# Ubiquitous items from relatively recently youngsters may not recognise **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362 "2023-03-19T15:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/301 "2023-03-28T11:06:16Z")
It’s still being published. > **[The official site of TV Guide Magazine](https://www.tvguidemagazine.com/)** > > TV Guide  Magazine: Your official guide to what's worth watching on television – Get news, reviews and inside scoop on all your favorite shows and stars. The online service, [tvguide.com](http://tvguide.com), is operated by the original parent company, which sold off the magazine in 2008. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/302 "2023-03-28T11:13:43Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > It’s still being published. I don’t think they actually publish channel listings anymore, though. The modern version is a general interest magazine profiling hit shows, not a catalog you can review to find out what’s showing on your local cable network at 3:30 PM on Thursday, with an index in the back that you can check to find out how many times Spunk Crashfart and the Tomb of the Were-Bitches is going to be airing this week. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/303 "2023-03-28T11:14:08Z")
Are dot matrix printers still being made? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/304 "2023-03-28T11:19:25Z")
Ah. I did not know that. I subscribed decades ago, but haven’t so much as seen a copy in at least a decade. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/305 "2023-03-28T12:29:19Z")
Impact printers are, for certain business use. Okidata is still a major player. Typically multipart forms. Dot matrix is a type of impact printer. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/306 "2023-03-28T21:04:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Ridiculous in an age where all you have to do is press a button on your remote to find out what’s on. Having never had a subscription TV service (i.e. cable) I have to ask how far ahead can you look? Is it several days like the print _Guide_ was so you could plan to catch that movie you’ve consistently missed? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/307 "2023-03-28T21:06:40Z")
Usually no more than 2-4 weeks, but TV guide was typically one week. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/308 "2023-03-28T21:12:01Z")
Improved, then. Doubly so if it is seachable. Lessee… ah, here we are [%gone wild] ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/309 "2023-03-28T21:39:44Z")
It seems unimaginable now, but in the days when TV Guide was widely sold, the evening listings for all the channels could fit in one page. That probably speaks more to how few channels there were in those days than to anything about the magazine. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/310 "2023-03-28T21:48:51Z")
The NYC one had both NYC and Connecticut. Including all the UHS channels there must have been something like 30 channels in the listing. Some people lived in an area where you could get both NYC & Philly stations, but TV Guide didn’t have a version for that. I remember someone bitching about why they got Connecticut and not Philly. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/311 "2023-03-28T22:16:38Z")
The San Diego TV Guide had listings for the major LA channels too, because [tropospheric propagation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropospheric_propagation) causes analog TV broadcasts in southern CA to propagate from farther away and the two markets had to share the VHF spectrum. You needed a pretty big antenna to get the LA stations from San Diego, but the overlap caused a few quirks in channel assignment - our NBC affiliate was channel 39, for instance, and the Fox affiliate was on a station based out of Tijuana. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/312 "2023-03-28T22:20:52Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Computer punch cards. > > [https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/0RUAAOSwWqJgcd6Y/s-l500.jpg](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/0RUAAOSwWqJgcd6Y/s-l500.jpg) Do some of you remember when those things were always mailed with utility bills? They would often bear the famous message: “Do not fold, spindle, or mutilate”. I understood the purpose but it always struck me as funny that they would mail you something for which you had absolutely no use, and whose sole purpose was for you to mail it right back. > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’ve heard that some newer housing developments do not have phone lines run to the houses. So I’m thinking there are children who have never seen a (wired) telephone. I live in such a neighbourhood, but the absence of traditional copper telephone wiring doesn’t mean the absence of traditional wired telephones. We have both coax and fiber, and both can be used for telephone, internet, and television service. And I do have a land line. > [@Smapti](#): > > TV Guide. A magazine that told you what was going to be on TV that week, so you could plan out your viewing accordingly? As a kid, I was a TV fanatic and loved that magazine. I incessantly bugged my parents to get cable, which in those days was in its infancy. They finally relented, which meant that instead of being limited to just two channels I was in the heavenly state of having access to five!! ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/313 "2023-03-29T05:31:03Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > TV Guide. Talk about fancy, we just had the free TV guide from the Sunday paper. Before the local paper died, they started charging an extra 50 cents a week for that TV guide in the Sunday paper. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/314 "2023-03-29T06:53:39Z")
I don’t know about you, but in our house, we don’t use our TV to ‘watch TV.’ We use the television for Netflix and Nintendo, and if we feel particularly old-fashioned, we might pop in a DVD. But we never use it to watch broadcast programs. Off the top of my head I don’t even know how to find the program listings. And increasingly, the kids don’t even want to use the TV set for Netflix or their games. They prefer their iPads. ETA: It’s funny to think that we have gone from watching movies in movie theaters, to seeing them on large screen TVs at home, then on iPads. And now I do most of my viewing on my iPhone while I exercise. Smaller and smaller screens… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/315 "2023-03-29T11:25:14Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > increasingly, the kids don’t even want to use the TV set for Netflix or their games. They prefer their iPads. Pretty much the only time we sit together and watch out tv is presidential debates. Otherwise we watch movies on our tablets. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/316 "2023-03-29T12:07:22Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > ETA: It’s funny to think that we have gone from watching movies in movie theaters, to seeing them on large screen TVs at home, then on iPads. And now I do most of my viewing on my iPhone while I exercise. Smaller and smaller screens… Do you know why this is ? I can see watching Netflix on a tablet if I’m sitting in my yard or otherwise in an area without a TV to watch or if I don’t own a TV - but I don’t understand why a tablet would be preferable to a TV. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/317 "2023-03-29T12:23:49Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t understand why a tablet would be preferable to a TV. It’s private/personal for one. Plus if I need to pee I can go and do that without pause if I want. My gf occasionally watches a “chick flick” or “romantic comedy” while I wouldn’t watch either ever. So we can both be in the living room, petting the dogs, watching what we each want to watch. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/318 "2023-03-29T12:37:21Z")
Our TV Guide also included channels from other nearby cities which we couldn’t get. That was where I first found out about this mysterious show called “Doctor Who,” which was aired on the PBS station out of Terre Haute, but not the station from Indianapolis, which was the only PBS station we could receive. There were these tantalizing episode descriptions in the listings for this “Doctor Who” thing, which sounded like just the kind of program I would have enjoyed watching, but it was ever to be denied to me! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/319 "2023-03-29T13:07:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > If this counts as an “item”, white dog poop. Growing up I took it for granted that dried dog droppings were chalky white. It wasn’t until maybe a couple of years ago (maybe learned here) that the white actually came from bone meal in dog food, whic apparently isn’t used now, and apparently your general dried dog poo is no longer chalky and white. What a fun thread, and I’m only up to post 100! I thought this one was especially interesting. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362/320 "2023-03-29T13:31:53Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I don’t understand why a tablet would be preferable to a TV. Because a tablet is just inches away from your eyes, so its small screen is actually more immersive than a TV. It’s like your own private movie theater, and you can watch it anywhere. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ubiquitous-items-from-relatively-recently-youngsters-may-not-recognise/981362.md?page=17)