Pre- mobiles and internet time, question for those who knew it

[Gravity Aided]

It is scary that someone in his position could think that it is perfectly ok to say that torture is a good idea. He uses his mouth before engaging his brain. Mind you, I'm not sure that engaging his brain would actually help that much ...

Nope, it sure wouldn't.

 

[Gravity Aided]

The media have confused me. A month ago 'Mad Dog' was a war mongering loon who will have WWIII started nicely first chance he got, and suddenly he's now the voice of reason instead.

He has a knowledge of military history, and a respect for the problems you can get into. He might be a bit overcautious, like Meade in our Civil War. Here's an example.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/01/18/the-green-berets-who-saved-karzai.html
https://www.stripes.com/news/retire...is-left-my-men-to-die-in-afghanistan-1.442367

 

[Drago]

I don't doubt he has huge experience and knowledge. It's the media's massively oscillating opinion that makes me chuckle, not Mad Dog himself.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I get violent reactions either way, and not by branch of service either.

 

[postman]

M y Brooks B17 is older than you.November 1987.Tell you what people drove their cars without mobiles.People watched where they were walking before mobiles.People looked at Supermarket cashiers before mobiles.People had meals before mobiles.I have seen couples in cafes and restaurants playing on phones rather than look at each other.The best one was Planet Hollywood Orlando.I watched a couple dressed up on a date,eating food while on mobiles both of them.WTF you are on a date.Me mobiles have a place but not stuck to the side of your head 24 hours a day.

 

[Gravity Aided]

People talked to the people they were with. Called interaction. Nowadays, like @postman says, people feel free to ignore their fellow citizens in order to converse with someone on a smartphone. This may be why we see so much polarization in society, because people only talk to others they want to hear.

 

[Markymark]

Three people were wiped out by a truck driver who was either texting or watching a film on his mobile last year.

Swings and roundabouts.

A freakonomics podcast a year or so ago quoted a study that ran the numbers and the net result in the US of mobiles in cars was positive as the lives saved from faster emergency response times was higher the deaths due to mobile use.

 

[slowmotion]

I like classic cars and love the simple engineering approach but how many would want to crawl underneath their Austin Cambridge with a grease gun every few weeks?

Simple. Any sucker who gets charged £700 by the official main dealer for fixing a dodgy indicator.

 

[User32269]

30 years ago. I had my 21st birthday when working in Butlins. I would write a letter to my mum and dad about once a month. At the end of the season I went over to Greece with a girl I had met. To cut a long story short, I got stranded and the girl took my passport back to England. I had other things on my mind than letter writing.

My parents, who didn't have a clue where I was, received the news that I was stranded without a passport and the actual passport from this girl who they had never met or heard about before. They didn't have a phone as they were only for posh people.

Eighteen months later, I knocked on their door with a fantastic tan. My mum punched me! They honestly thought I was dead. Texts can save a bit of grief.

 

[Gravity Aided]

When I bike toured, I'd send letters home, and call on a payphone once a week. When I was at Uni, I had a lot of friends around the world, and a pal from high school who was from Finland. Air mail was cheap, though,(sort of) and we had access to onionskin vellum at home and at the office I worked in at Uni. Fountain Pens.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

30 years ago. I had my 21st birthday when working in Butlins. I would write a letter to my mum and dad about once a month. At the end of the season I went over to Greece with a girl I had met. To cut a long story short, I got stranded and the girl took my passport back to England. I had other things on my mind than letter writing.

My parents, who didn't have a clue where I was, received the news that I was stranded without a passport and the actual passport from this girl who they had never met or heard about before. They didn't have a phone as they were only for posh people.

Eighteen months later, I knocked on their door with a fantastic tan. My mum punched me! They honestly thought I was dead. Texts can save a bit of grief.

18 months? You can hardly blame that on a lack of text.

 

[oldfatfool]

Communication now is predominantly white noise and means bugger all, that's why I don't bother, back then communication was more effort making it meaningful, that's why I didn't bother.

 

[screenman]

Communication now is predominantly white noise and means bugger all, that's why I don't bother, back then communication was more effort making it meaningful, that's why I didn't bother.

You are communicating now, and have bothered to do so.

 

[cyberknight]

What gets on my knibbles is people who cant go through life at "work " where they are being paid not to spend as much time as possible posting inane drivel about all and sundry yet still get away with it .
If your at work your being paid to do a job not leave it in the poo hole for the guy following you to sort out cus you had to send txts about footie.

 

[ColinJ]

What gets on my knibbles is people who cant go through life at "work " where they are being paid not to spend as much time as possible posting inane drivel about all and sundry yet still get away with it .
If your at work your being paid to do a job not leave it in the poo hole for the guy following you to sort out cus you had to send txts about footie.

Have you noticed how busy CycleChat is during normal working hours vs holidays and weekends?