# The Things For Which Kids Today Have No Context (another list of how things have changed) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035 "2014-08-07T14:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![DChord568](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@DChord568](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DChord568)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/361 "2014-08-12T22:55:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > There are no cites on that article and other webpages argue the exact opposite. So unless someone can find a box for one of those vintage flip clocks, we may never know. My dictionary app has this for digital clock: a clock that displays the time in numerical digits rather than by hands on a dial. and this for analog clock: a clock that represents time by the position of hands on a dial. I agree with these definitions. Digital equaled digits long before it equaled LCD or LED. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/362 "2014-08-12T23:04:49Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > For something more recent, [here is a bunch of ads for search engines from the late 90’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPEpGHya01c). (most of which do not exist anymore). They just don’t advertise this way anymore (yes they have TV ads - but they are very different in style) > > In one ad you can see ‘Intertubes!’ before such a term was a meme. 😃 “Enter my dungeon of despair!” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/363 "2014-08-13T00:41:01Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > There are no cites on that article and other webpages argue the exact opposite. So unless someone can find a box for one of those vintage flip clocks, we may never know. > > [http://www.clock3.com/index.php?option=com\_k2&view=item&id=276:retro-flip-clocks&Itemid=198](http://www.clock3.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=276:retro-flip-clocks&Itemid=198) From your link: > [@](#): > > The retro flip clock, formally known as an analog clock with **digital display** , is a popular style of retro clock that has endured throughout the decades of technological innovations. Flip clocks were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s, but can still be found today. So yes, the movement is analog, but the time is displayed with numbers, making calling it a digital clock accurate. These were popular before mass-produced microprocessor-controlled clocks with LEDs became affordable. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/364 "2014-08-13T00:47:24Z")
There were also “digital” watches like [this](http://bp1.blogger.com/_HZxjZs9ytRU/R0L6SBcxAkI/AAAAAAAADTM/iz_o21oqBDA/s1600-h/fashiontime+fake+lcd1.jpg) that were popular before LED and LCD digital watches became common. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/365 "2014-08-13T01:43:21Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Until a month or so later, when Mom got a job that required her to have a home office. She needed a phone line, but putting in a third line would have been way more costly than adding the second (I don’t remember why exactly, I think homes were set up to accommodate two lines, but adding more lines required additional wiring). So there went my phone line. It was SO unfair. Exactly this. Homes either had one or two pairs of wires, depending on the construction. At some point, two became standard. But that’s just enough for two phone lines. When we had the third line put in my childhood home, the phone company ran an extra conduit to my bedroom. We eventually ended up with four lines in the house. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/366 "2014-08-13T02:38:21Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Even without computer skills, it’s trivially easy to block one’s number from appearing on caller IDs. WITH contemporary skills, you can spoof and spoof and spoof. Perhaps, but maybe not so easy for an eight-year-old? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/367 "2014-08-13T02:48:23Z")
If you want to get pedantically technical, the oscillator for all timekeeping devices is digital in the sense of generating so many beats per second, whether it’s a mechanical escapement, the 60hz of household current, a quartz crystal, or what have you. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/368 "2014-08-13T02:52:49Z")
^ We don’t have time for this! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/369 "2014-08-13T03:09:25Z")
a clock can have a digital display produced by analog methods. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/370 "2014-08-13T13:35:01Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > a clock can have a digital display produced by analog methods. Right. That’s my argument. The clock is analog (hence **analog clock** ), but the display can still be digital by portraying the digits. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/371 "2014-08-13T16:00:48Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen? Those must have gone by the wayside. This comment reminded me of when I had just married. Encyclopedias were so expensive and we started to save a little each month to buy a good set for our future children. By the time the first child was about 7, Windows 95 had Encarta. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/372 "2014-08-13T16:55:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen? Those must have gone by the wayside. This comment reminded me of when I had just married. Encyclopedias were so expensive and we started to save a little each month to buy a good set for our future children. By the time the first child was about 7, Windows 95 had Encarta. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/373 "2014-08-13T17:00:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Perhaps, but maybe not so easy for an eight-year-old? Spoofing may be beyond most eight year olds, but the low-skills version is trivially easy. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/374 "2014-08-13T17:50:45Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > The correlation between Cadillac bumper bullets and Annette Funicello. Did you perhaps mean to say [Dagmar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_bumpers) (I knew the Dagmar term for those style bumper “guards” way before I heard of the actress). > [@](#): > > “Growing Up” Skipper I’m middle aged, and I’m not sure **I** have a context for that - OK, like many kids today I just checked [Wikipedia on the subject](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipper_(Barbie))…:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/375 "2014-08-13T17:55:25Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > “Growing Up” Skipper Heh. My first Barbie doll was a Jewel Secrets Skipper. I haven’t thought of that doll in years. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/376 "2014-08-13T22:16:54Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I’d wager that few people under _ **29** _ have seen teenagers delivering newspapers on a bike. Our paper was delivered by a high school student up until about 3 years ago when they changed from afternoon to morning delivery. The law doesn’t allow the kids to start work before 6 am so they had to drop the newspaper boys and use an adult, who delivers from his van or car now. So, the kids today would have to be under about 5 around our way to not have seen teenagers on a bike delivering newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/377 "2014-08-13T22:30:06Z")
I had a paper route in the late 70s. I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/378 "2014-08-14T06:31:38Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Did you perhaps mean to say [Dagmar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagmar_bumpers) (I knew the Dagmar term for those style bumper “guards” way before I heard of the actress). I never heard of a “Dagmar” bumper guard until I read your post. I knew about Cadillac bumper bullets in the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/379 "2014-08-14T06:35:52Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > “Growing Up” Skipper > [@SirRay](#): > > I’m middle aged, and I’m not sure **I** have a context for that - OK, like many kids today I just checked [Wikipedia on the subject](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipper_(Barbie))…:smack: You’d get a better idea of it if you checked YouTube on the subject. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035/380 "2014-08-14T14:12:06Z")
Smoking everywhere! We smoked in restaurants, bars, the mall food court, at our desks at work, at the movie theater even! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-things-for-which-kids-today-have-no-context-another-list-of-how-things-have-changed/695035.md?page=20)