Job Discussion Forums

52skidoo · Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 32 Location: Taiwan

I got my first amber screen desktop in 1985 and was thrilled when the Internet came out in 1988. But back then I would do a search then open a book and read for a few minutes for any site whatsoever to come up, it was SLOOOOOW, but fun. Nowadays, if I don't get an answer in a couple of seconds, I bail on it.
I still prefer doing my socializing in person or by email, with the exception of chatting with teachers on Dave's, and out of sheer desperation tried out Facebook just so I could talk to my oldest daughter, hah! But I no longer use facebook, still I can surf it and see what my daughter is up to lately, without waiting forever for an email. FaceTime, is great though, no more long distance phone bills.

Having a 3G wifi iPad, with a LCD connector and in class screen, has completely revolutionized my classes, using keynote, texting links to free online materials, saves me boatloads of time, and makes very clean presentations. Also it's very handy for showing things on YouTube or anywhere else on the Internet. I feel like a great weight has been lifted.

There is so much free stuff on the Internet I only occasionally buy a book or a video, saves lots of money and is a lot more convenient for traveling, feels great to be MOBILE, I can write a lesson anywhere, on a mountain top or a coffee shop, no longer tied to my desk at home. And air printing is great as well.

Well, if humans make it into the next 100 years, I am sure all the new technology Today will look like dinosaur stuff to them.
They will have stuff like wrist watches that project holographic lessons, teachers and students will just sit back and push buttons or use voice recognition and writing by hand will become a lost art form.

Zimmer · Joined: 26 Oct 2011 Posts: 229

[quote="Shroob"]I'm probably not as old as most of you here, but growing up my family didn't have a computer until I was 15. We did have a SNES though - Duck Hunt's an amazing game.

When I was a teenager my brother and I bought a 2nd hand atari something or other game system. At that time I thought pac man was the coolest thing ever invented.

santi84 · Joined: 14 Mar 2008 Posts: 1317 Location: under da sea

I am really showing my (lack of) age here but I do not remember a time pre-WWW.

johnslat · Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:10 pm Post subject:

Hey, never mind "before the WWW." How about "Before TV?"

I'm really dating myself here, but hey - when you date yourself, you don't have to get all dressed up, pay for an expensive dinner/movie, and, most importantly, you'll respect yourself the next morning. Very Happy

Regards,
Pre-historic John

artemisia · Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 875 Location: the world

I sort of have a 'Before TV' time too. My parents refused to buy a TV set. We sometimes had one as they'd relent enough to rent one during the holidays but that was it. I spent most of my childhood/ teens without one (apart from friend's houses). In later years they finally bought one but continued to maintain it was 'rubbish'.

While I might've felt aggrieved and deprived at times, I can't honestly say it did me any harm.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

Childhood for me was all about bike riding, building dens, climbing trees, conker hunting in the autumn, hating school and looking forward to the holidays. And playing cricket and tennis in the summer. And reading - I read lots and still do. Glad to say computers and mobile phones just didn't exist. Milk was delivered to the front door every morning and there was always cream at the top of the bottle (whatever happened to that?).

Also glad to say that I travelled around South America in the days before Internet or mobile phones. Then, when you were off the map you really were off the map - and off the radar. Today's kids will never know how that feels.

Teacher in Rome · Joined: 09 Jul 2003 Posts: 1286

I'm with you on the backpacking Perilla! The only contact I had with family and friends back home was via the Poste Restante - and very expensive (so very occasional) phone calls.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

spent hours playing "pong."

or cruising the 7-11's late at night playing pinball.

it'snotmyfault · Joined: 14 May 2012 Posts: 527

VietCanada · Joined: 30 Nov 2010 Posts: 590

Black and white TV. My parent's collection of 78 rpms. The stereo and TV were valued pieces of furniture. Encyclopedias, book clubs, the library, going outside, free TV reception, free water, rotary dial phones, meeting people in person to talk. Lots of changes. Today most things one purchases have become mortgages. Pretty soon the toaster will come with a cloud that needs a constant injection of cash to remain functional.

MotherF · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:31 pm Post subject:

I don't know about you all, but I used telnet, irc and gopher.
And before that my dad used to buy my brother and I computer magazines with games in them--written out, in basic. We had to type them in without making any errors if we wanted to play.

posh · Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 430

One of the joys of travelling is ditching the internet for a few months. I don't have one of those fancy new phones as I'd only lose it.

One of the beauties of being online in the classroom is to prove (Saudi) students completely wrong in most of their assertions that everything is derived from the Arab world, and it's the students who demand I check online Very Happy

Mind you Google Earth is a godsend and I use it in about 33.333% of lessons as it's ideal for going off on a tangent and teaching new vocab.

Find it quite depressing when the BBC suggest viewers check their feeds on twatter and facebook. Sign of the times, huh?