13 years later ...........

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

Had a historic tech moment today after talking to someone who has a young child. Mine is a teenager now. Almost an adult. But when he was a small child, 13 years ago we just had:

1) Five channels on the TV
2) No smartphone
3) One family laptop and a netbook
4) Books
5) DVD's
6) A football.

For child entertainment. Kids TV stopped at 7pm - helped them go to bed. It sounds a complete nightmare these days when kids can watch never-ending youtube and netflix - back to back episodes.

I'd still rather only have five TV channels - most of the rest is rubbish. Smartphone has become an essential personal organiser. But I might go back to basics when there are no longer any phones with lcd screens (in the not too distant future ........). I can't get on with oled - makes my eyes and head hurt.

I'm sure the present has brought some good IT things but it must be hard for people with small kids.

So much change in 13 years!

abactuon · Mar 25, 2025

Yes, but the world is a much more dangerous place now.

AugPal · Mar 25, 2025

Growing up, when I got home from school I would grab my baseball glove and go play baseball in the street. Today kids get home, grab their laptop and fight with people in social media.

We had
5 channel TV - Johnny Carson was on every night.
No smart phone rather a dial phone
Laptops weren't invented yet & computers were not available to the public
CDs and DVDs weren't invented yet
We had vinyl 33 & 45 records
Tape recorders were reel to reel
People filmed vacations with 8mm film cameras

antspants · Mar 25, 2025

Yes.

Also, technology is progressing much much faster.

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

It has made me realise how fast it has progressed in those 13 years. We switched from analogue to digital TV (not popular at first). Echo dots and alexa came along. The current thing is AI and that is pretty scary sometimes! Where will that lead? There is usually benefit in new technology but also dangers and downsides.

Can you even buy a black and white TV any more?! We had one right through the 1980s as couldn't afford a licence for colour.

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

I remember now. Going digital killed off black and white TV's!

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

Although seems plenty of people still used black and white tv's in 2019!

"As BBC One celebrates its 50th anniversary of colour television this week, TV Licensing has revealed that more than 6,500 UK households are still watching TV programmes on black and white TV sets."

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/media-centre/news/view.app?id=1369787209230

Unless those 6500 households were just lying to avoid the colour licence fee

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

There were 13,000 in use in 2013 - about 12 years ago.

Why we still love our black and white TVs

More than 13,000 households across the UK are still using black-and-white television sets. BBC News website readers have been telling us why they are hanging on to theirs.

www.bbc.co.uk

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

AugPal said:
Growing up, when I got home from school I would grab my baseball glove and go play baseball in the street. Today kids get home, grab their laptop and fight with people in social media.

We had
5 channel TV - Johnny Carson was on every night.
No smart phone rather a dial phone
Laptops weren't invented yet & computers were not available to the public
CDs and DVDs weren't invented yet
We had vinyl 33 & 45 records
Tape recorders were reel to reel
People filmed vacations with 8mm film cameras

Well if we're going back that far...........

We only had three TV channels in the Uk when I was a kid. BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. Also just a dial phone. And phone boxes. Also 33 and 45 records and a reel to reel tape recorder (although cassette recorders were already around). And used a Kodak Instamatic 126 camera. My Dad had 8mm cine also. Which he carried on using through to the 90s.

We weren't allowed to watch ITV because it had adverts! My Dad said it would brainwash us. He was probably right!

AugPal · Mar 25, 2025

When I was 16 cable TV became available. It was $9.99 a month. It had 15 channels. I was working part time so I ordered it. My father freaked out when he saw it. Someone told him cable TV was blowing TV's up, so I had it removed.

When I was 18 I moved out of my parents house. I went to visit and my father had cable TV hooked up to the TV

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

I take it you're in the US? When we were sat here with our three channels (four by the 1980s). We used to watch films where americans (actors) had dozens of channels and think - how on earth do they watch them all?

I still don't like having loads of channels. As predicted, OH spends half the night scrolling through them trying to decide what to watch. And ends up watching netflix (which I resent paying for! But the teenager wanted it).

Hazel123 · Mar 25, 2025

The time thing though - 13 years. It seems so fast and things kicking around the house are now so obsolete. But it doesn't seem that long since they weren't. (Like my boxful of netbooks and spare parts).

AugPal · Mar 25, 2025

Back in the 60s we had what was called a British Invasion. The Beatles came to the states and made a big impact on music

My father thought the Beatles were a female band at first because their hair was over their ears

z3r010 · Mar 26, 2025

Hazel123 said:
Although seems plenty of people still used black and white tv's in 2019!

"As BBC One celebrates its 50th anniversary of colour television this week, TV Licensing has revealed that more than 6,500 UK households are still watching TV programmes on black and white TV sets."

https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/cs/media-centre/news/view.app?id=1369787209230

Unless those 6500 households were just lying to avoid the colour licence fee

Just imagine the hoops you would need to jump through to get a modern digital signal to work on an old B&W TV.

Meebers · Mar 31, 2025

Sorry Hazel, but unfamiliar with "colour licence fee" :O( Back in my day, the one TV station, (OTA) would broadcast a test Indian Head pattern starting @ 4 pm until 5PM when it would broadcast local and some network TV. (B&W TV's only) Color was not available yet. At midnight, programing would end with the national anthem. We would anticipate the test pattern the next day. (even watch "snow" until the pattern came on)

Hazel123 · Mar 31, 2025

Haven't seen that test card before! Was it Uk? But yes I do remember TV going off air around midnight with an annoying beeping noise followed by "snow". And that was just in the 80s.

A Guy · Mar 31, 2025

A Guy

Hazel123 · Apr 1, 2025

Ah ok, so it was a US test card

I think I remember people standing up to God Save the Queen at the end of the night but my memory is flakey on that!

Winuser · Friday at 6:49 PM

Meebers said:
Sorry Hazel, but unfamiliar with "colour licence fee" :O( Back in my day, the one TV station, (OTA) would broadcast a test Indian Head pattern starting @ 4 pm until 5PM when it would broadcast local and some network TV. (B&W TV's only) Color was not available yet. At midnight, programing would end with the national anthem. We would anticipate the test pattern the next day. (even watch "snow" until the pattern came on)
View attachment 129966

Those test patterns were used for adjusting the picture setting on the TV.

13 years later ...........

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