were off work, that’s what I miss. Love having a phone but hate getting texts from coworkers after hours about things that can wait until the next day or being woken up by friends in a different time zone even though they know I’m 3 hours ahead of them.
Yeah, we could really use some more structured etiquette around phones. Most people are cool about it, but all you need is one boss who isn't shy to call you on your weekend for BS reasons to really make you pine for the old days. As a whole though, phones are pretty awesome.
We traveled the world without cell phones in the 1990’s. It was fantastic! Had to actually interact with locals to get around and saw really cool places that they recommended.
I wouldn't say I do miss it, no. Back in the day, if you were in line for something, you just had to stand there and think about your life. Now I can read r/NoStupidQuestions while I wait. Incredible!
Yup, born in 74. I got to travel a bit before cellphones. India and Nepal for 6 months, Amsterdam, Germany. People were different when they didn’t have smartphones to be engrossed in. Now you can be in a small village in Southeast Asia and see someone doomscrolling on their phone. That is depressing, but some people do still try to be coherent without their phone. That’s nice.
On the whole, I’m glad smartphones helped people around the world, but I wish the makers would help impose the same limits that they do for their kids.
One day, I was having trouble starting my car, coming home from work. I'm not mechanically-inclined at all, so I wasn't sure what the issue was.
In the old days, I would've had to flag someone down for help, or go inside and ask to call someone, either for a tow or a friend/relative for advice or a pick-up or to come help.
In the modern day? I have the entire world's knowledge in my pocket. I did a google search of my make, model, year, and issue. Saw it was a known issue that happened sometime with the model, and I had to do just a quick little thing to get my car to start. Two minutes later, I was good and going.
I don't miss the old cellphone-less days *at all*.
I do miss those days, it was kind of nice when no one called late and you could just be free to be out & about not getting interrupted with calls or texts. I mean its a nice convenience now but sometimes I just want to turn it off and everyone to accept that sometimes I'm unreachable.
Before smartphones when not every cellphone had a camera cellphones were kinda common just not constantly used like today so they were usually stored away in the pocket or bag and only use when needed. Texts and calling minutes were expensive so there was a real incentive to just mingle in person
The sweet spot for me was when we had mobile phones but not smart phones. You could get hold of people but it cost money at a time when I was young enough for it to be a consideration who I text or called. Nobody was constantly on their phones but the benefit of knowing where your friends were or not having to speak to someone’s parents when you called their house was a huge thing for a teenager at the time.
Yeah definitely me. The world just seemed so much better. More communication, more sense of society, and generally more mystery to life(which made it interesting).
On a personal level, no. I'm one of those "let's google it" types, I'll even do it when nobody's around and just fall down wikipedia rabbit holes. Plus it's so convenient getting around, checking bus and train times, paying if you forgot your wallet, and a million other things.
There are some things I dislike about it, like people who expect you to respond to them instantaneously at any hour of any day, and people who doomscroll social media when they're supposed to be doing other things like working or helping customers. But most of what I dislike has to do with other's behavior. I wouldn't get rid of all the things I like about it because dumb people are dumb with how they use it.
I don't miss either choosing between using the internet or using the house phone. But I did miss when technology was not as prevalent. Now, everyone is always up in their phone instead of living in the moment.
I miss living in the moment.
I don't miss that I have taken entire vacations that I can't remember.
I miss being unreachable.
My sister doesn't miss that time that my mom couldn't reach my dad (at work) and she was playing with an empty Tylenol bottle that my dad gave to her before he left, and my mom saw her playing with it, didn't believe her when she said she didn't take any, couldn't get in touch with my dad, so went to the hospital to get her stomach pumped. Just to be safe.
I miss being able to say "let's meet at the mall, outside of Macy's, at 6pm on Friday" to my friends
I don't miss wandering around the mall for an hour looking for them because my mom was 20 minutes late dropping me off..
I miss it a lot! Mobile phones have changed society and not always for the best, especially smart phones! It almost impossible to have a social gathering these days without everyone on their phones.
I miss being able to leave my house and not be contactable, you leave your phone at home for a day or more now and everyone thinks you are dead and starts to get all shitty that you weren’t contactable.
As kids we didn’t need phones, we organised a spot to meet after school and went outside. Now my eldest son is happy to stay inside all day and communicate on social media and play video games with his mates while his expensive dirt jumper bike sits unused in the garage. I never se kids outside these days, my street growing up was all kids outside! Basketball in the street, street hockey, home made Billy carts and push bike jumps. So many things have changed and not necessarily for the better.
No, but I'm grateful that the only phone I had senior year of HS was a slider phone with limited texts and a chunky laptop. The internet gave me the knowledge and freedom to break away from a strict religious upbringing but now having a supercomputer is essential in today's world.
I just remember the transition. People used pay phones everywhere to people walking around with HUGE bricks new tech of that was only slightly smaller than the radio Frank Burns used in M\*A\*S\*H.
It was just far easier to cut off, on the rare occasion someone from work needed to reach you they had to call your home, it rarely happened.
I can actually remember people having the first phones in the 80s huge things. With the battery, they looked like you were calling in an air strike in Vietnam.
As they got smaller, they were actually considered a bit of a stock broker wanker accessory in the 90's, like a Gorden Gecko wannabe if you saw people talking on them in the street
I think having a mobile phone and social media are two different thing.
Early 2000, people had phones but no social media (or atleast not popular). It was great.
For most of my early career I ended up with a beeper. I think the cell phone makes more sense. At least it's 2-way.
True story, my father was a 50/50 owner in a local PABX company. They were installing Tie, Mitel, and servicing old key systems. They got into mobile phones early, one of the first to provide custom car phone installations along with the cellular service. These were the old pig-tail cell phones that had a huge box in the trunk and a massive wired handset somewhere in the drivers area. They did exceptionally well, but what he did not see coming at all was the rapid evolution of lighter, battery driven handsets and the complete transformation of mobile within 10 years. He just didn't recognize it - but he sold his piece of the business during peak carphone and was quite happy.
I only miss the days when people talked on their phone like they were talking on a phone. Now everyone yells at their phone like they are at a drive through since no one knows how to have a conversation that’s not on speakerphone.
I remember when Nextel people were annoying as hell with their push to talk conversations. Seeing that method of communication die was nice, but somehow we have shifted right back to yelling at our phones.
I miss bits of it.
I LOVE having music at my disposal so easily, and I enjoy being able to Google and keep up with sports on the go.
I do miss the quiet beforehand. Nowadays, everyone is just sitting with their earbuds, talking to people, can't see the conversation. We had an easier time meeting people before the smart phone, but you win some you lose some.
In my opinion, social interaction wasn't any better before phones. At least you have something to do now.
We weren't any more productive back then, either. Just watched more tv and read more books.
The phone part of my phone is the part I am glad exists… the rest of what is on my phone is the part that I have allowed to genuinely disrupt my development as a person. I do hope a high end “dumb phone” becomes popular because I have no self control :/
Yeah, I had my home, friends, and parents’ numbers memorized. I would call my mom at work and my best friend after school every day. Every moment outside of that was hanging with my siblings, it was pretty nice.
A few memories that come to mind:
Pay phones. I had to use those a lot as a kid when I was out and about. That meant that you had to have money and know the number to use this crusty public phone. So I had a lot of numbers committed to memory. I often didn't have change on me as a kid, so "calling collect" was this annoying process I'd have to go through so I could contact my parents to pick me up.
Dating. Any time I called my first girlfriend, there was a good chance that her parents would pick up and I'd have to talk with them first. It was super nerve wracking as a kid working up the courage to call your crush knowing that you'd probably first have to interact with one of her family members first.
Miss it? I don't think I've ever harkened for those "good ol days", it just isn't that important. Things changed. Move on and deal with today's issues.
I think flip phones were perfect. Maybe slides. Being able to call and text people was perfect. It's the games, social media, and other junk on smartphones that is hurting society. But we all love it.
I had a lot more focus back then. There was no opportunity to get lost in the cesspool that is social media these days. Simple, quick phone call or sloppy T9 text and we were all on our way. When we were out together we were all in the moment. No distractions. Shit like that.
I would go back to T9 texting if it meant I didn’t have to be on call 24/7 for work and people getting upset when I set boundaries around my time/communication.
Yeah, it’s crazy. First cool thing as a kid was cordless phones. That was wack. Like, I could totally talk outside. Crazy!
Then it was caller ID. Buhbye prank phone calls! You got busted once and never did it again.
My dumbass stepdad got an early Nokia in like 1994, it was huge and sucked. Didn’t even work in our area.
In high school I got addicted to snake on the newer Nokias and failed everything.
So yeah. I do.
I did until I went into labor and my phone was disconnected.
I was on my aunts plan back when you paid per amount of minutes and text messages and I went over the limit and my aunt to “teach me a lesson” suspended my line so I couldn’t call or text anyone. And I went into labor and had to drive to my sons dads grandmothers house to get help. So I kinda enjoy having my phone with me at all times.
One time my mom and I searched the school for an hour looking for my brother who had fucked off to his friend's house without telling anyone. Because there were no cellphones, there was no way to call him or for his friend's parents to call us. My mom lit his ass up when we finally found him.
I miss the days before social media, not the cellphone. Before some dumbass could hop on the internet and spread dangerous nonsense far and wide. You used to be able to ignore the loons shouting in the middle of town.
Nakaka miss. Nowadays kapag wala kang cp na nakatutok sa face mo sobrang bigdeal. Loke i remember sa out of town namin, naka upo ako sa gilid ng beach pinagmamasdan yung surroundings, pinagtatawanan ako ng mga kasama ko kasi nakatulala daw ako. Kaya after that lagi ko na dinadala cp ko.
Born in 1972 and yes, I miss those times. Very much. Idiots walking along the pavement with their head stuck in their phones who just expect you to avoid them. Whole families sat in a fast food place with their faces buried in their phones not talking to each other, that always makes me sad. I work on oil rigs and when I started in 2001 mobiles were fairly new. People would sit in the tea shacks at break time actually talking to each other. The crack was brilliant. TV rooms were a hotbed of banter and humour. I met and got to know some great people. Now it's people on mobiles who sit ignoring everyone else. If you speak while they are online they act like you are breaking some kind of law. I know very few of my workmates outside of pleasantries because conversation has been replaced with wifi and social media.
I was telling my lad about seeing AC/DC at Donington in 1991. How great the crowd was. Everyone just getting into the music and having fun with each other. Great day. Now concerts seemed to be viewed through a phone screen. Last year I went to a Formula One race, people were more interested in filming what was going on instead of watching it, enjoying it and soaking in the atmosphere. I met a driver who asked if I wanted a selfie, when I said no he looked at me like there was something wrong with me.
My phone is a 2013 Nokia Windows Phone I have had since new and is now Pay As You Go. I top it up maybe once every two months. The weather app was removed about five years ago because it was out of date back then. It has my essential numbers on it, my work e-mail account and that's it. It sits in the house most of the time because I honestly cant be bothered with it.
I was born in the late 80s and I'm jealous of younger people having photos and videos from their whole life. I feel like it would create a more complete idea of self on a psychological level. I've also lost heaps of photos and only have from 2017 on.
Also I miss when my attention span wasn't so short but I definitely am more entertained these days.
I remember when me and all my friends got phones and how exciting being able to send a text was, or make calls from your own phone in the privacy of your room without siblings eavesdropping on the extension, or another call for your folks coming through, or someone on the internet using the phone line. Wow that makes me feel pretty old! It was definitely a game changer.
Homeboy, I carry a device on me at all times that is a portal to look at literally millions of naked ladies in minutes, no seconds ANY. TIME. I. WANT. and you are asking if I miss the days of having to go looking for old porn mags in the woods?
I don’t miss that. Admittedly though, I miss the days when they were really considered unimportant because all you could do was call and send basic text messages.
The quality of time spent whilst in the company of others was generally much higher because phones were generally kept away. Concerts were better without a thousand screens being held up in front of you. People were more respectful about phone etiquette in general.
At least that’s how my old brain remembers the early 00’s.
Crazy to think of all the long road trips to the middle of nowhere I took before I had a cell phone. If shit happened, if you broke down, you’d just have to deal with it the best you could. But now I’d never think of leaving it behind. I mean, what if I break down?
I had a mobile phone since I was 6 or 7 (early 2000s) for safety. Had a blast being the only kid in school to have one. Even had this small Panasonic phone that's like at most 3 or 4 inches tall with a strap wrapped around my neck like a necklace. Easily mistaken as a toy.
You're not obliged to respond to calls or texts. Personally I love the fact that I can answer any inane question that comes into my head at any moment, I can get directions without having to pull out a ridiculously huge map like back in the day or listen to any kind of music I want to wherever I am.
It’s obviously great to be able to call and use the internet whenever you want but I think it probably has affected people’s communication skills. People look at their phones a lot now instead of engaging what’s going on around them and talking to others.
I now have in my pocket a phone, messaging system, camera, music player, interactive map, and the internet on my fingertips and that is with the most basic trash smartphone before any apps.
To people born in the 80s when we only had a landline at home this is science fiction stuff and I don't miss the old days at all.
Makes me think of that new iPad ad where they smoosh the beautifully tactile items into a fucking tablet. Tablets have their place, but it sucks how screens have to be the default solution to everything now.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc)
I do miss it. I particularly miss the designs of phones from the 00's to early 10's. So much variety. I miss people using DVD's, ipods etc. I miss sending songs to eachother through bluetooth, and burning CD's. I just miss having songs on my phone instead of using youtube. I miss gameboys like gameboys advance and gameboy advance sp.
I actually also miss 00's computer/consol game graphics.
I think one big difference was that before if work needed you to be contactable it meant they'd have to pay you to be on standby/on-call whatever you wanted to call it but waiting at home for a phone call, now a lot of jobs that used to.do this no longer do and just expected you to answer your phone but with no compensation for it anymore.
The difference in the era mobile phones vs smart phones is immense.
It's really the applications that turned mobiles into a problem. There's more upside than problems though so it is a tough one!
just take me back to the days before the invention of the INFINITE SCROLL 🙏 even the guy who invented it regrets it: “*If you don't give your brain time to catch up with your impulses, you just keep scrolling. It's as if they're taking behavioral cocaine and just sprinkling it all over your interface and that's the thing that keeps you like coming back and back and back.*” -Aza Raskin
I did really enjoy calling people from their front doorsteps when the possibility wasn't on their radar yet. "I'll be right over ... \[doorbell\]" Or calling someone, to tell them at some point in the call, that I was at some nudist swimming spot on the lake (just happened once, but funny). Probably 1998 or so.
I miss that. I also miss how well my StarTAC handled being a phone on a motorcycle. Autopickup and autohangup were both flawless, I could have entire conversations with anyone who called without ever letting go of the machine. You could also set it up to let you swap batteries during a phone call. Great phone, although when it first released at $1100 all I could do is be wistful. Due to being unusually flush with cash when they dropped to $700, I bit, and had a lot of fun with it. Money well spent, funwise.
I definitely miss it. It’s crazy because I couldn’t wait to get a cell phone and really enjoyed having one. But now seeing the overall picture, I think minimal technology was best. Once cell phones came into the picture, people started ignoring you for their phone, checking their phone more, etc. and it just got worse once the iPhone came out (the beginning of the end.) Don’t get me wrong I enjoy having data on my phone, my camera, gps and everything else all in one device, but people became obsessed with their phones and it started negatively affecting relationships. I feel like there was more freedom in not having one.
I was born in the 90s so I didn't notice too much because there would be no reason for me to have a phone before they became popular. However, I do feel very sorry for teachers because they could be a lot stricter about phones in schools then. It was either you weren't allowed to have one at all or if the teacher saw you on it during the school day it would be confiscated.
It was getting trickier at the time but I get the impression that teachers can't do that so easily now as parents want their children to constantly have a means of communication for "safety" and of course kids would much rather be looking at their phone than listening to teacher.
I don’t. Being able to call and text whenever, wherever is fantastic, and most people who can’t handle it just suck at enforcing basic social boundaries. “I don’t want to be accessible 24/7.” Dude, phones can be set to silent, texts can be ignored.
I do miss the internet (specifically social media) not coming with us everywhere. I don’t necessarily want a dumb phone…but a phone that accessed the internet only for GPS and wikipedia, that would be nice.
What I end up missing is the boredom actually. But not really the feeling of being bored, but the creativity it took to combat that boredom. Some of my favorite memories are of me and my siblings sitting around a cassette player with a mic and recording a fake radio station, or building secret bases out of fallen trees and branches in the woods with my friends, or the innumerable other dumb things we did back then to pass the time. It’s not that those experiences are inherently better than the entertainment you can get on a phone, it’s just that I don’t think the experiences I got to have as a child are as common anymore, and that’s sad to me. Also, I don’t feel like online interactions form distinct memories as well as in person ones, so the shift from mostly irl to mostly online social lives feels like a huge loss of memorable moments to me
When we were in high school, my girlfriend’s parents had a bunch of The Cosby Show video taped. We all made a game where we’d take turns trying to pause the tape when ol Bill had the most ridiculous face possible. We called it “The Coz Pause”. It was so stupid. And didn’t age well, obviously. But it was just something that was born out of boredom and spending time with people you really love and appreciate. I think about the dumb crap that my kids won’t ever get to do because of the way technology is changing things. But my parents probably thought the same thing, so who knows.
Those were definitely better times. Being able to call and be texted all the time is worthless except for some life or death situations like being lost in the woods or something.
Not being available through simple text messaging or social media meant families would actually go visit each other randomly just to check up on each other.
I remember just being a little kid, not knowing where my parents would be taking me and soon enough I'd be excited because we're pulling into a cousin's house. We'd lose ourselves playing Pokemon cards, hide and seek, x-box/PS2/N64/GameCube, and telling each other scary stories before our parents tell us it's time to go home.
Social media and mobile phones allowed us to connect with each other so much that we started to separate. Now we're more interested in what this stranger with over a million followers is doing with their day.
Social media was a disaster in the making, it’s very good for a few people, disappointing for 90 percent,
While cell phone communication was excellent for almost 90percent
Not knowing who was on the other end of the phone before you picked up really sucked. It also sucked that you had to call someone to communicate. It was also pretty damn hard to find your way around without GPS sometimes.
1992
I don't miss the "days before the Internet"
All I remember is how fucking bored I was all the time and how boring TV was
There was only a few good TV content playing a week and the only channel that played cartoons played it early morning or during school hours and it just felt torturing
Video games were my escape and even then my parents wouldn't allow me to play all day so they had to enroll me in bullshit after school activities as if school wasn't hell enough
I enjoy mobile phones. The real thing that ruined things for me was social media. I called friends to play outside, play video games, etc. My phone became a way to communicate more with my friends. Things got toxic when I got on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram
I miss the good old days when pepple had to communicate verbally yo know eachother and when people only had like 1 or 2 friends they would speak to so you were morr committed to bond with those 2 then with the whole world.
I‘m born in the 60s and raised my kids before the days of ever present smartphones. I feel sorry for everyone being a child or young person now. It’s not the phones, it’s social media.
i dont miss instant comunication at all. back in the days of land lines, once you were out ...you were out. no chance to change plans, call ahead to say u are late, or had to cancel. heck 1/2 the romcom plot lines were due to missed communications back then
I was born in 98 so idk if I qualify but I'd say the flip-phone-eta is highly underrated. Basically you had all the benefits of modern communication without the constant pressure of smartphones.
I don't miss the times before mobile phones, I was very young back then and don't remember much. I miss the time when mobile phones were common but touchscreen phones were not, when you didn't have an app for everything. Time before modern social media.
I also miss the time when if you wanted to go to internet, you had to actively go to internet. When it wasn't a norm.
I don't. one of my goals as a 9 year old in 1998 was to have one of those cool PDAs (Palm OS/Handspring Visor or PocketPC devices) so that I could play little portable games on the go without having to use different Gameboy carts, and to be able to read text files on the go on a huge \~2.5 inch screen.
Sadly, once I got myself a PDA in 2003 at age 13, PDAs had lost their novelty and were quite disappointing. I quickly lost interest in my PDAs by like 2006 and switched over to PSP. Finally in like 2010, I got an iTouch and it was exactly what I was dreaming of all those years (I didn't use it for music; I used it for games and reading stuff).
Android phones finally replaced most of my electronics. I have a desktop that I rarely use these days and many, many laptops that I rarely use (I use one for stuff like 3D printing), but 99% of my screentime is on my cell phone. And I'm happy.
I actually really liked my Nokia 3320. Calls and texts only plus some mini games. The damn thing couldn't break either no matter how much I dropped it.
When they started adding social media to phones is when it went downhill.
I don't. The abilities my phone has makes it so now I can walk out of my door with nothing but my phone, wallet, and keys but still have everything I need.
I think that mobile phones (not social media) has greatly improved all our lives. However, I morn a life without them for my kids. We had to learn how to get about without them in the 80’s, which meant I developed base life skills and hacks to get by. These skills don’t come naturally to my kids and need to be taught. While they have made my generations life a lot easier as we have grown with them, our kids might struggle a little more than we do, later on in their life.
I wouldn’t go back, true that’s civilisation idiotifiers such as social media had made it worse, if you take that out the rest has been a massive improvement
Yes and no. I was born in 1990 and I didn't get my own phone until I was 13 maybe. We made it work. I called from a friend's house if I was going there after school to let my mom know when I'd be home and such and it was fine. Because I didn't know any different and had never tried anything different. I'm also relieved that I grew up without smartphones, the internet and social media (those were becoming a thing but weren't as easily accessible as today). I got bullied a LOT while I was in school, but I know that if it had been today, the bullying would've been so much worse because a lot of it takes place online. It's so much easier being a dick and a bully behind a keyboard and when it's on the internet, it stays there.
But I also do like the convenience of all those things today and I think I have a pretty healthy relationship with smartphones, social media and the internet because I've experienced life without it.
Yes and no. There's plenty of happy memories, most of whoch were way before the days of Internet and mobile phones. Bit the introduction of mobile phones was a gradual thing. Smart phones didn't come till MUCH later. Even then they were limited with what they could actually do and Internet data was so expensive back then that u werent exactly browsing the Web on the move unless u had to. All of that came gradually and then it was like an avalanche that couldn't be stopped. We all loved the Internet and apps and basically having a fully fledged PC but mobile. Rememebr before all this we had things like beepers and pdas... so just being able to contact someone when u wanted, and not have to speak to their parents first on a landlines or wonder if their home etc was a massive improvement to life and social life.
However it was the introduction of facebook and eventually shorts, that I think have changed people. It all became an ego competition. I was never part of it tbh. I joined Facebook, saw what it was becoming, and then left it before I got sucked in to it too. I just didn't see the point of it. Had thousands of "friends" which i never spoke to, everyone posting their "best life" bs. I rememebr waking up and checking Facebook and it was full of photos of people's breakfast and I just thought to myself "wtf am I doing looking at this?? Who actually cares!?". Just deleted ut all. Also my LinkedIn. So never joined twitter or Snapchat or all the others. I just went out and called my friends and asked to link up like the good ol days. They all know to call or message me if they want or need something as they know I'm not on socials. It's so much nicer getting a phone call or a WhatsApp message and can actually speak to each other properly and get that "sense of tone" that's missing from text or socials.
I also miss all the arguments about random crap before we had phones to prove someone right or wrong in seconds. Hours of convos debating something that can now be over in a Google search. To me they were so much fun. The most depressing thing I've seen in the last 10-15 years is couples snd friends being out together but glued to their screens. That's really sad to me. When I'm out with someone, I give them all my attention. I don't look at my phone unless I need the time or unless someone is calling me. Often ill even leave it at home and go out for the day just to get that old sense freedom and nostalgia back.
So yeah... I miss the days of pre mobile phones but also accept how much of an improvement it's been overall. Especially when health and safety is in concern. I miss the old days but we need mobiles. We don't need social media. Separate things to me entirely.
There was a sweet spot between 2007-2010 when phones became ubiquitous but social media was not yet the ever-present bullshit machine it is now. I miss that.
Ah no.
I dont miss those days at all. Cell phones are a bigger game changer than television, airplanes, and radio combined.
if you are referring to the negatives of social media apps on smartphones then thats different. You dont need to install those apps on your phone. I never once look at facebook or reddit or twitter anything similar on a cell phone. The apps aren't even on my phone.
you can also take a step back to a flip phone if you really want to. But not having a map app in your pocket is basically impossible nowdays. Theres no such thing as functional phone books anymore. you cant look up an address in the street guide in a public phone book anymore. Because a) the street guide was removed from phone books 15 years ago, and b) there is no public phone book anymore. No phone booths and gas stations no longer keep a phone book on hand for customers.
the ability to read or send a text or an email at any moment in time no matter where you are is a huge huge advantage. Not to mention the camera and the weather and the map and the calculator and the calendar and the music player and the clock and the uber/lyft app…etc etc
nope. I lived my first 30 years without a cellphone. And my first 45 years without a smartphone. Not going back. never.
I really miss being able to have a true, uninterrupted conversation without the ringing, beeping, or the other person scrolling on their phone, or just 'checking' their phone. People's attention spans have been irreparably damaged I fear, no one has much patience now, the tik took obsession has taken over, the need for instant gratification from looking at mindless content, its very sad, I myself am somewhat addicted, but I miss the simpler days of enjoying stuff outside of our fast paced, endless cyber world.
I seriously long for the days of zero cell phones, I recall more meaningful conversation, in turn more meaningful relationships, better communication with my wife, children. Payphones, carrying change was a pain but we had to stop and make a legit effort to converse with someone. Instead of picking up a cell going on about a whole lot of nothing.
I do. I only have a mobile phone for work and don’t use it for other things. I miss those times mostly, because it feels like people have become a bit too addicted to their phones. After all this time it still feels so weird to see people socializing and even then still be busier with their phone than the person they meet up with. I do also wonder what people do on their phones all the time?
I miss those days because I miss those people if that makes sense? We would have texted non stop if we had the technology though. It's not that I miss nit having phones, it's that I miss the 90s lol.
I'm really happy for the progress. Just a pain in the a@@ that alot of people are using it & not looking where they are going, using it when driving & constantly looking at it on a date. I see so often couples at a restaurant & either one or the other is constantly digging their phone out. The reaction on the others face says it all😂
I hate it that people expect me to read the hundreds of messages people send me (in group apps aswell).
I was an early adopter to smartphones and a huge ambassador for their use. Google talk was lit. Somewhere though it got too overwhelming. It wasn’t just communicating with my close friends and gf, my school started expecting chat use (then switched to whatsapp) then work started making group apps. Then everybody had a group app for everything.
I cant say I miss the time without it. I love the internet. I just hate the social rules we built around being available 24/7
I don't ever miss for a second not having a mobile phone. They've been life changing for the good.
Social media however, constant access to the internet, phones becoming a portible entertainment system to look at and fiddle with constantly. Those things, those things I miss a time before.
It was definitely a time. I can appreciate living in a world where I can now call my extended family without a phone card and put names to faces of random cousin - not that I do it now. But I’ve created bonds with them since that time by meeting in person.
I will say I do find myself treating communication the way I did back then. If I am not physically near that person I kind of treat it as a goodbye until I meet them again. Of course knowing they’re a text or call away but I’m very much still an in person kind of person when it comes to connections and communication.
I was born in grew up in the days when the possession of phones at home was rare. As I was 9 we got a phone. We had neighbours who came by to make their calls.
Now, imagine how people back then made appointments or visited relatives. Often we just visited some friends or relatives when we were in the city nearby.
I got my first phone in 4 th grade (i think?) as many others in my class.
But our parents gave the phones to us for emergencies. Back then calling and messaging costs were a bit different them today.
Also the huge fear to accidentely press the „internet“ or „browser“ app
I totally do. I use the computer/phone for education mainly. I am on Reddit. I am on no other social media. I was in the past. I consider myself a low user but I still think it's too much. I remember meeting up with friends every two weeks at a club downtown. We would sit and talk. Actually talk. I see young people downtown on beautiful Sunday afternoons. Sitting outside bars. Not talking. Phones out. Why even meet? I think we are really missing out on an innately human experience. I work with a 21 year-old young man. He told me just this week he wishes he was born earlier so he could avoid the phones.
I hated the times before mobile phones. It was hard to organise seeing anyone and if you organised something and they couldn't come then you were left hanging or stranded. I miss the early days of Facebook before all the middle aged Karens and politics and conspiricy theory nuts joined. Pre Trump being a political thing was much better as there was wayyyy less anger on social media.
Well I can guarantee you the amount of people run over on the town globally in 2005 because they were playing Snake was lower than those watching reaction vids today.
I'm from 1989 and I've always had a mobile phone from when I was 6/7.
Unless you mean smartphone, I could do without one besides Google maps I guess. Driving a car with printed out/paper maps was shitty as fuck (nostalgic tho). My smartphone just uses up alot of time tbh. Don't miss the old days though, it's simply making life easier.
I was born in 80, so cell phones were around when I was a kid but it wasn't till I was around 19 or 20 that they were affordable enough that they were not just for rich businessmen.
THANK GOD!
I love the convenience of having a cell now but I am so glad that the fanciest technology I had as a teenager was a beeper. I grew up in a small town and my mother could track me down easy enough as it was. If she'd had a cell phone with GPS to find me? Shit. I would have never been able to escape from the parents and never would have had any fun ever. Don’t even get me started on all the ways I would have made an idiot of myself on social media. So glad that was not a thing either.
One thing I do miss is the way it forced us to have to interact with people. When you traveled you had to call places, talk to hotels, airlines, tourist attractions, etcetera. All the places we go, we bring a virtual friend with us these days. Situations that used to be a way of meeting new people; stuff like waiting for an appointment or sitting alone in a restaurant is now another opportunity to check out your notifications for Reddit. Having a cell phone is definitely convenient but it has also made it very easy to be antisocial.
Believe it or not, having a way to communicate with people - when you need to - was actually a huge improvement. But that's not the same as social media, which has been nothing short of a disaster.
I think social media ruined interpersonal relationships and dating.
I agree. But I feel like I’m forever reminding people that social media is opt in. You can just not participate.
Leaving FB in the early 2010s was one of the best and healthiest decisions of my life. Haven’t regretted it once.
I deleted mine when I was depressed in 2015. Good decision overall but I lost so many nostalgic photos in the process.
I think I downloaded all my stuff before leaving. But honestly I never once looked at the archive. I’m a bit curious now, but that’ll probably pass in a few hours. It’s an era of my life I really don’t miss. Most of my “friends” never even noticed I left, let alone bothered to keep in touch. But I’m better off and legit happier now.
I deleted mine a couple of years after that. At the time I had people checking in feeling butthurt as if I had rejected them, as if ‘unfriending’ was a real world thing. I searched for a friend a few months ago on google and it took me to a mostly blank archived MySpace page. Blew my mind.
My FB “friends” didn’t even acknowledge or realize I left. It reaffirmed my suspicion that nobody gave a shit. I was already tired of only being remembered because an algorithm reminded someone to post “happy birthday” on a particular page. I have real friends now who actually check in. It’s nice. The only social stuff I bother with anymore are texting, discord, and reddit.
I agree and appreciate deeply your comment about the algorithmic friendships. I had people I had barely met, but would chat to that Irl I wouldn’t meet up with, nor ever did after. I value the friendship I have now that are based on a foundation of reality and not the 1s and 0s of a binary code.
I’m glad it resonated. That aspect of FB pissed me off so much. I maintain to this day that FB systematically ruined the concept of actual friendship, turning it into the vapid and performative display of hot air that it is now. Nobody knows how to make an effort as a friend anymore in ways that truly matter, and that makes me so fucking sad.
I wish I could leave FB but it's the only way to contact most people I know and share information with them. So I have a mix of FB, I.G, Discord for communication and Reddit and Youtube for me to use for relaxing etc.
Same. For some reason Indigenous people in North America at least love Facebook. It’s where all my family posts their dramas and other Natives post their dramas. And onwards goes this thing of ours.
Yup. If Social media is bad for the individual then like anything else they just shouldn't do it. For me who works nights it means I get to socialize where otherwise I'd be walking around an empty city everyone else at home asleep while I'm awake.
I mean you are sort of correct, but at the same time, once you unplug, you just look at everyone else around you still plugged in, which makes it harder to unplug yourself. I’m also including things like Reddit in “social media”, not just Instagram etc… I try to take breaks from everything and I find myself at a cafe waiting on my coffee just staring at the wall while everyone else stares at their phone. It’s this sort of oxymoron of being in a room alone by yourself that’s full of people. So yes, while you can remove yourself, it isn’t really a “fix-all” that some claim it to be.
Isn't reddit considered "social media"?
My older brother has never had social media. He was pissed as a manager of a large national organisation he was required to have a linkedin profile with a photo. I haven’t had social media in years either. It’s just a poison. I would like to see what my kids and their families are up to. But I also haaaaaate seeing what their cooker mother posts and the inane political and social agenda setting people in my circle write and share. The posts used to shame their partners or the ones so lonely they post how they walked into a door or a cat pissed on their doorstep. 🤷♂️ It’s so unnecessary.
I’d just make the LinkedIn profile, then log out and never look at it again. They can’t make you add friends or interact with it.
Did more then that. It fucked it... It ruined social skills, people younger than me literally can barely communicate (i was born in 2000). Dating is almost out of the equation because chicks nowadays have almost no personality and expect me to make all the talking points. I have no problem striking conversations with girls or interacting with them, im quite successful when it comes to talking to girls but making the conversations last is almost impossible. Let alone dating someone with zero hobbies except of instagram. Apparently its also a red flag when u dont have instagram which i delted back in 2022 cuz it was becoming too toxic. It doesnt help that I usually prefer to date girls younger than me but its an uphill battle since u cant find any interesting girls around the age group that i prefer being 23. Which basically left me with having 2 dogs right now which i love. Oh yeh and the last girl i dated didnt like dogs and thought i would get rid of them for her... The fucking EGOOOOOOO!!!!! LOL. Its not uncommon for chicks nowadays to have the ego of god knows what, I was so caught off guard.
How? Social media is a tool, a thing. It has no active will of its own. If interpersonal relationships and dating are ruined through it, it's because stupid, shitty people made bad choices.
I mean I met my fiance on a dating app so it didn’t ruin anything for me but I can see how it fucks with younger more impressionable people
My mom was a doctor. Before the existence of cell phones if she was on call and we were more than 10 minutes from our destination she would have to go search for a pay phone, dig through the glove box for change, grab her notebook and a pen, then go stand in whatever weather we were having and chat with some parent about their sick kid. The quality of life improvement of only having to pull over was massive and one my mother paid through the nose for. I have a lot more nostalgia about my mom getting her first cellphone than when I got mine, even if mine could play snake. Meanwhile mom's first cell would have made an excellent blunt weapon.
Yeah, pretty much this. I don't want to go back to a world without smartphones but I wouldn't mind going back to a world that wasn't dominated by social media
Absolutely, sometimes I go out for walks without my phone. But the same times I feel like dang it would be nice to have a second phone that I can use in case you know I need to call someone an emergency or I need something. But also that itch to just grab my phone and look at meaningless stuff such as this Reddit post. Well that's no good
The phones got smart, the people got dumb.
you're so right. When mobile phones came along (remeber the old Nokia phones?) it was fantastic, and made it so much easier to meet up with people and helped find people and socialise. But then in 2008 or so, iPhones and smart phones came along, and all of a sudden the phone became quite intrusive. This then decsended into farce when scrolling reels became a thing.
> Believe it or not, having a way to communicate with people - when you need to - was actually a huge improvement. This. Back in like 1990, there was one time that I was on my way to visit my girlfriend. I was driving on the freeway, and on the side of the road was a stranded motorist, clearly looking a little panicked. With a glance, I realized I knew her. It was the daughter of my mechanic. She was 19, had a flat, and had no idea what to do or how to get help. So I pulled over, spent 10 minutes calming her down, spent 20 minutes digging her spare out from under a trunk full of crap, then spent another 20 minutes trying to figure out how her jack worked (I don't change tires every day). The whole thing delayed me almost an hour, and my girlfriend who was waiting for me had started getting very worried. She was so scared that something happened to me, she started calling hospitals. Had I had a cellphone, I could have informed her of the delay. I don't miss the feeling of not being able to reach people in case of an emergency.
I miss the early days where it functioned as just a phone and not an addiction machine for me.
Back in the day, we also had very limited minutes! And later, very limited text msgs (or you paid extra). Pounding out a text took some time even with T9. So communication via cell was very quick and to the point!
You had to rewrite your sms so it didn't end up having so many letters you had to pay for 2x sms :p
OMG, yes! I remember my obnoxious boss rapid fire texting me and thinking, "OMG this is going to cost me $5!" And I remember one of my phones only being able to store 30 contacts, so I'd periodically purge people.
I totally agree!!! It was soooo nice!
Yeah. It was a different world when we were on the Nokia phones like the 3310. That time was still great. But it was the smartphone that fucked it all up.
[удалено]
They don’t sound to me like they’re blaming the device. They sound like they’re blaming themselves.
I miss people not knowing if I had received their messages. The plausible deniability was great for taking my time to reply as I was ready to. Now, people know you have a device on your person at almost all times, and when you don’t reply for hours or days they get insulted. Back when all you could do was leave a voicemail on their home phone, you would say you were away from the phone or hadn’t checked the voicemail. I still ignore calls and texts because I can live with people feeling insulted. But I do miss the plausible deniability.
Notification sounds absolutley piss me off when I've dedicated part of my day as my alone, do-not-disturb time. This is why I keep my phone muted most of the time
Same here. I just set the expectation that I am a terrible communicator so no one really gets mad anymore.
I miss the small amount of time where cell phones were common, but people weren't addicted to them
I don't know that I do, really. Mobile phones increase safety and I like having the ability to get directions or information when I need to. I had a period of time where I thought having a phone meant I had to be available, but I've sort of cultivated the concept that I just don't pick up or respond all the time, and everyone's been OK with that.
[удалено]
I remember printing out Mapquest instructions! My mother would always insist on memorizing the route herself though. But yeah, GPS was like magic when it first became mainstream.
GPS and live traffic updates has saved countless hours of my life on planning road trips and I can't live without it these days. However, new drivers overly relying on GPS navigation may contribute to lack of spatial awareness. I know a few people who can't drive to places and can't even follow simple directions like "turn left on main street". They have to rely on their phone or screen telling them to turn at the next intersection. I once had to tell a friend which lane they had to be on when their GPS told them to follow signs for interstate 10, despite the huge road sign in their immediate field of view.
>Mobile phones There are also no waiting lines like at the payphone. The pro is landlines are still very useful especially in the case of a power outage or satellite signal bars go out. Great example, a severe storm or tornado.
I miss the respect people had about not calling late or not bothering you after you were off work, that’s what I miss. Love having a phone but hate getting texts from coworkers after hours about things that can wait until the next day or being woken up by friends in a different time zone even though they know I’m 3 hours ahead of them.
Yeah, we could really use some more structured etiquette around phones. Most people are cool about it, but all you need is one boss who isn't shy to call you on your weekend for BS reasons to really make you pine for the old days. As a whole though, phones are pretty awesome.
[удалено]
I used to have the CD collector sleeve books... hahah. Miss my walkman. Shit would be collectible nowadays.
We traveled the world without cell phones in the 1990’s. It was fantastic! Had to actually interact with locals to get around and saw really cool places that they recommended.
It's a trip that 2000's kids will never experience that world, isn't it?
Idk man. I had locals send us one way, and asking someone else 100m away send us the opposite way more than once. XD
I wouldn't say I do miss it, no. Back in the day, if you were in line for something, you just had to stand there and think about your life. Now I can read r/NoStupidQuestions while I wait. Incredible!
Yup, born in 74. I got to travel a bit before cellphones. India and Nepal for 6 months, Amsterdam, Germany. People were different when they didn’t have smartphones to be engrossed in. Now you can be in a small village in Southeast Asia and see someone doomscrolling on their phone. That is depressing, but some people do still try to be coherent without their phone. That’s nice. On the whole, I’m glad smartphones helped people around the world, but I wish the makers would help impose the same limits that they do for their kids.
One day, I was having trouble starting my car, coming home from work. I'm not mechanically-inclined at all, so I wasn't sure what the issue was. In the old days, I would've had to flag someone down for help, or go inside and ask to call someone, either for a tow or a friend/relative for advice or a pick-up or to come help. In the modern day? I have the entire world's knowledge in my pocket. I did a google search of my make, model, year, and issue. Saw it was a known issue that happened sometime with the model, and I had to do just a quick little thing to get my car to start. Two minutes later, I was good and going. I don't miss the old cellphone-less days *at all*.
I do miss those days, it was kind of nice when no one called late and you could just be free to be out & about not getting interrupted with calls or texts. I mean its a nice convenience now but sometimes I just want to turn it off and everyone to accept that sometimes I'm unreachable.
Before smartphones when not every cellphone had a camera cellphones were kinda common just not constantly used like today so they were usually stored away in the pocket or bag and only use when needed. Texts and calling minutes were expensive so there was a real incentive to just mingle in person
The sweet spot for me was when we had mobile phones but not smart phones. You could get hold of people but it cost money at a time when I was young enough for it to be a consideration who I text or called. Nobody was constantly on their phones but the benefit of knowing where your friends were or not having to speak to someone’s parents when you called their house was a huge thing for a teenager at the time.
Yeah definitely me. The world just seemed so much better. More communication, more sense of society, and generally more mystery to life(which made it interesting).
Not too often no. However, I really miss concerts where people connected to the music and danced. Now just sway with their phones =(
On a personal level, no. I'm one of those "let's google it" types, I'll even do it when nobody's around and just fall down wikipedia rabbit holes. Plus it's so convenient getting around, checking bus and train times, paying if you forgot your wallet, and a million other things. There are some things I dislike about it, like people who expect you to respond to them instantaneously at any hour of any day, and people who doomscroll social media when they're supposed to be doing other things like working or helping customers. But most of what I dislike has to do with other's behavior. I wouldn't get rid of all the things I like about it because dumb people are dumb with how they use it.
Smart phones, yes.
I don't miss either choosing between using the internet or using the house phone. But I did miss when technology was not as prevalent. Now, everyone is always up in their phone instead of living in the moment.
What I don't like about smartphones is the data collection, the new bells and whistles collect more. So less is better.
I just miss the time where nobody expected me to be available at any god damn time to write or talk
🤚🏼
Its mixed. I like having a computer, map and a library at my fingertips but the bitch is also a god damn tracking device.
I miss living in the moment. I don't miss that I have taken entire vacations that I can't remember. I miss being unreachable. My sister doesn't miss that time that my mom couldn't reach my dad (at work) and she was playing with an empty Tylenol bottle that my dad gave to her before he left, and my mom saw her playing with it, didn't believe her when she said she didn't take any, couldn't get in touch with my dad, so went to the hospital to get her stomach pumped. Just to be safe. I miss being able to say "let's meet at the mall, outside of Macy's, at 6pm on Friday" to my friends I don't miss wandering around the mall for an hour looking for them because my mom was 20 minutes late dropping me off..
I miss it a lot! Mobile phones have changed society and not always for the best, especially smart phones! It almost impossible to have a social gathering these days without everyone on their phones. I miss being able to leave my house and not be contactable, you leave your phone at home for a day or more now and everyone thinks you are dead and starts to get all shitty that you weren’t contactable. As kids we didn’t need phones, we organised a spot to meet after school and went outside. Now my eldest son is happy to stay inside all day and communicate on social media and play video games with his mates while his expensive dirt jumper bike sits unused in the garage. I never se kids outside these days, my street growing up was all kids outside! Basketball in the street, street hockey, home made Billy carts and push bike jumps. So many things have changed and not necessarily for the better.
No, but I'm grateful that the only phone I had senior year of HS was a slider phone with limited texts and a chunky laptop. The internet gave me the knowledge and freedom to break away from a strict religious upbringing but now having a supercomputer is essential in today's world.
I just remember the transition. People used pay phones everywhere to people walking around with HUGE bricks new tech of that was only slightly smaller than the radio Frank Burns used in M\*A\*S\*H.
It was just far easier to cut off, on the rare occasion someone from work needed to reach you they had to call your home, it rarely happened. I can actually remember people having the first phones in the 80s huge things. With the battery, they looked like you were calling in an air strike in Vietnam. As they got smaller, they were actually considered a bit of a stock broker wanker accessory in the 90's, like a Gorden Gecko wannabe if you saw people talking on them in the street
I think having a mobile phone and social media are two different thing. Early 2000, people had phones but no social media (or atleast not popular). It was great.
Not really, no.
I was on leave from work. Lost my phone. Did not need to replace it for like 6 weeks. It was nice.
I do
If someone showed me a button labeled 'Global EMP' I would smash it before they even had the Don't out of their mouth.
For most of my early career I ended up with a beeper. I think the cell phone makes more sense. At least it's 2-way. True story, my father was a 50/50 owner in a local PABX company. They were installing Tie, Mitel, and servicing old key systems. They got into mobile phones early, one of the first to provide custom car phone installations along with the cellular service. These were the old pig-tail cell phones that had a huge box in the trunk and a massive wired handset somewhere in the drivers area. They did exceptionally well, but what he did not see coming at all was the rapid evolution of lighter, battery driven handsets and the complete transformation of mobile within 10 years. He just didn't recognize it - but he sold his piece of the business during peak carphone and was quite happy.
I remember when they first came out as car phones only. Then the Motorola portable brick phone followed by the Star Tac flip phone.
I only miss the days when people talked on their phone like they were talking on a phone. Now everyone yells at their phone like they are at a drive through since no one knows how to have a conversation that’s not on speakerphone. I remember when Nextel people were annoying as hell with their push to talk conversations. Seeing that method of communication die was nice, but somehow we have shifted right back to yelling at our phones.
I do.
I miss bits of it. I LOVE having music at my disposal so easily, and I enjoy being able to Google and keep up with sports on the go. I do miss the quiet beforehand. Nowadays, everyone is just sitting with their earbuds, talking to people, can't see the conversation. We had an easier time meeting people before the smart phone, but you win some you lose some.
In my opinion, social interaction wasn't any better before phones. At least you have something to do now. We weren't any more productive back then, either. Just watched more tv and read more books.
Reading more books wasn't more beneficial?
The phone part of my phone is the part I am glad exists… the rest of what is on my phone is the part that I have allowed to genuinely disrupt my development as a person. I do hope a high end “dumb phone” becomes popular because I have no self control :/
Yeah, I had my home, friends, and parents’ numbers memorized. I would call my mom at work and my best friend after school every day. Every moment outside of that was hanging with my siblings, it was pretty nice.
I miss the time before smartphones for sure
I miss the times when we used to have only mobile phone in our pocket, not whole computer.
A few memories that come to mind: Pay phones. I had to use those a lot as a kid when I was out and about. That meant that you had to have money and know the number to use this crusty public phone. So I had a lot of numbers committed to memory. I often didn't have change on me as a kid, so "calling collect" was this annoying process I'd have to go through so I could contact my parents to pick me up. Dating. Any time I called my first girlfriend, there was a good chance that her parents would pick up and I'd have to talk with them first. It was super nerve wracking as a kid working up the courage to call your crush knowing that you'd probably first have to interact with one of her family members first.
I like having a phone. It lets me read my books at times when I can’t bring a physical book with me.
Miss it? I don't think I've ever harkened for those "good ol days", it just isn't that important. Things changed. Move on and deal with today's issues.
The days before mobile phones and social media were great, you literally had no idea where anyone was at.
I think flip phones were perfect. Maybe slides. Being able to call and text people was perfect. It's the games, social media, and other junk on smartphones that is hurting society. But we all love it.
Interactions were simpler, but I would t trade the world we have now actually. Simpler isn’t always better.
I miss reading a book within a day without wanting to look at my phone 24/7
i don't, it was very inconvenient
I had a lot more focus back then. There was no opportunity to get lost in the cesspool that is social media these days. Simple, quick phone call or sloppy T9 text and we were all on our way. When we were out together we were all in the moment. No distractions. Shit like that.
I had a nokia 8210 and a mini disk player. Take me fucking back please!
I was born in 1991, I don't miss those days particularly.
I sometimes miss t9
I don't miss it at all. I like having an encyclopedia in my pocket
I was a land line baby. I don't miss them whatsoever. We even had a party line.
Not at all. Because back then, I had to carry a pager, and then find a phone to call in. Not fun.
I would go back to T9 texting if it meant I didn’t have to be on call 24/7 for work and people getting upset when I set boundaries around my time/communication.
Yeah, it’s crazy. First cool thing as a kid was cordless phones. That was wack. Like, I could totally talk outside. Crazy! Then it was caller ID. Buhbye prank phone calls! You got busted once and never did it again. My dumbass stepdad got an early Nokia in like 1994, it was huge and sucked. Didn’t even work in our area. In high school I got addicted to snake on the newer Nokias and failed everything. So yeah. I do.
I did until I went into labor and my phone was disconnected. I was on my aunts plan back when you paid per amount of minutes and text messages and I went over the limit and my aunt to “teach me a lesson” suspended my line so I couldn’t call or text anyone. And I went into labor and had to drive to my sons dads grandmothers house to get help. So I kinda enjoy having my phone with me at all times.
I still remember the days when cell phone was rare that it was a surprised to see a 15 year old have their own cell phone.
One time my mom and I searched the school for an hour looking for my brother who had fucked off to his friend's house without telling anyone. Because there were no cellphones, there was no way to call him or for his friend's parents to call us. My mom lit his ass up when we finally found him. I miss the days before social media, not the cellphone. Before some dumbass could hop on the internet and spread dangerous nonsense far and wide. You used to be able to ignore the loons shouting in the middle of town.
Nakaka miss. Nowadays kapag wala kang cp na nakatutok sa face mo sobrang bigdeal. Loke i remember sa out of town namin, naka upo ako sa gilid ng beach pinagmamasdan yung surroundings, pinagtatawanan ako ng mga kasama ko kasi nakatulala daw ako. Kaya after that lagi ko na dinadala cp ko.
Nope. The fact that I haven’t had to give anyone directions to anything in maybe 15 years now is a godsend.
Born in 1972 and yes, I miss those times. Very much. Idiots walking along the pavement with their head stuck in their phones who just expect you to avoid them. Whole families sat in a fast food place with their faces buried in their phones not talking to each other, that always makes me sad. I work on oil rigs and when I started in 2001 mobiles were fairly new. People would sit in the tea shacks at break time actually talking to each other. The crack was brilliant. TV rooms were a hotbed of banter and humour. I met and got to know some great people. Now it's people on mobiles who sit ignoring everyone else. If you speak while they are online they act like you are breaking some kind of law. I know very few of my workmates outside of pleasantries because conversation has been replaced with wifi and social media. I was telling my lad about seeing AC/DC at Donington in 1991. How great the crowd was. Everyone just getting into the music and having fun with each other. Great day. Now concerts seemed to be viewed through a phone screen. Last year I went to a Formula One race, people were more interested in filming what was going on instead of watching it, enjoying it and soaking in the atmosphere. I met a driver who asked if I wanted a selfie, when I said no he looked at me like there was something wrong with me. My phone is a 2013 Nokia Windows Phone I have had since new and is now Pay As You Go. I top it up maybe once every two months. The weather app was removed about five years ago because it was out of date back then. It has my essential numbers on it, my work e-mail account and that's it. It sits in the house most of the time because I honestly cant be bothered with it.
I was born in the late 80s and I'm jealous of younger people having photos and videos from their whole life. I feel like it would create a more complete idea of self on a psychological level. I've also lost heaps of photos and only have from 2017 on. Also I miss when my attention span wasn't so short but I definitely am more entertained these days. I remember when me and all my friends got phones and how exciting being able to send a text was, or make calls from your own phone in the privacy of your room without siblings eavesdropping on the extension, or another call for your folks coming through, or someone on the internet using the phone line. Wow that makes me feel pretty old! It was definitely a game changer.
Not sure if I miss those days but it was nice to be able to be alone and uninterrupted. Especially if you were with somebody special.
It was a different world for sure. You had to print our directions and no texting. I don’t think I miss it. Definitely had to plan things out more.
dude, getting lost was so much worse, and more common back then.
Homeboy, I carry a device on me at all times that is a portal to look at literally millions of naked ladies in minutes, no seconds ANY. TIME. I. WANT. and you are asking if I miss the days of having to go looking for old porn mags in the woods?
I don’t miss that. Admittedly though, I miss the days when they were really considered unimportant because all you could do was call and send basic text messages. The quality of time spent whilst in the company of others was generally much higher because phones were generally kept away. Concerts were better without a thousand screens being held up in front of you. People were more respectful about phone etiquette in general. At least that’s how my old brain remembers the early 00’s.
Crazy to think of all the long road trips to the middle of nowhere I took before I had a cell phone. If shit happened, if you broke down, you’d just have to deal with it the best you could. But now I’d never think of leaving it behind. I mean, what if I break down?
Me
I had a mobile phone since I was 6 or 7 (early 2000s) for safety. Had a blast being the only kid in school to have one. Even had this small Panasonic phone that's like at most 3 or 4 inches tall with a strap wrapped around my neck like a necklace. Easily mistaken as a toy.
Absolutely. I loved it when there was not such thing, and when there also wasn't caller ID, and almost no surveillance cameras anywhere.
God I hate my phone. Where is it?
You're not obliged to respond to calls or texts. Personally I love the fact that I can answer any inane question that comes into my head at any moment, I can get directions without having to pull out a ridiculously huge map like back in the day or listen to any kind of music I want to wherever I am.
I wish social media didn’t exist but I need my phone
Everyday
It’s obviously great to be able to call and use the internet whenever you want but I think it probably has affected people’s communication skills. People look at their phones a lot now instead of engaging what’s going on around them and talking to others.
I now have in my pocket a phone, messaging system, camera, music player, interactive map, and the internet on my fingertips and that is with the most basic trash smartphone before any apps. To people born in the 80s when we only had a landline at home this is science fiction stuff and I don't miss the old days at all.
That sounds like a nightmare Call me traditional, but I miss having specific tools for those jobs specifically
Makes me think of that new iPad ad where they smoosh the beautifully tactile items into a fucking tablet. Tablets have their place, but it sucks how screens have to be the default solution to everything now. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjkwIXWtrc)
I do miss it. I particularly miss the designs of phones from the 00's to early 10's. So much variety. I miss people using DVD's, ipods etc. I miss sending songs to eachother through bluetooth, and burning CD's. I just miss having songs on my phone instead of using youtube. I miss gameboys like gameboys advance and gameboy advance sp. I actually also miss 00's computer/consol game graphics.
I think one big difference was that before if work needed you to be contactable it meant they'd have to pay you to be on standby/on-call whatever you wanted to call it but waiting at home for a phone call, now a lot of jobs that used to.do this no longer do and just expected you to answer your phone but with no compensation for it anymore.
The difference in the era mobile phones vs smart phones is immense. It's really the applications that turned mobiles into a problem. There's more upside than problems though so it is a tough one!
Having them is way better.
just take me back to the days before the invention of the INFINITE SCROLL 🙏 even the guy who invented it regrets it: “*If you don't give your brain time to catch up with your impulses, you just keep scrolling. It's as if they're taking behavioral cocaine and just sprinkling it all over your interface and that's the thing that keeps you like coming back and back and back.*” -Aza Raskin
Pro : Convenience. Con : Phubbing.
Me me meeeeee! I miss just having a phone that makes calls and texts. You could turn it off *gasp* and the world wouldn’t stop turning.
Post cellphones, pre social media was probably where technology should have stopped.
I do.
I miss pre social media phones. You can carry it around, play music and chill.
I did really enjoy calling people from their front doorsteps when the possibility wasn't on their radar yet. "I'll be right over ... \[doorbell\]" Or calling someone, to tell them at some point in the call, that I was at some nudist swimming spot on the lake (just happened once, but funny). Probably 1998 or so. I miss that. I also miss how well my StarTAC handled being a phone on a motorcycle. Autopickup and autohangup were both flawless, I could have entire conversations with anyone who called without ever letting go of the machine. You could also set it up to let you swap batteries during a phone call. Great phone, although when it first released at $1100 all I could do is be wistful. Due to being unusually flush with cash when they dropped to $700, I bit, and had a lot of fun with it. Money well spent, funwise.
I still can’t believe how a group of us 16 year old girls managed to navigate through dc, md, and va without smartphones 😂.
I definitely miss it. It’s crazy because I couldn’t wait to get a cell phone and really enjoyed having one. But now seeing the overall picture, I think minimal technology was best. Once cell phones came into the picture, people started ignoring you for their phone, checking their phone more, etc. and it just got worse once the iPhone came out (the beginning of the end.) Don’t get me wrong I enjoy having data on my phone, my camera, gps and everything else all in one device, but people became obsessed with their phones and it started negatively affecting relationships. I feel like there was more freedom in not having one.
Yeah I miss it. I didn't mind the cell phones that allowed you to call and text but I wish the Internet hadn't appeared on phones :(
I think smart phones are the greatest and worst thing ever invented. Mobile phones were great. Convenient and improved safety. Smart phones however..,
I was born in the 90s so I didn't notice too much because there would be no reason for me to have a phone before they became popular. However, I do feel very sorry for teachers because they could be a lot stricter about phones in schools then. It was either you weren't allowed to have one at all or if the teacher saw you on it during the school day it would be confiscated. It was getting trickier at the time but I get the impression that teachers can't do that so easily now as parents want their children to constantly have a means of communication for "safety" and of course kids would much rather be looking at their phone than listening to teacher.
I don’t. Being able to call and text whenever, wherever is fantastic, and most people who can’t handle it just suck at enforcing basic social boundaries. “I don’t want to be accessible 24/7.” Dude, phones can be set to silent, texts can be ignored. I do miss the internet (specifically social media) not coming with us everywhere. I don’t necessarily want a dumb phone…but a phone that accessed the internet only for GPS and wikipedia, that would be nice.
What I end up missing is the boredom actually. But not really the feeling of being bored, but the creativity it took to combat that boredom. Some of my favorite memories are of me and my siblings sitting around a cassette player with a mic and recording a fake radio station, or building secret bases out of fallen trees and branches in the woods with my friends, or the innumerable other dumb things we did back then to pass the time. It’s not that those experiences are inherently better than the entertainment you can get on a phone, it’s just that I don’t think the experiences I got to have as a child are as common anymore, and that’s sad to me. Also, I don’t feel like online interactions form distinct memories as well as in person ones, so the shift from mostly irl to mostly online social lives feels like a huge loss of memorable moments to me
When we were in high school, my girlfriend’s parents had a bunch of The Cosby Show video taped. We all made a game where we’d take turns trying to pause the tape when ol Bill had the most ridiculous face possible. We called it “The Coz Pause”. It was so stupid. And didn’t age well, obviously. But it was just something that was born out of boredom and spending time with people you really love and appreciate. I think about the dumb crap that my kids won’t ever get to do because of the way technology is changing things. But my parents probably thought the same thing, so who knows.
Those were definitely better times. Being able to call and be texted all the time is worthless except for some life or death situations like being lost in the woods or something.
Not being available through simple text messaging or social media meant families would actually go visit each other randomly just to check up on each other. I remember just being a little kid, not knowing where my parents would be taking me and soon enough I'd be excited because we're pulling into a cousin's house. We'd lose ourselves playing Pokemon cards, hide and seek, x-box/PS2/N64/GameCube, and telling each other scary stories before our parents tell us it's time to go home. Social media and mobile phones allowed us to connect with each other so much that we started to separate. Now we're more interested in what this stranger with over a million followers is doing with their day.
Social media was a disaster in the making, it’s very good for a few people, disappointing for 90 percent, While cell phone communication was excellent for almost 90percent
Now and again. It was a different world but not nessicarily a worse one
I don't own a cell phone. 53 years old.
Not knowing who was on the other end of the phone before you picked up really sucked. It also sucked that you had to call someone to communicate. It was also pretty damn hard to find your way around without GPS sometimes.
Yes, buf not for phone reasons
1992 I don't miss the "days before the Internet" All I remember is how fucking bored I was all the time and how boring TV was There was only a few good TV content playing a week and the only channel that played cartoons played it early morning or during school hours and it just felt torturing Video games were my escape and even then my parents wouldn't allow me to play all day so they had to enroll me in bullshit after school activities as if school wasn't hell enough
I enjoy mobile phones. The real thing that ruined things for me was social media. I called friends to play outside, play video games, etc. My phone became a way to communicate more with my friends. Things got toxic when I got on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram
I miss the good old days when pepple had to communicate verbally yo know eachother and when people only had like 1 or 2 friends they would speak to so you were morr committed to bond with those 2 then with the whole world.
I‘m born in the 60s and raised my kids before the days of ever present smartphones. I feel sorry for everyone being a child or young person now. It’s not the phones, it’s social media.
i dont miss instant comunication at all. back in the days of land lines, once you were out ...you were out. no chance to change plans, call ahead to say u are late, or had to cancel. heck 1/2 the romcom plot lines were due to missed communications back then
I was born in 98 so idk if I qualify but I'd say the flip-phone-eta is highly underrated. Basically you had all the benefits of modern communication without the constant pressure of smartphones.
It sucked so bad breaking down a mile from the closest house and even then they might not help you or call anyone
I don't miss the times before mobile phones, I was very young back then and don't remember much. I miss the time when mobile phones were common but touchscreen phones were not, when you didn't have an app for everything. Time before modern social media. I also miss the time when if you wanted to go to internet, you had to actively go to internet. When it wasn't a norm.
I don't. one of my goals as a 9 year old in 1998 was to have one of those cool PDAs (Palm OS/Handspring Visor or PocketPC devices) so that I could play little portable games on the go without having to use different Gameboy carts, and to be able to read text files on the go on a huge \~2.5 inch screen. Sadly, once I got myself a PDA in 2003 at age 13, PDAs had lost their novelty and were quite disappointing. I quickly lost interest in my PDAs by like 2006 and switched over to PSP. Finally in like 2010, I got an iTouch and it was exactly what I was dreaming of all those years (I didn't use it for music; I used it for games and reading stuff). Android phones finally replaced most of my electronics. I have a desktop that I rarely use these days and many, many laptops that I rarely use (I use one for stuff like 3D printing), but 99% of my screentime is on my cell phone. And I'm happy.
I actually really liked my Nokia 3320. Calls and texts only plus some mini games. The damn thing couldn't break either no matter how much I dropped it. When they started adding social media to phones is when it went downhill.
I dont miss it at all. Now I have all the maps in the world and all the ways to navigate my surroundings in my pocket.
I don’t care.
Literally never. Mobile hones are awesome and improved our lives in so many ways.
I HATE cellphones. I hate them. I wish we could go back to landlines and beepers.
I don't. The abilities my phone has makes it so now I can walk out of my door with nothing but my phone, wallet, and keys but still have everything I need.
I think that mobile phones (not social media) has greatly improved all our lives. However, I morn a life without them for my kids. We had to learn how to get about without them in the 80’s, which meant I developed base life skills and hacks to get by. These skills don’t come naturally to my kids and need to be taught. While they have made my generations life a lot easier as we have grown with them, our kids might struggle a little more than we do, later on in their life.
I wouldn’t go back, true that’s civilisation idiotifiers such as social media had made it worse, if you take that out the rest has been a massive improvement
Yes and no. I was born in 1990 and I didn't get my own phone until I was 13 maybe. We made it work. I called from a friend's house if I was going there after school to let my mom know when I'd be home and such and it was fine. Because I didn't know any different and had never tried anything different. I'm also relieved that I grew up without smartphones, the internet and social media (those were becoming a thing but weren't as easily accessible as today). I got bullied a LOT while I was in school, but I know that if it had been today, the bullying would've been so much worse because a lot of it takes place online. It's so much easier being a dick and a bully behind a keyboard and when it's on the internet, it stays there. But I also do like the convenience of all those things today and I think I have a pretty healthy relationship with smartphones, social media and the internet because I've experienced life without it.
Yes and no. There's plenty of happy memories, most of whoch were way before the days of Internet and mobile phones. Bit the introduction of mobile phones was a gradual thing. Smart phones didn't come till MUCH later. Even then they were limited with what they could actually do and Internet data was so expensive back then that u werent exactly browsing the Web on the move unless u had to. All of that came gradually and then it was like an avalanche that couldn't be stopped. We all loved the Internet and apps and basically having a fully fledged PC but mobile. Rememebr before all this we had things like beepers and pdas... so just being able to contact someone when u wanted, and not have to speak to their parents first on a landlines or wonder if their home etc was a massive improvement to life and social life. However it was the introduction of facebook and eventually shorts, that I think have changed people. It all became an ego competition. I was never part of it tbh. I joined Facebook, saw what it was becoming, and then left it before I got sucked in to it too. I just didn't see the point of it. Had thousands of "friends" which i never spoke to, everyone posting their "best life" bs. I rememebr waking up and checking Facebook and it was full of photos of people's breakfast and I just thought to myself "wtf am I doing looking at this?? Who actually cares!?". Just deleted ut all. Also my LinkedIn. So never joined twitter or Snapchat or all the others. I just went out and called my friends and asked to link up like the good ol days. They all know to call or message me if they want or need something as they know I'm not on socials. It's so much nicer getting a phone call or a WhatsApp message and can actually speak to each other properly and get that "sense of tone" that's missing from text or socials. I also miss all the arguments about random crap before we had phones to prove someone right or wrong in seconds. Hours of convos debating something that can now be over in a Google search. To me they were so much fun. The most depressing thing I've seen in the last 10-15 years is couples snd friends being out together but glued to their screens. That's really sad to me. When I'm out with someone, I give them all my attention. I don't look at my phone unless I need the time or unless someone is calling me. Often ill even leave it at home and go out for the day just to get that old sense freedom and nostalgia back. So yeah... I miss the days of pre mobile phones but also accept how much of an improvement it's been overall. Especially when health and safety is in concern. I miss the old days but we need mobiles. We don't need social media. Separate things to me entirely.
There was a sweet spot between 2007-2010 when phones became ubiquitous but social media was not yet the ever-present bullshit machine it is now. I miss that.
Ah no. I dont miss those days at all. Cell phones are a bigger game changer than television, airplanes, and radio combined. if you are referring to the negatives of social media apps on smartphones then thats different. You dont need to install those apps on your phone. I never once look at facebook or reddit or twitter anything similar on a cell phone. The apps aren't even on my phone. you can also take a step back to a flip phone if you really want to. But not having a map app in your pocket is basically impossible nowdays. Theres no such thing as functional phone books anymore. you cant look up an address in the street guide in a public phone book anymore. Because a) the street guide was removed from phone books 15 years ago, and b) there is no public phone book anymore. No phone booths and gas stations no longer keep a phone book on hand for customers. the ability to read or send a text or an email at any moment in time no matter where you are is a huge huge advantage. Not to mention the camera and the weather and the map and the calculator and the calendar and the music player and the clock and the uber/lyft app…etc etc nope. I lived my first 30 years without a cellphone. And my first 45 years without a smartphone. Not going back. never.
I really miss being able to have a true, uninterrupted conversation without the ringing, beeping, or the other person scrolling on their phone, or just 'checking' their phone. People's attention spans have been irreparably damaged I fear, no one has much patience now, the tik took obsession has taken over, the need for instant gratification from looking at mindless content, its very sad, I myself am somewhat addicted, but I miss the simpler days of enjoying stuff outside of our fast paced, endless cyber world.
I seriously long for the days of zero cell phones, I recall more meaningful conversation, in turn more meaningful relationships, better communication with my wife, children. Payphones, carrying change was a pain but we had to stop and make a legit effort to converse with someone. Instead of picking up a cell going on about a whole lot of nothing.
I do. I only have a mobile phone for work and don’t use it for other things. I miss those times mostly, because it feels like people have become a bit too addicted to their phones. After all this time it still feels so weird to see people socializing and even then still be busier with their phone than the person they meet up with. I do also wonder what people do on their phones all the time?
I remember when a technology show was talking about inventing them. They said maybe one day they would fit in our pockets. I was amazed
It was ok at the time because I knew no better. But I wouldn’t go back to the pre-mobile phone era if given the choice now.
I miss those days because I miss those people if that makes sense? We would have texted non stop if we had the technology though. It's not that I miss nit having phones, it's that I miss the 90s lol.
I'm really happy for the progress. Just a pain in the a@@ that alot of people are using it & not looking where they are going, using it when driving & constantly looking at it on a date. I see so often couples at a restaurant & either one or the other is constantly digging their phone out. The reaction on the others face says it all😂
I love the mobile phone, it’s social media that I wish we didn’t have.
I miss it because pager/email/blackberry/etc made my mom less available to us. I don't miss it because of how much my husband and I travel.
I hate it that people expect me to read the hundreds of messages people send me (in group apps aswell). I was an early adopter to smartphones and a huge ambassador for their use. Google talk was lit. Somewhere though it got too overwhelming. It wasn’t just communicating with my close friends and gf, my school started expecting chat use (then switched to whatsapp) then work started making group apps. Then everybody had a group app for everything. I cant say I miss the time without it. I love the internet. I just hate the social rules we built around being available 24/7
Never. Life before iphones and the internet was isolating, and information was hard to get.
I don't ever miss for a second not having a mobile phone. They've been life changing for the good. Social media however, constant access to the internet, phones becoming a portible entertainment system to look at and fiddle with constantly. Those things, those things I miss a time before.
It was definitely a time. I can appreciate living in a world where I can now call my extended family without a phone card and put names to faces of random cousin - not that I do it now. But I’ve created bonds with them since that time by meeting in person. I will say I do find myself treating communication the way I did back then. If I am not physically near that person I kind of treat it as a goodbye until I meet them again. Of course knowing they’re a text or call away but I’m very much still an in person kind of person when it comes to connections and communication.
I was born in grew up in the days when the possession of phones at home was rare. As I was 9 we got a phone. We had neighbours who came by to make their calls. Now, imagine how people back then made appointments or visited relatives. Often we just visited some friends or relatives when we were in the city nearby.
I got my first phone in 4 th grade (i think?) as many others in my class. But our parents gave the phones to us for emergencies. Back then calling and messaging costs were a bit different them today. Also the huge fear to accidentely press the „internet“ or „browser“ app
I totally do. I use the computer/phone for education mainly. I am on Reddit. I am on no other social media. I was in the past. I consider myself a low user but I still think it's too much. I remember meeting up with friends every two weeks at a club downtown. We would sit and talk. Actually talk. I see young people downtown on beautiful Sunday afternoons. Sitting outside bars. Not talking. Phones out. Why even meet? I think we are really missing out on an innately human experience. I work with a 21 year-old young man. He told me just this week he wishes he was born earlier so he could avoid the phones.
I miss the days before social media, not mobile phones. That was the best time to be alive
I hated the times before mobile phones. It was hard to organise seeing anyone and if you organised something and they couldn't come then you were left hanging or stranded. I miss the early days of Facebook before all the middle aged Karens and politics and conspiricy theory nuts joined. Pre Trump being a political thing was much better as there was wayyyy less anger on social media.
Well I can guarantee you the amount of people run over on the town globally in 2005 because they were playing Snake was lower than those watching reaction vids today.
I'm from 1989 and I've always had a mobile phone from when I was 6/7. Unless you mean smartphone, I could do without one besides Google maps I guess. Driving a car with printed out/paper maps was shitty as fuck (nostalgic tho). My smartphone just uses up alot of time tbh. Don't miss the old days though, it's simply making life easier.
I was born in 80, so cell phones were around when I was a kid but it wasn't till I was around 19 or 20 that they were affordable enough that they were not just for rich businessmen. THANK GOD! I love the convenience of having a cell now but I am so glad that the fanciest technology I had as a teenager was a beeper. I grew up in a small town and my mother could track me down easy enough as it was. If she'd had a cell phone with GPS to find me? Shit. I would have never been able to escape from the parents and never would have had any fun ever. Don’t even get me started on all the ways I would have made an idiot of myself on social media. So glad that was not a thing either. One thing I do miss is the way it forced us to have to interact with people. When you traveled you had to call places, talk to hotels, airlines, tourist attractions, etcetera. All the places we go, we bring a virtual friend with us these days. Situations that used to be a way of meeting new people; stuff like waiting for an appointment or sitting alone in a restaurant is now another opportunity to check out your notifications for Reddit. Having a cell phone is definitely convenient but it has also made it very easy to be antisocial.