What have we lost, that you will miss?

I miss how it used to be acceptable to not be immediately reachable.

I miss the anticipation of developing a roll of film.
I still have a manual camera. But the default is digital.

I miss anonymity. Even if I don’t post on Facebook, my friends do. It’s weird that my old classmate’s co-worker knows what I did on Saturday.

I live and have lived in the best of both worlds.
Technology and old fashioned country living.
I was laughing the other day watching friends on their iphones while working their horses in the arena.
Texting and riding.

This would have made rounding up strays much easier in the old west. lol

I miss receiving handwritten mail. I’m very happy about email as a convenience and for business purposes email is great, but on a personal level handwritten was special. Actually feeling the paper and sitting down to read the note or letter.

I miss a slightly slower pace. It still exists, but less and less.

I often feel overloaded with computer screens. I don’t want my car to have a huge touch screen, I like a button.

I like keyless entry for my car, but I don’t like a push button start.

I miss better quality products, and I get annoyed with people thinking everything is so disposable.

Simple phones. Humanitarianism. VCRs.

@kritiper VCRs, really?

I miss conversations with strangers. Now everyone is on some kind of device, so it feels like you’re interrupting if you try to start up a random conversation, say at a bus stop for example.

Yes, mark me down for VCRs also and, in particular, a device designed to work with them.

I don’t know how many of you remember a device called VCR PLUS (VCR+ ). I’m referring to the stand alone device NOT the later versions built into individual VCRS.

It was a pretty revolutionary device when it first hit the market because it eliminated all the tedium involved with setting the VCR to record individual programs. It responded to custom codes listed beside each program in either TV Guide or the newspaper. All you did was enter that code for each program you wanted it to record.

All you had to do was aim it properly for the infrared beam from the VCR+ to cause the VCR to begin and end each recording. And if there was a program without a code, you could manually configure the start/end times.

And, why, you might ask?

It’s all about control and having a device which enabled you to do exactly what you wanted to do (to schedule recordings) rather than being at the mercy of the vicissitudes of whichever choices your cable/satellite service decides to allow you to have.

I could schedule individual programs for up to two weeks in advance (in addition to the once weekly ones regularly scheduled.) this came in especially handy when I went on vacation.

With our current satellite service and DVR, we can only do a week in advance because it must be shown on their program schedule in order to set it for recording and they only show a week in advance.

Another irksome thing which they’re doing lately is overlapping a program into the next hourly slot by exactly one minute (thus rendering it unable to change the channel for a different network the following hour since we have to go by how their listing displays it.)

There is no option for custom timing so it’s just needlessy annoying.

Obviously it’s the networks which are doing this because they don’t want you to switch channels that easily because there is no option for custom timing apart from their listings.

With VCR+ there was the option to set things more precisely if you wanted to.

As I said, it’s a matter of control. Since I’m the one paying for it, i want for technology to adapt itself to my preferences rather than the reverse.

Plus, with VCRs you could keep a copy of a particular program for as long as one wished. With the DVR service, there really is no convenient way (or usually no way at all) to get recorded programs off of the hard drive.

Again, it’s all about control and ideally, technology should increase our options to customize our control rather than the direct opposite.

I miss proper grammar and spelling. People are using more and more txtspk, to the point that txtspk begins to dominate not only the Internet land, but also many places in real life. What annoys me even more is that this kind of writing is considered “cool”, “up-to-date”, and people who don’t use it are “old”, “can’t catch up with modern life”.

I don’t miss a thing.

@Hominid Me neither. I like txtspk & computers & cell phones. Home phones were so annoying!

@gorillapaws Yes. Being able to record shows for viewing later? You can’t do that with a DVD player!

8-track tapes.

I miss my mom’s fudge.

@Buttonstc @kritiper can’t you still use VCR’s?

I like DVD’s way better, but I understand wanting to have an actual tape recording sometimes.

Good old carefree days of youth when troubles seemed so far away!

Drop-in visitors and unscheduled phone calls. It seems we are all so busy that we need to make dates to talk on the phone.

I miss the world before cell phones, when people actually talked face to face with each other.

Common courtesy.

Consideration for others. Drives me nuts.

I miss the simplicity and resilience of old vehicles. It used to be that a bag of tools was enough. High tech analysis was a multimeter and a timing light. Everything is akward to access, proprietary, concealed and deliberately obfuscated. I like working on older vehicles and I still enjoy working on newer motorcycles but I am more or less done working on brand new cars. Many mechanics don’t know that much these days other than swapping parts around and doing body work. Most simply cannot deal with electrical gremlins that are not obvious.

Typewriters. I happily used ‘em more than 35 years before computers took over.

I miss when the major networks actually reported news from around the world. Now news on the major networks is what’s trending on the internet, what has gone viral or the latest celebrity gossip.

I’ve read every answer here and agree with most.

The thing I miss…is myself. I’ve changed.

I miss the days when a phone call to a business was not answered by a recording serving up a tiresome and frustrating decision tree.

@JLeslie No, because the signals are digital now. And if you were to use a converter, you can only record a program that you set to record at that moment, you can’t be off somewhere else. You can’t watch another channel while watching that recording program. And they don’t make VCR’s like they used to: they only basically make VCR tape ‘players’ that only record like I previously mentioned.

White dog shite, first…second & turd world problems.

I’ve been watching the old “Bonanza” series lately, love those Cartwrights. Plus I am biased because the Ponderosa is just up the hill from me here. haha
Can’t help but picture the Cartwright boys with iphones ” Hey Hoss, that little bald face heifer calf is down by the ol’ Smith place, meet’cha there in a minute.” lol

Hoss texting Hop Sing ” Hey Hop Sing, yer gonna have some of them tasty biscuits fer dinner aren’t’cha now?, Little Joe and I are on our way back to the Ponderosa, get them biscuits in the oven, chop, chop.” lol

I dearly miss life without cell phones. There is no peace,and everyone feels they have the right to know your exact location every time they call. Cell phones are nothing but electronic dog leashes. I long for the time when you could spend a whole day without a phone call, then get all your messages at once, at a time of your own choosing, then speak to only those people you wish to speak with, when you wish to speak to them.

@Espiritus_Corvus: “I long for the time when you could spend a whole day without a phone call, then get all your messages at once, at a time of your own choosing, then speak to only those people you wish to speak with, when you wish to speak to them.”

I don’t understand. Why can’t you do that now? What changed?

while I am VERY glad to have a cell phone for emergencies, I wish that could be the only thing they are used for. I don’t like this “immediacy” mentality most of us have now. I hate seeing people engaged in a little hand held device instead of their environment. I hate that one is expected to be reachable ALL the time. Personally I still have a landline with a answering machine. And a old fashioned flip phone cell phone mostly for emergencies and times when I am lost. But it becomes harder and harder to be that person “stuck in the past” when the world around you is passing you by and can no longer relate to you like a human being. I think that was a ramble…sorry about that.

Digital versions of the VCR are available. They work the same way and you can pull the programming off to a dvd or blue ray.

@hominid What has changed is that if you want to do business, you are expected to have a cell phone on you at all times. Back in the days of the answering machine, you were given 24 hours or more to respond. If you don’t accept the call, or if you don’t respond within ninety minutes or so, the business will go elsewhere in a flash. While you carry this thing, you will get calls from friends, family, your girlfriend, and they all know you carry it, they all know you have to carry it to do business, and they all get upset when you ignore their calls or don’t call them back right away. That is what has changed. There is no way around it. It has changed everything. It’s a real pain in the ass.

@Espiritus_Corvus But you surely have an excuse. You can say, “I was in the middle of the Gulf, the winds were howling and there was no cell service.” At least, that’s what you told me!

@Espiritus_Corvus – Oh, business-related has likely changed, I suppose, depending on your particular business. But you do have complete control over your personal calls. For example, my friends and family know that I don’t take calls. Period. This includes my wife. However, if my daughter needs to reach me, she knows she can.

For many of us, there is freedom that comes with having the smart phone. But I suppose it depends on how you choose to use it.

And when I am at sea, that is the truth. But when I’m not, it is a pain in the ass. I’m off the hook this summer, and probably up to Christmas, as I’ll be under charter and not open for other business. So, that dog leash is sitting in a drawer in the galley on the boat with it’s battery pulled. I no longer have to deal with it.

@hominid You are very fortunate to have such patient and understanding people. Girlfriends, in my experience, find your solution wholly unacceptable and, as attractive as it seems sometimes, I’m not quite ready to live the celibate life.

@Espiritus_Corvus

I’ve done that very thing for years. I do not carry a cell phone, no reception in my canyon for years, and screened my calls. I control my phone, not the other way around and while cell phones are great for emergencies their use is outta control.
Jeez…how did we ever survive without being tethered to a damn phone all the time? haha

I guess if I get the shit kicked outta me in the barn here by one of the horses I’ll just lie there and die like people did for hundreds of years. Cowgirl up! lol

I miss simple knobs. Pull a knob out to turn the TV on, push it in to turn it off. Nowadays you almost can’t even turn on a TV without a remote.

Oh, I miss only having 3 channels to choose from. They were much more careful about what they choose to air.

I miss when restaurants/fast food didn’t have 8 million choices. I swear, I can go to somewhere as simple as Taco Bell, look at their menu and take 20 minutes to find where the tacos are.

I remember when ALL McD’s had were hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, pop and milk shakes.

@kritiper I see. I didn’t realize. Thanks for explaining it.

@Dutchess_III I remember those days. The hamburgers were 15 cents.

All good answers so far. I can see the pluses and minuses of a lot of things discussed above.

Film cameras vs digital – I like the fact that with digital, we have the ability to take so many more photos on a whim, at no extra cost (except storage space on a chip or phone). We can send, upload and print so easily. I did used to like the anticipation of waiting for a printed roll of photos, but all in all, I like digital better.

Handwritten notes and cards, like @JLeslie said, were so nice. Nice to open the mailbox and have this nice little memento of the person who sent it. Nice when the stationery was cute or elegant, and reflected the personality of the writer.

My DVR allows me to record two shows at once and I can manually extend recording time if a show is live or for any reason. My DVR is part of my cable package. DVR’s are so much more convenient than DVD or VCR.

I used to have a “dumb” cell phone but now I have a smart phone like the rest of the world. I didn’t want the smart phone because I knew I would get addicted. I know myself and I knew that once I got accustomed to the luxury of the smart phone, I would never be able to go back. Now I can never go back. I don’t play games on it or use many apps – it’s mainly for camera, texting, FB, internet and calling. I do use Shazam to identify songs that I don’t know. I think the main thing I like the smart phone for is the camera. Taking photos, sharing via email, text or FB – so great. I like having the phone with me for various reasons, and I am not one to use the cell all the time (for example when I’m home I use the home phone) but I may check it compulsively when I’m out.

I also agree with @Dutchess_III that it would be nice if TV’s had knobs or some other way to turn them on and off and control the volume without having to find the remote (especially for the times when there are 2 remotes for the same TV).

I love call waiting. I remember when I was younger, if you were expecting a call you had to stay off the phone. That’s such an antiquated notion now.

I remember when answering machines first came out. There was a fuss over “If your call goes to an answering machine, buglers will know you’re not home and come rob your place!” They didn’t realize that they’d be used as a screening device, too.

Stewardesses that wore skirts.

@Dutchess_III: “Buglers” lol. It’s “Burglars.” Not people playing the bugle. haha

shit! Spell check even asked me about it. I thought I was careful to select “buggers.” Guess no!

@Dutchess_III Buggers, Burglars, Bugles, which now? Out of the 3, I’d choose Bugles especially if they’re in a talented brass band.

it just keeps getting better! :oD

Well, I’m hungry so lets go with Burgers.

ROFL! All righty!

@Dutchess_III And while we’re at it, let’s take your little twin buggers. They’ll make it even more fun.

YES!!

Bugles?
Do they even make those weird little chippy things anymore? lol

I wanna burger, I am starving here!

Yes, @Coloma, they do! I want one. May have to burgle a bugle cause I ain’t got no money.

Ugh

@hominid

Are you having Hominy for lunch? lol

@hominid That was weird!

@Dutchess_III Burgers will lead to bulges, if one is not careful.

Bugles will lead to bulges too.

Milk brought cold and frosty right to the door by the milkman.

McDonald’s old french fries.