Yep! I remember seeing an ad in Omni magazine that showed someone sitting at a computer. And in big bold print it said, "Imagine being able to read the news with just a few clicks of a keyboard!" Then going on to say someday that may happen.

And boy did it ever. But what's so funny that ad seemed so futuristic and cool. Now we do it from our pocket. Crazy.

I still have that magazine by the way. I should dig it out and scan that ad!

Yep! lol

A/S/L

I legit got laid doing that in aol chatrooms. One girl I ended up dating for 4 years. Met her in aol chat room. Started with a/s/l. Met her at the food court in the mall. Kissed her at her car. She moved in with me a month later.

Good times. I ended up being clever as fuck in chat. Thankfully women like humor and wit more than looks. It's the only reason I got laid then and the only reason I get laid now. haha

I was totally into the that art scene! lmao I'd even print that shit out on my dot-matrix printer!

I remember a programming course in the summer that left an impression, though I foolishly never pursued it further.

Yep, even tho I do ok and I'm retired, I definitely wish that I had kept pursing it. I actually enjoyed programming in my BASIC class in school. But for some reason, it just never clicked with me that I could do it as a job.

I would be way wealthier if I had pursued it. I have no excuse. It literally just never occurred to me that I could do it as a job.

I grew up in a very rural town, population less that 2,000 people.

Now that I retired early and collect a pension, I am looking to pick up where I left off. Just for fun. :)

Trying to install linux on my PC today as a matter of fact.

Yeah, I can definitely see myself going down the same path as you. lol

Hmmm, maybe. But I don't remember it being nearly as prominent right now. Here on Lemmy, post a picture of a cute dog and prepare for replies with variations of, "Yeah, well now that Trump is president, get used to not being able to afford a dog!" or "Wow, look at that. I'll never be able to afford a house now. Since fascists voted in a dictator. The closest I'll get to a dog is having to eat dog food because it's all I can afford on my way to the deathcamps!"

Ugh, it just EVERYWHERE now. Also back then it seemed to be smarter people arguing because the cost of admission was higher to get into the computer world--both in intelligence and money.

But to your point, I wasn't THAT smart or rich, so I guess I was never in the hardcore argument worlds. I was reading BASIC magazine and trying to write cool programs that showed colored lines. BBS was more of "OMG I am talking to someone in another state without using the mail!" lolol

Now the internet is full of assholes who aren’t just autistic, but are self-aware assholes who profit from it in terms of money or attention.

100 percent. I was born in 1969. For me the best decade was the 90's. But I had a lot of fun in the 80's too.

Yeah, the tech we have is nicer, slicker, and faster. Most just works until it doesn't, then buy another. But I keep feeling like I SHOULD be excited, but I'm not.

I legit and thinking of dialing it all back, going old school and just fucking around w an old computer that can hardly do anything cool.

I mean, that excitement almost came back with raspberry pi, but not it's pretty commercial. AI sort had that thrill, but now it's so good and so fast, the newness wore off.

I recently retired (early retirement), and thought what all my free time I was gonna do and learn all the latest tech. Um, no. Now I want to do old tech as the hobby. lmao

Oh good points! The scam shit wasn't really thought about as much.

I was teen too. I know some of it is nostalgia glasses, but I had fun. But unlike a lot of my classmates from that time, I don't think they were the highlights of my life.

Def fun tho, and I do think it was a simpler time. I think the 24/7 access to news and media and online removed has made things a bit worse.

The world definitely was NOT safer back then, but we weren't shown it 24 hours a day. The doomscrollers on Lemmy actually have made even lemmy less cool that it should be. Back then bad news was just for 6 oclock news or newspapers. Rest of the time was spent fucking around.

So it was easier to just play around, hang out, and 1980's sci-fi books were awesome to read back then. Not everything was as dystopian as it is now.

Funny thing is, I am living that future. My gf was arguing with Alexa ai yesterday. I was cleaning out the robot vacuum cleaner that was filled up with some dog hair, and the computer I carry in my pocket as a phone is more powerful than any desktops back then.

But fuck all, it's not as fun as I thought it would be! And OMG the removed and moaning I hear from people and online all the time.

WTF?! That's easily the most irritating thing about modern day. Give it a fucking rest and go out to a park and enjoy some trees and sunshine.

More housing!

This is a good thing. You were all complaining about housing prices. Well, now they are going down. :)

Just like when Biden was in office and Democrat propaganda was everywhere. Well, things changes. That's ok, in 4 years, it'll change back again.

Yep!

Every day there is new DOGE news and I am loving it! lol

He's looked dead for a while!