Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[Barnsley]

Dedicated 'chip pans', with a basket, kept full of oil, were common. So were kitchen fires.

We still have one, used almost daily, but it contains lard, not oil!

 

[Silent]

That is off topic! These are not anachronistic by any means

They are the best travel books you could buy - opens you up to a world of possible destinations and your imagination can do the rest!

Physical maps and timetables are nice but also probably rare to younger people because of gps technologies.

 

[Topological]

Physical maps and timetables are nice but also probably rare to younger people because of gps technologies.

I was explaining the other day why I know where things are without Google Maps *

Essentially, I spent too long reading the Road Atlas in my dads car as a kid. The idea of a kid reading a map probably fits this thread as well. But those days spent studying those pages are now incredibly useful. Well, they would be less useful if we had not slowed down the road building programme in the UK, but pretty much any route you would have taken in the 90s still applies 30 years later. The A50 between M1 Junction 24 and Stoke was a big game changer for us as a family, but that was completed in 1997/8**.

* Other mapping apps are available
** The A50 was via Burton-on-Trent, then that became the A511 and the A50 was then on the new alignment East to meet the new alignment of the A6 South East of Derby. The joint section is numbered A6 (I think, it has been a while)

 

[Silent]

I was explaining the other day why I know where things are without Google Maps *

Essentially, I spent too long reading the Road Atlas in my dads car as a kid. The idea of a kid reading a map probably fits this thread as well. But those days spent studying those pages are now incredibly useful. Well, they would be less useful if we had not slowed down the road building programme in the UK, but pretty much any route you would have taken in the 90s still applies 30 years later. The A50 between M1 Junction 24 and Stoke was a big game changer for us as a family, but that was completed in 1997/8**.

* Other mapping apps are available
** The A50 was via Burton-on-Trent, then that became the A511 and the A50 was then on the new alignment East to meet the new alignment of the A6 South East of Derby. The joint section is numbered A6 (I think, it has been a while)

Since bicycle commuting I actually don’t use Google maps whilst on my bicycle so try and look up routes prior to cycling. But then I’m not travelling many places, just home and work.

I don’t drive, I think if I did, I wouldn’t want to become overly reliant on Google maps whilst driving because I imagine it might ruin my sense of direction. But I don’t have great understanding of roads by names, more just by look and direction.



I’m watching season 17 of Grange Hill now, released a few months before my birth. A computer in a students house was referred to as a word processor. Is the term word processor, for a desktop pc, anachronistic?

I think seeing desktop pcs as the main computer is kind of anachronistic for the younger generations that grew up with smartphones.

 

[DelW]

Essentially, I spent too long reading the Road Atlas in my dads car as a kid. The idea of a kid reading a map probably fits this thread as well. But those days spent studying those pages are now incredibly useful.

As a teenager in the 1960s, I bought a road atlas published by a company called Johnston and Bacon. It was 3" to the mile and was very detailed for an atlas - not quite OS 1" level, but similar to the Bartholomew 1/2" maps, including contours and use of different colours for different elevations above sea level. I spent hours poring over it.

It's still on my bookshelves now, very well worn and with failing binding and a cracked spine, but still very useful for tracking old railway lines in the landscape. Most of the lines closed in the Beeching era are shown, even though quite a few must have closed before it was published. I suppose removing old railways wasn't a high priority for a road atlas.

 

[Brightonboy]

Since bicycle commuting I actually don’t use Google maps whilst on my bicycle so try and look up routes prior to cycling. But then I’m not travelling many places, just home and work.

I don’t drive, I think if I did, I wouldn’t want to become overly reliant on Google maps whilst driving because I imagine it might ruin my sense of direction. But I don’t have great understanding of roads by names, more just by look and direction.



I’m watching season 17 of Grange Hill now, released a few months before my birth. A computer in a students house was referred to as a word processor. Is the term word processor, for a desktop pc, anachronistic?

I think seeing desktop pcs as the main computer is kind of anachronistic for the younger generations that grew up with smartphones.

But a word processor wasn't a desktop pc. The early ones were little more than an electric typewriter but where the text could be seen on a screen before being printed out. There was, afaik, no other capabilities (spreadsheets etc) that we may expect from even a basic laptop (or even a mobile) these days.

 

[Silent]

But a word processor wasn't a desktop pc. The early ones were little more than an electric typewriter but where the text could be seen on a screen before being printed out. There was, afaik, no other capabilities (spreadsheets etc) that we may expect from even a basic laptop (or even a mobile) these days.

Oh so it was my mistake, I just googled it. Because the crt screen looked so much like a desktop screen I mistakenly thought it was a desktop.

 

[WesternLancer]

But a word processor wasn't a desktop pc. The early ones were little more than an electric typewriter but where the text could be seen on a screen before being printed out. There was, afaik, no other capabilities (spreadsheets etc) that we may expect from even a basic laptop (or even a mobile) these days.

Might have been either?

. We had a BBC computer but it was only really used for word processing. And it had a crt monitor. Docs could be saved to 5” floppy disks.

Meanwhile a relative who was a typist but worked from home had what you describe, an electric typewriter with little screen on it displayed the last few sentences typed which could be corrected before it printed. No ability to save anything iirc. She may have called this word processor.

This was mid 80s

 

[fairysdad]

The use of arguably dated expressions within emails is likely to be entering this territory.
"Much obliged" as a sign-off for instance?

In a similar vein, I always find it amusing when looking at the old railway accident reports that they start off something like, "Sir, I have the honour to report..."as if it is a positive thing they are reporting; likewise the sign off: "I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant..."

It's both the language and also that it seems to be that the report is basically presented as a very long letter!

 

[EYFanatic]

In a similar vein, I always find it amusing when looking at the old railway accident reports that they start off something like, "Sir, I have the honour to report..."as if it is a positive thing they are reporting; likewise the sign off: "I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant..."

It's both the language and also that it seems to be that the report is basically presented as a very long letter!

That phrasing - adjusting to "Ma'am" where an officer is female - is used in formal reports of Courts Martial in the Royal Navy and British Army though oddly not in the Royal Air Force as a general rule

 

[Merle Haggard]

But a word processor wasn't a desktop pc. The early ones were little more than an electric typewriter but where the text could be seen on a screen before being printed out. There was, afaik, no other capabilities (spreadsheets etc) that we may expect from even a basic laptop (or even a mobile) these days.

B.R. - or at least the Railfreight part - used a version of the system you describe called 'Wang" which, from memory used a dedicated computer and screen. The 'Wang' business model involved selling courses (usually in central London with unlimited coffee and biscuits) in how to use their system, suggesting that making it as easy to use as possible might not have been in their corporate interests...

 

[AM9]

B.R. - or at least the Railfreight part - used a version of the system you describe called 'Wang" which, from memory used a dedicated computer and screen. The 'Wang' business model involved selling courses (usually in central London with unlimited coffee and biscuits) in how to use their system, suggesting that making it as easy to use as possible might not have been in their corporate interests...

Wang was a US company that made various business machines from the '50s. Some of their calculators had a number of features that allowed it to prepare and edit documents and tables of calculations. There is a museum of their products in the Netherlands, see here.
(link to webpage of museum showing various devices from the companies history including it's founder, Dr. An Wang.)

 

[dgl]

But a word processor wasn't a desktop pc. The early ones were little more than an electric typewriter but where the text could be seen on a screen before being printed out. There was, afaik, no other capabilities (spreadsheets etc) that we may expect from even a basic laptop (or even a mobile) these days.

Depended on the machine, the Amstrad PCW was a CP/M compatible machine and had a spreadsheet program included, but there were others, my auntie had an Olivetti one, that was a essentially a typewriter with a small LCD screen, but that also had more programs and a 3.5" FDD.

 

[Silent]

The act of rewinding and fastfowarding. It kind of still exists but in streaming it’s more like skipping 10 secs repeatedly, if you know the keyboard shortcut. So on touch screens the act of fast forwarding and rewinding doesn’t exist.

 

[GusB]

The act of rewinding and fastfowarding. It kind of still exists but in streaming it’s more like skipping 10 secs repeatedly, if you know the keyboard shortcut. So on touch screens the act of fast forwarding and rewinding doesn’t exist.

Utter nonsense!

There are fast forward and rewind options on touch screens, and you can slide the progress bar towards and backwards.

 

[Silent]

Utter nonsense!

There are fast coward and rewind options on touch screens, and you can slide the progress bar towards and backwards.

It's different from fast forwarding and rewinding on vhs. Maybe the constant speed and sound rewinding and fast forwarding on vhs.

But I was wrong, as it still exists but just in different form.

 

[Backroom_boy]

Are there still streakers at matches? (Complete with bobbies helmet covering up) or has that gone as crowd control is much more strict?

 

[Jimini]

Are there still streakers at matches? (Complete with hobbies helmet covering up) or has that gone as crowd control is much more strict?

On that theme, I miss footballers running out of the tunnel and heading imaginary footballs as they run onto the pitch. It's all mascots and handshakes these days (at least in the Prem)!

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Are there still streakers at matches? (Complete with bobbies helmet covering up) or has that gone as crowd control is much more strict?

Broadcasters have an agreement not to show any such incidents in order to not encourage more of them.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Broadcasters have an agreement not to show any such incidents in order to not encourage more of them.

I recollect, years ago, two friends went to watch the Masters Snooker. They were highly bemused when an inebriated lady suddenly disrobed between snooker frames and promptly ran to the table and circled Ronnie o'Sullivan, before she was led off.

 

[Silent]

White noise not being an aesthetic choice but just the result of using analogue formats for TV and radio.

 

[EYFanatic]

Are there still streakers at matches? (Complete with bobbies helmet covering up) or has that gone as crowd control is much more strict?

Oh yes

And long may it remain so

 

[GordonT]

Been a while since I've seen anyone lighting a fag with the aid of a match struck on the side of a matchbox. In my first job which was in an office the sliding glass window into the boss's office would on occasion be slid open and I would be requested to go to the corner shop to purchase 20 Gold Bond and a box of matches.

 

[Trackman]

What about the picture cards with Brooke Bond/PG tips?
When I was at primary school we were encouraged to bring them in for the album.
They actually had an archive that you could leaf through with full albums going back to the 1950s.

 

[D6130]

What about the picture cards with Brooke Bond/PG tips?
When I was at primary school we were encouraged to bring them in for the album.
They actually had an archive that you could leaf through with full albums going back to the 1950s.

'leaf through'....I see what you did there!

 

[swt_passenger]

Stamp collecting. IIRC you could even buy stamps with pocket money rather than taking out a loan…

 

[The exile]

Stamp collecting. IIRC you could even buy stamps with pocket money rather than taking out a loan…

Even before the drastic drop-off in genuine stamped mail and parallel to the rise of online entertainment, Royal Mail were going the right way to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. Increasing numbers of dumbed down special issues were taking us down to the level of the dubious issues of various Arab Emirates in the 1970s.

 

[GordonT]

Significant amounts of time devoted to home baking for own use or for events such as coffee mornings looks to be a declining feature of modern living and perhaps could be approaching the territory of this thread?

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Significant amounts of time devoted to home baking for own use or for events such as coffee mornings looks to be a declining feature of modern living and perhaps could be approaching the territory of this thread?

It may well be in decline but judging from what I see in my local supermarket it is far from dead. Bake Off Britain is surely inspiring a lot of younger people to have a go.

 

[GordonT]

The act of rewinding and fastfowarding.

And finding your offspring had taped an episode of Neighbours over your cherished concert recording.