What technologies did you have growing up?

[STB1]

In your time, what did you have while growing up? For me we had the following: computers, the internet, facebook, youtube, yahoo, myspace, Nintendo, Son, Microsoft, playstation, WII, 360, Computer games, ipods, Iphones, iTouches and I would imagine many many more. How about your generation? What technologies did you have and what were they?

[The Saint]

When I was young, all we had was the radio. My father bought a television in the early 1950's. Transistor radios came in in the late 1950's, then we got a colour television in the 1960's. Computers, etc didn't come on the market until I was grown, married and had children of my own. What my grandchildren take for granted, were not around when I was a lad!

[Neil]

Rocks

[savannah]

Just a spinning wheel in the attic where I would spend hours trying to spin gold.

Please don't patronize me or feel sorry for me. My toys now are bigger, better and more expensive than yours kiddo.

[CO the Old Dog]

When I was a child, the only electrical toy that i can now remember is a wood burning kit that my Dad bought for me. It was very simple - plug it in, the hot tip would glow hot and I was able to burn lines in wood plaques to make designs. I had a "do-it-youself" crystal radio that was very primative radio receiver that I was able to assemble without anyone's help. I had a Gilbert chemistry kit with a list of simple experiments which also lead me to the library to seek out other books on experiments. ( I destroyed my mother's glass coffee pot on my rainmaking experiment. i paid a price for that one.) I remember being fascinated with a windup alarm clock and took it apart - I was not able to put it back together & paid another price. I had a large magnifying glass. That was all during grade school.
TV was a small round screen black & white picture - about the size of your computer display but with much less clarity. And only a few families has a TV. My parents did not until much later.

There were no cellphones. I remember when a phone had no dial and when you picked up , a woman's voice - the phone operator came on the line - asked who you wanted to talk to and then she connected you with the other person. That was even before payphones. When the dial phones came, people need to remember the phone number which had a word prefix like "TUxedo 44567" .

I recall my first plug in radio which weight about 10lb. It was considered portable. In Jr Hi, the handheld transistor radio in a red plastic box was a must for everyone. Nothing as advanced as the ipod. The slide rule was tech before the handheld calculator appearred - both were not inexpensive items. The TI - calculator was high tech and not affordable for most of us. When I was in High School, only the govt & military has computers - which were room sized, tubed, hardwired, air cooled monsters.

[Lynn]

One radio, one telephone, a car, telegrams, pipes in the house for the flow of water, a furnace for the winter, venetian blinds, a washing machine, a refrigerator, (in the forties, we had an ice box), buses, streetcars.......that's all I can think of now.

[Milton]

We had rocks. You could do all kinds of things with them. You could count them. You could throw them at animals to make dinner. You could build houses from them. You could fashion them into weapons to protect your cave from the enemy.

We also had trees. You could climb them when the T-Rex came into the neighborbood.

No one ever lived long enough to need all that s**t that it takes to keep your attention-deficit disordered minds occupied.

[Autumn Leaves]

I remember when color TV was introduced, it was a big deal.

[Matthew Hopkins]

Technology?

When I was growing up?

Hahahahahaha!

When I was a boy the wheel had only just been invented!

Black and white TV, gramophone, radio,iron, kettle, twin-tub washing machine with attachable electric mangle, paraffin heaters, brown lino and some of the more affluent neighbours even had a car. Morris Travellers, Triumph Mayflowers, Austin Somersets, Jowett Javelin, Hillman Husky etc. If you were really upmarket, you drove a Triumph Herald.

No-one under about 25 even had a car. Until then you either rode motorcycles or scooters.

I grew up with such toys as Airfix kits, Meccano, Dinky, Corgi and Mamod steam engines.

We did have a telephone though.

We kept it inside a special tall red box about half-a-mile away. A mobile phone was when local villains nicked it to get at the cash inside.

I remember the days when people still pointed at aeroplanes!

[Lynn]

I grew up in a big city. And we had many conveniences when I was growing up. I had
a metal radio with copper wiring sticking out and hanging down. I never understood why.
Then a few years later, an uncle by marriiage gave me a portable transister radio with
the receiver in the handle. We had radio until the mid 50's, when we got a modern TV
in a nice mahogany cabinet. Mother had a steam iron, and a mangle, a toaster and a wringer
washer. She hung her things out to dry on a clothe line. We had a phonograph inside
the living room rado. I would listen to my Saturday morning programs on it. We had
an electric refrigerator, and mother had a deep freeze in the basement.' I had a Kodak
box camera when I was very young. But later in the 50's I got a Brownie Hawkeye with
a flash attachment.Mother had an elongated Electrolux vacuum, and used the utinsels
to clean corners, and ceilings and drapers once a week. I think that is all I can think of,
as more modern things came during the 60's.
Still later in the 50's, we used standard typewriters in the typing class.