I’m at 1 as well for never owning an encyclopedia. I’m actually surprised how many have. I used the ones at the library. I’m assuming this means the physical book kind, and not a digital one like Encarta or something.
I wouldn’t think so on the movie thing. I think it would have to be a video rental store, although not necessarily specifically named Blockbuster. Technically I still “rent” movies at my library through their Kanopy streaming service, but I don’t think that’s in the spirit of the list.
I did it for my nephews because I found it funny to give them time capsules of what kind of music was broadcasted when they were born. And cassettes are a good medium for long time storage :p
Where I'm from (France) this is how you pay deposits for rentals.
We also have "bank cheques" for big expenses like houses.
Paying with cheques in regular shops is getting rarer, often requires providing two ID, and gets you weird looks. Debit cards have mostly replaced that usage.
A perfect zero. I have done all of those things and more that the creator of that list can't even imagine. Things that were everyday common but have faded beyond memory, (and aren't missed at all).
I do agree a lot of zoomers just suck with computers. I am not one of them unfortunately, I am confident in my ability to use a computer which kinda backfired cause now I have my boomer relatives AND my zoomer friends asking for tech support.
I technically own a house (long story short, it was to pay less taxes)
I paid only ~2000€ in university taxes this year and don't have college debt. I'd argue this problem is mostly with being an American (which I am not) rather than being a zoomer.
Steve Irwin is the only thing you have over me, and I don't know who the others are.
1 point. Never used a boombox. And yes, I have written a check at a store while people waited in line behind me. Their cold angry stares still haunt me.
0; am old. What's funny is that it's 2025 and anyone trying to get internet in Japan with one of the only two fiber providers (NTT) still has to send a fax to set it up.
One point. I have never owned an encyclopedia unless Encarta counts. My parents owned one when I was a kid, and I used the library encyclopedia a ton. I'm in my early 50s. I'm surprised the encyclopedia is not the most common point.
1 point, only because my parents never bought an encyclopedia set. They were absolutely a thing when I was a kid. I definitely used one before, but never owned them. Hooray for being old I guess.
2 points. Lived in a small city. No point in recording radio to tape... You'll hear the same songs again tomorrow anyway. Also why specifically call out a brand name Sony Walkman? Listened to plenty of tapes on portable tape players. Just never had a Walkman specifically.
2 I've never really used a typewriter, I've never listened to a vinyl record. Everything else was relatively common growing up in the 90s, being born in the late 80s.
I've never used a rotary phone, record off radio to cassette (although I did on an MP3 player), never used a boombox outside, and I never used dial up.
2 points. I did technically "use" my dad's old typewriter once or twice, but only to check it out/play with it, not to actually write something. Have never paid by cheque. Have done all the others.
Never used a Typewriter
Never listened to music on a boombox
Never send or received a fax
Never rented a video from blockbuster
Never accessed the internet via dial-up
Never used a phonebook
Never send a postcard
Never owned an encyclopedia
Never paid with paper check
Same. I’m actually surprised at the number of people who have owned them based on these responses. I used them at the library, and probably had a digital one that came with a computer (like Encarta or something), but never owned a full set, which is what I’d guess this list means.
But probably -1 for not only rotary phone but "party line"; sometimes you couldn't use the phone because someone else, in another house, was using that line.
Two points. I've never paid for anything by cheque (we have had bank transfers in Finland for ages) and Blockbuster didn't operate here (we had our local video rental chains, and the convenience store chain that I used to go to is still in business, just, you know, not having movies for rent any more)
Never actually owned dictionary or encyclopedia. somebody just left them at my place, because nobody wanted them, so I used them as a door stop. If they are considered my property, because they were abandoned at my property then just 1 point.
Remember the time when there were telemarketers and door-to-door salesmen selling dictionary, encyclopedias and history books. Always wondered who the fuck buys those from a shady dude at the door.
Here they were rare. They mostly offered fore mentioned books, vacuum cleaners, home renovations. They were really aggressive in their sales tactics especially when it came to old people. That's why they had a bit of a scammer reputation.
It was common that many lonely old ladies had the same book series and shopping channel level crap devices.
If you just got a point for never having written a postcard, go write a postcard! And mail it to someone that you appreciate in your life. It doesn't need to be from anywhere exotic or say anything profound, it just takes a few sentences. If you really want to get fancy about it, a lot of little art galleries sell postcard sized prints and you can give someone a tiny little piece of art that speaks to you. Or go to a museum and buy like 10 at the gift shop and keep a stockpile to send when you want to reach out. People love it, and you probably will too.
i wrote a check yesterday and faxed something last month, because 1. fuck paying "convenience fees" to pay my rent online 2. fuck signing up for yet another medical portal just so i can order some fucking contact lenses
do not miss film cameras though. always felt too inhibited to take photos because i'd be "wasting" the film
1 point. I've never sent a postcard... I bought one with a shifting hologram on the front for the purposes of sending a Thank-You note. I just never got around to sending it.
I still do a lot of this other stuff with some regularity.
never listened to a boombox (had to search what this was)
never sent a postcard
36 years old. Just grew up mostly without access to music until I got my first PC. But I did have the opportunity to use a radio with a cassete tape player a few times as a kid.
I have listened to a cassette but not a CD. It was mainly stories when I was young. By the time I was had any interest in music, limewire existed. Once limewire died I downloaded from youtube instead.
Edit: So looked it up and apparently CDs had been around for ages, but my parents bought me stuff on cassettes instead. Maybe it was second hand.
I turn 29 in a few months and scored 2. I would not be surprised if I've forgotten an instance of using a typewriter or listening to a boombox outside though.
Two points. Wtf would I send a postcard? I also don't believe I've ever sent a fax, though I may have gone to an office supply store to have that done to a business and don't recall.
10 points, though maybe less depending on how strict you are. For example I've seen floppy disks and seen my dad use them (we had a whole stack of them at home), or my mom send and receive faxes, but by the time I was old enough to use a computer or need to send communications it was CDs and email instead of faxes.
I'm no audiophile, but there is a difference in sound. To me it's not enough to invest in the type of equipment that maximizes that difference, but it's still there
Plus turntables have become another niche technological LEGO set, to customize and improve until the hole in your chest is filled
Eeehhh, I don't think worse is the right word. Less fidelity, yeah, but the sound is… warmer? I dunno, like I said, I'm not an audiophile, but I know our ears are analogue and all the things in nature that make me feel good have curves
From what I understand, vinyl records are often mastered differently than digital recordings, and they do have a bit of a different sound overall due to their mechanical nature (like how different headphones can produce vastly different results.) So vinyl could very well be actually better depending on the mix, and depending on the preferences of the person listening.
Every difference between digital and vinyl is caused by vinyl failing to faithfully reproduce the original signal. It may be "pleasing" signal degradation, but it is degradation nonetheless.
As for the analogy about different headphones, I don't think differences in quality of the amplification/playback hardware are necessarily tied to the recoding medium playback mechanism itself. In other words, you could just as easily hook some vacuum tube amp up to your CD or FLAC player if that "warm" sound was what you were going for.
I'm gen z but I still only got 3 points. I live in the sticks, so no blockbuster. Also no walkman, though I have used portable cassette players. And never recorded from radio to cassette. Maybe you could give me another point, because my dad had to send a fax for me, but I felt involved in the process.
Walkman, Blockbuster, Encyclopaedia, Paper cheque.
I have a Walkman, but it is broken. Blockbuster never existed in my country AFAIK. Lexicon vs Encyclopaedia. Cheques are not really a thing here except for media display ("Local company donated to local sports association", Photo).
3 or 4 points because I don’t think I’ve had friends with boomboxes, I didn’t use fax as a kid and I wasn’t raised in the states to use blockbuster and cheques.
Maybe I am old but being able to remember the world pre enshittification and constant doom is nice.
For "listened to a boombox outside," does it matter whether you did so voluntarily or just heard it because someone else was playing one too loudly for you to ignore? In other words, I'm either 0 or 1.
I have never sent a postcard. Bought plenty as a cheap souvenir/collectible thing and have received some before; never actually mailed one to someone or even gave one to someone in person.
Aight, I said I got a zero, and my husband says we both have one. So help me settle this riveting dinner discussion we're having:
Paid with a paper check - I say I have because we've made earnest money deposits via check, or down payments on loans via check. And he says "no" because the intent is using a check to pay for things like groceries. He says weve never balanced a checkbook so it doesn't count.
Up to 8 points, depending on whether playing with tech that was already old at the time counts. For example, I've never used a typewriter to produce a document, but I've pressed the keys on one to understand how the mechanism works.
i'm in my mid 30s, live in the US, and get one or two points. i am pretty sure i've never recorded music off the radio onto a tape. i am not sure if i've ever sent or received a fax. i did record songs off of the radio directly onto my first mp3 player though.
My area had upgraded to DTMF exchanges too soon for me to use a rotary phone, and my parents were to cheap to own an encyclopedia when you could just go to the library to read one, although we did have a few of those encyclopedias on CDs over the years
I literally just wrote a check today to pay for a vehicle inspection. And a couple recently to pay some contractors for some house repairs
Only one that I haven’t done is paper checks. Those weren’t really a thing here.
Of course, a few of those have come back around to be used by younger generations. There’s teens who rediscovered Polaroid and other film cameras in recent years. Ten years ago, cassettes saw a resurgence and vinyl was also selling well.
I'm as late as millenials get and I got a 4 😭 I never recorded radio to cassete, I never rented from Blockbuster, never listened to a boombox outside, and never used a rotary phone. I had the advanced technology of touch tone
Three. Would have been two but I was a member of Video Ezy. I also just learned if you start a sentence with a number Sync autocorrects it to a numbered list.
But some are only like once in my parents basenent for fun. Technically 8. I technically sent fax to doctors for work. As in, i physically deliver it to them as austria banned doctors from using fax, and clearly, the only solution is to walk there in this day and age.
I posted this to see replies old vs young and Live in US vs Europe. Surprised that on Lemmy there are still many old folks and also how many folks from Europe are on this site.
0 I have 0 points 👴
Right there with ya.
Same and some of these things I've done in the last couple years.
Done them all and I see 4 that still apply today.
1 reporting in 👨🦳
What's the thing you've never done?
I’m at 1 as well for never owning an encyclopedia. I’m actually surprised how many have. I used the ones at the library. I’m assuming this means the physical book kind, and not a digital one like Encarta or something.
I'd count digital ones as well.
That's how I didn't get the point since none of my leatherback encyclopedias is a complete set (yay backyard sales).
Like a getting movies in a public library can count as renting at Blockbusters imho?
I wouldn’t think so on the movie thing. I think it would have to be a video rental store, although not necessarily specifically named Blockbuster. Technically I still “rent” movies at my library through their Kanopy streaming service, but I don’t think that’s in the spirit of the list.
Yeah I was thinking about renting physical copies not streaming.
Recorded music from radio to cassette
Yeah this one is pretty niche nowadays.
I did it for my nephews because I found it funny to give them time capsules of what kind of music was broadcasted when they were born. And cassettes are a good medium for long time storage :p
Pay with a check.
Where I'm from (France) this is how you pay deposits for rentals.
We also have "bank cheques" for big expenses like houses.
Paying with cheques in regular shops is getting rarer, often requires providing two ID, and gets you weird looks. Debit cards have mostly replaced that usage.
We don't really have credit cards afaik.
Only one for me was blockbuster. I was more of a Rogers video child, I'm not sure we even had a blockbuster near us.
Zero as well. Damn we’re old 👴
Young Matt Damon fades into old Matt Damon.
Same and I'm not even 30 ^^`
Same what a feel bad meme.
Yuuuup.
0 point gang rise up.
But don't rise too quickly. I know our backs don't like that.
I am reporting this post.
…. 0 points…. 🙂
Hello old friend
Yeah, the hurts-to-get-out-of-bed is real.
1 Point, we don't use cheques in Germany. Maybe 2 points, but I'd count my local Videotheque as the equivalent of the "Blockbuster" video chain.
3, same with the cheques in Germany
I'm exactly the same, only i'm from the Netherlands
Actually... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocheque
(I never used one, but remember my parents paying with it at the supermarket)
Still nothing compared to how it's used in the US.
I've never seen a cheque in my entire life and it's so incredibly niche that you might as well talk about paying with stocks or gold bars.
I write an average of about 3 checks per month, even now.
There was a time when people used cheques in Germany. I remember my father using them ages ago
Zero points.
1 because despite being born in the early 80s, paper checks are for old people and Americans
2 points, but only because we don't have blockbuster where I'm from, I have rented movies though. I have also never used a check to pay for anything.
Millennial with a big fat 0 over here
Your age is 40 minus your number of points.
I'm 60 so I'll take 40.
40-4 points is 36, I’m turning 35 this year 😹 only missed it by a year
40-14 is also off by half a year, dang
Gasp, burn the witch
I'll need a couple of negative points for that to hold true.
I just turned 45. But I have 1 point. I’d happily pretend to be 39 though.
Ouch.. aged three years in a single day.
0
A perfect zero. I have done all of those things and more that the creator of that list can't even imagine. Things that were everyday common but have faded beyond memory, (and aren't missed at all).
3 points. 90s kid. The early 2000s still had remnants of a lot of this stuff.
Zeeeero!
Edited from Europe to Germany as some pointed out that there is Blockbuster and checks in other countries
I am proudly batting zero.
You clearly do not live in Germany
I will implemented a service that will rely partly on faxing documents into a new web app this year.
0
Fuck, I'm old.
8 points. I'm born in 1997.
Edit : if the company Blockbuster doesn't matter then I've done 6.
0 points if you count public libraries as "blockbuster adjacent" and I'm only a year older than you.
I'm at 3 points from a similar age. 8, 12, 13.
I was born in 98, got 5 points.
I've rented video before, so I'm counting blockbuster.
I get zero points. Elder millennials rally at the landline we'll have two drinks and fall asleep at 10pm!
15
Come at me grandpas
All of them.
Also, I own a house, have no college debt and have met Steve Irwin and talked to Alec Guinness and Terry Pratchett in person.
Your move young whippersnapper.
I do agree a lot of zoomers just suck with computers. I am not one of them unfortunately, I am confident in my ability to use a computer which kinda backfired cause now I have my boomer relatives AND my zoomer friends asking for tech support.
I technically own a house (long story short, it was to pay less taxes)
I paid only ~2000€ in university taxes this year and don't have college debt. I'd argue this problem is mostly with being an American (which I am not) rather than being a zoomer.
Steve Irwin is the only thing you have over me, and I don't know who the others are.
Haha, welcome to Tech-Support Hell!
The original Obi-Wan Kenobi
And the greatest Author of all time
GNU Terry Pratchett
Now I know :o
I thought I would be at the low end at 12…
Maybe the younger people didn't have the patience to read all 20 bullet points and comment as well?
Older Gen X'er here.
This list was basically a Tuesday for me back in the day.
I got zero.
Yes I'm old. On the plus side I still have my family commadore 64 from 1982.
None. Zip. Zilch. Zero.
Let’s just say that at some places, I get senior discounts. Not ALL places, but some.
I am also at zero. Makes me wonder what is so relevant TODAY that will be completely out of style in 20 years
Carried portable media (USB drive).
Used earbuds/headphones with a cable.
Used a standalone calculator.
Replaced a disposable battery.
1 point. Never used a boombox. And yes, I have written a check at a store while people waited in line behind me. Their cold angry stares still haunt me.
Big fat zero for me.
0 points. I feel old.
I'm in my mid 20s. Maybe it's because I grew up poor and was using outdated tech when I was a kid.
I didn't use vinyl or a film camera until a few years ago though, I have been really enjoying the physicality and ritualism of analog tech recently
My town had a family video, not a blockbuster.
This is basically a "are you old" questionaire.
5 but it depends if "used" is defined as actually in an every day situtation or because found an old typewriter in the attic and played around with it
0; am old. What's funny is that it's 2025 and anyone trying to get internet in Japan with one of the only two fiber providers (NTT) still has to send a fax to set it up.
0, and I've done 4 of these in the last year.
I'm 39 ☹️ zero points.
One point. I have never owned an encyclopedia unless Encarta counts. My parents owned one when I was a kid, and I used the library encyclopedia a ton. I'm in my early 50s. I'm surprised the encyclopedia is not the most common point.
1 point. I don't even own a cheque book.
One point. Never recorded a CD from the radio.
The encyclopedia belonged to my grandparents, but I lived there and used it.
0 of course, old guys rule!
The country were I was living when I rented videos didn't have Blockbuster, so 1.
I have 1 point.
I never owned an encyclopedia.
If I had the money then I definitely would have owned one.
1 point, only because my parents never bought an encyclopedia set. They were absolutely a thing when I was a kid. I definitely used one before, but never owned them. Hooray for being old I guess.
0
2 points.
I have never written a check, and as far as I know, there were no Blockbusters in this country.
Me too. Though I'd say we can substitute any locally available video renting store with Blockbuster. So it would only be 1 point.
0
Zero (born in '66). Can we add some more to the list?
21: had to wait for the television to warm up
I'm a zoomer and only got three points hahaha
1 point. I never recorded music off the radio.
The fax one is funny because I do that just about every day. People seem to forget that doctor's offices still use them - far more secure than email.
5, but only because i love to tinker with old technology (Gen Z)
8 points
But only because we pay in cash and block buster was never a thing here.
I have touched a type writer but never used it for writing letters or whatever you write with it.
I just sent a fax a few days ago....
I never owned a walkman or discman but my older sister had a discman and I got one of the first mp3 players xD.
17
I live in an Eastern European country. I have listened to music on CD, i used to own Encyclopedias and i own a copy of DOOM
1, We never had blockbuster in NL. But 0 if any other VHS rental store counts.
I even have an old rotary phone on my desk.
I don't know why these are asked in the past tense like I don't still do these things.
2 points. Lived in a small city. No point in recording radio to tape... You'll hear the same songs again tomorrow anyway. Also why specifically call out a brand name Sony Walkman? Listened to plenty of tapes on portable tape players. Just never had a Walkman specifically.
13
4 points. Being a 90's baby, got to do a fair number of these.
19! (not "nineteen factorial"). I had used a floppy disk once.
Read it wrong, I have nothing
Born in 1986.. Zero 0
2 I've never really used a typewriter, I've never listened to a vinyl record. Everything else was relatively common growing up in the 90s, being born in the late 80s.
0 I'm old 😆
0
My score was 4!
I've never used a rotary phone, record off radio to cassette (although I did on an MP3 player), never used a boombox outside, and I never used dial up.
Pretty boomer for someone born in '99, eh?
0 points
German newborns have to fax their crying to the hospital's management for them to be declared healthy
I was born at the start of the '90s, and I only got 1 point.
1 point because cheques have always been rare in my country.
2 if you are strict with the Blockbuster thing, we had Videoland instead but I have rented video tapes from a video rental store like Blockbuster.
I want a new test
(18) I have some dictionaries and listened to music on a CD (because some of my devices had the ability so I had to try it).
2 points. I did technically "use" my dad's old typewriter once or twice, but only to check it out/play with it, not to actually write something. Have never paid by cheque. Have done all the others.
9 Points. Can you guess how old I am with that info?
I guess then that you have gotten 0 points.
2: Never SENT a postcard, never owned an encyclopedia.
Unless we count Encyclopedia Britanica on CD?
Never used a Typewriter Never listened to music on a boombox Never send or received a fax Never rented a video from blockbuster Never accessed the internet via dial-up Never used a phonebook Never send a postcard Never owned an encyclopedia Never paid with paper check
18 points.
I've owned a dictionary and an encyclopedia.
14...yall know half this shit is still valid or required.
Paper checks and faxes are still in use and Japan got rid of floppy disks in govt right before plague. (Shit, that was 5 years ago...)
WHAT DECADE IS IT!?!?!
Why is the 8-track never on these lists?
Cause it's too old for the list writers to know about? Also, their adoption rate was pretty poor.
Zero.
Ye, null. 🤣
I've never actually owned a set of encyclopedias.
1 point. I've never personally owned a physical encyclopedia. I've def. used them though.
Same. I’m actually surprised at the number of people who have owned them based on these responses. I used them at the library, and probably had a digital one that came with a computer (like Encarta or something), but never owned a full set, which is what I’d guess this list means.
WOW! You just jarred my brain mentioning Encarta. That was such a big thing in it's time.
1.... Only one I missed was Blockbuster. We didn't have one where I lived but I have rented videos.
Late 20s - 2 points
1 point. Never rented a video from Blockbuster. But did rent VHS/CD/DVD movies from local chain.
But probably -1 for not only rotary phone but "party line"; sometimes you couldn't use the phone because someone else, in another house, was using that line.
Vintage Enthusiasts getting absolutely fucking roasted by this.
Does Encarta count as owning an encyclopedia?
0
One. Because in Germany, we did not have Blockbuster....
I got 8 Points and I was born this century.
There were no blockbuster where I come from so I have 1 pont. Suck it up loosers!
Zero.
Two points. I've never paid for anything by cheque (we have had bank transfers in Finland for ages) and Blockbuster didn't operate here (we had our local video rental chains, and the convenience store chain that I used to go to is still in business, just, you know, not having movies for rent any more)
3 point
Last three on the list.
Never actually owned dictionary or encyclopedia. somebody just left them at my place, because nobody wanted them, so I used them as a door stop. If they are considered my property, because they were abandoned at my property then just 1 point.
Dictionaries are like cats. They just find their own home.
Remember the time when there were telemarketers and door-to-door salesmen selling dictionary, encyclopedias and history books. Always wondered who the fuck buys those from a shady dude at the door.
My parents did. But that was before I was born, so the early 1960s.
To be fair, it was common then, so it wouldn't have seemed shady.
Geographical differences.
Here they were rare. They mostly offered fore mentioned books, vacuum cleaners, home renovations. They were really aggressive in their sales tactics especially when it came to old people. That's why they had a bit of a scammer reputation.
It was common that many lonely old ladies had the same book series and shopping channel level crap devices.
Which floppy disc? The one whith the sliding metal thingy or the bendy one? Just kidding... I used both :D
The one with a sliding metal thingy had a floppy magnetic material inside it just like the bendy one.
I'd assume it's the floppy one but same lol
The diskette was just a floppy anyways:) just a bit smaller.
If you just got a point for never having written a postcard, go write a postcard! And mail it to someone that you appreciate in your life. It doesn't need to be from anywhere exotic or say anything profound, it just takes a few sentences. If you really want to get fancy about it, a lot of little art galleries sell postcard sized prints and you can give someone a tiny little piece of art that speaks to you. Or go to a museum and buy like 10 at the gift shop and keep a stockpile to send when you want to reach out. People love it, and you probably will too.
i wrote a check yesterday and faxed something last month, because 1. fuck paying "convenience fees" to pay my rent online 2. fuck signing up for yet another medical portal just so i can order some fucking contact lenses
do not miss film cameras though. always felt too inhibited to take photos because i'd be "wasting" the film
I am actually glad I started my photography experience in film. Really taught me to think about framing and timing before hitting the shutter
the secret is confidence, i think. lol
I’ve never sent a postcard. Born in 1970.
Yeah that's the only point I got. I've bought post cards, but never actually mailed one.
1 point. Never cared for what was playing on the radio.
I'm giving myself half a point because I've used a typewriter but it was just playing around at my grandma's house.
0
30 years and 0 points
This is just the age calculator. Anything over 5 points and you are less than 25 years old. I’d even go as far to say less than 30.
I rented videos, but not at blockbuster... Otherwise 0 points
I got 5, so which Kardashian am I? Not sure the point.
Do I get negative points if I still own and use many of these things?
9 points
Two because #13 and #20 weren’t a thing in my country.
1
1 point. I've never sent a postcard... I bought one with a shifting hologram on the front for the purposes of sending a Thank-You note. I just never got around to sending it.
I still do a lot of this other stuff with some regularity.
36 years old. Just grew up mostly without access to music until I got my first PC. But I did have the opportunity to use a radio with a cassete tape player a few times as a kid.
2 or 4 depending on how strict you are.
I have listened to a cassette but not a CD. It was mainly stories when I was young. By the time I was had any interest in music, limewire existed. Once limewire died I downloaded from youtube instead.
Edit: So looked it up and apparently CDs had been around for ages, but my parents bought me stuff on cassettes instead. Maybe it was second hand.
I turn 29 in a few months and scored 2. I would not be surprised if I've forgotten an instance of using a typewriter or listening to a boombox outside though.
I actually plan to buy the latest print encyclopedia I can find. Just in case. Fuck them trying to kill everything good on the internet.
14 points 😬. I'm surprised at the amount of zeroes in the comments.
2 points
Never sent a FAX. Scanners were common place and only sent pic/pdfs by email when needed.
Never owned an encyclopedia.
Dude I sent a fax like last year. The medical industry considers them more secure than email
I mean I am old, yes, but I feel like most North American millennials would get the same.
Two points. Wtf would I send a postcard? I also don't believe I've ever sent a fax, though I may have gone to an office supply store to have that done to a business and don't recall.
Only 3 🥲
10 points, though maybe less depending on how strict you are. For example I've seen floppy disks and seen my dad use them (we had a whole stack of them at home), or my mom send and receive faxes, but by the time I was old enough to use a computer or need to send communications it was CDs and email instead of faxes.
1 and that's only because Blockbuster wasn't a thing near me and we instead went to the local video shop.
Ha!! I'm not old at all. I got 21 points!
Born 1992
5 points
I don't understand why people want to listen to vinyl records vs. digital
I'm no audiophile, but there is a difference in sound. To me it's not enough to invest in the type of equipment that maximizes that difference, but it's still there
Plus turntables have become another niche technological LEGO set, to customize and improve until the hole in your chest is filled
Yeah, there is: vinyl is objectively worse.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyquist%E2%80%93Shannon_sampling_theorem
Eeehhh, I don't think worse is the right word. Less fidelity, yeah, but the sound is… warmer? I dunno, like I said, I'm not an audiophile, but I know our ears are analogue and all the things in nature that make me feel good have curves
Your mom, for instance
From what I understand, vinyl records are often mastered differently than digital recordings, and they do have a bit of a different sound overall due to their mechanical nature (like how different headphones can produce vastly different results.) So vinyl could very well be actually better depending on the mix, and depending on the preferences of the person listening.
Every difference between digital and vinyl is caused by vinyl failing to faithfully reproduce the original signal. It may be "pleasing" signal degradation, but it is degradation nonetheless.
As for the analogy about different headphones, I don't think differences in quality of the amplification/playback hardware are necessarily tied to the recoding medium playback mechanism itself. In other words, you could just as easily hook some vacuum tube amp up to your CD or FLAC player if that "warm" sound was what you were going for.
Purely ideological at this point.
I want to own my media, CDs aren't being produced anymore, vinyls are resurfacing.
As someone who listens to both: because they're fun
A real TTY would be really cool.
I'm gen z but I still only got 3 points. I live in the sticks, so no blockbuster. Also no walkman, though I have used portable cassette players. And never recorded from radio to cassette. Maybe you could give me another point, because my dad had to send a fax for me, but I felt involved in the process.
0
4 points, am 35.
I guess 2 points, I've not owned my own dictionary or encyclopedia. Born in 1989.
1 point. Never listened to a boombox outside. I have owned a boombox, though.
Walkman, Blockbuster, Encyclopaedia, Paper cheque.
I have a Walkman, but it is broken. Blockbuster never existed in my country AFAIK. Lexicon vs Encyclopaedia. Cheques are not really a thing here except for media display ("Local company donated to local sports association", Photo).
Ha!! One point! In yo face!!!
Sorry got too excited there for a second. I have never sent a postcard. Bought em though and rcvd them but never sent.
never used a Sony Walkman! so that's 1 point for me...
1 point. I've never sent/received a fax.
15 points.
I've listened to music on CDs and cassette tapes, watched a VHS tape, recorded music from the radio, and at one point owned a dictionary.
3 or 4 points because I don’t think I’ve had friends with boomboxes, I didn’t use fax as a kid and I wasn’t raised in the states to use blockbuster and cheques.
Maybe I am old but being able to remember the world pre enshittification and constant doom is nice.
So sad today that so many live lives filled only with negativity and doom
1 point, number 4.
But I know I am gonna get a other point soon.
I already know that my gf gifts me a acdc Back in Black Vinyl.
7
For "listened to a boombox outside," does it matter whether you did so voluntarily or just heard it because someone else was playing one too loudly for you to ignore? In other words, I'm either 0 or 1.
14
5
The only one I got close on was I never had a chequebook of my own, but did on a couple of occasions use bank cheques for mail-ordered things.
Presuming we're counting that, big fat goose egg.
Null pwang! Maybe I should consider entering Eurovision.
My mothers maiden name is punjab.
6 and I feel old.
7.5 because I never checked if the outdoor music was from a boom box or not
7 Points. Born in 2004 🤔
I got one point for the Walkman thing, but maybe I just forgot.
1 point.
I have never sent a postcard. Bought plenty as a cheap souvenir/collectible thing and have received some before; never actually mailed one to someone or even gave one to someone in person.
I am 40.
An whole point for not living in an area near a blockbuster
I'm old, but never sent or received a fax or rented from Blockbuster specifically, we had plenty of local "mom&pop" stores.
Never paid with cheque, by the time I was old enough to have any significant amount of money (~2011) they were already almost entirely phased out
20 points! Finally a test I aced!!!
How on earth?
By not reading the question properly!
Typewriter, vinil, fax, and payed with check, those are the only 4 things I never done. The boom box I don’t know what it is.
A boombox is one of those big rectangular radios that can work on batteries
Aight, I said I got a zero, and my husband says we both have one. So help me settle this riveting dinner discussion we're having:
5 points, not bad
Never had a blockbuster, a fax nor cheques. I can't remember using my boombox outside, C Batteries were expensive and cumbersome.
So 3 points.
I got 1 (13) because there is no blockbuster in my country. But I've used equivalent stores, so I guess I got 0. Did I win a price?
Yes, your back pain is just behind the curtain.
Nope. It's already in my back.
There can always be more.
1 point - I've never sent a postcard lol
1... Never used fax
Up to 8 points, depending on whether playing with tech that was already old at the time counts. For example, I've never used a typewriter to produce a document, but I've pressed the keys on one to understand how the mechanism works.
One point for the typewriter.
Two: I am missing the boombox experience, and Blockbuster never made it to my country.
2, maybe 3. Never used a typewriter, never owned an encyclopedia, I can’t recall ever sending a postcard.
0
5
i'm in my mid 30s, live in the US, and get one or two points. i am pretty sure i've never recorded music off the radio onto a tape. i am not sure if i've ever sent or received a fax. i did record songs off of the radio directly onto my first mp3 player though.
13 points for me.
I literally just wrote a check today to pay for a vehicle inspection. And a couple recently to pay some contractors for some house repairs
0 🤣
Only one that I haven’t done is paper checks. Those weren’t really a thing here.
Of course, a few of those have come back around to be used by younger generations. There’s teens who rediscovered Polaroid and other film cameras in recent years. Ten years ago, cassettes saw a resurgence and vinyl was also selling well.
6, I'm surprised I'm 31yo
14
Two points. I'm 33.
I'm as late as millenials get and I got a 4 😭 I never recorded radio to cassete, I never rented from Blockbuster, never listened to a boombox outside, and never used a rotary phone. I had the advanced technology of touch tone
2 points!
28 and I got 1 point. I've never sent a postcard.
2 points, fuckers!
Zero. Born in the early '80s.
5 (I'm 18 lol)
Mid 20s, and I got 10 points. 9 points if the blockbuster one does not mean blockbuster specifically
7 points
I got zero points.. guess I'm old now?
5
4
fucking 13 😭
1 - I never had a check book.
Three. Would have been two but I was a member of Video Ezy. I also just learned if you start a sentence with a number Sync autocorrects it to a numbered list.
1 - Never owned an encyclopedia. Used one many times, owned all sort of other books that agglomerate knowledge, but never owned one.
At least 6 and Im 31, more if I get super pedantic.
For instance
6, 7 if Bluetooth speaker outside doesn't count as boombox, because my speaker is a box and it booms, but it's not called that.
I posted this to see replies old vs young and Live in US vs Europe. Surprised that on Lemmy there are still many old folks and also how many folks from Europe are on this site.
Every gen-x’er is gonna score a 20.
8 points! 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20
Navigated with a Thomas guide.
Made your crush a mix tape.
Returned a milk bottle for a deposit.
Worn white tube socks with a single stripe near the top.
Hung out all day at the mall with your friends just walking in circles.
Checked out books from a public library.
Ridden in the bed of a pickup (with no seatbelt).
Shared a family sized ice cream sunday.
slapped the side of a tv set to fix it.
Eaten at an all you can eat salad bar.
Used an abacus.
Seen someone riding on a horse drawn buckboard on a public road.
Played a playground game with a soccer ball called "smear the queer", or jokingly call your friend a "fag".
Ridden in a wood paneled station wagon.
Used a typewriter.
Balanced your checkbook.
Burned your trash.
mailed someone a letter as a form of communication.
gotten a busy signal when trying to call someone.
Used black and white film.
I'm as old as some people in this thread, I've got 20.