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Tech Geezers vs. Young Bloods

Lam1969 writes "Robert Mitchell talks about how technology is dividing him from younger generations: "The technologies I've watched grow have shaped an entire culture of which I am not a part." Adds Dinosaur: "Ask them [members of the younger generation] HOW the things work, and they have no idea. They are really riding on the backs of the 'old folks' like us that built the goodies they enjoy.""

12 of 768 comments (clear)

  1. Grumpy Old Man by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 4, Funny
    Jeez...this whole story reads like one of Dana Carvey's Grumpy Old Man segments on Dennis Miller's 'Weekend Update' on SNL.
    "I'm oooooold! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be. All this progress -- phooey!"
    Dana Carvey, Grumpy Old Man
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Grumpy Old Man by j_kenpo · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Back in my day, all we had was 640KB, and it was enough. And thats the way we liked it!!!"

    2. Re:Grumpy Old Man by xappax · · Score: 3, Funny

      KB??? You had KB? Boy, we thanked our lucky stars if we had a couple B back in my day!

      And when we didn't, we made do with A!

    3. Re:Grumpy Old Man by superid · · Score: 4, Funny

      luxury!

      We had no zeros at all and had to use twigs for ones!

    4. Re:Grumpy Old Man by adavies42 · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's the old joke: How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb?

      That's a hardware problem.

      And how many hardware engineers does it take to change a light bulb?

      We'll fix it in software.

      --
      Media that can be recorded and distributed can be recorded and distributed.
      -kfg
  2. Actually, the above quote... by StressGuy · · Score: 4, Funny

    "I'm oooooold! And I'm not happy! And I don't like things now compared to the way they used to be. All this progress -- phooey!"

                    Dana Carvey, Grumpy Old Man

    Sounds more like my wife...and you have no idea how much trouble I'm in for saying that (not to mention how depressing it is to discover that your wife is a grumpy old man) :(

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
  3. Re:That's how it's supposed to work by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 5, Funny

    How many people can produce a fire out of just sticks?

    Depends... are the sticks USB-enabled?

  4. I sometimes envy the young. by CyricZ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Indeed, I'm nearing 70, and have worked in the computer industry for a very long time. There have been a number of times that I have envied the young.

    One such time was at work, probably around 1995 or 1996. In order to increase the productivity at our firm we installed several Internet-enabled workstations for various managers, secretaries and workers.

    After a while we noticed some rather work-unrelated web sites showing up as being accessed from a particular workstation, which happened to be in the office of one of the young guys in finance. They were rather peculiar fetish sites. In any case, some of us in IT thought that we should alert this worker's higher-up to what was happening.

    It was decided that several of us would discuss the matter with him. So we headed up to his office, and knocked on his door, and opened it. Much to our surprise, he was there with a massive boner, ejaculate all over. He must have been in the middle of it when we knocked, because he was quickly trying to clean the mess off of the keyboard and his pants.

    It didn't bother me that he was whacking his cock in the office, or that he got his semen on the computer's keyboard. What bothered me was that he was able to get an erection, and I wasn't. So even though I knew far more about technology than he did, he was able to get a boner and I couldn't. I was trumped.

    --
    Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
  5. real tuff questions by woodsrunner · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cotton Gin -- basically, pulls the cotton from the unwanted plant parts by pulling it through a filter with, and I haven't seen one since I was a kid, a brush of needles.

    Steam Locomotion -- easy: burn something to heat water resultant expansion pushes piston/turbine to make motion

    Similar to above except uses small amount of gas which is ingited with a spark, or diesel fuel which is ignited through pressure and the resultant locomotion is powered through the driveshaft to turn the wheels. All the accessories are run off of a belt system from the driveshaft: water pump to keep the motor cool, alternator to keep the battery charged and the sparkplugs popping...

    Electricity -- similar to above except instead of turning a wheel or drive shaft a magnet is spun inside a coil of wires and the electricity is produced and transmitted across a grid of wires and transformers to your home. Alternately, running water, nuclear fusion and wind can do this too.

    Telephone: it's basically like pulling the tail of a cat and at the other end the cat screams.

    over the air broadcast system -- same as above, but without the cat.

    Wheel of Fortune -- Vanna White is the oracle of the goddess Fortuna and the wheel intereprets your fate.

    any other smart questions whippersnapper?

  6. Re:Stupidity? by Olix · · Score: 3, Funny

    I must say I disapprove of this wave of user friendly technology. Normal people shouldn't be able to use technology, no. They should pay me £70 an hour to do it for them.

  7. Re:Screw new technology... by thc69 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why, that's silly. Everybody knows how a flush toilet works:

    1. User drops load into toilet
    2. User operates flush lever
    3. Water gizmos and channels create various bits of suction
    4. Shit clogs stupid low-flow toilet, lacking sufficient water to lubricate and push/pull it through
    5. User applies plunger, which fails to seal over odd-shaped low-flow orifice
    6. Unsealed plunger in angry user's hand, while not pulling shit back up, does manage to push shit through the toilet, resulting in complete flush.

    Optionally,
    7. Angry user in fit of rage operates flush lever again before step 6 is completed, resulting in shit raining down in basement onto clean laundry

    That's a sufficiently detailed technical explanation of the flush cycle. Tell me again why residential toilets can't go "WHOOOSH!!!!!" like commercial toilets?

    --
    Procrastination -- because good things come to those who wait.
  8. Re:Old people are just as stupid. by zippthorne · · Score: 3, Funny

    Two posts, one of which is correct, one of which is overly simplified. I think he proved your point.

    --
    Can you be Even More Awesome?!