Ten minutes of wayback machine:
https://youtu.be/bSALd6keJNoWe've covered some of these here before, but a few got me thinking.
1) I still remember our phone number (and address) from when I was a kid, as well as my best friend's number from when I was ten. I have to think about my own damn number when someone asks these days, and I have no idea what my sister's number is. Somehow I do remember my parents' last phone number, but I think they got that one just before the little Motorola tank cell phones came out.
2) Discussed here before, but bears repeating as it's an absolutely useful, if not essential skill that many of us have lost. Finding your way without Google nav. I still recall laying out maps for a trip, finding the best and alternate routes, and writing down exits, turns, etc. to have handy for the trip. Even going somewhere new in town, I would check the city map and then just remember where to go, where to turn, etc. After the first trip, I would just remember how to get to the place.
Now there are places that I go on a regular basis, and even if I've been there ten times, I still end up firing up the nav to remind me of the right exits and upcoming turns. I used to be an excellent navigator. Now I suck. I suppose being good again would be like riding a bicycle - keep the nav off and just use maps again. This is definitely not a boomer skill though - it's something everyone should be competent at as a fallback. I don't even keep local maps in my vehicle anymore though, which I should rectify. I keep downloaded maps on my phone for getting to my fishing spots and stuff, but a big paper map can be more useful than scrolling around for a big picture view.
3) The typewriter segment is more than a typewriter. The point about "doing it right the first time or else starting all over again" is valid. I was overjoyed when word processors came out, but there is something to be said for, instead of quickly but constantly correcting errors, getting your brain to focus on details and doing it right (or write) the first time. I know the difference between "there" and "their", but I constantly, in informal writing, ignore proofreading and often write them wrong. I'm pretty sure I did that much less when I was boomer writing by hand or via typewriter. Home computers didn't come out in force until after I was out of High School, so I still remember handwriting or typing long ass reports in school.
4) Using the card cabinet or "looking stuff up alphabetically" kind of threw me. I'm wondering - do young people, much like not knowing how to write cursive or how to use a rotary phone, not "think alphabetically"? I'm wondering if this is one of those "the internet and technology are rewiring brains" things.
5) Do all cars now come with power windows? I thought base stuff, like stripped work pickups, still come with manual windows.
