High Tech: computers and gadgets in 1994

February 1994
Original script: Remember manual typewriters? Heck, remember pens and pencils? They may be obsolete someday. We’ve gotten to the point where there is some computer or high-tech gadget that will do just about anything we need to do. It can be easy or hard. Fun or frustrating. Tonight, we begin a two-part look at the changes technology has caused in our lives. We call it High Tech 101.
Hal Clement and photojournalist Ben Cutshall delivered the lesson.

[kwitseo]

And 30 years later, I'm watching this clip on my phone. Wow 👌.

[Skandinavisk]

Here's the thing, it felt amazing back then.

[misstekhead]

My mom continued to have a PDA into the 2000s. She was so attached to that device. Everyday going to and from work on the bus she was checking emails, writing notes, reading news, etc. Always with that stylus in her hands.

[RoganKayle]

We went from: "Computer, open calculator."
To: "Computer, open calculator. Shut up, Alexa! I'm wasn't talking to you!"

[waskjohnson]

The end of this video is so relevant: "it can be difficult for a non-technical person".

This is why today we've worked to make interfacing with devices so simplistic that gen z, a, etc. have taken significant leaps back in terms of technical capability.

There was something to be said about having the challenge of navigating a computer and learning how to use it that doesn't exist today.

[cgimovieman]

I grew up throughout the 80’s and 90’s, and I miss these times. It was all so exciting practically on a daily basis. Today, nothing “wows” us anymore. You can’t really get much higher resolution than 8K or 16K TV, and even if you could, the human eye could barely distinguish it from 4K. Cell phones you can go so much with that we don’t even use it all now, and you can communicate with anyone around the world at no extra charge. Things like music and movies are available instantly, from at home to in our pockets on smartphones, and in HD with uncompressed audio. You can order products from companies like Amazon laying in bed off an app on your phone, even speaking in the order if you want, and it could be at your door in 2-3 hours. What else is there? It’s become kind of depressing to me, as a person who grew up constantly being “wowed”. Today nothing seems exciting to me anymore.

[TechySpeaking]

30 years later, and VR still hasn't caught on.

[Stefan-]

As old as these items seem today 30 years after they are still very modern compared to how things were when i grew up in the 70´s.

[viz]

I like this part of Youtube - the nostalgia wing.

[jetscreamer]

1994 was not that long ago, for people like me. It feels like yesterday cause I experienced all these tech.

[futurebues]

They were very optimistic about the future at that time, for them we should already be using flying cars...

[KCCardCo]

This was a fun time. Technology was great back then but we still did things outside of it. We still read magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, dictionaries were still used. As much as I like the smartphone, it changed everything. What's next after the smartphone?

[Neotron]

1996-2003

Those were the magic years.

[GerbenWijnja]

I remember this stuff like it was yesterday. Good times. If I could go back, I wouldn't hesitate.

[DaniSmith_]

the foundation for our future was set in the 90's

[coderlicious]

I remember all of those 3.5" discs that AOL would send me free, in their sales packets. It was a continual supply of backup discs for me. That's it.
Thank you AOL, for a free way to back up my files.

[Aranimda]

Mobile phones in the 1980s: Ginormous.
Mobile phones in the 1990s: Large.
Mobile phones in the 2000s: Nice and small.
Mobile phones in the 2010s: Large.
Mobile phones in the 2020s: Ginormous.

[TechySpeaking]

RIP to the man who adopted the Apple Newton.

[maxwillson]

I still have our 1995 Macintosh Performa. The 90s was a fun era in computing. I miss the days when computer games had the really cheesy green screen acting in cutscenes ahahaha!

[ralanham]

I changed my ringer to the 56k dialup sound 😁

It's really throws people off.