What do we miss?

Well it’s been a while since I did a new blog of any note, and absolute yonky donks since I did a ’lists’ blog, so with the recent published news about the top 25 things we miss in the current digital / technological age, I thought I’d get the quill and ink out again…

Entertainment

Making mixtapes

Yep I have to admit missing that. I still have approx.. 400 tapes that I made from around 1985 to 2009, all lovingly stored for when I own a cassette deck again, though I’ve digitised the rarities amongst them anyway!

I can’t deny that it’s infinitely easier to create now though, but it was definitely an art form to get the right mix on any tape, and I wore out many a double A battery in multiple Walkmans over the years

Carrying a portable CD player
Nowhere near as good as the cassette version. All hail the iPod.

Recording films and TV shows using VHS

Similar to cassette tapes I guess. I once had hundreds of VHS tapes with what my Grandad would call ‘Archive Material’. Again though, I digitised the rarities and ending up dumping the rest. The hours spent recording on them doesn’t bear thinking about…

Buying CDs / having a CD collection

I still buy the occasional CD to add to my 2000+ collection (yes,   really) – but probably no more than a couple a year. The collection looks stunning and I’d never bin them*

*unless they become disgraced, a la Harris, Glitter etc. All of those went straight into the bin without a second thought.

Photos

Put photos into albums / Having printed photos around the house

Still do this on occasion, but it’s a dead exercise really, which is probably a shame. Didn’t put them on the wall though, apart from a few I had of my children on the walls at work before it got banned!

Excitement of having photographs developed

No that was painful and a waste of time. You’d find half were over exposed (crap) and that you’d totally ballsed up what should have been a cherished memorable image.

Buying disposable cameras

Might have done this but it’s not missed

Writing

Handwritten letters / Hand-writing essays / School work

I Used to love properly writing letters, but I couldn’t do it now. I’m so out of practise, that writing just two lines in my daughter’s book diary for school almost gives me cramp.

Sending love letters

Sadly I don’t recall doing that much! I was more of an unrequited shy keep-it-to-myself type. Elsewise I put it into poetry.

Sending postcards

Don’t miss this at all. Didn’t like doing it at the time. Today’s equivalent it using an auto-reply / out of office eMail. Stone me if you can’t cope without my presence for a week or so, then I’m either way more cool than I ever realised, or you must be a bit needy!

Probably the latter.

Having pen friends
I had a French one called Boris in 1987. I hadn’t honed my French masculinity grammar skills yet so after about three exchanges, he actually had to ask me to clarify if I was male or female.

I met him on a school trip to France, and even then he was probably still a bit insure about my gender.

Misc

Playing traditional board games or cards

Still do a bit of this, but far less. Besides I get very impatient waiting for others to take their turn, so I’m not much fun to play with.

Owning an encyclopedia

I think we had annual versions of the Pears Cyclopedia, which is probably not the same.

Shopping

Going into the travel agents to research a holiday

Never did this

Visiting car boot sales to sell old stuff

I do this now more than I ever did!

Trying on pairs of shoes on the high street

Still do this every so often

Telephones

Remembering phone numbers off by heart

Now this, I was good at. I can still remember a few of my friends and families tels from the 80s. I don’t NEED to remember them, they just stay there, logged in my brain.

Nowadays I think I know about 4 in total.

Using directory enquiries

Can’t believe people ever did this after they started charging ludicrous amounts for the privilege

       

Ringing the speaking clock / Dialing 1471 to see who called while you were out

Is Talking Tim still alive? Used to call other premium rate numbers though.

For example the ‘Seagull Line’ for Albion news.

Not the premium rate line you were thinking of was it…!?

I think 1471 still works does it not?

Using public telephones

There are definitely less 10p coins around these days – probably because of the demise of the old telephone kiosks.

You could start family rows buy accidentally hanging up on someone who’s had to put coins in before the pips went. Try explaining that to your kids.

Using a telephone directory / Yellow Pages

These are teeny tiny now. Once upon a time, you could get hold of anyone’s number if you wanted to stalk them. And when this gradually eased back in the early 90s, panic started to set in before the internet made people over-contactable again