1997 is now "dinosaur" times?

[Disney1fan2002]

WOW, funny how technical advancements happen so gradually, we don't realize that it has not been all that long ago that not everyone had a cell phone attached to their hand.

I watched Kiss the Girls with Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd. It was released in 1997. Alex Cross (Freeman) was in the bathroom with another detective, and a beeper went off. A BEEPER! Whoa! The other cop checked hios and said "it's you." Cross checked his belt, and then went to a phone. He WENT to a phone! LOL

The thing is, I am watching this thinking, wow, a blast from the past, phones with cords, and beepers. Not one cell phone in the whole movie. It was only 9 years ago!

Now I know how my parents felt when I would watch movies from the 60's and think they were weird.

 

[ead79]

I was watching a movie the other day when someone was using a car phone--the kind that is attached to the car, not a cell phone. That made me laugh about how out of date that seems now! I also laugh when the movie characters have those gigantic old school cell phone that probably weighed about 10 pounds.

 

[Mickey527]

Did you ever notice the size of the cell phone Ellen is holding at "Ellen's Energy Adventure". I always chuckle when I see it.
My dad loved that show when he was alive but he said to me What is she talking into, a Walkie Talkie? He never had a cell phone and when we all got our first they were the small ones they sell now. Peggie

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

I used to have one of those Audiovox phones. The sort that was the size of a metal lunch box. It had a regular sized handset (the OLD style). What a pain that thing was.

I suggested to a young man at work that he tip his hair (bleach it out to blond) and as he was nodding in agreement a younger woman said, "NO! That is SO 90's! LOLOLOLOLOL. Like that was a long time ago or something? LOLOLOL.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I had to explain to the kids that once upon a time, you had to stay near the phone when talking on it, like our "Lights Out Phone." (the corded one, for power outages) And that if you wanted to go in another room, you had to go pick that up, then either run back and hang up the other or get someone else to do it.

They saw it in a movie and didn't "get" it.

You'd think I was explaining how to do calculus on Mars.

So not fair to feel this flippin old.

 

[va32h]

I was about to post a thread just like this!

I came across a Good Housekeeping magazine from 1998 at my kids' dentist's office.

There was a whole article about beepers ("not just for doctors anymore!" with the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying one.

And a page long article explaining a new thing called a "Debit Card" and how it was different from a credit card, and explaining in minute detail how to use one!

I couldn't help myself - I just started laughing out loud.

But then, I also remembered thinking "why did I always seem to have so much time to play with my oldest, but I never have time to play with my youngest" and I realized (with great guilt and shame on my part) that it was because my oldest was born pre-internet!

So tomorrow I vow to not go online AT ALL, until my kids are all in bed (like they are now. So I don't have to feel guilty.)

 

[welovedisneyx4]

I was watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (just getting in the mood!) and noticed when they were showing the scenes from the mall, they had the old credit cards machines...the one you put your card on and slid the thing over the card for the imprint and you had like 3 carbons for the copies. That seems so long ago!!

I also watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High and noticed there were no cell phones and stuff like that...it is really strange!

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I graduated from High School in 1997. I had a beeper. I thought I was soooo cool.

 

[RSoxFan]

I was baby-sitting my eleven year old cousin and we were watching an old Saved By the Bell rerun. Zack pulled out his cell phone, and it was as big as his head! It had a huge antenna and was as thick as my leg. My cousin started laughing. She thought he was playing a practical joke on his friends. I had to explain to her that that was what cell phones used to look like. Then I got started on car phones that were mounted in the car and had cords. I felt sooo old.

 

[Aidensmom]

Wow, I was ahead of the times. I had my first cell phone in 1996.

Of course back then, I never used it because it was 30 cents a minute!

 

[elizke]

Yes, it doesn't really seem like things are changing much, but then you look back and realize how much is different. Cell phones are definitely the fastest, most widespread change in the past few years.

We have a DVR, and I was thinking how the kids won't even remember what it was like when you couldn't pause TV.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

We have a DVR, and I was thinking how the kids won't even remember what it was like when you couldn't pause TV.

Oh man! My 10 yo knows how to not only put a show on a season pass, but he can go in and prioritize his shows, and tell the DVR how long to keep the recording, and whether or not to tape 1st runs only, ect. HE taught me.

He had to show me because I couldn't figure out why MY shows were not recording. He showed me that his shows were the priority.....NOT.

When we lose the remote, and we need to shut the TV off because we are leaving the house, rather than wait to find the remote, I'll tell one of the kids to just go over and push the button on the TV. They look at me like I am crazy! LOL

 

[Chloe'sMom]

I graduated from High School in 1997. I had a beeper. I thought I was soooo cool.

You and me both! I had one where you could pick the tone for when it went off - it was the coolest!

~Amanda

 

[amy4bruce]

Oh, please. I was born in 1951. I remember vinyl records (15-20 years ago, a nephew saw some old 45s at a flea market, and said, "Look at the funny looking CDs."), black and white TV, and dial phones.

In 1973, I sat in grad school, watching To Have and Have Not with Bogart and Bacall, from the 1940s. Early on, Bogie, playing a boat skipper, is charging someone for expensive marine gas - $.27 per gallon. It got a laugh back then - can you imagine the reaction now?

Movies and books date, especially with technology moving rapidly. There's a big laugh line in Play it Again, Sam about someone who has a computer in their living room. Today, the humor is lost.

Even science fiction dates. Both Lost in Space and Quantum Leap use 1999 as their base date. Managed to get everything wrong. Even an excellent novel like Robert Silverberg's The Stochastic Man predicted the turn of the millenium completely incorrectly.

The interesting thing is that my parents, who were both born in 1927 and who both died last year, saw many more changes than I did. I have no idea what my daughter, who is almost 7, will see, but someday, she'll be watching an older Superman cartoon, and ask me what he's changing his clothes in, and I'll have to explain what a phone booth was.

 

[beck0321]

It weird to think about it, but that WAS almost 15 years ago, which is a pretty long time. Time is flying by for me so it doesn't seem that long ago. But when I stop and think about it I realize just how long ago it was! Weird!

 

[Bob Slydell]

It weird to think about it, but that WAS almost 15 years ago, which is a pretty long time. Time is flying by for me so it doesn't seem that long ago. But when I stop and think about it I realize just how long ago it was! Weird!

Umm, 1997 was less than 10 years ago.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Umm, 1997 was less than 10 years ago.

I almost choked on my coffee.

 

[beck0321]

Umm, 1997 was less than 10 years ago.

Sorry, typo, my bad...

 

[rcraw45425]

Speaking of the car phones, I flipped by an old Charlies Angels the other night and they had the old, ultra hip kind of car phone where you had to call a mobile operator! I got my first cell in 1993, it was a bag phone (remember those, had more power than the handhelds). I remember having to carry a roaming book in my car so that I could call home while on the road. There was one location around Auburn University where it cost something like $5 to roam there!

 

[disneyfan67]

I feel old as well because when I worked at my first car dealership in 1986 as a apprentice tech, I had to learn how to install car mounted cell phones. It was a big job and took a couple of hours to do and tons of wiring to run. You had a big transmitter unit to install in the trunk, run a handfull of wires to the phone unit that was installed in near the driver. In some case you had to drill a hole in the roof of the car to install a pretty thick, ugly looking antenna. There was no turning back if you didn't like the phone once it was installed. Once you drill holes in the roof of your car, you're pretty much screwed if didn't like where the antenna was mounted.

The phone holder was mounted near the driver and the base was held by some pretty thick screws and there was this thick metal, flexible shaft that was bendable so the driver could tilt it toward him. It was kind of scary to be doing that kind of work to real expensive car. Sometimes the customer would see it afterwards and not care for it too much. The things took up a lot of room inside the car and were a expensive option to purchase. If I remember correctly, it was at least a 2 thousand dollar add on option at the time, that was 1986 dollars mind you and that also didn't include the activation fee.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_phone

Things really have changed alot when it comes to electronics/technology we have nowdays.