We didn’t know how good we had it..

[failedlyndonlarouchite@mas.to]

@stux

I honestly don't get this
is it a joke ? or serious ?
if you think the past was better, try walking around all day carrying 4 devices that collectively weigh a ton and don't fit in your pockets

in the past, as shown by this picture, I had to carry around 4 seperate things
I had to pay for each one
I had to keep each one updated
I had to learn the seperate, and usually poor GUI/UX on each one
I had huge problems transferring information

Now, I just have to carry one device
that is incredible progress

[hilda_aka_math@mastodon.social]

@stux you can still have that btw. i just carry around a brick nokia. it’s fine. i actually have to rationalize my city more.

[aaa365a@ohai.social]

@stux We’re only one global catastrophe away from from returning to those days.

[jibsaramnim@bitbang.social]

@gbargoud @stux @broximar joining in on this recommendation! It's still possible to enjoy tech/life this way, so long as you give yourself a chance to get used to how some of these things used to work. I had the Echo Mini too, really cute, but I had some annoyances with the software side, so ended trading "up" to a Hiby R1. I've not used music streaming services for several years now, it's really nice to have music with me, untethered. Can recommend!

[denpanek0@mastodon.social]

@stux those are so peak

[cora@hachyderm.io]

@stux @neurovagrant Hey I helped make that thing! On the bottom right that is. #hiptop

[silvermoon82@wandering.shop]

@stux
I knew.

I had a good phone (Ericsson a1228di, usable as phone and also as a hammer), I had a good camera (Canon PowerShot; it did 2 megapixel so it was good for 8x10 prints), I had a good handheld computer (Sony Clié, Newton 2100). I had a good MP3 player (forget the model, but it looked like a Tamagotchi and had 32MB, enough for my walk to work and home)

I knew, like a TV/VCR combo where the VCR stopped working in 1998, a convergence device would at best be mediocre.

[mboelen@mastodon.nl]

@stux
Nothing to worry about, we can still go back. I recently bought a Sony Discman, some CDs, blu-rays, and paper notebooks.

Offline is becoming a luxury, don't wait and be more offline 🦾

[nini@oldbytes.space]

@stux ...wasn't that good...

[alien@mastodon.green]

@stux the other day I saw a teenager casually step away from his skate, open a flipflop Nokia and answer a call and I was so happy my face was literally :DDD this

I also saw someone in their twenties taking pics with a DS lite

[hiphopheaven@mastodon.social]

@stux loved the psp. It is a shame that the vita was a failure

[lumi@snug.moe]

@stux i wish all phones had proper physical keyboards like that one in the pic...

[lemgandi@mastodon.social]

@stux

I'm re-playing _Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time_ on my ( hacked ) Nintendo 3DS. It's so great.

I wish if I could still make StreetPass friends with it.

[nagaram@gts.thinkstoomuch.net]

@failedLyndonLaRouchite

Yes, but that one device is plagued with Data mining apps, soul sucking algorithms, and is used to manipulate and abuse the average consumer.

These don't have that problem. They're heavy and they suck technically, but the human experience was preserved is the idea.

[kura@hai.z0ne.social]

@lumi@snug.moe @stux@mstdn.social I still fondly remember my n97mini.

[nosville22@oldbytes.space]

@stux heavy is the pocket that carries true freedom.
I would know, I walk around with multitools.

[amonduin@mstdn.ca]

@failedLyndonLaRouchite @stux

Each one was far less expensive than a smartphone.
You didn't need to update your camera.
Transferring info between iPod, Camera, and laptop was actually pretty easy in most cases, yes it required you to plug things in but the friction actually improve things. I definitely was more invested in my photos back then.

As others have said, this was also about data privacy, modern devices are deeply invasive, they also are distracting. Modern devices are slowly breaking the brains of so many people in society and transforming us into mindless zombies. I am not immune of course, when I think about the past I can remember not being nearly so glued to my devices back when these were the normal devices. Before my phone was smart I only looked at it every now and then, I didn't compulsively carry it with me everywhere.

It really could be said that the old internet and the old way of doing things was more human

[failedlyndonlarouchite@mas.to]

@nagaram

the human experience is preserved in an Ipod instead of listening to live music ?

my brother in Christ, what are you smoking ?

[moses_izumi@fe.disroot.org]

@lumi @stux
I wrote a whole article to that effect:
https://moses-izumi.neocities.org/PhoneRant (4-6 minutes if you believe mozilla's Reader Mode)

[landelare@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@stux I think we did. The part we got wrong was the expectation that things would continue to get better.