Their Coke Bottles Never Broke (Old Age Always Overcomes Youth & Skill)

JSOnline ^ | August 19, 2008 | Sharif Durhams

[Diana in Wisconsin]

(College freshmen haven’t experienced soft drinks in glass)

For 18-year-olds entering college this fall, Walt Disney World has always had competition from Universal Studios in Orlando.

No glass bottles of Coke or Pepsi for these teens. Aside from the retro bottles, these soft drinks have always come in recycled plastic.

And, oh, how the technology has advanced. Not only did Windows 3.0 come out the year before these teens were born, but shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.

Beloit College released today this year's version of its Mindset List; a collection of 60 cultural waypoints originally designed to help the college's professors understand where the incoming students are coming from.

Now folks from around the country look to the list each year to see how times have changed.

Multiculturalism and environmentalism have always been a large part of life for those born in 1990 and later, said Ron Nief, the school's public affairs director and one of the people who assemble the annual list.

Also, items many older folks consider high-tech are commonplace for these teens. A decade ago, Nief notes, some college students were just giving up pay phones. Colleges were installing phone lines in individual dorm rooms for the first time.

Now students who enter school don't even know why the phone lines are there, Nief said. Many haven't used a landline in years.

"Technology is such a part of their lives, they don't even recognize it," Nief said.

Some other list highlights:

• Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team. The character was created in 1990.

• GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available.

• Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.

• Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.

• We have always known that "All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten."

• There have always been gay rabbis.

• Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.

• "The Tonight Show" has always been hosted by Jay Leno.

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Why of course it means the 1971 typewriter with Times New Roman 11 pitch proportional kerned font! It did superscripts, too, rather nice!

Courage!

[dalereed]

That’s after they raised the rice! I remember the one in Glendale, CA when McDonalds “hamburgers” (if you dare call them that) were 13 cents each or $1/dozen.

Over priced crap then, overpriced crap now!

[dalereed]

It’s a typewriter that couldn’t keep up with my mother.

She typed 186 words a minute on a manual.

When she worked as financial sec. @ Lytton S&L they had to buy her another typewriter because the selectrics would jam up.

[Freedumb]

Waiting for the first whippersnapper to ask what Selectric means.......

I know what a Selectric is. That is the typewriter that Lt. Col. Killian used in 1972-3 to type the memos that described how George W. Bush was not fulfilling his National Guard duties and was essentially AWOL at that time. These memos were heroically made public by Dan Rather and his able assistant - Mary Mapes on the eve of the 2004 election.

Of course every local National Guard unit located in the middle of Podunk, TX had a $4,000 (over $20,000 in today's dollars) typewriter on base at that time.

[DBrow]

The problem with my Selectric was I never knew the frequency.

[weegee]

The frequency of Dan/Kenneth’s appearances on tv have been greatly reduced and for this we can all be thankful. He goes out in the history books debunked as a man making false claims about his political enemies. The same yoke the Left saddled on Senator Joseph McCarthy...

[Polynikes]

“I bet neither of you have seen a ditto machine. :-D”

Never seen one but hear them all the time when they call Rush:)

I remember fluoroscopes in shoe stores so minimum wage clerks could irradiate your feet to show your parents how well your new shoes fit. I always thought it was nice of the store to make your shoes easy to find in the dark. :~)

[papasmurf]

I ate at those as a teenager. LOL

Hmmm...Some I can make out

56 Fairlane
54 Ford
52-53 Packard
57 Chrysler Convertible?
49 Plymouth?
53 Olds Convertible?

[papasmurf]

A 10 key
Rotary calculator
Reclaimed oil
Blue Chip stamps
S&H Green Stamps
4 & 8 track
Distributors & Points
Hitchhiking was normal and everywhere

hahahaha

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I loved my Selectric! I had the one that had interchangeable fonts, so I was always asked to type up special projects and awards.

I was one valuable ‘Admin Babe’ back then, LOL!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Re-set the Garmin, Dude! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

‘S&H Green Stamps’

Mom & Grandma LIVED for filling up those stamp books. If we kids were good, we got to lick the stamps and paste them in. (Nasty job, actually!)

I remember that we had lots of tacky “Home Decor” earned with those stamps. ;)

[Maceman]

Why of course it means the 1971 typewriter with Times New Roman 11 pitch proportional kerned font! It did superscripts, too, rather nice!

Actually, in 1971, IBM did have a Selectric typewriter that could do that. It was a computerized typesetting machine called the IBM MTSC (Magnetic Tape Selectric Composer).

I know because I was editor-in-chief of my college newspaper, and when this system hit the market, we acquired one and started doing our own in-house typesetting and production.

It consisted of two units actually (only one shown in the picture). The first unit was an input unit, where you would basically type and code on a modified Selectric typewriter, and the keystrokes would be captured on a magnetic tape. Then a second output unit, which actually did have kerned font balls, would read the tape and automatically type. When the coding called for italic, bold, superscript or other effect, the output unit would stop so that the operator could manually change the fonts.

As I recall, it sold for around $14,000 at the time, and required a week-long on-site training program by IBM.

After I graduated college in 1972, I supported myself for a time as a professional typesetter on this equipment because it was pretty commonly used at professional "type houses" (yes, there were such typesetting businesses).

[mkjessup]

That’s after they raised the rice!

I know, the cheapskates went from long grain to short grain, and the quality of the soy sauce went down as well. (sigh)

I remember the one in Glendale, CA when McDonalds “hamburgers” (if you dare call them that) were 13 cents each or $1/dozen. Over priced crap then, overpriced crap now!

So I assume you didn't like the toys in the Happy Meals either? LOL ;)

[mkjessup]

56 Fairlane
54 Ford
52-53 Packard
57 Chrysler Convertible?
49 Plymouth?
53 Olds Convertible?

You have a good eye Papa! How 'bout this?

It's got nothin' to do with McDonald's, but like the cars, they sure built them more solid back then (and I don't mean the dog! lol)

[Vermont Lt]

At the very end, it references the deaths of Jim henson and Sammy Davis Jr. They both died the week my daughter was born. She started college this summer, two days after graduating from high school (not MY idea...)

I recall watching the Berlin wall coming down while my wife was pregnant with her.

I remember watching the first Gulf War holding my colicky girl in my arms.

That was just yesterday, wasn’t it. Where does the time go?

[Vermont Lt]

How about Black and White Film?

I still process it in my cellar darkroom. My kids’ friends are amazed by the magic.

They take a picture with a film camera and wonder where they can look to see how it came out.

[DBrow]

Fascinating! I meet the most interesting people here!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“That was just yesterday, wasn’t it. Where does the time go?”

‘Time is a very precious gift of God; so precious that it’s only given to us moment by moment.’ ~ Amelia Barr :)

I know how you feel. My boys will be 23, 22 and 21 this year. I still have their Kindergarten artwork displayed in some places around the house. A friend will comment upon seeing a crayon drawing of a pony and a rainbow, “Oh, that’s adorable! How old is your child?”

And I’ll say, “Twenty-one!” LOL!

[Hyzenthlay]

Yeah, same here, only I first ran into it on a trip to NYC - and there’s also some trendy new soda line that sells soda made using real sugar in glass bottles now. I had some of their cream soda at Panera last night, and it was pretty amazing.