It feels like most people in my approximate age group (old) believe things were much, much better when they were young. I’ve made that claim too, usually in relation to parenting. We seasoned citizens love to talk about how, during the summers, we left the house in the mornings and didn’t return until dinner time, or sometimes when the streetlights came on. Just out wandering the town, playing Wiffle ball, riding our bikes… whatever. And we mock the hyper-protective and paranoid parents of today. Rightly so, in many cases. I mean, sure a few of us experienced death by misadventure, but not that many. It was just the cost of doing business.
Video games. They may have looked crappier back then and been designed to separate me and my parent's quarters in 93 seconds or less, but they didn't give me a sore ass and a crippling Warcraft addiction for 60 bucks a pop.
I love classic arcade games, but home console games weren't great until the NES. Atari 2600 games are nearly unplayable nowadays without the manual explaining what the random pixels represent. Love the NES, SNES, PS1 and PS2 eras though for being able to buy a game and not worry about downloads/updates. Sure there were a lot of expensive duds and no websites to look up reviews, but at least we could rent games first to test them out.
100% agree with you Jeff, especially about cars. My 2016 Chevy Spark was the cheapest car on the market at the time (bought it brand new for $2k under MSRP because it was a floor model with base features like manual windows.) That car has run perfectly the entire time I have owned it, and now has a bit over 100k miles. Gets an average of 35 MPG, engine is easily accessible for maintenance and oil changes. Drives smooth at high speeds. Have no complaints about it at all. It's a little cramped and the seats are not the most comfortable, but I know it will turn over and I'll have a safe ride to where I am going. All for the brand new price of $12,500.
My parents owned the VW Rabbit and Cabriolet from the 80's- whenever I see one in the wild today, I'm shocked that it has lasted into the modern era. Don't even think their's made it to 100k miles- they leaked oil, broke down constantly, had broken fuel gauges and would be lucky to make it to freeway cruising speeds (and even then, would shudder and shake fiercely.) Looking it up, the Rabbit cost $7,000 brand new in 1983- or roughly $20,000 today. It's just insane to think about how much better cars are today, even for cheapo models.
Totally agree. I like that we can spend a bit of time to prepare a response for a client or family/friends so it sounds better and not put on the spot. Or a friend will message and want to go out that night, and I'll say that I "went to bed early" as an excuse. So lovely.
I love driving manual where I live (suburban area) but would never, ever recommend it to someone that lives in a densely populated urban area. I do it strictly for fun and know there aren't any benefits to driving a manual nowadays. People are dicks on the road and will honk if you stall out or roll back on a hill- though admittedly it's funny to see their shocked expression when the car lurches back a bit.
Video games. They may have looked crappier back then and been designed to separate me and my parent's quarters in 93 seconds or less, but they didn't give me a sore ass and a crippling Warcraft addiction for 60 bucks a pop.
I love classic arcade games, but home console games weren't great until the NES. Atari 2600 games are nearly unplayable nowadays without the manual explaining what the random pixels represent. Love the NES, SNES, PS1 and PS2 eras though for being able to buy a game and not worry about downloads/updates. Sure there were a lot of expensive duds and no websites to look up reviews, but at least we could rent games first to test them out.
The GM X-car (pictured) was indeed a piece of shit, but at least you could get a manual transmission. Not like pretty much everything nowadays.
One thing that actually was better back then: I could have friends who were ${OTHER_POLITICAL_PARTY}.
100% agree with you Jeff, especially about cars. My 2016 Chevy Spark was the cheapest car on the market at the time (bought it brand new for $2k under MSRP because it was a floor model with base features like manual windows.) That car has run perfectly the entire time I have owned it, and now has a bit over 100k miles. Gets an average of 35 MPG, engine is easily accessible for maintenance and oil changes. Drives smooth at high speeds. Have no complaints about it at all. It's a little cramped and the seats are not the most comfortable, but I know it will turn over and I'll have a safe ride to where I am going. All for the brand new price of $12,500.
My parents owned the VW Rabbit and Cabriolet from the 80's- whenever I see one in the wild today, I'm shocked that it has lasted into the modern era. Don't even think their's made it to 100k miles- they leaked oil, broke down constantly, had broken fuel gauges and would be lucky to make it to freeway cruising speeds (and even then, would shudder and shake fiercely.) Looking it up, the Rabbit cost $7,000 brand new in 1983- or roughly $20,000 today. It's just insane to think about how much better cars are today, even for cheapo models.
Totally agree. I like that we can spend a bit of time to prepare a response for a client or family/friends so it sounds better and not put on the spot. Or a friend will message and want to go out that night, and I'll say that I "went to bed early" as an excuse. So lovely.
I love driving manual where I live (suburban area) but would never, ever recommend it to someone that lives in a densely populated urban area. I do it strictly for fun and know there aren't any benefits to driving a manual nowadays. People are dicks on the road and will honk if you stall out or roll back on a hill- though admittedly it's funny to see their shocked expression when the car lurches back a bit.