Internet - you robbing b******d or what the web has stolen from you.
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So recent discussions around digital media got me thinking. While I’m a fan of digital only I must admit there are something’s kids today just won’t enjoy (or appreciate) and I was wondering what was it you used to do before this big Internet thing turned up?
For me it was going to the video shop (not store and definitely not Blockbusters, that came later) but the cheap looking shop in the row of local shops next to offie and the newsagents. Taking your time perusing the great/bad artwork reading the reverse of the VHS cases and finally making your selection. If I was lucky and had enough money I’d get two for the weekend as our shop had a special offer. Ahh the good old days. -
This is gonna be like those "Who remembers WOOLWORTHS????" threads on twitter that come around every other week.
I used to just play on my bike, read every gaming mag going having three reservations at the big old-school newsagents on the main street, and play stuff. -
Our local video store also had several arcade machines, was such a good place to hang out.
It was around the time that SFII was everywhere, and these arcades would just pop up in any previously unoccupied shop. Mind was blown by the hacked versions of SFII which allowed you to shoot off endless floating sonic booms. -
Internet shopping is not good at replicating that browsing experience. Flicking through vinyl in a record shop. Looking inside magazines before you pick which one to buy. It’s pretty clear we all recognise that.
What’s hit home for me during lockdown is that it’s hard to get a sense of build quality or materials online. When you buy a piece of furniture you still want to see it in person. Touch it, see what the texture feels like, whether it feels solid, all that sort of thing. Same for a TV – cheap plastic looks the same as nice solid stuff in a photo on a web shop. -
I used to read Edge."Plus he wore shorts like a total cunt" - Bob
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I was thinking last night how cool it would be if a game like Noita was around before the internet. There's just so many mental secrets and things to figure out and discover, trying to piece it together with friends would have been really fun, getting info from magazines etc. The internet makes everything pretty trivial.
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poprock wrote:Internet shopping is not good at replicating that browsing experience. Flicking through vinyl in a record shop. Looking inside magazines before you pick which one to buy. It’s pretty clear we all recognise that.
What’s hit home for me during lockdown is that it’s hard to get a sense of build quality or materials online. When you buy a piece of furniture you still want to see it in person. Touch it, see what the texture feels like, whether it feels solid, all that sort of thing. Same for a TV – cheap plastic looks the same as nice solid stuff in a photo on a web shop.
Yep, definitely this.
This extends to clothes for me too. I'm not a huge fan of physically shopping for clothes, but it's handy being able to try something on. I've taken to ordering one thing in several sizes now, as sizing is so inconsistent across brands. The sheer ball ache of then returning said items, has put me off several purchases recently. -
I have to say, most women I know don't give a flying fuck about over ordering clothes and then sending 80% back. I'm amazed it's a sustainable model."Plus he wore shorts like a total cunt" - Bob
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SpaceGazelle wrote:I have to say, most women I know don't give a flying fuck about over ordering clothes and then sending 80% back. I'm amazed it's a sustainable model.
I suspect it would be less so without the creative accounting opportunities afforded to the large companies offering these unlimited free postal returns. -
Instruction booklets, maps and readable bits that used to come in the game box.Gamertag: gremill -
tits were definitely more exciting. I mean they're still great, but I'd never sit through 2 hours of a rubbish film late on a Friday night just to catch a glimpse.
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If you know what you want, the web shopping experience is unsurpassed for many types of item.
But for those things that one likes to browse - clothes, books, CDs, vinyl, wallpaper, furniture, silly stuff...the bricks and mortar experience is best. Of course you can rob the physical shop by taking up time and space by going there to see something and then buying it online. But we inherit the wind by doing that.
Who doesn't love a root around a car boot, pawn shop or similar - just nosing around to see what comes up. The web can't really do that. And one man's good condition CD is another man's beer soaked coaster.
The big thing about digital content is the instant gratification side of it. It's great and all that...but sometimes delaying pleasure makes it all the better.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
The internet has robbed me of being able to mention missing Woolies without feeling sheepish. I never much cared for the pick 'n mix but I did meet my wife in Downham Woolworths.
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Woolies was good for videogames especially in the early days.
The Belfast shop had every console going setup to play. I used to pop in to play Minestorm on the Vectrex and Zaxxon on the Coleco. They had a pile of LCD Nintendo tabletops too - played DK Jr that way!!
Got quite few SNES bargains in there too. Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Agree with all of these (except grumpy Gav) but also to Davy’s last point about instant gratification, I think about things like TV shows. I love recommendations and personalisation but there is something about that collective watching of a show with most everyone you know watching it. Now it’s more have you seen so and so and my reply is no but I’ll add it to the pile.
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b0r1s wrote:Agree with all of these (except grumpy Gav) but also to Davy’s last point about instant gratification, I think about things like TV shows. I love recommendations and personalisation but there is something about that collective watching of a show with most everyone you know watching it. Now it’s more have you seen so and so and my reply is no but I’ll add it to the pile.
To this I would like to add - how do some people fit so much TV shows into your life?? I'm not against telly at all, big fan of streaming a good show but some people I know seem to be able to watch an endless stream (pun intended) of 2w episode TV seasons each week.
And then tell me all about them .SFV - reddave360 -
I’ve been going over a lot of old TV and it more becomes background stuff while I’m playing Slay The Spire on the iPad if I’m honest.
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b0r1s wrote:I’ve been going over a lot of old TV and it more becomes background stuff while I’m playing Slay The Spire on the iPad if I’m honest.
Old TV I get (you've seen it already) I know a few people who seem to binge new netflix shows within days of them coming out - along with watching a load of regular TV as well.
I'm not jealous, just amazed. I defo go to slay the spire mode on some shows that I "watch with my wife"
SFV - reddave360 -
I have very fond memories of Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom on Switch but there's a chance I was just massively into Love Island at the time and it's an association thing.
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There are people who do nothing else with their leisure time. Stick the TV on the moment they walk in the door and turn it off when they go to sleep. My Mum’s like that – if she’s in the house, the TV is on. She might not be concentrating all the time, but it’s always on.
I usually manage one episode of something per night. Two at a push, or a movie instead. That’s it. -
I watch a pitiful amount of TV these days. Outside of a weekly lockdown film chat group I could say the same about movies too. It's not a time thing though, I blame the rise in quality of indie games - rattling through small games is my favourite way to relax in front of a screen.
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opening the cd case to see artwork on the actual cdHe could've just said they came from another planet but seems keen to convince people with his bullshit pseudoscience that he knows stuff. I wouldn't trust him with my lunch. - SG
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mk64 wrote:opening the cd case to see artwork on the actual cd
Yeah, and the liner notes/thanks that almost always sent you off in the direction of an act or artist you'd never heard of before.Gamertag: gremill -
Trying to get the porn vhs quietly into the player after everyone had gone to bed. -
And remembering to take it out again.iosGameCentre:T3hDaddy;
XBL: MistaTeaTime -
poprock wrote:Internet shopping is not good at replicating that browsing experience. Flicking through vinyl in a record shop. Looking inside magazines before you pick which one to buy. It’s pretty clear we all recognise that. What’s hit home for me during lockdown is that it’s hard to get a sense of build quality or materials online. When you buy a piece of furniture you still want to see it in person. Touch it, see what the texture feels like, whether it feels solid, all that sort of thing. Same for a TV – cheap plastic looks the same as nice solid stuff in a photo on a web shop.
I know someone who bought a sofa online recently. Never sat on it or anything, just found a style and colour they liked on DFS. Stunned me - I wouldn't buy one without sitting on it first!
Bought a TV during lockdown... there was a lot of back and forth with returns & replacements, but at least with tech you can normally access youtube reviews and get a good sense of the quality from that. Do sofas get reviewed? -
The Daddy wrote:And remembering to take it out again.
Reminded of a tale of us watching a bit of porn at a mate's house and all of a sudden seeing his mother walk past the window on her way to the door.....cue frantic, panic laden remote button pressing etc.....at one point the teletext came up on the screen as we heard the key turning in the front door lock.
It was a big old Ferguson top loader player with piano style keys that took about 30secs to respond to any input....
Frantic scenes......Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Fucking everything gets reviewed now. That’s an Internet thing. I’m buying a bloody pencil, I don’t need to know whether Richard from Basingstoke liked the one he bought last month.
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Fun (?) story. When we first got cable (NTL) I was 16. Obviously the Freeview was very important to me at that time, but only a rare watch. One lucky evening they announced the whole night on Playboy would be free. Woo! So, armed with a fresh vhs I stayed up late to “watch a film”. Following the Freeview though they asked for a PIN. They did reiterate it was free. But they wanted the PIN. Shit. Fuck it, I entered the PIN, recorded a night of PBTV, job done.
Was pretty disappointing really.
Then a month went by and all of a sudden, my full name was called out by my mum in THAT VOICE. You know the one.
Fuck.
...yeah?
What’s this Playboy Pay Per View on the cable bill?
Fuck!
“....erm...”
Then, Dad comes in:”What?! How much did that cost?”
Mum:”Er, it says it didn’t cost anything.”
Dad: “Oh, well that’s fine then...”
What a guy.iosGameCentre:T3hDaddy;
XBL: MistaTeaTime -
The Daddy wrote:Fun (?) story. When we first got cable (NTL) I was 16. Obviously the Freeview was very important to me at that time, but only a rare watch. One lucky evening they announced the whole night on Playboy would be free. Woo! So, armed with a fresh vhs I stayed up late to “watch a film”. Following the Freeview though they asked for a PIN. They did reiterate it was free. But they wanted the PIN. Shit. Fuck it, I entered the PIN, recorded a night of PBTV, job done.
Was pretty disappointing really.
Then a month went by and all of a sudden, my full name was called out by my mum in THAT VOICE. You know the one.
Fuck.
...yeah?
What’s this Playboy Pay Per View on the cable bill?
Fuck!
“....erm...”
Then, Dad comes in:”What?! How much did that cost?”
Mum:”Er, it says it didn’t cost anything.”
Dad: “Oh, well that’s fine then...”
What a guy.
Legendary dad.
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