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

[nickyboy]

At the time it seemed OK, but looking back it was completely useless

As a teenager....arranging to meet someone and they're delayed but you have no idea, or you're standing in the wrong place or whatever. Meet some girl and find you've got no way of keeping in touch except letter writing or a tortuous arrangement with payphones. Losing touch with people you went to school with.

At work....getting documents sent by fax which jammed or ran out of paper. Sending paper memos around the buildings.

Having to trawl around shops on Saturdays to buy a specific lightbulb whereas now it's all online and my Saturdays are my own

It wasn't better. It was shoot

 

[Venod]

We communicated face to face mostly, we didn't have a phone at home so nights out, club runs etc were arranged when people were together.
I think I prefer the modern way of doing things its very convenient to find out whats going on via text/Facebook/internet, but you have to look on phones/computers/tablets as tools and not become slaves to the technology, remember we never had motor vehicles, its progress, who knows what the future holds.

 

[Sandra6]

Much as I miss letter writing I think @nickyboy makes a good point - it is a lot easier now.
I was a teenager in the late 80's and my friends and I made arrangements through the day at school and stuck to them. Phone calls were strictly monitored - "have you seen the phone bill??!?!!!" and there was always an adult hovering and listening!
My best friend and I used to write each other notes quite often, which continued in letter writing for quite a while when I got married and moved away.
It is much easier to keep in touch with people now, but I am very glad there wasn't a constant stream of facebook, instagram and snap chat when I was making my teenage mistakes!

 

[marinyork]

There have always been people that don't turn up to appointments. I think it's a large part of personality* rather than just ease of communication. I remember relatives totally losing the plot after long journeys in what i would call the days before mobile phones (which others here probably wouldn't) after a journey was plus or minus a couple of hours. I remember people taking lifts by car as a small child and they wouldn't be ready at the agreed time and someone would have to go and bang on their door and it'd be delayed by 5-10 mins. Or no show. I also remember the converse people who would be stood waiting 5 mins before and the person giving the lift would be late and they'd be ready and jump straight in. Hell I still have that now, I meet a particular friend for bike rides or give them a lift and they are hopelessly late. I could probably assign reasons to it and say that it's his phone or internet that means he doesn't worry or that he's a lazy bastard or that not working means he doesn't 'value' time, but they'd all just be lazy stereotypes. Life's far more important than getting upset about such things.

I think the general principle that if someone is around all the time or appears to be available all the time they can be undervalued is about right. It might be more applicable to personal relationships, family or close friends. Or people who are not close not realising what constant availability means to you?

I see the internet as a different medium. I think the internet gets blamed for all sorts of things which makes me chuckle. It really does. I have to think incredibly hard to think of something that I've seen on the internet that I've never heard a person say in real life. Yet it seems very common for people to say things like well people don't really speak like that in real life do they? Yes they do.

Also I think that personal privacy is a different topic. There are just some people like that and will have been all the way through human history.

*As a life as an introvert spectacularly misunderstood by some extroverts I think that's a big factor too. Same in real life and on the internet.

 

[Piemaster]

I remember from my Merchant Navy days that when you left home to go and join a ship, that meant your only contact with people at home was going to be by the occasional letter or postcard until you came home 5 or 6 months later. When you DID get home, it meant that the catching up was amazing; you had a load of stories to tell, as did those you had left behind. Now? Everybody would know your every move while you were away by logging in to FaceBook.

Exactly my experience. It's expected that crews will have some internet access now. I'd expect any candidates to ask the question at an interview now and likely become very uninterested if the answer was 'no'.

 

[nickyboy]

Technology is your friend

I woke up this morning and switched on the mobile as I lay in bed. I work with Asian companies and a couple had sent some WhatsApp messages about issues so I dealt with those. Some Chinese friends wished my Happy New Year on WeChat (another messenger system) so I replied in kind. Went downstairs and switched on the laptop and there were a couple of emails that needed attention. Again, from people I work with but I almost never see. Working from home, virtual office, no commuting. I faffed about on Cyclechat for a bit. Then I went out for a bike ride and uploaded the ride to Strava so my friends can see what I've done and make comments about how slow I was. Might go out tonight, need to use my mobile to see if the train is on time. Then I need it to gps me to the meetup. Later I'll book a uber with my mobile and payment is automatic.

Mobile is on and with me from when I wake up to when I go to sleep. It's a tool. It works for me, not the other way around

 

[Vapin' Joe]

There are good and bad points, but I would not like to go back to pre-digital days, there were too many disadvantages. If I want a quiet day now I don't turn my phone on and on the way into a restaurant or a snooker hall it is switched off.

 

[marinyork]

[QUOTE 4656386, member: 259"]I miss letter-writing. In the end I was only exchanging letters with my elderly parents, and then when they had gone, nobody else did it any more.[/QUOTE]

I used to write letters at university to one of my college friends. In the end she told me to stop writing and just text. Ironically enough a while later she tried to contact me on facebook where I didn't read the message till three years later . A Christmas card appeared at my home address last year despite her saying she couldn't remember where I lived and having not repeated it .

 

[subaqua]

aaah the joys of having to go into the site agents cabin and ask if was possibly Ok for you to make a quick call to the office and get them to call back so you could put the urgent weekend works materials requisition through. all other reqs had to be hand written with part codes and posted in . certainly made you plan works a bit better.

 

[jefmcg]

1. I moved into a suburb in Australia with a high migrant population. We got a "new" phone number (ie not the one that had been with at the house before). Every now and then we would get calls in a European language I didn't recognise. Eventually someone called who spoke English. They wanted me to help them trace the person who had had the number, "a good man who does good things for people" I couldn't help, and they probably could never find him again.
2. While my family was waiting for me to come home, before going to the beach, I got on an amusement ride and it broke down. We were stuck for hours, and my family were stuck waiting for me to come home, instead of going without me.
3. I was attacked in the street late at night. My assailant fled. I went to a phone box to call the police. They didn't pick up. I had to chose between reporting the assault or getting myself to safety in case the attacker returned.
4. Standing outside the MCG (80,000 seats) waiting for friends to show up, all coming from different directions. Reliable people, but public transport isn't always. It would be nice for people to be able to tell you when things go wrong.
5. My grandfather left Southend before WWI. I'm not sure he ever talked to his family again.

etc

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I think it's much better to get dumped face to face like in the 'old days' rather than via an FB status change.

(I've had the former but not the latter so maybe I'm not best placed to judge.)

 

[threebikesmcginty]

At one job I had in the 1980s I had to use a telex machine. Bit like a giant texting device. THX CU +++

 

[Drago]

I'm not sure things have changed much for me. I'm a normal mobile phone user (I was bought a smart phone but accidentally broke it) and I only switch it on when I want to use it, such as when I need to make a call, or I'm on call for SAR. I control it, not the other way around.

Because of that social interaction is probably little different for me than it was decades ago in that regard.

 

[Brains]

At one job I had in the 1980s I had to use a telex machine. Bit like a giant texting device. THX CU +++

ZCZC

IN SHPG
TLX USED UNTIL 2001
RGDS
+++

NNNN

 

[TheDoctor]

There's pros and cons, as with everything else.
Using just a smartphone I was able to reschedule flights, get travel insurance sorted, and apply for a job while as far away from the UK as you can get.
A few years ago, I was cycling round France, and my partner was in NZ. Pre-mobile, she'd worry that I was impaled on a tree half-way down Ventoux or some such. Now, we could chat (briefly, cos it's still ruddy expensive) each morning (my time) / evening (her time) and when she got up the following day, it would be to a few txts advising the highlights of my day and that I was safely at the next hotel.
Getting a call from a work colleague at 3 am, however, is less welcome...