I feel like it would be kind of silly to reenact, like, the 1980s. Or, even though it was hugely historical, the Vietnam War. It was terrible and people who had to deal with it are still alive; what would be the point of trying to show people what it was like? Do people really have trouble imagining what life was like in the 1980s? Wasn’t it basically like now, unlike, say, the 1890s?
Do people really have trouble imagining what life was like in the 1980s? Wasn’t it basically like now?
Society was very different in many ways:
Personal computers were only just starting to become common. The Apple Macintosh launched in 1984, the IBM PC a few years before. There was no Microsoft Windows, no Linux. If you didn’t type your paperwork yourself, most large workplaces had a typing pool to do it for you
There was no Internet. If you wanted to send a message to someone, you could write a letter and post it, or phone them, or send a telegram
mobile phones were uncommon, and usually only in cars
the Sony Walkman had only just come out in 1979, and you listened to your music on cassettes
cancer, AIDS, heart conditions were almost always untreatable and terminal within years, if not months
US involvement in the Middle East and Afghanistan hadn’t happened yet. Britain had a war with Argentina in the Falkland Islands. Ireland was still fighting with Britain
Personal computers were only just starting to become common. The Apple Macintosh launched in 1984, the IBM PC a few years before. There was no Microsoft Windows, no Linux. If you didn’t type your paperwork yourself, most large workplaces had a typing pool to do it for you
I was given a failing grade in school because I used a computer to type an essay and print it. Dot matrix gave me away. It was considered cheating back then. My Dad was so pissed he went and bought a letter quality printer so that the teacher couldn’t tell that it wasn’t typed.
There is no hard line, just what you yourself would feel silly reenacting.
So just brush the dust off that office beige PC and CRT monitor and have a lan party with your friends.
I feel like it would be kind of silly to reenact, like, the 1980s. Or, even though it was hugely historical, the Vietnam War. It was terrible and people who had to deal with it are still alive; what would be the point of trying to show people what it was like? Do people really have trouble imagining what life was like in the 1980s? Wasn’t it basically like now, unlike, say, the 1890s?
Destroy smartphones and limit internet access to universities and youd get back to the 1980s pretty quick.
Also downgrade the ram in your pc (which you likely wouldnt own if you weren’t a nerd) to 512kb.
And do cocaine.
Society was very different in many ways:
I was given a failing grade in school because I used a computer to type an essay and print it. Dot matrix gave me away. It was considered cheating back then. My Dad was so pissed he went and bought a letter quality printer so that the teacher couldn’t tell that it wasn’t typed.
And now typing on a computer keyboard is a more useful skill than typing on a typewriter.