I had a thought, (uh oh)

  • February 16, 2010 11:08 PM PST
       Through the 80's computers and the internet was in it's developing stages and became common to the average household by the 90's. Do you remember when internet was free? Net Zero and a host of others were available before the phone and cable companys monopologized it.

      Going from site to site over the years I see alot of foolish behavior coming from people in their thirtys and younger. Slander and personal attacks against others has become a way of life for them online too often which leads me to believe they grew up behind the safety of a computer at home honing their social skills instead of being face to face with people on the street as us older folks have.

       All my friends had CB radios in their cars, trucks and homes before cell phones back then, could hop in the truck anytime turn the CB on and find friends instantly driving to work, dinner, or just out cruising around town. We would meet up and go 4-wheeling, fishing, hear a distress call from someone broke down or stuck. I hope someone else has fond memory's of the good old days. I am such an old redneck....  ....... lol 
  • g
    February 16, 2010 11:12 PM PST
    is a redneck the same as chuchter !!
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    February 16, 2010 11:13 PM PST
    Almost sad to say Flatlander.
    I remember when the internet was text only and really high speed modem was 9600 baud that required dedicated phone lines. That modem was the size of an early VCR and the company I worked for had two of them. Us techs loved it.
  • February 16, 2010 11:16 PM PST
    In the 80's stores had cash registers, if there was a wire going to them it was for a light. Ka-Ching.... lol
  • February 16, 2010 11:37 PM PST
    If you know radios, years back in my van I had a Ranger 2950 > Texas Star 667 V > 8 pill linear > 102" whip antenna that talked well over 1000 watts. At home I had a Ranger 2970 > Antron 99 fifty feet in the air my wife and kid knew how to use well. This gave me a 100 mile communication distance to the house from my van anytime on sideband.......... How redneck is that?....... lol
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    February 16, 2010 11:43 PM PST
    you mean like this?

  • February 16, 2010 11:49 PM PST
    YUP!.......... Remember Sears had the first battery operated hand held calculator mid 70's for $100.00? Before then we had to do math in our heads, I love messing with cashiers today by giving them three cents to make an even dollar amount. lol
  • February 16, 2010 11:56 PM PST
    I just sold my 1st computer on e-bay a month ago for $100.00............
  • February 16, 2010 11:57 PM PST
    The first "Lap Top".......... lol.......... sold new for around $3500.00
    • Moderator
    • 19067 posts
    February 16, 2010 11:59 PM PST
    I think I bought one of those calculators. BTW . .that register is still in use at a restaurant (Platters) near the small town of Cowan TN, just a little SE of Tulahoma.
    I took that photo last summer.
  • February 17, 2010 12:02 AM PST
    It's worth a small fortune.
  • February 17, 2010 12:31 AM PST
    National Cash Register--NCR-- In Dayton, Ohio at one time filled 8 city blocks 4 stories high to manufacture the lever link machine which I have seen with 8 cash drawers 2 wide/4 high. over 4000 employees...they are now known for software and will be totally out of dayton this June. Only one building left, sold to University of Dayton and auditorium to city of Dayton long time ago. A lot of my classmates lost jobs as the tech systems came in..
    • 2 posts
    February 17, 2010 12:59 AM PST
    Hoo-Hah, Yes - Recall all of this well.
    Had computers since I became involved w/ engineering but they were kept in the Holy-Of-Holys. An air-conditioned room w/ an air-lock door & anti-static mats, that no one was allowed to enter w/o a purification ritual. We fed the computers by writing miles of code on the back of pin-fed paper, typing each step into an IBM card - make a mistake - type a new card, then feeding the cards into a magic card-reader - The computer did its thing & gave you the results on pin-fed paper. - I loved those machines.
    Routine calculations were done w/ slide rules + pencil & paper, Still have my slide rule, against the possibility some moron drops the bombs.
    Waited to buy my 1st calculator till somebody came up w/ one that had a memory - $35 when $16K/yr was great money.

    May want to chat w/ somebody about CB & motorcycles - Frequently ride places where there is no electricity, much less cell reception
  • February 17, 2010 1:28 AM PST
    CB's is still a good thing someplaces I'm sure, I know when I go to Deals Gap cell phones are in and out from one place to another.
    • 5420 posts
    February 17, 2010 1:30 AM PST
    Man Savage, I remember those days well. I started my career in computers servicing IBM 360, where some parts you actually went inside the computer to fix it. The rooms were kept so damn cold and normally cooled from vents inthe raised floor. So if you had a problem that took a while to fix, your feet were numb. And the room was so noisy from all the mechanical devices, (card readers, tape drives, fans...) it took hours before you could hear right again. Ah, those were the days!!!

    • 352 posts
    February 17, 2010 1:36 AM PST
    lol - I had all the "old" toys, CB (back in the removable crystal days) - had a Courier 1M with a slider I put in - before SSB, ran the linear amp on and pushed the 1kw range...off the record of course.

    Had computers back in the 1200-2400 baud range (now I am showing my age), calculators - I remember the abacus

    :D
  • February 17, 2010 1:37 AM PST
    James Bond had the only computers in the 70's.........
  • February 17, 2010 1:40 AM PST
    Sold all my radio stuff last year to pay bills, I could raise and lower RR crossings, open and shut garage doors, set off a parking lot full of car alarms all with the push of a button. lol
    • 352 posts
    February 17, 2010 1:47 AM PST
    yep - my dad and I used to "tinker" in the basement - we had an old tunable transmitter (military surplus) we tuned it by RF - it lit a 100 watt light bulb hanging from the end of a garden hose (no joke) - when we used it the old B&W tv's would broadcast our chatter...
  • February 17, 2010 1:49 AM PST
    My first "pocket " calculator took a large pocket and took 4 aa batteries which would work for 18 hrs and had a manual on off switch.. That is how I know how long the batteries lasted. Would devide 0 by 0 and watch the numbers roll from .ooo to 99,999.999 with extension of 3 more places.. batteries died before it got to 999--the end.
    • 1780 posts
    February 17, 2010 1:52 AM PST
    I remember when a telephone weighed about what a car battery weights now
    • 513 posts
    February 17, 2010 1:56 AM PST
    Flatlander wrote...
       Through the 80's computers and the internet was in it's developing stages and became common to the average household by the 90's. Do you remember when internet was free? Net Zero and a host of others were available before the phone and cable companys monopologized it.

      Going from site to site over the years I see alot of foolish behavior coming from people in their thirtys and younger. Slander and personal attacks against others has become a way of life for them online too often which leads me to believe they grew up behind the safety of a computer at home honing their social skills instead of being face to face with people on the street as us older folks have.

       All my friends had CB radios in their cars, trucks and homes before cell phones back then, could hop in the truck anytime turn the CB on and find friends instantly driving to work, dinner, or just out cruising around town. We would meet up and go 4-wheeling, fishing, hear a distress call from someone broke down or stuck. I hope someone else has fond memory's of the good old days. I am such an old redneck....  ....... lol 


    In Ireland we have a few bike sites and it has been really funny watching these keyboard terrorists standing in car parks fearing for their lives because they did not know who they have offended. I had a real heavy row  which this particular bloke called me every name you could think of, made comments about my family and finally threats. He described himself as six foot and hard as nails, he turned out to be a little short arse who nearly wet himself when I introduced myself. He blamed it all on beer and other things, I then informed him that actions have consequences and that abusing somebody over the net was a terrible thing to do. 

    I could have battered him but it was more fun to watch him squirm and worry about it.

    They are a pain in the ass though, they contribute nothing other than trying to get a rise out of people and make themselves feel big! Thankfully there is nothing like that here!



  • February 17, 2010 1:58 AM PST
    while in the Navy I worked Sonar. We had two rooms of electronics plus sonar control.. We had our own cold water chiller system for the Tube equipment that filled the spaces. Our spaces, even control required coats and could keep HORSE C**K and cheese for as long as the coolers in the galley..
    • 352 posts
    February 17, 2010 2:32 AM PST
    nightdragon wrote...
    I remember when a telephone weighed about what a car battery weights now

    that was back when we had to walk up hill both ways to go to shool...
    • 2072 posts
    February 17, 2010 3:30 AM PST
    Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... memories!!!!!! Funny you mention CB Radios. I have one in my RV and turned it one the other day just for the fun of it. Couldn't raise a single person. I remember back in the day, EVERYBODY was talkin'. Was hard to even get on the radio because of so much traffic. Guess with cell phones, nobody needs them anymore!! Sure had some good times on them !!!