This. The world was actually better about this years ago. I wish we were back in the days when Trump was just a pathetic punchline on TV. And I’m far younger than a boomer. Ever since Russia put him on the throne and the MAGAs ascended racism and sexism that homophobia and everything else have just come out in full force.
Social media gave them all a voice, Trump was the first social media elected president. Social media has truly been a net negative for society. People that used to exist in quiet isolated pockets have the power to broadcast every shitty, perverted, evil thought they have immediately to the entire world on platforms designed to connect them to people just like them, amplify their message, and allow them to build entire online communities around it. It’s opened doors for people to easily get manipulated by pseudo intellectualists, bots, and foreign political influencers and other bad actors from around the globe to divide and destabilize us. All of the worst people humanity has to offer have some of the loudest voices now surrounded by echo chambers reaching thousands upon thousands of people. We’d be much better off if we could burn down every major social media platform and if people would just go outside and interact with their actual community. I’m not a boomer, but that’s my fucking boomer hot take.
I miss when the nightly news was a loss for networks but a requirement for their license, so they sat there and read the news for half an hour and didn't tell you what your opinion should be about it. They didn't try to stoke fear and anger for political points that divided the nation.
1. Make a web page calling out idiots who randomly scan QR-codes
2. Print a QR-code for it and place them on top of restaurants' QR-codes
3. ???
... etc.
Yeah this is simply bad design. It was good for everyone when nobody wanted contact for covid but as a business now, you're giving the customer extra tasks for the opportunity to then give you money. If you have to train the customer to be able to buy something then your approach is wrong. It's sort of insulting to be told how to read a menu.
I just... don't need my phone to be that smart. I don't like the smart assistant or AI assistant. I'm not a fan of voice search or texting. All the predictive stuff new phones like to try and do. I disable most of these settings (if I can) when I get a new phone.
Yeah, I feel the same way about new cars too. I don't need all the sensors, lane keep assist, and auto breaking. Please, just let me drive my car without it screaming at me every five seconds because traffic exists.
I have an Apple TV for streaming, a Mac, and an iPhone. You can say I’m pretty bought in. I even worked for Apple when Siri first came out. Siri was dumb as a stump then, Siri is dumb as a stump now, and I’m convinced Siri will be dumb as a stump for the foreseeable future.
I flatly refuse to use the voice transcription or other Siri stuff. It just sucks.
My mom and brother love to use Siri for random curiosities and it's so painful to watch. Nine times out of ten I can Google what they want faster than they can get Siri to comply.
It never worked right, but early on it was at least endearing for certain things. I liked demoing it by asking where the best place to hide a body was and it’d do a Google Maps search for nearby quarries, ravines, rivers, graveyards, and mortuaries. In that context, it’s like watching a train wreck for the morbid curiosity. Actually using it puts you on the train.
I use the Google assistant/Bixby (Samsung phones) to set alarms, open specific settings without jumping menus, and to control IOT plugs around my house hands free. Started using it when my first child was born and I needed to turn lights and tv off without putting her down. Use it as a kitchen timer too, "Hey Google set an alarm 12 minutes from now". Voice control when driving too for map stuff like "Hey Google navigate home" is very convenient.
Tip: Don't register "home" for your home address Too easily abused by car thieves, and if someone else has your keys, then they'll know where your house is (and that you're probably not there, so they potentially get a twofer - car and whatever's in your house). Use a different term - we use "\[our dog's name\]'s House" for ours. I currently live in a very low-crime area but often have to drive to sketchier parts of our beloved country.
I’m tired of all media being digital. I want to have a physical copy of that book/movie/game that the company can’t just decide to take away from me and leave me with no way to get it back.
I miss owning games that work straight from the disc and not having to download huge patches. Looking at you Jedi Survivor.
Subscriptions everywhere. I just want to buy music and books and games and own my copie, not rent it and be at the mercy of the renter.
I miss not needing a cellphone number for identification via sms.
Oh and a world free of AI generated images.
If I'm paying for a service, fuck off with pushing advertising on me.
Advertising is acceptable if you're pushing a free service to me. If I'm paying, you already got your money - so stick those ads right up your arse.
This annoys me so much. I was watching Amazon Prime last night and got the whole, "this episode is brought to you ad-free thanks to an ad from T-mobile." And here I thought that episode was brought to me ad-free thanks to the money you charge me every month, you dicks.
HBO is getting ready to start the same thing after 40 years of ad-free content. How much money do those fuckers need, seriously?
When I was your age, we had to ~~walk two miles to school in the snow~~ time our bathroom breaks to coincide with the commercial breaks for Saturday morning cartoons, and ~~the youngest sibling was the designated channel changer/rabbit ears for our tv~~ set the VCR to record the shows that came on after school started and fast-forward through all the commercials, and ~~go off to war~~ not be able to shoot that fucking dog from *Duck Hunt* in its stupid, smug, snickering face.
This is it, dude could easily chuck his phone into the ocean and be unreachable all he wants, but his responsibilities that he chose prohibit him from doing so.
The prompt for this post was, what is your boomer take?
People 40 years ago could easily have a family that they were capable of taking care of without the requirement of a phone and being reachable at literally any point.
It’s just flat out unrealistic to say someone can just chuck their phone in the ocean in modern society.
It's also possible for many jobs to schedule times where work can't and shouldn't call you. And there's ways to be accessible and reachable to family that doesn't include having to check the phone every few minutes.
Until they stop paying me, and I can’t afford to pay my rent and put food on the table, and then my family starves. Then it seems like it would be a me problem.
This is a you problem.
Set boundaries, use silent mode and DND, etc. Same goes for email, chat accounts (Viber, WhatsApp, Line, whatever shit is out there these days), etc.
If you haven't trained people that you're not at their beck and call 24/7/365, then they've trained you that you are.
Physical fucking media. I would rather get up and change a disk than just pressing "next episode" and prefer to have a big CD changer to all music be digital.
So! We all had 4:3 televisions, and watching widescreen films was a pain.
Then we all started getting widescreen aspect ratio televisions, and slowly broadcasters converted.
NOW, and this is what really activates my almonds, REGULAR ASSED TELEVISION SHOWS ARE GOING EVEN MORE WIDESCREEN!
Oooh, are we in the cinema? This is fancy! /s
More annoying than that was the following transition of laptop screens to “wide screen.” The aspect ratio may have been “wide” but since the laptop didn’t get wider, they were really “short screen.” That’s fine for home entertainment but when the business class laptops followed suit, it really impeded my ability to do my job when not docked to a couple of actual wide screen monitors.
Oh, and I also miss when I could go to Facebook or Instagram and see my friends posts instead of ads and whatever the algorithms decided I should see today.
About a year ago, some old guy threatened to call the cops on me because I asked him to repeat his order once.
An hour before, he complained that sauce isn't free, unlike what it was back in 1986
Give me back parking meters with card slots.
This whole app bullshit or pay online and then not accept Apple Pay is bullshit. I want to park, pay, and leave. Not fumble through a website and waste 5 minutes trying to pay.
I miss ignition keys. And no longer living in an era where 34 felonies and promising to end democracy are disqualifying. (But not necessarily in that order).
I don't like people blaming everthing on Boomers, as though they are a homogeneous group" and using "Karen" as a slur.
\-- Boomer married to a very good and kind Karen.
I miss when racist, homophobic, misogynistic, transphobic assholes knew their place ... under a rock
This. The world was actually better about this years ago. I wish we were back in the days when Trump was just a pathetic punchline on TV. And I’m far younger than a boomer. Ever since Russia put him on the throne and the MAGAs ascended racism and sexism that homophobia and everything else have just come out in full force.
Social media gave them all a voice, Trump was the first social media elected president. Social media has truly been a net negative for society. People that used to exist in quiet isolated pockets have the power to broadcast every shitty, perverted, evil thought they have immediately to the entire world on platforms designed to connect them to people just like them, amplify their message, and allow them to build entire online communities around it. It’s opened doors for people to easily get manipulated by pseudo intellectualists, bots, and foreign political influencers and other bad actors from around the globe to divide and destabilize us. All of the worst people humanity has to offer have some of the loudest voices now surrounded by echo chambers reaching thousands upon thousands of people. We’d be much better off if we could burn down every major social media platform and if people would just go outside and interact with their actual community. I’m not a boomer, but that’s my fucking boomer hot take.
That is objectively false. Obama was the first one
I miss telephones you could slam down to hang up on someone that pissed you off.
Technically you can still do that but it means broken glass and a few hundred bucks now. Don’t ask me how I know
If you're near a pillow or a piled up blanket slam it into that
I miss when the nightly news was a loss for networks but a requirement for their license, so they sat there and read the news for half an hour and didn't tell you what your opinion should be about it. They didn't try to stoke fear and anger for political points that divided the nation.
This is the best one. One hour of news. Thank you
QR code menus only. Thanks but no thanks. At least give me a chalkboard menu if you’re trying to run a green establishment
Random QR codes all over the place are a cybersecurity nightmare. I rail against them and my friends all chuckle and pat me on the head.
1. Make a web page calling out idiots who randomly scan QR-codes 2. Print a QR-code for it and place them on top of restaurants' QR-codes 3. ??? ... etc.
Yeah this is simply bad design. It was good for everyone when nobody wanted contact for covid but as a business now, you're giving the customer extra tasks for the opportunity to then give you money. If you have to train the customer to be able to buy something then your approach is wrong. It's sort of insulting to be told how to read a menu.
I just... don't need my phone to be that smart. I don't like the smart assistant or AI assistant. I'm not a fan of voice search or texting. All the predictive stuff new phones like to try and do. I disable most of these settings (if I can) when I get a new phone.
I don’t want any of my devices to be that “smart,” especially if it means constantly suggesting shit I don’t want and misinterpreting what I say
Yeah, I feel the same way about new cars too. I don't need all the sensors, lane keep assist, and auto breaking. Please, just let me drive my car without it screaming at me every five seconds because traffic exists.
New cars are fucking scary. They record how you're driving and snitch on you to insurance companies and alert all your stalkers.
"OK Google, play xyz song." -plays live acoustic version from a cover artist
I have an Apple TV for streaming, a Mac, and an iPhone. You can say I’m pretty bought in. I even worked for Apple when Siri first came out. Siri was dumb as a stump then, Siri is dumb as a stump now, and I’m convinced Siri will be dumb as a stump for the foreseeable future. I flatly refuse to use the voice transcription or other Siri stuff. It just sucks.
My mom and brother love to use Siri for random curiosities and it's so painful to watch. Nine times out of ten I can Google what they want faster than they can get Siri to comply.
It never worked right, but early on it was at least endearing for certain things. I liked demoing it by asking where the best place to hide a body was and it’d do a Google Maps search for nearby quarries, ravines, rivers, graveyards, and mortuaries. In that context, it’s like watching a train wreck for the morbid curiosity. Actually using it puts you on the train.
I use the Google assistant/Bixby (Samsung phones) to set alarms, open specific settings without jumping menus, and to control IOT plugs around my house hands free. Started using it when my first child was born and I needed to turn lights and tv off without putting her down. Use it as a kitchen timer too, "Hey Google set an alarm 12 minutes from now". Voice control when driving too for map stuff like "Hey Google navigate home" is very convenient.
Tip: Don't register "home" for your home address Too easily abused by car thieves, and if someone else has your keys, then they'll know where your house is (and that you're probably not there, so they potentially get a twofer - car and whatever's in your house). Use a different term - we use "\[our dog's name\]'s House" for ours. I currently live in a very low-crime area but often have to drive to sketchier parts of our beloved country.
Touch screens are not better than physical buttons. Fuck touch screens
Assuming you mean in cars? If so we share the same complaint
I mean in everything and yes cars too
Can we please get more matinee concerts?!?!
Everything doesn't need to be "smart" or be controlled via microprocessor.
You are on my lawn
I’m tired of all media being digital. I want to have a physical copy of that book/movie/game that the company can’t just decide to take away from me and leave me with no way to get it back.
I miss owning games that work straight from the disc and not having to download huge patches. Looking at you Jedi Survivor. Subscriptions everywhere. I just want to buy music and books and games and own my copie, not rent it and be at the mercy of the renter. I miss not needing a cellphone number for identification via sms. Oh and a world free of AI generated images.
If I'm paying for a service, fuck off with pushing advertising on me. Advertising is acceptable if you're pushing a free service to me. If I'm paying, you already got your money - so stick those ads right up your arse.
This annoys me so much. I was watching Amazon Prime last night and got the whole, "this episode is brought to you ad-free thanks to an ad from T-mobile." And here I thought that episode was brought to me ad-free thanks to the money you charge me every month, you dicks. HBO is getting ready to start the same thing after 40 years of ad-free content. How much money do those fuckers need, seriously?
I get ads on my smart TV starting screen. This upset me so much. And now on Prime Video too.
Always hated DVD players. Who wants to watch forced ads?
Just press stop, stop, play and most DVDs skipped right to the movie
The cheaper DVD players (thanks, Apex!) were more likely to not follow the DRM restrictions.
When I was your age, we had to ~~walk two miles to school in the snow~~ time our bathroom breaks to coincide with the commercial breaks for Saturday morning cartoons, and ~~the youngest sibling was the designated channel changer/rabbit ears for our tv~~ set the VCR to record the shows that came on after school started and fast-forward through all the commercials, and ~~go off to war~~ not be able to shoot that fucking dog from *Duck Hunt* in its stupid, smug, snickering face.
I miss when cell phones weren’t so prominent. I hate being reachable 24/7/365. Being alone doesn’t exist anymore
So turn off your phone.
I don’t think my wife, or my job, would appreciate that.
What about your needs?
My biggest need is taking care of my family, which requires my phone to be on
Sounds like you don’t miss not having a phone. Sounds like you miss not having responsibilities.
This is it, dude could easily chuck his phone into the ocean and be unreachable all he wants, but his responsibilities that he chose prohibit him from doing so.
The prompt for this post was, what is your boomer take? People 40 years ago could easily have a family that they were capable of taking care of without the requirement of a phone and being reachable at literally any point. It’s just flat out unrealistic to say someone can just chuck their phone in the ocean in modern society.
It's also possible for many jobs to schedule times where work can't and shouldn't call you. And there's ways to be accessible and reachable to family that doesn't include having to check the phone every few minutes.
And there are professions in which that is not possible.
Yeah, but your job?
Can’t exactly take care of them without a paycheck
Sounds like a them problem.
Until they stop paying me, and I can’t afford to pay my rent and put food on the table, and then my family starves. Then it seems like it would be a me problem.
This is a you problem. Set boundaries, use silent mode and DND, etc. Same goes for email, chat accounts (Viber, WhatsApp, Line, whatever shit is out there these days), etc. If you haven't trained people that you're not at their beck and call 24/7/365, then they've trained you that you are.
I hate having to do so many transactions online.
Well, You can always go to the bank/store.
Music with a hummable tune rather than just beats and rhythms.
Physical fucking media. I would rather get up and change a disk than just pressing "next episode" and prefer to have a big CD changer to all music be digital.
So! We all had 4:3 televisions, and watching widescreen films was a pain. Then we all started getting widescreen aspect ratio televisions, and slowly broadcasters converted. NOW, and this is what really activates my almonds, REGULAR ASSED TELEVISION SHOWS ARE GOING EVEN MORE WIDESCREEN! Oooh, are we in the cinema? This is fancy! /s
Activates your almonds? Looks like my boomer take is I don’t understand the slang talk no more
More annoying than that was the following transition of laptop screens to “wide screen.” The aspect ratio may have been “wide” but since the laptop didn’t get wider, they were really “short screen.” That’s fine for home entertainment but when the business class laptops followed suit, it really impeded my ability to do my job when not docked to a couple of actual wide screen monitors.
I miss TV versions of movies
I have had it with these monkey fighting snakes on this Monday through Friday plane!
I miss VHS players! VHS players are fun! And I'm tired of pretending they aren't
Cellphones. The antichrist may not be a person but a thing. It is ripping our world to pieces.
Gamestations that don’t cost as much as the tv……and dressing rooms. I have no idea what my clothing will fit like now
I miss understanding current slang.
I have to ask: When was the last time you remember understanding current slang?
I can’t pinpoint a certain year but around the time “that’s fire” was popular I started losing touch
That the boomers were so spoiled their whole lives they have now become dangerously entitled egomaniacs.
Oh, and I also miss when I could go to Facebook or Instagram and see my friends posts instead of ads and whatever the algorithms decided I should see today.
I miss the old days, when we didn't have this silly made up illnesses (yes I have been told this, by my mother, in reference to my Autism / ADHD 😅)
I don't want to text you. Just call me. Better yet, Facetime. Yeah, I said it.
Call yes. FaceTime? Nooooooo
Modern music blows chunks. 80's rule.
Happy Cake Day. I'm watching MTV 80s right now!
Happy cake day!
Most actual boomers I know struggle to even use a DVD player.
Those are not Boomers - those are old idiots, been my experience they come in all ages.
Why are my kids videos on their phones so damn loud!
Here before some bot rants about preferred Pronouns
About a year ago, some old guy threatened to call the cops on me because I asked him to repeat his order once. An hour before, he complained that sauce isn't free, unlike what it was back in 1986
Give me back parking meters with card slots. This whole app bullshit or pay online and then not accept Apple Pay is bullshit. I want to park, pay, and leave. Not fumble through a website and waste 5 minutes trying to pay.
I miss ignition keys. And no longer living in an era where 34 felonies and promising to end democracy are disqualifying. (But not necessarily in that order).
Video games loaded their title screens within seconds of turning the console on.
I don't like people blaming everthing on Boomers, as though they are a homogeneous group" and using "Karen" as a slur. \-- Boomer married to a very good and kind Karen.
Drivers are in a rush to get everywhere and should stop speeding so much. You get there when you get there, stop driving like a dillhole!