Martini Musing - Remember Carbon Paper?
Okay, all you silent readers out there! ‘fess up, did you know that “cc” stands for “carbon copy?”
And now here’s SEOMoz with “Stories of The Last Pre-Internet Generation” It’s pretty funny reading such nostalgia from people young enough to be my kids. “(”My dad bought a ‘brick” [cell phone] back in 1990…” Well, Grandma here was writing market trend reports for Nortel re mobile telephony even before way back then! And, no, I wasn’t doing it by candlelight, using a quill and berry ink. Heh.)
Here’s the first five from the list:
1. Looking up Facts in an Encyclopedia or Dictionary
At my house growing up, we had a huge encyclopedia that came with a magnifying glass in an attached cardboard drawer. You’d grab the appropriate volume and scan with the magnifying glass until you got to the right entry. Now, it’s as easy as misspelling the word in a search box and hitting “enter.”
2. Using the Phonebook
Flipping through the phonebook, trying to recall names, and wishing you had the fancy phonebook with the business white pages (we didn’t get ours until the late 1980’s) was the basic process for any informational or commercial query that couldn’t be solved without outside help.
3. The Dewey Decimal System & Library Card Files
Those huge bookcases filled with information cards dictated the structure of knowledge access. Between them and the librarians, there was no subject you couldn’t research.
4. Unresolvable News & Pop Culture Queries
Who was that actor in Back to the Future that played Biff? If you didn’t know his name, you’d have to wait until you could get your hands on a copy of a movie dictionary or an original VHS tape. Arguments about what year the British invaded the Falklands could go on for weeks, until access to source material could be found.
5. The Modem Connection Noise
Not really pre-Internet, but certainly something you never hear anymore - that long, ugly warbling is practically nostalgia to those of us who regularly fired up our 2800 baud dialers.
Go read the complete list and the comments. Great way to end the week with a smile!
P.S. I also remember when we had no computers at all in the office! How ever did we get anything done? (We went through a lot of carbon paper…)
What are your memories of prehistoric pre-Internet times? Leave ‘em below. (I moderate all comments, though, so it may take a bit for yours to show up.) Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
Tags: Friday martini time, Internet
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February 16th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
When I worked at US Gypsum in the 70’s, only the operators could place long distance calls. The company only had a couple of long distance lines. So you would call the operator, give them the number you wanted to call and when a trunk line was available they would call you back and then place the call.
TSO was cutting edge.