How did people spend their time pre-internet?

[eyoungren]

🧐 as a mechanic, I don’t see how locking a door prevents a latch failure in an accident. The common occurrence of doors opening on impact pre-1970’s was due to how abhorrently primitive the latches were in those days. Think about the latch on a Samsonite briefcase. That was considered to be of acceptable grade for a car door in those days.

Come Ralph Nader and overnight the door latch mechanism evolved into a design that is used to this day.

I would just say that I got this from my dad, who was a product of his particular time period. My dad was born in 1935 and his prime was the late 50s to mid 70s. So, before Nader changed anything. As a pilot (general aviation) my dad was adamant about seat belts as well.

He hated Corvairs though. Had one spin out on him on a freeway in Florida once.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

What I remember was people almost never stayed home. Every day for them was go out and socialise day.

Pretty much. Home was just where we slept, grabbed a bite and kept our gear for our hobbies. Time not at work was spent either building/doing work on the house or going out riding bicycles, swimming, windsurfing, canoeing, climbing, going to events where those things were happening, do a bit of photography in scenic places & picnic in the parks where everyone else was. Hit up a record store & listen to some tunes for a hour or so & buy a new record. You’d meet other people into those things, talk, eat, dance, make love, go to see new places, learn things. Go places, do things, say stuff. Sometimes, on Rainy Days & Monday’s, you could enjoy a little quiet time with a book, paper or magazine, make stuff in the workshop, or just sit & listen to records & get lost in album artwork.

As anyone in marketing around 2001 can tell you, 9/11 was the turning point when Americans quit traveling (& led to all the travel shows being replaced with home & garden shows on tv), quit going outside (outdoor sports were reduced 10x and some entire sports just disappeared completely), people stayed indoors (parks went unused & sat empty) & raised their kids indoors glued to screens (with spiking childhood obesity, anxiety, depression, & stunting emotional & social development). Now you binge watch seasons of shows, vidya, to do photography is to sit indoors staring at the screen, buying music means just paying the screen your subscription fee please, public listening is illegal, & don’t worry about the artists not getting paid. Just stay indoors, out of sight, out of the way of authorities, hidden away from risk, slowly rotting.

 

[satcomer]

I do something I enjoyed that Mother (God rest her soul) like, Farmer markets that I still enjoy today! When I was Army I went to Farmers market in Northern Virginia and is was packed with people it was hard to parking spot! Even the s suburban people liker Farmer markets too!

 

[Clix Pix]

ThunderSkunk wrote:

"Sometimes, on Rainy Days & Monday’s, you could enjoy a little quiet time with a book, paper or magazine, make stuff in the workshop, or just sit & listen to records & get lost in album artwork."

I see what you did there! Love that subtle reference to The Carpenters..... . Yep, we tried not to let Rainy Days and Mondays get us down!

 

[compwiz1202]

You old f***s remember all the call-in radio quizzes?

This was when radio had a real DJ that sat in a real broadcast studio and had a real phone line. You could call in, tell the DJ what to play, respond to on-air prompts like “what was the worst way somebody broke up with you?”, chit-chat, maybe even get played on the air. The quizzes were a major pull for listenership. I remember people letting these things get in the way of their employment, hanging by the radio holding up a whole phone line when they should be minding work. (There was a movie called Nervous Ticks with Bill Pullman. I don’t recommend it. The guy goes nuts trying to get a chance to call in to such a game.)

I actually won tickets to see Behind Enemy Lines by answering a quiz. The movie was not worth going to the radio station, waiting, signing a paper and then planning time for the theater but now I’ll never forget…dang, what was that old contemporary pop station 🤔

It was sad to see these wither away. Firstly, people would answer and I’d hear them on-air and say to myself, “oh, come on, they used a computer to look on Google!”. Then the DJ’s caught on and would disqualify people if they heard key presses on a keyboard. Finally, they wouldn’t ask the question until a caller was on the line and they had something like five-seconds to answer to reduce the chance of finding the answer online.

Next thing I know, the radio personalities are gone and now it’s just the same three songs repeated by a pre-programmed computer. If I can recall, the modern American music broadcast system basically is a time-share. Each music production studio gets a certain amount of air-time and they tell the radios who to feature and how often. Therefore, you will never hear any song broadcast on a contemporary station unless it has been manufactured and vetted by some nepotistic multi-billionaires.

We won Weird Al Allentown Symphony Hall tickets! I remember having to research the # or * code to redial for those.

 

[compwiz1202]

That's taking the elephant out of the room. Cost of living is the reason Millennials are far poorer than Boomers at the same stage of life. I don't know many Millennials homeowners, but most Boomer I know were a homeowners by 30. Sure kids have Internet and 1000's if channels on TV, but are struggling otherwise. We have better bread and circuses.

Compensation hasn't match production ever since the 80's. The deviation began in the 70's. If we use the 60's pay to production scale, minimum wage would be $40-50 an hour today.

Yea that's one of the issues. There's so much more to pay for today. And overpop combined with everyone using everything to make money instead of it's primary purpose. A house is to live in, not to flip 10 times.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

That's taking the elephant out of the room. Cost of living is the reason Millennials are far poorer than Boomers at the same stage of life. I don't know many Millennials homeowners, but most Boomer I know were a homeowners by 30. Sure kids have Internet and 1000's if channels on TV, but are struggling otherwise. We have better bread and circuses.

Compensation hasn't match production ever since the 80's. The deviation began in the 70's. If we use the 60's pay to production scale, minimum wage would be $40-50 an hour today.

I’m a millennial (born 1982) and most of my friends put off buying homes by moving to London where rent was three times the cost of a mortgage in other parts of the country. I had a good job and bought my first house by 25 and my friends had good jobs and were poor in London lol. They’ve since moved to places like Swindon, Bristol and the Midlands to buy homes. Our generation are poorer due to the 2008 banking crisis where wages stagnated for the next 13 years, mortgages were harder to get, pensions are dreadful compared to the final salary pensions our parents had etc. My parents are millionaires on paper through property and investments that are just unreachable to us.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I’m a millennial (born 1982) and most of my friends put off buying homes by moving to London where rent was three times the cost of a mortgage in other parts of the country. I had a good job and bought my first house by 25 and my friends had good jobs and were poor in London lol. They’ve since moved to places like Swindon, Bristol and the Midlands to buy homes. Our generation are poorer due to the 2008 banking crisis where wages stagnated for the next 13 years, mortgages were harder to get, pensions are dreadful compared to the final salary pensions our parents had etc. My parents are millionaires on paper through property and investments that are just unreachable to us.

I moved to London and bought my first house there when I was around 25. When I moved to the Midlands a few years later we had made more than £100k in that time. More than I earned in that time. But I had to sacrifice a lot to save up a deposit whilst renting. I don’t see many younger people sacrificing half as much. Just because there are more things to waste your money on these days doesn’t mean you have to.
That’s one of the things the internet definitely gives us. 24/7 shopping. When I was young you would have been lucky to find any shop open on a Sunday.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I moved to London and bought my first house there when I was around 25. When I moved to the Midlands a few years later we had made more than £100k in that time. More than I earned in that time. But I had to sacrifice a lot to save up a deposit whilst renting. I don’t see many younger people sacrificing half as much. Just because there are more things to waste your money on these days doesn’t mean you have to.
That’s one of the things the internet definitely gives us. 24/7 shopping. When I was young you would have been lucky to find any shop open on a Sunday.

The internet has definitely brought more pressure onto us to have material things many people can’t afford. We are on a forum full of people eager for the latest £1k+ smartphone for instance, some of which clearly feel the pressure to indulge.

I remember the days of shops not opening on a Sunday and supermarkets that did open would have the alcohol aisle locked off. In the days before internet we read magazines and listened to music bought via tape and CD. We also watched four channels on the TV .

 

[Mousse]

Yea that's one of the issues. There's so much more to pay for today. And overpop combined with everyone using everything to make money instead of it's primary purpose. A house is to live in, not to flip 10 times.

The first house I bought was a flip. That kind of BS should be illegal, y'all.😡 It's predatory practice that targets first time home buyers. I spent thousands fixing it up--insulation, new breaker box, clean the duct and so on. Never buy a flip house. The bastards who flip houses don't bother fixing the underlying problems, they just slap on a veneer and a new coat of paint. Pisses me off so much.🤬

I have since bought 3 houses many years later. Everyone one had been a fixer upper. New wires, proper insulations, structural fixes...all the stuff you don't see. Overall a lot cheaper than buying a flipped house and having to redo everything properly.

Buying a fixer upper isn't something a first time home buyer can do, since they'll be carrying a mortgage AND paying rent at the same time. Too many barriers to getting that first house.😯

 

[Apple fanboy]

The first house I bought was a flip. That kind of BS should be illegal, y'all.😡 It's predatory practice that targets first time home buyers. I spent thousands fixing it up--insulation, new breaker box, clean the duct and so on. Never buy a flip house. The bastards who flip houses don't bother fixing the underlying problems, they just slap on a veneer and a new coat of paint. Pisses me off so much.🤬

I have since bought 3 houses many years later. Everyone one had been a fixer upper. New wires, proper insulations, structural fixes...all the stuff you don't see. Overall a lot cheaper than buying a flipped house and having to redo everything properly.

Buying a fixer upper isn't something a first time home buyer can do, since they'll be carrying a mortgage AND paying rent at the same time. Too many barriers to getting that first house.😯

Why can’t they? Buying a fixer upper and living in it is the easy way to save a few quid. I know we’ve done it.
At least people have the internet to research how to do up the house! I had an old reference book and my Dad to ask for advice.

 

[MrCheeto]

The first house I bought was a flip. That kind of BS should be illegal

Because a fool is born every minute?

Again, it is not somebody else’s fault that you make a decision. They can lie to your face but the diligence due is your burden.

I have a few friends that generally only buy a used car with my blessing. They trust me and my opinion. I had a friend that probably looked at a dozen cars with me and he was excited to plunk his money down but I steered him away. Eventually we ended up with something really nice that was always reliable and he never needed more than the usual, like bearings and a belt pulley.

Another family I know is the type to rush into big decisions carelessly. They have a yard full of cars. They know I’m a mechanic. They know my reputation. They never bother to ask for my insight and still collect cars that blow up before they can even drive it home for the first time. All they have to do is call and I could have steered them away from such mistakes based on the reputations of certain car models alone. What is worse is whenever I do warn them in time but they ignore any and every out they’re given. I once warned them that I think they have clogged fuel injectors. Knowing better, the dad pulled the engine, bought new heads, stripped the old engine, took the block to be cleaned and checked for cracks and warpage and in the end…it was two clogged fuel injectors. (The motor is still in pieces, seven-years later.)

Read the signs. Get educated. Take your time.

When I say I’m better off than a lot of people I know, I’m not talking about wealth. I mean on a level of fulfillment and absence of stress. A pair I know are having hysterical melt-downs over their car getting towed or some flippant person ending a relationship with them (again). The reason their car was towed is that they often parked in reserved spots but nervously kept their ears out for traffic outside to check for tow trucks. All they really have to do is park about 100’ farther and they could sleep at night. For some reason, walking 100 fewer feet to their door is more valuable to them than peace of mind and a tow fee and all the drama that comes with the ordeal.

Ever see people posing in picturesque places and on expensive cars on instagram to show off? I see past this because I have been there when these people are posing for these pictures. It’s a knock-down drag-out kicking-and-screaming nightmare to make some or most of those images possible. To those people, though, the nightmare is worth the online bragging rights. They just don’t have their priorities straight. They can’t be happy with the life they have. They always have to measure their life to others and will always be in a deficit.

How much does a home renovation cost? Most people measure what’s on paper rather than what their time and happiness are worth. I’m alluding to the DIY frenzy we are living now.

How much does it cost me to insulate my attic? Consider the time it takes to educate myself, to compare products, to buy the tools and materials, to account for the mistakes and cost to repair/remediate them, to the whole day I lose in both prepping and working, spreading the crap wherever I walk inside my house, how long it takes to get fiberglass out of my clothes and furniture, the itchiness for days afterward, the time to clean up after all is done on and on. Is this worth more or less than just hiring somebody right away and getting it over with?

I could spend my Saturday detailing my car but everything that would go into it wouldn’t amount to what I paid to have it done for me. Even if I still have to touch-up whenever they’re done, at least I got to enjoy my weekend.

I think my generation has a hard time putting value on their time and enjoyment. If somebody told me I could have saved $300 cash but I’d have to work my fingers to the bone and buy all of the tools necessary to detail my car for the whole day, I’d laugh.

I can view this scenario on the flip-side. As an expert mechanic, when my non-savvy friends ask for a FWD wheel bearing replacement, I can actually enjoy my time with such an opportunity. Wrenching is what I love. As my friend, they offer money but we both know that when I need a favor in-turn they can save me from a less desirable task that they enjoy. We both win.

 

[Mousse]

Because a fool is born every minute?

Thank you, PT Barnum Cheeto.

Again, it is not somebody else’s fault that you make a decision. They can lie to your face but the diligence due is your burden.

Sage advice. 20 years too late as I had already pissed on that fence.😌 If there was any good that came from buying that flipped house was that I learned a lot about proper home repair. It helped that I had a contractor brother who let me work with his crew on the weekends.

I used what I learned to work on houses I bought later on. I also learned what tasks I could tackle (Shingles? Easy. Wiring? Dry wall? I can do that.) and which jobs to leave to the pros (gas lines💥).

Why can’t they? Buying a fixer upper and living in it is the easy way to save a few quid. I know we’ve done it.
At least people have the internet to research how to do up the house! I had an old reference book and my Dad to ask for advice.

I supposed it would depend upon how much work is needed on the house. The houses I bought later on were in bad shape. Gutted to the studs, everything striped out and checked out--bad shape. The kind of house that needed the This Old House treatment. I ain't living in a house with no HVAC, exposed wires and pipes.😬 No way would I let my kids hang out there.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Thank you, PT Barnum Cheeto.

Sage advice. 20 years too late as I had already pissed on that fence.😌 If there was any good that came from buying that flipped house was that I learned a lot about proper home repair. It helped that I had a contractor brother who let me work with his crew on the weekends.

I used what I learned to work on houses I bought later on. I also learned what tasks I could tackle (Shingles? Easy. Wiring? Dry wall? I can do that.) and which jobs to leave to the pros (gas lines💥).

I supposed it would depend upon how much work is needed on the house. The houses I bought later on were in bad shape. Gutted to the studs, everything striped out and checked out--bad shape. The kind of house that needed the This Old House treatment. I ain't living in a house with no HVAC, exposed wires and pipes.😬 No way would I let my kids hang out there.

Our house had no heating when we moved in in the middle of winter. We managed.

 

[satcomer]

You buy a fixer upper and do what nephew and new wife did, they did one room at a time with a buject they had set doing it themselves! They went to spray insulation not from for crushed things that was cheaper and almost as good and better than traction pink! Like I said they would go to each room at a time! The only time they did once a season and were done in 12 years with new siding and making her dream kitchen for their kid!

 

[MacBH928]

True there was little difference between 1000AD and 1400AD. but we’ve seen more technological progress in the last hundred years than we’ve had over the entirety of human existence, with little sign that’s going to slow down.

History of technology - Automation, Digitalization, Robotics

History of technology - Automation, Digitalization, Robotics: Recent history is notoriously difficult to write, because of the mass of material and the problem of distinguishing the significant from the insignificant among events that have virtually the power of contemporary experience. In...

www.britannica.com

You are right but you never know what happens in the future. To think that we will forever and ever advance might not be true. Like that quote that says WWIII will be ought with swords.

Just search for ‘atomic clock’ and you’ll find sites like this:

The Official U.S. Time | NIST

The National Institute of Standards and Technology - Time and Frequency Division maintains the standard for frequency and time interval for the United States, provides official time to the United States, and carries out a broad program of research and service activities in time and frequency...

www.time.gov

Well my argument was if you didn't have internet how would you know what time is it?!

One major thing I have noticed in decline since the introduction of the internet is the hobby club or meeting club, basically a club/group that was run in the evenings run by people who shared a common interest, sports, reading, knitting, movies, toys, fashion, music, art, gardening, nature, flowers, machinery, engineering, medical, fishing, swimming, walking, running, keep fit, athletics, darts, pool, snooker, bowling..and the list goes on. There was always a multitude of clubs being run in your area that you could attend after work for those who were adults and similar clubs for those that were children/teenagers. There was always something to do in the evening and they were always run from a Monday to Saturday. Sunday was always considered a day of rest. If religious you did church activities and then family time or if non religious it was family time. The one day of the week where you did everything as a family.

Along came the internet and now people wanted to stay home and chat with people online. They stayed home to play games online with their friends or stayed home using the computer to look at stuff on this new internet thing. You no longer had to go out and do things, you could stay in the comfort of your home. This meant less and less people were going to their local clubs which meant more and more clubs closing meaning there was less and less things for people to do in the evenings.

You are right but this kind of thing seems to be coming back as more and more people are getting lonlier they seem to seek the internet to do IRL socializing and activities.

I must add that while the internet has split people locally it has brought them together globally. For example, i wouldn't have as many people to talk to about tech and Apple in my local community over macrumors.com

Check out this site - you might like it.

Meetup | Find Local Groups, Events, and Activities Near You

Find Meetup events, join groups, or start your own. Make new friends and connect with like-minded people. Meet people near you who share your interests.

www.meetup.com

thats a great sites thanks for sharing!

 

[MacBH928]

One of the key differences that the under-40s are going to have difficulty in grasping is that fact that if they turn off their computer and phone, they can't mimic the experience of 'pre internet' because too much has changed.

For a start, the high street. I've tried to explain to my own 20-something children about shopping centres and department stores, but it's difficult for them to understand. Even small UK towns like where I lived as a child, they had at least one huge department store selling everything from clothes to furniture to records and tapes, hifis, organs, cameras, all that kind of tech you have to go online for now mostly (well, accepting that some of that is obsolete now anyway). In the States, you had massive shopping malls with cornerstone retailers like Sears.

Mostly all of that's gone, so young people cannot mimic our experience just by turning off their tech.

I see where you are coming from, you can't travel back in time, but give it a shot. Shut off your phone, cut off internet access for few days. See how it works

oh and a common feature of TV pre-internet which was intended to get the family together was movie for children usually between 4pm and 6pm and then somewhere between 7pm and 9pm was the evening movie geared towards adults. This being a feature of both Saturday and Sunday.

If you are in THE USA which tv channels did you get? I am confused on their system because they have the "national" channels which are "cable" channels and then they have the local channels but the local channels are also part of the "cable" channels. So you get like CBS and CBS Florida and CBS Las Vegas.

My point is more about the detachment actors have with the roles their given now. Believe me, as somebody who has worked intimately with broadcast, it's a big narcissistic nepotistic sex cult now. That is in no-way an understatement from what I've seen personally.

This needs its own thread...

That also meant just accepting whatever was on. You had six or maybe a dozen channels to flip through and some nights the best you had was Cagney and Lacey or Night Court. That may have been better than doing chores. I recently tried to watch Welcome Back, Kotter and it just isn't the same with how many better options there are. Shows like Sanford and Son, Three's Company, and certainly legends like ST: The Next Generation deserve a second watch. Something on the level of Quantum Leap... yeah I'd just rather play Xbox or watch YouTube now.

I think people in the broadcasting business figured a formula to make money. No longer you need "talent" or actually do an "acting" so the critics praise you in the newspapers and people watch your show. Just slap Dwayne Johnson picture on the movie poster and make $300+M

To be fair, they used to sell movies based on the stardom of an actor back then but at least they put an effort into it.

In the 1950's families gathered around the dining table or the kitchen table at dinner time and conversed about their day as they ate the home-cooked meal. After dinner, someone, usually the woman of the household, maybe with assistance from a child or two, rinsed, washed and dried the dishes before putting them back in the cabinet. Even when television became more prevalent, many families did not have it on during dinner -- the TV set was in the living room or family room, not the kitchen or dining room anyway -- and instead, it came back on only after dinner, when usually the news and weather broadcast was shown before primetime shows.

I believe it was a tradition that dinner time is family time to get together and socialise and thats very admirable in my book but I won't lie, eating and watching something is one of my pleasures in life.

 

[MacBH928]

You old f***s remember all the call-in radio quizzes?

This was when radio had a real DJ that sat in a real broadcast studio and had a real phone line. You could call in, tell the DJ what to play, respond to on-air prompts like “what was the worst way somebody broke up with you?”, chit-chat, maybe even get played on the air. The quizzes were a major pull for listenership. I remember people letting these things get in the way of their employment, hanging by the radio holding up a whole phone line when they should be minding work. (There was a movie called Nervous Ticks with Bill Pullman. I don’t recommend it. The guy goes nuts trying to get a chance to call in to such a game.)

I actually won tickets to see Behind Enemy Lines by answering a quiz. The movie was not worth going to the radio station, waiting, signing a paper and then planning time for the theater but now I’ll never forget…dang, what was that old contemporary pop station 🤔

It was sad to see these wither away. Firstly, people would answer and I’d hear them on-air and say to myself, “oh, come on, they used a computer to look on Google!”. Then the DJ’s caught on and would disqualify people if they heard key presses on a keyboard. Finally, they wouldn’t ask the question until a caller was on the line and they had something like five-seconds to answer to reduce the chance of finding the answer online.

Next thing I know, the radio personalities are gone and now it’s just the same three songs repeated by a pre-programmed computer. If I can recall, the modern American music broadcast system basically is a time-share. Each music production studio gets a certain amount of air-time and they tell the radios who to feature and how often. Therefore, you will never hear any song broadcast on a contemporary station unless it has been manufactured and vetted by some nepotistic multi-billionaires.

It always amazed me how quick they put the music you requested. I always wondered how they can get it that fast out of the archive. There was even some live TV shows that you could request a music video and they would do it just as quick.

Today its easy, probably some system that has all the songs in digital form and they search and get it in split of a second but back then I think they used tapes. I am watching Fraiser and they have some of that on the set. Not sure if they are the same consumer cassette tapes of the time.

Now, had you said the WWW incorporated most of the functionality of BBSs, I would just shrug. That is true. Do you understand the difference?

I said I consider BBS the internet. I know its not, that why I consider it. Othwerwise I would say "BBS is part of the internet".

Generally Absolute Radio for me. Or Radio 5 if there is football on.

I see you are from the UK. Which club do you support?

 

[Apple fanboy]

It always amazed me how quick they put the music you requested. I always wondered how they can get it that fast out of the archive. There was even some live TV shows that you could request a music video and they would do it just as quick.

Today its easy, probably some system that has all the songs in digital form and they search and get it in split of a second but back then I think they used tapes. I am watching Fraiser and they have some of that on the set. Not sure if they are the same consumer cassette tapes of the time.



I said I consider BBS the internet. I know its not, that why I consider it. Othwerwise I would say "BBS is part of the internet".



I see you are from the UK. Which club do you support?

I’m a long suffering West Ham fan. Tough year.

 

[mtbdudex]

I graduated high school 1980, here’s a snippet from my 30th reunion post (2010)
This is mid 1970’s stuff

Truly one can say that they "grew up in Warren, Michigan" if they played along the Red Run storm river, ever, this includes:
-going there after a big rain to see if it was "gushing and overflowing the banks:
-went exploring the various "Time Tunnels" to see how many manholes back you could ride. Yes, we put those 6v square battery lights taped to handle bars and went miles deep
-in winter time, chipped off ice floes 15 feet wide and 25 feet long, and drifted down the river till they broke up

 

[MajorFubar]

It always amazed me how quick they put the music you requested. I always wondered how they can get it that fast out of the archive. There was even some live TV shows that you could request a music video and they would do it just as quick.

On the radio station I listened to, they gave the caller a choice from about 4 or 5 songs which they'd probably already pre-recorded onto broadcast carts. It was just a matter of setting the chosen one going.

EDIT: When the caller appeared to have a 'free choice', they either asked the caller beforehand so they could find the record and queue it up, or the actual phone conversation you heard on air was taped from 5-10 minutes earlier and wasn't live, again to give time for the record to be chosen and queued up.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I believe it was a tradition that dinner time is family time to get together and socialise and thats very admirable in my book but I won't lie, eating and watching something is one of my pleasures in life.

It is not just "get together and socialise" (though that does matter), it is also that this is a very good time to chat things through - your day at school, stuff that came up both academically or otherwise, raise stuff that may have been puzzling you, bothering you, or worrying you, talk about and ask about and discuss what is happening in the world, what someone said (in class), what someone did - and thrash things out.

Some of the best, and most serious, discussions at home occurred during - or, towards the end of - dinner, especially if the dinner was somewaht relaxed.

The rule of no TV - and no phones - at meal times is one that I adhere to myself.

If you must take a call, excuse yourself and leave the table and leave the room; as for a TV programme, yes, people could watch them, but they had to eat with family first, and excuse themselves, and - if necessary - return later to do whatever chores (washing up etc) still needed to be done.

With the family, if I cooked, or prepared the meal, someone else did the clearing and washing up (usually my father or brothers); this was yet another valuable lesson I had learned from my mother.

 

[Herdfan]

The rule of no TV - and no phones - at meal times is one that I adhere to myself.

When I was coaching swimming the girls had a thing they did when we ate as a team. All cell phones get stacked in the middle of the table. First one to touch their phone, pays. I paid twice.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

When I was coaching swimming the girls had a thing they did when we ate as a team. All cell phones get stacked in the middle of the table. First one to touch their phone, pays. I paid twice.

Excellent idea.

If you are dining with people, then, I would argue that this setting requires respect from you - for someone has put time and effort and energy (and possibly, love) into preparing this repast, this meal, and to devour it - to wolf it while staring at, or scrolling through, your phone is extraordinarily bad manners, and deeply disrespectful when sitting at the dinner table.

Moreover, the setting of dining together obliges you to show them - your fellow diners - irrespective of whether they be friends, family, or colleagues - respect, by giving them your undivided attention, listening to them, engaging with them, and chatting with them.

Even when I lived with my brother - who loves TV - for a number of years while he was studying law and I was teaching at the university, I had a strict rule of no TV (or phones) during dinner; before and after dinner, yes, but not during dinner. When the table was cleared, he would switch on the TV (he did the washing up when I prepared the meal, or vice versa.)

 

[Xand&Roby]

The internet is a very good thing BUT it has allowed people to become very impatient and those in power have not put in proper protections to protect others from peoples impatience. Employers can now keep in contact with their employee's 24/7. People not happy with appointments or delays can now instantly message those concerned to air their grievance and to keep on airing their grievance until something is done there and then. Basically the internet has allowed people to feel they are number one, top priority and that everything must stop so they can seen too. The real world does no function like that but the internet has allowed people to believe it does.

The Internet was something different, many years ago. It wasn't the place to meet people's needs, it was a place to learn something. Then, like all niche situations that become mainstream, it became something else. Okay, it's normal, it doesn't surprise me. The Internet is neither present nor future, the Internet has passed, even more so today that it is integrated into people's way of thinking. It is not the Internet that must interest us, it is the one that will overcome it, because that is where there is still something to learn.