Those born pre-internet

[BobbiSueEllen]

*sees it coming...*

 

[Tenawearer]

Friendly reminder for all internet and social media users.....if it's free YOU are the product.

 

[PaigeCherubiel]

You mean like . . . here?

 

[Tenawearer]

Oh yes.....

 

[Tenawearer]

Another thing, kids should get BOOKS at school. Helps with concentration and develops the imagination.

 

[sissygirlpink]

Having lived before cell phones and internet when kids was forced to have a imagination and interact with other kids and adults one on one in person. Do you think we have sold our soles for this tech???? Not talking so much about religion but morels in General. Do you think the human race flushed its moral values down the shitter with this internet and social media we have today. Not trying too talk politics or religion but in general did it make people dumber and more numb to each other. Parents almost count on the internet and videos game to not only baby set but to raise their child. Everyone is into their screens they are to busy to put them down an open a door for a elderly or just to check and see how someones day is going. Nope they do not want to interact anymore than they can do on line..They become withdrawn from society and then find other like minded people. Where is the humanity going? Every day just a bit more dies out and we loose eldors that take wisdom and knowledge with them.

I am just a old man rambling on along But I think we need to do better to try and get some morals back and just work harder to give back and teach our youth. Stop brain washing the our youth. What I seen happen in the last ten years I think we have devolved as a human. New tech is nice but not if it cost us our values and ability to work together an stop tearing each other down. Anyway My Abien is hitting hard and I need to get to bed.

What do you guys think. As a person who as a live and went though the good old days with out some of this tech do you think the tech and internet will be the down fall. I mean AI is coming, like it or hate the very ideal like me but it is happening. Will the benefits out way the risk.

Sorry if it is too deep the meds give me the drive to share my emotions! Right or wrong.

Hello,

Given that this is off topic, I’m quite happy to put my two penneth in.

I believe society as a whole has been eroded since the ‘50’s with the baby boomers, the swinging sixties, liberal parents, erosion of the police powers and teachers to chastise with removal of corporal punishment.

We’ve handed over control to the minority and our children who through the internet very quickly learn how to blackmail us to get what they want.

I am glad that we have the internet but in my view, as is yours, it comes with a massive price along with all the other liberal changes that have been made over the last 60 or 70 years.

Jenny x

 

[Edgewater]

I remember when as a family we got our first black and white tv.

The last dinosaur in Chester zoo died that week....
The idea behind internet was revolutionary, you can compare that to the invention of the printing press. Unfortunately there seems to be more disinformation than information and scientists and real journalists are receiving death threats from conspiracy theorists and populist politicians.
The information dat you get is controlled through an algorithm which means your world view gets smaller and pushes people into a group that is then set against the rest.

Sorry to disagree, but the left is dead or dying. The political right in all its degrees has long been on the rise. Communism is absolutely no threat to the world.

In Europe, you have seen the full-effect of Socialism and as a result, are in the slow process of turning away from it. Knowing it is deeply engrained within the European society and it will take time to make that turn. In the US, we are still traveling that Socialism road and have not come to that point where much of Europe is. At this point, the US is in a race between Cyber Based life and the willingness of the population to simply turnover government to the machines as they trust them more than the right!

Thank you, for a spotlight into the darkness!

 

[Sidewinder]

I remember when as a family we got our first black and white tv.

My first television set as a kid was an old department store brand 13" black and white tv set, which I mainly used to watch videos and play video games on.

Then when I was about 9 or 10, I was gifted a 1980 tri-color 19" CRT Toshiba Blackstripe, Model C991C, with the fake wood panelling and UHF and VHF channel selection knobs from my Grandfather, that previously belonged to my great Grandmother, which to this day, still works. perfectly.

This set I mainly use to watch my old VHS tapes on or play my old-school video games, which to me, seems more appropriate for recapturing that nostalgic feel than watching VHS videos or playing old-school video games on those ultra-modern flat panel television sets of today.

 

[Tomtomthedl]

The late '70s into the '80s saw the rise of the fast food restaurant. And a lot of people complained about the demise of the mom and pop restaurant around town. But everybody went through the drive-thrus because it was quick and easy and a lot of small town America started to die out around that time. Folks were complaining about the fast food joints then. Folks complain about the technology that we have now. The world is constantly changing and we just have to change with it. It's the way it has always been and it will never change. Enjoy your cellphone, just don't let it take over your life.

 

[Seasonedcitizen]

The internet is a tool. It can be a blessing or curse depending on how you use it. Too many black holes to occupy your productive time.

Orwell predicted censorship by Big Brother. Huxley predicted that Big Brother wouldn’t need censorship, just drown people in useless and trivial stuff.

forty years ago there was a movie called Aliens where a creature would implant itself onto the victim’s face. I saw a meme like that but the creature was replaced by a cell phone. Wherever you go now people have their eyes on a cell phone as they walk.

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

"I've been aliiiive forever..."

 

[User74975]

Having lived before cell phones and internet when kids was forced to have a imagination and interact with other kids and adults one on one in person. Do you think we have sold our soles for this tech???? Not talking so much about religion but morels in General. Do you think the human race flushed its moral values down the shitter with this internet and social media we have today. Not trying too talk politics or religion but in general did it make people dumber and more numb to each other. Parents almost count on the internet and videos game to not only baby set but to raise their child. Everyone is into their screens they are to busy to put them down an open a door for a elderly or just to check and see how someones day is going. Nope they do not want to interact anymore than they can do on line..They become withdrawn from society and then find other like minded people. Where is the humanity going? Every day just a bit more dies out and we loose eldors that take wisdom and knowledge with them.

I am just a old man rambling on along But I think we need to do better to try and get some morals back and just work harder to give back and teach our youth. Stop brain washing the our youth. What I seen happen in the last ten years I think we have devolved as a human. New tech is nice but not if it cost us our values and ability to work together an stop tearing each other down. Anyway My Abien is hitting hard and I need to get to bed.

What do you guys think. As a person who as a live and went though the good old days with out some of this tech do you think the tech and internet will be the down fall. I mean AI is coming, like it or hate the very ideal like me but it is happening. Will the benefits out way the risk.

Sorry if it is too deep the meds give me the drive to share my emotions! Right or wrong.

So you must have been born and died before either 1969 or 1990 when the World Wide web was officially created.
computer games came out in the 1970's, apparantly the first publically used mobile phones were around 1946... in cars, but i guess you mean hand held which according to the link , as i read it was 1981.

History of mobile phones - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

when i was born, we had colour television, some homes had a telephone, home entertainment consoles such as Atari... and the Home computer market opened up with the likes of : Tandy/Radio shack TRS80, BBC micro, Dragon, Commodore, ZX spectrum.. moving away slightly from the biggest babysitter in the house for some children/adults, the television, which only offered 3 channels that developed slowly into five and i vaguely recall Ceefax.. pocket calculators and hand held single game LCD devices...

With the development of computers and the internet, it is a double edged sword.. it can be good, bad, nice, or ugly. Not all the younger generation are absorbed by tech and the internet- otherwise all the social venues would have closed down decades ago.
I am about 10 years older than my freind-so you would possibly assume they are more a ' tech geek' than i, but the truth is, it is me that helps them- when they were in thier teens , they would be going out to pubs, clubs, working, having relationships, doing sports..

As for the idea of ' the good old days' im not so sure about that.. if you didnt have a phone and needed to call for an ambulance, then you would be apologising as you knockon your neighbours door to see if its ok to borrow theirs... or a walk to the call box , only to find it had be vandalised or was in poor condition..

BTW i couldnt sell my sole as wear through my footware too quick to consider that

 

[Sidewinder]

The internet is a tool. It can be a blessing or curse depending on how you use it.

Ever since I was first introduced to the internet back in the mid/late 1990's, I've always viewed the internet as nothing more than an encyclopedia attached to a telephone line.

Simply put, the internet to me is a means to an end in accessing and retrieving information on any subject as well as sharing said information with the outside world.

 

[Subtlerustle]

Before teh_Interwebz, we just wore mammoth-fur diapers, evaded dinosaur attacks and beat rocks together. Oog.

Me wear diaper made of rock.
Kidding aside, I think most people think social media sucks yet they’re drawn to it. That said each person’s addiction to it has a shelf life imo. I and my friends have taken many breaks to complete shutdowns of our use. Eventually you see it for its toxicity and then you use it as a tool or quit outright.

 

[Diaperman95]

I'm 77. I remember living without a telephone and without a television. I remember when it was safe for kids to play outdoors without someone watching them constantly. I remember also that, during those times, life was not so good if you were other than straight, white, male, middle class or above, and from "a good Christian family." Discrimination was not only rampant, it was legalized in many ways. No one knew what to make of people with high functioning ASD. The condition had not even been diagnosed. If you needed your diaper changed in a public restroom, your mom had to either learn to change you in a standing position (as mine did) or spread a changing mat on a dirty floor. Changing tables didn't exist in either women's or men's restrooms.

The Internet and other modern communication technologies have shined light on so many social evils. The good that people accomplish receives more notice as well. Those who seek to divide, polarize, and breed hate have become expert users of the same technologies. But that's not the technologies' fault.

Diaperman, much as I like and respect you, I'm going to disagree with you on this point. Yes, the Internet has given birth to a lot of things we could live without including, as Bearcatz reminded us, "keyboard warriors." And social media, of which ADISC is really an example, has resulted in cyberbullying, conveying of conspiracy theories and misinformation, and imbalance in a lot of people's lives. I feel sad whenever I see a family in a restaurant so involved with their mobile phones that they're not even looking at each other.

At the same time, though, I have to point out that my life is so much richer because I have ADISC as a place to learn from others and share my own ideas and points of view. I'm happy that I'm able to gather all kind of TRUE information from all kinds of wonderful websites, including websites established by very respectable universities. The good that the Internet and artificial intelligence bring us offers us outweighs the bad, I think.

Yes, it's important to use the Internet responsibly, just as it's responsible to use EVERYTHING responsibly. Society as a whole, and we individually could probably do a more effective job of monitoring both our time and activities online.

I can certainly agree it has had a lot of good things and ADISC is one of those things. But it is so sad in so many ways and I think it makes us all dumber as we do not have to remember anything. Not birthdays phone numbers or nothing. Obviously I am just as guilty as everyone else for using the net. I really do not use face book much at all or other social media platforms. To be honest I only have a facebook account to keep up with a few family members and to shop on market place. But I can't help to think the bad out weighs the good when it comes to humanity. I am truly scared shitless of AI.

What scares me about AI is when it gets smart enough to rewrite its own software. We will see the biggest leap in tech when it happens but wil anyone understand how to fix it if it was not man made or how to stop it if it goes out of control. I know Elon Musk was huge in helping start IA but is now against any real IA for those very reasons.

Like you it pains me to see people setting at a table out to eat as a group or family and just living on the phone not looking at each other. most families do not een eat at a dinner table any more.

My dad is your age and he has never once had any type of TV other than what a antena can provide. He did not even have internet until they started giving it to you on a phone for free. Out side of a wifi hotspot on his phone he has not got internet.

I did not mean to sound like I was 100% anti tech but I feel like the quality of life was better in the 90's. I hate the fact that you can't do or say anything without being on film or recorded even in your own home. I do not trust google or even my own government anymore. But I am happy to have found ADISC and all the members. I truly have mad respect for this group and how it is ran and I hope that never changes to make us like every other social media platform.

 

[Belarin]

It's getting late so I haven't read all the replies here but in response to the original question my answer is both yes and no.

I was born mid 90's so the internet was a thing at the time but really you had to be part of an institution to have access to it (like government or academia). I have witnessed the rise of home internet from direct connect BBS to dial up through to modern broadband.

I personally can agree that the rise of high speed internet access on practically every device available (like you can buy a fridge these days that can access the net), mobile smart phones and all the little gadgets we have today has certainly had a detrimental effect on the way we live.

For example when I was a little boy going on a bus ride into town for some shopping parents would talk to their kids and play little games and just generally interact with them to keep them from running riot on the bus but now as soon as they are seated there is an ipad in their hands with their parents blabbering away on a phone not paying any attention.

Kids at any age with a little bit of knowledge (or bad luck) can stumble onto some really nasty stuff on the net, parents have gotten lazy at raising their kids, relying on screens to do their job for them, people can talk to anyone anywhere in the world at any time but real communication between people is decreasing rapidly. Fools, idiots and morally questionable people can easily perpetuate misinformation and equally foolish people will believe everything they read online without question or research (I could name many examples of internet driven idiocy here but I shall refrain to keep this non political/judgmental etc.)

Moreover it has made us incredibly lazy as a society, why leave the house when you can buy everything you want online and have it delivered next day, sometimes even later the same day. Detailed and visually stunning video games that can take you places you'll never see for real, movies streamed on demand to any screen you own... It has also vastly increased the "disposable society" where nothing is made to last and everything needs to be constantly replaced either because it's outdated or simply designed not to last long.

At the same time however it has brought about some incredible and great changes to our world, as a prime example can you imagine the LGBTQ+ movement being anywhere near as big or having as much sway as it does now if people were not able to connect globally, share information and organise. The same can be said for all modern technology and scientific understanding, without the internet it could take months to years for people to share information, gather and collate data and collaborate on projects that have changed the world for the better.

We have access to information and knowledge on a level never before possible, anyone can learn anything from anywhere in the world if they look in the right places.

And to take a more recent example imagine how bad the Covid-19 pandemic could have been if we didn't have the ability to connect that we currently have, biologists, virologists and pathologists having immediate access to world wide data on outbreaks, spreads, variants, countermeasures etc. It would have taken possibly years longer and many more lives lost to get things under control.

And look at our little community, pre internet we would all be mostly disconnected, still believing we were alone in our desires, no support, no information, no educational info on a website to help non abdl's understand us...


So yes the internet certainly has caused more than it's share of drawbacks and problems to our lives but it has also created some wonderful and beautiful things and connected and provided for the world in a very positive way too.

 

[Diaperman95]

Me wear diaper made of rock.
Kidding aside, I think most people think social media sucks yet they’re drawn to it. That said each person’s addiction to it has a shelf life imo. I and my friends have taken many breaks to complete shutdowns of our use. Eventually you see it for its toxicity and then you use it as a tool or quit outright.

Literally this is the only group I am active in because it is not a toxic environment... Yet!!! Facebook youtube all of those are pretty much useless. I have a few channels I follow on Youtube but that is it. Mostly woodworking or metal fab or knife making and things that interest me but even then the comments are just full of rude assholes being toxic. Main stream TV is pretty much too. Ever since 2013 when they changed the laws letting China and foreign interest buy out all of our media stations a person can not trust anything they have to say on news. To be honest the world scares me for my kid and grandchild.

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

What scares me about AI is when it gets smart enough to rewrite its own software. We will see the biggest leap in tech when it happens but wil anyone understand how to fix it if it was not man made or how to stop it if it goes out of control. I know Elon Musk was huge in helping start IA but is now against any real IA for those very reasons.

Whst scares me about AI is how digital photography is increasingly losing its credibility and validity as objective evidence. Anything can be faked now, and look actual, so long as it's on digital media. Ya can't do AI on Kodachrome so it just might make a comeback.

 

[Diaperman95]

Internet shopping made crossdressing way easier and safer.

well I am happy for you on that. I cant say I miss buying diapers in the store or the way the quality of the diaper. Before AB community banned together and made a better adult diaper and the medical diapers followed. I will always be thankful for that.

 

[Diaperman95]

Friendly reminder for all internet and social media users.....if it's free YOU are the product.

sculpted the way they want.