OT: Is the old way better?

[HCCForever]

Most people I know for the most part would accept someone not being reachable (barring a true emergency, which is an obvious scenario that highlights how we are better off with cell phones) for a period of time with the reasoning “I needed a break”. I used to shut out the world and go solo hiking sans cell service a few times a year; I appreciate some solitude now and then.

But nobody -not one person on this forum- would trade in their cell phone to go back to relying on public land line phones and phone books.

Obviously you don’t know people like my wife who assumes I’m in a bar if I don’t answer immediately. She is sometimes correct, BTW. But your other points are right on. Nice to have a cell phone in an emergency rather than trying to find a phone booth.

 

[Jaydumo20]

Obviously you don’t know people like my wife who assumes I’m in a bar if I don’t answer immediately. She is sometimes correct, BTW. But your other points are right on. Nice to have a cell phone in an emergency rather than trying to find a phone booth.

My wife has been trying to get me to leave Samsung and get an iPhone so she can track my whereabouts. I still haven't given in. I need one last corner of this earth where im not reachable 24/7.

 

[Jaydumo20]

As someone who works in education, many of my students think that cell phones and the internet have robbed them of the ability to develop grit and true critical thinking skills. This is based on not the access to communication, but the crutch it becomes in their life.

Social media has created a compare culture where they always are being force fed trends and have to choose not if they follow, but what to follow. It’s social suicide if you think differently.

From the teacher side, there’s endless texts, activities, projects, and units that have been locked away bc the literature has advanced beyond the students acumen. Despite having endless access to information, they just don’t know as much “stuff” anymore.

On the music side, as my long time band mate Dumo stated, the sheer joy of going to a music store, perusing the options, choosing, and then deep listening to a work as a cohesive whole is long, long gone. And that to me is a colossal shame.

100%
Im getting my masters in neuroscience, and brain scans from people who are on their phones even 3 hours a day show some pretty nasty effects. It is even worse for anyone under 26 years. The brain is not fully formed until that time and reliance on automation and time spent scrolling and staring at screens atrophies physical parts of the adult brain and prevents the actual formation of synapses and Grey matter in those under 26.

 

[Dove]

Maybe some of you think the BY was way better before I became an active contributor...

What year are we talking?

 

[Waquoit]

Re: LIV golf. It's a nothingburger.

No one watches or cares about LIV golf. Their ratings suck.

I can't believe anyone thought this would work. It's not a golf tournament, it's a golfing exhibition. Golf gets boring without the tension, there's nothing at stake. The only "fans" seem to be virtue signalers.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Music has absolutely been in decline since at least around 2015

Since around 1985 is more like it. But at the very least it's been bad since autotune started dominating starting with Believe from Cher in 1998.

 

[HuskyHawk]

My worst day grocery shopping is when the handheld scanners are offline. I've even left the store to come back later. I've also rebooted the kiosk that holds the scanners a few times by unplugging it. A couple of times that actually worked. I bag as I go, checkout is like three buttons. Why everyone doesn't use these is inexplicable to me. I cannot stand being in a checkout line, and I now find even waiting to self-scan after finishing shopping to be annoying. And I'll be 70 next year. Get with the times, fogeys.

My wife is the same. She scans and places everything where she wants it as she goes so it's easier to unpack. I never buy much stuff so I just use self checkout, but the last thing I want to do is wait in line behind somebody with a full cart when I've got 8-10 items. There are some "services" I just don't value, and scanning items is one of them. It's up there with the guys who stand there and hand you a paper town at some fancy bathrooms and pouring wine after the initial pour.

 

[RichZ]

It was definitely better when you had true regional conferences. Not the ridiculous mish mash of conference affiliations you have now

That's the most sensible line in this entire thread.

I remember when the Big East made sense. Omaha, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Chicago are not in the East.

 

[mussels]

Tomatoes.

Probably have to be onlder than 60 to appreciate this, but tomatoes used to taste way better.

 

[RichZ]

Now, my nieces and nephews, and even my siblings to some degree act like if they send you a text around your birthday they've made some big gesture.

I was very happy to get texts from my kids, all my grandkids and great-grandkids, all the way down to my great-great-granddaughter on my birthday this past weekend.
In the "good old days" most of them (well, at least a couple) would have stopped by and brought this nasty cold/virus that's going around with them.

 

[HW611]

On a music standpoint, artists simply don’t have to grind as much anymore to earn a deal.

Previously, if you were a legit artist you had to prove you can actually make great music to earn a deal and they developed you as an artist.

Today they are looking for viral sensations and don’t invest in artist development as much anymore.

Streams are causing artists to make less money than ever while not cultivating real fan bases to be able to tour with… it’s a completely broken system.

 

[Jaydumo20]

On a music standpoint, artists simply don’t have to grind as much anymore to earn a deal.

Previously, if you were a legit artist you had to prove you can actually make great music to earn a deal and they developed you as an artist.

Today they are looking for viral sensations and don’t invest in artist development as much anymore.

Streams are causing artists to make less money than ever while not cultivating real fan bases to be able to tour with… it’s a completely broken system.

This is very accurate. There will be no more legends made. At least we got to see them. And can still listen to them whenever we want.

 

[QDOG5]

I have only myself to blame but I don’t listen to full albums like I used to. Bitd we had a bunch of guys who would listen to a new album together. We’d pass the album jacket around and read the liner notes. And then someone would pull their weed out their pocket and use the jacket to de-seed the weed. Album jackets were great for that.

 

[HuskyHawk]

On a music standpoint, artists simply don’t have to grind as much anymore to earn a deal.

Previously, if you were a legit artist you had to prove you can actually make great music to earn a deal and they developed you as an artist.

Today they are looking for viral sensations and don’t invest in artist development as much anymore.

Streams are causing artists to make less money than ever while not cultivating real fan bases to be able to tour with… it’s a completely broken system.

It's really astonishing how accurate this song was.

 

[NEforceUConn]

Well someone has to add this, it’s p3

 

[HCCForever]

I have only myself to blame but I don’t listen to full albums like I used to. Bitd we had a bunch of guys who would listen to a new album together. We’d pass the album jacket around and read the liner notes. And then someone would pull their weed out their pocket and use the jacket to de-seed the weed. Album jackets were great for that.

Albums or frisbees. Sounds like my UConn years in Wright B.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Social media has created a compare culture where they always are being force fed trends and have to choose not if they follow, but what to follow. It’s social suicide if you think differently.

But bucking social media trends feels so good!

As someone who has worked hard over the last decade or so towards improvement my mindfulness/single-task/presence/what you will, social media, IMO, is the #1 killjoy.

Comparison is the #1 that crushes contentment/happiness, and I've noticed a huge correlation of my mood in relation to how much time I spend on Instagram (I don't have FaceBook), but I'm sure some of you have noticed that it got markedly worse when it added TikTok-esque capabilities.

On a music standpoint, artists simply don’t have to grind as much anymore to earn a deal.

Previously, if you were a legit artist you had to prove you can actually make great music to earn a deal and they developed you as an artist.

Today they are looking for viral sensations and don’t invest in artist development as much anymore.

Streams are causing artists to make less money than ever while not cultivating real fan bases to be able to tour with… it’s a completely broken system.

That and it's getting harder and harder for artists to make a living...where can an artist without financial backing work and even afford a cheap apartment? I remember about 10-15 years the band Beach House shared a quote how Baltimore is one of the few cities that has a thriving art scene where an artist can actually afford to live.

My wife has been a studio artist for over 20 years now, but she feels so much freedom in the creation of her work because her art making does not need to be a reliable source of income for our family. We're both teachers and while she might sell a few pieces a year, she doesn't feel that pressure to sell/promote/advertise that working artists in the area need to do. It's gotten to the point that the highest grossing selling artists in the NYC/Northeast are almost entirely backed by investors, and those investors take a major cut in sales. Art sales isn't about skill, it's about who is represented because the people who can afford art are mostly told what to buy.

 

[Jaydumo20]

But bucking social media trends feels so good!

As someone who has worked hard over the last decade or so towards improvement my mindfulness/single-task/presence/what you will, social media, IMO, is the #1 killjoy.

Comparison is the #1 that crushes contentment/happiness, and I've noticed a huge correlation of my mood in relation to how much time I spend on Instagram (I don't have FaceBook), but I'm sure some of you have noticed that it got markedly worse when it added TikTok-esque capabilities.


That and it's getting harder and harder for artists to make a living...where can an artist without financial backing work and even afford a cheap apartment? I remember about 10-15 years the band Beach House shared a quote how Baltimore is one of the few cities that has a thriving art scene where an artist can actually afford to live.

My wife has been a studio artist for over 20 years now, but she feels so much freedom in the creation of her work because her art making does not need to be a reliable source of income for our family. We're both teachers and while she might sell a few pieces a year, she doesn't feel that pressure to sell/promote/advertise that working artists in the area need to do. It's gotten to the point that the highest grossing selling artists in the NYC/Northeast are almost entirely backed by investors, and those investors take a major cut in sales. Art sales isn't about skill, it's about who is represented because the people who can afford art are mostly told what to buy.

Neil Degrasse Tyson has predicted that the internet is going the way of spam and junk mail. Just a flood of ads and click bait nonsense we have to sift through. In turn many of us will revert to human interaction and the check-for-dagger all wrist handshake.

 

[Waquoit]

I have only myself to blame but I don’t listen to full albums like I used to. Bitd we had a bunch of guys who would listen to a new album together. We’d pass the album jacket around and read the liner notes. And then someone would pull their weed out their pocket and use the jacket to de-seed the weed. Album jackets were great for that.

Same here, maybe I'd listen to an entire album at the beach once in awhile. But since I bought my first turntable a year ago, I'm back to playing entire sides and albums. It's worth it, I'm having a blast. Lots of good stuff in the dollar boxes.

 

[HW611]

Art sales isn't about skill, it's about who is represented because the people who can afford art are mostly told what to buy.

Unfortunately, I think this is true in almost all areas of art these days. Even in music.