Things the Internet Killed...
The first time I accessed the Internet was at my friend Chris Leuty's house around 1995-1996. Chris, many years my junior, was the local wiz-kid and techno geek. Back then, I was brand new to computers and I was simultaneously jealous and intimidated by all of the things he knew about them. I tried to keep up-or, appear that I was keeping up. After banging away on the keys a bit Chris turned to me wide-eyed.
"You're gonna love this, man!" he said. Hyper as always. His enthusiasm easily spread to anyone around him.
"Yeah? OK!" I replied, "We're gonna do what now??" I was certainly excited and had no idea why. haha. I wasn't doing a very good job of pretending to be as knowledgeable as he was.
"It's the FREAKING INTERNET, Charles! It's like our bulletin boards but instead of just Parsons it's the whole world at your keyboard!"
I started with a 24.4 baud modem and used America Online and Prodigy to access the net (Even got some lovely phone bills that nearly got me killed.) It wasn't long until I had a 28.8 modem and a dialup connection. Then a 33.6. And then DSL. Hard to believe 15 or 16 years have come and gone since Chris and I sat in his computer room and browsed those first archaic web pages.
The kid was right. I DO LOVE ME SOME INTERNET!
The net has changed sooo many things. I could go on and on and on about it but the purpose of this post is to mourn (ok, that's a little dramatic-let's say look back fondly on-some of the things the net has, if not outright killed, then greatly diminished...
1. Board Games
When I was a kid there were two primary forms of play. You could run outside and climb trees, ride bikes, walk the railroad tracks, play hide and seek and football and yadda yadda yadda...Or, if you were a bit more of a house brat like me you could make kool aid and play board games! I loved board games! Especially Monopoly!
How often do kids play monopoly anymore? I play all of the time...but guess what? Yep, I do it ON THE INTERNET! Once in a blue moon my sister and my brother in law will be in the proper mood and I can talk them into playing a game or two but by and large if I wanna play I do it on the net. Chess? Scrabble? Reversi? Cards? Same deal. I like "meeting" other players and having a chit chat whilest Im either winning brilliantly (seldom) or losing spectacularly (often). On the other hand, I miss physically sitting in the same room with someone and interacting with them face to face. I enjoy seeing the look on their face when an "AH HAH!" moment happens or a valuable piece is lost. You just can't get that same experience on the net. It's really strange how the net brings people together while simultaneously isolating them.
Here's a sampling of my other favorite board games from yesteryear:
When I was an even younger child I loved games that produced suspense or made a loud noise or both. Here's some of my very favorite from WAAAAY back. Do you remember any of these???
PERFECTION absolutely thrilled me when I was a kid. I loved racing against the timer and it always gave me a start when the bed popped up and threw the shapes everywhere.
OPERATION. Look out! Don't touch the sides. You have to have a steady hand if you wanna play this game!
BUCK-A-ROO. This game is just on the very edge of my memory. Each person added a piece to the mule's back until the load becomes too much and the mule "kicks" it all off. This game made me delirious with anticipation!
THE LAST STRAW. This game is very similar to BUCK-A-ROO only with a camel and straws. If you're the unlucky person who adds the straw that breaks the camel's back you loose!
JAWS. OK, so I wasn't quite so little when this game came out but I loved it to death anyway! Can you get the junk out of JAWS mouth without getting your arm bit off???? Great fun! I spent many an hour playing this one.
ROCK EM SOCK EM ROBOTS. Oh MAN!! HELL YES!!!!! This game was MANDATORY!! If you didn't have it you damn well better hope you had a cousin or best friend who did! It's robots!!! And they FIGHT! AND THEIR HEADS POP UP!!!! I could NOT get ENOUGH of this game when I was a tiny tot!!!!
DON'T SPILL THE BEANS. Its a pot. And you throw beans in it. If you're the poor shmuck who spills the beans you suck! Another awesome game that I spent untold hours playing. Looking back...it might be safe to say that sometimes I was TOO EASY to amuse....
GNIP GNOP. Saved the best for the last. I got this for Christmas when I was 3 or 4. It's ping pong spelled backwards, get it? You try to get your plastic balls through the holes and to your opponents side before he does the same to you. My dad would play this with me and Id laugh like a little freaking maniac as I beat on the keys. This was my favorite toy for a long time.
"You're gonna love this, man!" he said. Hyper as always. His enthusiasm easily spread to anyone around him.
"Yeah? OK!" I replied, "We're gonna do what now??" I was certainly excited and had no idea why. haha. I wasn't doing a very good job of pretending to be as knowledgeable as he was.
"It's the FREAKING INTERNET, Charles! It's like our bulletin boards but instead of just Parsons it's the whole world at your keyboard!"
I started with a 24.4 baud modem and used America Online and Prodigy to access the net (Even got some lovely phone bills that nearly got me killed.) It wasn't long until I had a 28.8 modem and a dialup connection. Then a 33.6. And then DSL. Hard to believe 15 or 16 years have come and gone since Chris and I sat in his computer room and browsed those first archaic web pages.
The kid was right. I DO LOVE ME SOME INTERNET!
The net has changed sooo many things. I could go on and on and on about it but the purpose of this post is to mourn (ok, that's a little dramatic-let's say look back fondly on-some of the things the net has, if not outright killed, then greatly diminished...
1. Board Games
When I was a kid there were two primary forms of play. You could run outside and climb trees, ride bikes, walk the railroad tracks, play hide and seek and football and yadda yadda yadda...Or, if you were a bit more of a house brat like me you could make kool aid and play board games! I loved board games! Especially Monopoly!
Here's a sampling of my other favorite board games from yesteryear:
When I was an even younger child I loved games that produced suspense or made a loud noise or both. Here's some of my very favorite from WAAAAY back. Do you remember any of these???
PERFECTION absolutely thrilled me when I was a kid. I loved racing against the timer and it always gave me a start when the bed popped up and threw the shapes everywhere.
THE LAST STRAW. This game is very similar to BUCK-A-ROO only with a camel and straws. If you're the unlucky person who adds the straw that breaks the camel's back you loose!
JAWS. OK, so I wasn't quite so little when this game came out but I loved it to death anyway! Can you get the junk out of JAWS mouth without getting your arm bit off???? Great fun! I spent many an hour playing this one.
DON'T SPILL THE BEANS. Its a pot. And you throw beans in it. If you're the poor shmuck who spills the beans you suck! Another awesome game that I spent untold hours playing. Looking back...it might be safe to say that sometimes I was TOO EASY to amuse....
GNIP GNOP. Saved the best for the last. I got this for Christmas when I was 3 or 4. It's ping pong spelled backwards, get it? You try to get your plastic balls through the holes and to your opponents side before he does the same to you. My dad would play this with me and Id laugh like a little freaking maniac as I beat on the keys. This was my favorite toy for a long time.
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