Growing up without a cell phone

Allen_Wrench · Jun 3, 2012

You know, nobody's mentioned it but I thought of something that's rockin' our world right now: e-readers. Kindle, Nook, etc. I have a Kindle app on my phone and can read just about any book I've heard of. But I've always owned REAL books. I have at least eight bookcases. And I need more. My wife and I have maybe a couple thousand books.

As e-readers become more commonplace, what will become of books? For instance: how many people do you folks on the forum know who have over a mere twenty books? I've never thrown any out, so I haven't even counted them.

I will miss books if they go away.

Al.Fisherman · Jun 3, 2012

Blake84 said:
All you guys who refer to yourselfs as "old farts" actually in my opinion lives in the best times in America. Also, by far the best cars and quality toys not this plastic **** that breaks in 10 days.
Bottom line I actually wish I could go backwards.

When talking about times we have lived. I always tell anyone (mainly my age) I'm talking to, that we truly have lived in the BEST of times. I really hate to think what the great U.S. (also in the many countries that members reside in) will be in the future. With 15.755+ trillion (last count) in debt and ever rising. I truly feel sorry for our children, and grandchildren, saddled with the debt, this just makes me f#####g sick. Each persons share: $50,228.. or $138,560 per taxpayer. Sickening just f sickening. One consolation, we're not as bad off as Greece at the moment. Welcome to the WORLD of entitlements. Sorry for this grim post
Ron

Venice Motor Bikes · Jun 3, 2012

Ron made a lot of good points about how things are these days; But I'm in the group who feel that things are worse for kids now... This is the first time in our history where young people (even with good jobs) can't afford to buy a home. There aren't anymore good jobs for people with a decent education!
Back in the day, the father was the only one who had to work for a family to have a good living. Now it's mandatory for families have to have two incomes just to get by!

There's no wonder why kids are so messed up these days... There's just such a feeling of hopelessness!

The rich have always gotten richer; but now it's out of control! They're squeezing working people even harder for every dime they can & leaving us with barley enough to pay the basic bills. (& they're doing a great job of making everyone think that it's the poor peoples fault).

I seriousy fear for the future of my two children!

Sorry for the buzz kill post...

2door · Jun 3, 2012

Allen_Wrench said:
You know, nobody's mentioned it but I thought of something that's rockin' our world right now: e-readers. Kindle, Nook, etc. I have a Kindle app on my phone and can read just about any book I've heard of. But I've always owned REAL books. I have at least eight bookcases. And I need more. My wife and I have maybe a couple thousand books.

As e-readers become more commonplace, what will become of books? For instance: how many people do you folks on the forum know who have over a mere twenty books? I've never thrown any out, so I haven't even counted them.

I will miss books if they go away.

All the electronics and technology in the world won't match the "feel, smell and tactile enjoyment' of holding a real paper book in your hands and reading it. I have friends who have been seduced into the e-books and they all swear by them. One of them loaned me her Kindle for a week. I read a couple of books with it and felt absolutely 'cold'. There was no feel for the story I was reading; no leaning back against a sofa cushion and 'getting into the book'. I felt like I was reading a financial report from my computer screen. It was that unappealing. I gave the thing back and said, "Thanks, but no thanks" When I want to read a 'book', I want to read a 'book'. Not some cold, unfeeling piece of plastic in my hands. When books and librarys go away, I hope I'm long gone.

Tom

Greg58 · Jun 3, 2012

Tom I didn't think I would ever have a tablet, but that's what I am using to post this with. Mine is the kindle fire.

2door · Jun 3, 2012

Greg58 said:
Tom I didn't think I would ever have a tablet, but that's what I am using to post this with. Mine is the kindle fire.

Greg,
I currently have five close friends who have made the switch. They all feel as you do. I'm a dinosaur in this respect and I doubt that anything will change my mind. There's more to reading than just reading the words. I make weekly trips to my library (an excuse to ride my motorbikes) and browse the shelves looking for interesting book jackets. I also look for my favorite authors but I've discovered some great reads by just picking a book because it had an interesting jacket. I pull it off the shelf, read the jacket flap for the premise of the story and either put it back on the shelf or take it home. That, to me is part of the enjoyment of reading. I just don't get that with the e-books. To me there's an important element of book enjoyment that e-books will never be able to provide. But, that's just me. I suppose as long as you're reading, what difference does it make how you do it? Just enjoy it. There's no better entertainment.

With that said I'll freely admit that I listen to audio books. I have a CD player in my garage, on my computer and in my car. I've listened to hundreds of books that way and they probably helped me keep my sanity when I used to have an 80 mile a day commute. Listening to a good book can be almost as enjoyable as reading it. But I still like to curl up on the sofa with my Golden Retriever and 'read' a good old fashion book.

Tom

tooljunkie · Jun 3, 2012

a few books come to mind,doubt they would ever make it to a tablet.
three mile bend was my childhood favorite.very much like huck finn stories.

GearNut · Jun 3, 2012

I have read darned near every Hardy Boys book ever published. We had a little black and white TV and I was not allowed to watch it unless it was one of my Mom or Uncle's shows,
M.A.S.H. and The Muppets were always the ones I waited for.
So read I did, and I was on a first name basis with all the folks at the library.
The one book that stood out for me was "The Cricket in Time Square".
I bet those books are available somewhere in 'net land for download.
I was contemplating getting a Kindle Fire, it would make for a good garage computer if I could load all my service manuals onto it. I don't know how they work or what you can load into them.

BarelyAWake · Jun 3, 2012

Every generation has it's own boons & hardships, it's own trials & blessings - it's far too complex to be simply labeled good or bad, easy or difficult as it's just different. With such rapidly evolving technology having such an impact on our society, the generational gap continues to widen, making it yet more difficult to understand, even harder to empathize - but this is not a failure of our youth, it is ours.

If there's one universal, constant truth regarding this topic, it's every generation denounces the apparent irreverent decadence of the subsequent generation and romanticizes the experiences of the prior... yet in doing so many inconvenient truths must be forgotten, suffering overlooked.

It smacks of envy, that these good years are wasted on the young. A touch of fantasy, a longing to relive a childhood that never happened save in the selective memory of the embittered. How easy it is to forget, to not see, to state "were I thee"...

Like it or not, the future is theirs. We've had our chance and this is the result. We are but condemning what we've created, blaming others for what we've done. All we can do is as our fathers did, as theirs did before them... and that's wait and see.

I for one am looking forward to it, come what may

DBB · Jun 4, 2012

Venice Motor Bikes said:
But I'm in the group who feel that things are worse for kids now... This is the first time in our history where young people (even with good jobs) can't afford to buy a home. There aren't anymore good jobs for people with a decent education!
Back in the day, the father was the only one who had to work for a family to have a good living. Now it's mandatory for families have to have two incomes just to get by!

There's no wonder why kids are so messed up these days... There's just such a feeling of hopelessness!

The rich have always gotten richer; but now it's out of control! They're squeezing working people even harder for every dime they can & leaving us with barley enough to pay the basic bills. (& they're doing a great job of making everyone think that it's the poor peoples fault).

I seriousy fear for the future of my two children!

Sorry for the buzz kill post...

It only seems harder because expectations have changed. "Back in the day," houses had one bathroom, no central air, no cable, no garage, and maybe one car in the gravel driveway. Good jobs are available if you are willing to move to where the jobs are, can pass a drug test, didn't goof off during your 12+ years of free education, have good references from your summer jobs, aren't covered with tattoos, stayed out of jail, and didn't get pregnant until you could afford to take care of a child. If your kids think they're poor, turn off the TV and take them to Mexico to have a look around. It won't take long to find a family in a one-room hut with no plumbing and a dirt floor.

Elmo · Jun 4, 2012

Remember the really bad guys who got expelled from school for smoking a cigarette?

zatdattyo · Jun 4, 2012

Well I can say I aggree w/ seeing such a difference in culture change. Im 55 and I just believe that technology has spun us into an attraction that has sacrificed or taken the place of a more of the hands on world we knew. And the younger generation today is somewhat similar as we were in some ways to our parents. We were never informed about many things outside of our small scope of life, town or community. We were told by The powers back then that Black folk were bad. Chinese were bad, and yes we had to take a butt woopin at school, on the playground , on your way home, and when you got home. Then you had chores as all your friends did also. School nights no friends. Weekends after the chores were done you could play. In at dark, Supper at 6, TV, and then a "BATH" then off to bed. Things were very simple, very clear, and not much more to it. As you got older you got more liberty, but still respectfull to the housholders. Thoes were our roots, our simplistic and uncomplicated lives. Truth was more abundant then and honesty you could actually see in someones eyes back then. You could also feel safety and love as you looked about. .....Now compair that to today.... Things, things are all this generation seem to actually put there trust in. With what they have been bombarded w/ and the lack of....Maybe I cant blame them. Thought: We made the machine to help us. But now it looks like we work for the machine.

zatdattyo · Jun 4, 2012

Hear Hear! I agree Ron, Generations of welfare, Unemployment Extentions, Trading Welfair for money. Selling your perscriptions, Selling out to minoritys to gain a vote. This establisment is a farce.

Bikeguy Joe · Jun 4, 2012

Allen_Wrench said:
You know, nobody's mentioned it but I thought of something that's rockin' our world right now: e-readers. Kindle, Nook, etc. I have a Kindle app on my phone and can read just about any book I've heard of. But I've always owned REAL books. I have at least eight bookcases. And I need more. My wife and I have maybe a couple thousand books.

As e-readers become more commonplace, what will become of books? For instance: how many people do you folks on the forum know who have over a mere twenty books? I've never thrown any out, so I haven't even counted them.

I will miss books if they go away.

Ever read "Fahrenheit 451"?

Bikeguy Joe · Jun 4, 2012

Now to lighten the mood a bit....Who still has a record player and vinyl?

I DO I DO! All kinds of vinyl and a STEREO record player with a spare needle taped to the lid!

My records are some Monkees, Beatles, AC/DC (early), Petty, Stevie Nicks, Early Fleetwood Mac (early- the good stuff like with Peter Greene) and a whole lot more. I still buy them at the flea markets for .50 to a whole dollar.

I also have a late 60's Akai 4 track reel to reel with a bunch of pre-recorded Steppenwolf, Uriah Heep, BTO, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Glen Campbell tapes!!!!!!

I have even recorded some of my own stuff on it.

Al.Fisherman · Jun 4, 2012

Bikeguy Joe said:
Now to lighten the mood a bit....Who still has a record player and vinyl?

I have and in great shape a Sansui 5000 Amp, Akai 365GX reel to reel, Garrard Zero 100 turntable, (2) Sansui 80SP and (2) Sansui 35SP speakers Bought in 1971, out of Tokyo while in Nam. And a collection of numerous vinyls.

Venice Motor Bikes · Jun 4, 2012

I still have crates full of old skool heavy metal & punk rock vinyl!! (^)

I also like having tons of music on my iphone.

Greg58 · Jun 4, 2012

Our parents didn't have to worry about us texting, mine always told my brother and I to turn down the sound on the audiovox Fm converter or the eight track tape player mounted under the dash. Beatles, CCR, Skinard etc...

2door · Jun 4, 2012

Al.Fisherman said:
I have and in great shape a Sansui 5000 Amp, Akai 365GX reel to reel, Garrard Zero 100 turntable, (2) Sansui 80SP and (2) Sansui 35SP speakers Bought in 1971, out of Tokyo while in Nam. And a collection of numerous vinyls.

I think everyone who was there bought a huge reel to reel.

They were as common as the uniforms we wore. They weighed about a ton and a half, took up more space than some of those little refrigerators we all had and either got packed up and sent home when your tour was over or sold to a buddy. I haven't seen one in twenty years.

Tom

Goat Herder · Jun 4, 2012

To this day the amount of imagery and clarity in a recording is still captured better to hear on playback with vinyl. C.D.s don't have the same real time in the same manner IMHO.

Growing up without a cell phone

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