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General Category => Off the Record => Topic started by: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:41:15 PM

Title: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:41:15 PM
Stolen from a German website who probably stole it from somewhere else, and it feels incomplete, anyways.

Technical stuff kids of today probably won't encounter/experience anymore - unlike most of us here:

- creating an audio mix tape
- related: using portable cassette players (Walkman)
- paying extra for not rewinding the videotape they rented
- dropping off a photographic film for development
- slideshows with real, photographic slides (we still have 10 or 20 thousand from my dad :P )
- trouble finding the right cable to connect a peripheral to a computer (yay USB)
- using floppy disks for, well, anything
- using DOS command prompt to start or configure programs
- arcade game halls (Pacman etc.)
- telephones with rotating dial
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:49:24 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?

That's kinda like linguistics - most people will agree on what the letter "A" stands for these days, but few will know that it probably used to be an rendition of a cow's head and used to signify "ox", i.e. aleph.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Malthus on July 27, 2011, 12:50:19 PM
Two I've done which seem positively antediluvian these days:

- Correcting errors made on a manual typewriter with liquid paper.

- Using punchcards for computers.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 12:51:48 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?

Or how are people who live in high rises supposed to know that the little house represents your home page?
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:54:07 PM
Oh, I have a good one: at school, we sometimes still used to get worksheets copied via Hectography (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hectograph).

The sheets always had the teacher's writing in purple, and smelled of solvents. :mmm:
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: DontSayBanana on July 27, 2011, 12:58:04 PM
Of those, video game arcades are the one thing I'd say I actually miss.  Going into what currently passes for an "arcade" is just depressing- there's maybe a fighting game or two, a GunCon game or two, some flavor of Dance Dance Revolution, some flavor of Guitar Hero, and the rest of the games (except skiball, where applicable), which make up the overwhelming majority, are some form of casino-ish game of chance to win tickets.

Rotary-dial telephones, I do not miss.  It was so awkward when my parents had to explain to me why I couldn't call "vote-by-phone" TV numbers.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Josquius on July 27, 2011, 12:58:05 PM
Surely in the present and for the forseeable future dos prompts will still exist?
Dosbox guis aren't that great and automated yet and even people who were too young to play old games first time around often get curious.

Telephones with a dial- try telephones plugged into the wall. It seems ever more people don't bother with landlines.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 01:01:10 PM
Firing the Swedish K. :(
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: HisMajestyBOB on July 27, 2011, 01:02:39 PM
Dial-up modems.
My dad still has several sitting in a cabinet. They're ancient relics now.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 01:03:39 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on July 27, 2011, 01:02:39 PM
Dial-up modems.
My dad still has several sitting in a cabinet. They're ancient relics now.

Yi hates you.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Sahib on July 27, 2011, 01:04:55 PM
Quote from: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:41:15 PM
Stolen from a German website who probably stole it from somewhere else, and it feels incomplete, anyways.

Perhaps it was stolen from here:
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/100-things-your-kids-may-never-know-about/ (http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/100-things-your-kids-may-never-know-about/)
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 01:06:07 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 01:03:39 PM
Yi hates you.

Bob's OK.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: HisMajestyBOB on July 27, 2011, 01:56:35 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 01:03:39 PM
Quote from: HisMajestyBOB on July 27, 2011, 01:02:39 PM
Dial-up modems.
My dad still has several sitting in a cabinet. They're ancient relics now.

Yi hates you.

:(

Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 01:06:07 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 01:03:39 PM
Yi hates you.

Bob's OK.

:)
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Norgy on July 27, 2011, 01:59:16 PM
Using rabbit ears to get a tv signal and then banging the wooden frame of the tv set to get a better one.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
I've done all of these things except the punch cards listed by M. I feel ancient. :weep:
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: KRonn on July 27, 2011, 02:31:35 PM
Quote from: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:41:15 PM

- telephones with rotating dial
I still have a rotary dial phone. I keep it in my cellar, half for kicks but also so I can hear the phone ring when I'm down there. I never use it to dial out so never bother with replacing it with something new - and I like the touch of old time tech.    :cool:
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 02:33:06 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
I've done all of these things except the punch cards listed by M.

Really? :)
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Malthus on July 27, 2011, 02:34:25 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
I've done all of these things except the punch cards listed by M. I feel ancient. :weep:

With a cardboard box full of punchcards, you could get the computer to print out a calender with a picture of Snoopy in "Xs" and "Os".  ;)
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:35:37 PM
Quote from: Malthus on July 27, 2011, 02:34:25 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
I've done all of these things except the punch cards listed by M. I feel ancient. :weep:

With a cardboard box full of punchcards, you could get the computer to print out a calender with a picture of Snoopy in "Xs" and "Os".  ;)

Yeah sounds...not worth it. -_-
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:36:00 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 27, 2011, 02:33:06 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
I've done all of these things except the punch cards listed by M.

Really? :)

I don't know what shenanigans you are up to...<_<
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Malthus on July 27, 2011, 02:45:13 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:35:37 PM
Quote from: Malthus on July 27, 2011, 02:34:25 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 27, 2011, 02:12:01 PM
I've done all of these things except the punch cards listed by M. I feel ancient. :weep:

With a cardboard box full of punchcards, you could get the computer to print out a calender with a picture of Snoopy in "Xs" and "Os".  ;)

Yeah sounds...not worth it. -_-

At the time (the 70s), it seemed totally cool. A machine was making a picture!!!!!111oneone

Then Space Invaders came out in the early 80s, which was a hundred times as cool.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Ed Anger on July 27, 2011, 04:40:16 PM
Quote- trouble finding the right cable to connect a peripheral to a computer (yay USB)
- using floppy disks for, well, anything
- using DOS command prompt to start or configure programs

I know of a local firm out in the sticks still running early 90's computers and dot matrix printers. They are fun to work with.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Fate on July 27, 2011, 04:49:42 PM
Quote from: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:41:15 PM

- arcade game halls (Pacman etc.)


Those still widely exist in the US at family oriented pizza joints, pool halls, and bowling alleys. Maybe not Pacman, but games like Area 51, Terminator, Dance Dance Revolution, etc.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Tonitrus on July 27, 2011, 04:58:00 PM
I can confirm as recently as a couple weeks ago, that a Washington State ferry still has its classic Pacman machine.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Razgovory on July 27, 2011, 05:47:51 PM
Hand-cranked magneto car ignition.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Siege on July 27, 2011, 06:06:46 PM
This is ridiculous.
Having nostalgia about obsolete technology is a negative personality trait.

Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Norgy on July 27, 2011, 06:11:53 PM
Quote from: mongers on July 27, 2011, 05:57:50 PM
How about day to day car maintenance or emergency repairs involving things like distributor caps, setting points or adjusting a carburettor; would younger people know what these were ? :unsure:

Not if they avoided British-made cars, no.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Siege on July 27, 2011, 06:38:35 PM
Quote from: mongers on July 27, 2011, 06:14:58 PM
Quote from: Siege on July 27, 2011, 06:06:46 PM
This is ridiculous.
Having nostalgia about obsolete technology is a negative personality trait.

So what sort of car are you going to try to get running following terrorists expolding a huge EMP weapon, the one with obsolete technology or the modern car with the microprocessor controlled ignition and fuel control system ?   :P


Fantasy. Such a thing will never happen.
There isn't an EMP weapon large enough to blackout the entire world.
And the damage is not permanet. And military vehicles are EMP proof.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: DontSayBanana on July 27, 2011, 06:50:17 PM
Quote from: Siege on July 27, 2011, 06:06:46 PM
This is ridiculous.
Having nostalgia about obsolete technology superstitions is a negative personality trait.

FYPFY.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Ed Anger on July 27, 2011, 07:20:20 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 27, 2011, 06:11:53 PM
Quote from: mongers on July 27, 2011, 05:57:50 PM
How about day to day car maintenance or emergency repairs involving things like distributor caps, setting points or adjusting a carburettor; would younger people know what these were ? :unsure:

Not if they avoided British-made cars, no.

lolz. Vauxhall.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Richard Hakluyt on July 27, 2011, 07:30:02 PM
What's wrong with General Motors  :hmm: ?

Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Ed Anger on July 27, 2011, 07:32:31 PM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 27, 2011, 07:30:02 PM
What's wrong with General Motors  :hmm: ?

In the 80's? Everything.

Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Ed Anger on July 27, 2011, 07:37:10 PM
Speaking of cars, I saw a Pinto on the road today. Haven't seen one of those running in a coon's age.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Richard Hakluyt on July 27, 2011, 07:40:09 PM
When I escaped the NE of England, back in the 70s, I worked for a few weeks at the Ford plant in Dagenham (East London). An amazing experience. Spent a couple of hours a day churning out car parts, the rest of the time was spent playing cards in the changing room and buying/selling things there. I'm sure this was not what the shareholders of Ford had intended when they made their large investment (about 40,000 employees at it's peak)...................what were they thinking of  :hmm: ?
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Caliga on July 27, 2011, 07:41:04 PM
Quote from: Tyr on July 27, 2011, 12:58:05 PM
Surely in the present and for the forseeable future dos prompts will still exist?
Yeah.  I still have to do shit via command prompt on occasion.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Caliga on July 27, 2011, 07:42:08 PM
Quote from: Tonitrus on July 27, 2011, 04:58:00 PM
I can confirm as recently as a couple weeks ago, that a Washington State ferry still has its classic Pacman machine.
The New Jersey (Cape May-Lewes ferry) still has one too, as of last week.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Ed Anger on July 27, 2011, 07:48:23 PM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 27, 2011, 07:40:09 PM
When I escaped the NE of England, back in the 70s, I worked for a few weeks at the Ford plant in Dagenham (East London). An amazing experience. Spent a couple of hours a day churning out car parts, the rest of the time was spent playing cards in the changing room and buying/selling things there. I'm sure this was not what the shareholders of Ford had intended when they made their large investment (about 40,000 employees at it's peak)...................what were they thinking of  :hmm: ?

Sounded like a good job.  :)
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Caliga on July 27, 2011, 07:49:27 PM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 27, 2011, 07:40:09 PM
When I escaped the NE of England, back in the 70s, I worked for a few weeks at the Ford plant in Dagenham (East London). An amazing experience. Spent a couple of hours a day churning out car parts, the rest of the time was spent playing cards in the changing room and buying/selling things there. I'm sure this was not what the shareholders of Ford had intended when they made their large investment (about 40,000 employees at it's peak)...................what were they thinking of  :hmm: ?
Meh, they should have known better if they were running operations in Britain. :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 08:08:52 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 12:51:48 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?

Or how are people who live in high rises supposed to know that the little house represents your home page?

They have seen houses, there are houses in the world. There isn't many diskettes left anymore.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Duque de Bragança on July 27, 2011, 08:48:17 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 08:08:52 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 12:51:48 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?


Or how are people who live in high rises supposed to know that the little house represents your home page?

They have seen houses, there are houses in the world. There isn't many diskettes left anymore.

Guess what, one used to save or even play games from tapes/cassettes. The same ones used by the Walkman...
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 27, 2011, 09:24:12 PM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on July 27, 2011, 08:48:17 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 08:08:52 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 12:51:48 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?


Or how are people who live in high rises supposed to know that the little house represents your home page?

They have seen houses, there are houses in the world. There isn't many diskettes left anymore.

Guess what, one used to save or even play games from tapes/cassettes. The same ones used by the Walkman...

Which has no relevance to what he said. :o
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Barrister on July 27, 2011, 10:35:01 PM
How about typing in a computer game code from a magazine in order to play a game...

I bought my kid one of those classic Fisher Price toy phones.  I realized that as it was a rotary phone my kid will have no idea what it is supposed to represent.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Razgovory on July 27, 2011, 10:55:37 PM
Quote from: Barrister on July 27, 2011, 10:35:01 PM
How about typing in a computer game code from a magazine in order to play a game...

I bought my kid one of those classic Fisher Price toy phones.  I realized that as it was a rotary phone my kid will have no idea what it is supposed to represent.

Do Consoles still use cheat codes?  I honestly don't know.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: DGuller on July 27, 2011, 11:06:15 PM
Young people today don't know what it's like to get 5 AOL CDs in a month in mail.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Syt on July 27, 2011, 11:12:26 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 27, 2011, 10:55:37 PM
Quote from: Barrister on July 27, 2011, 10:35:01 PM
How about typing in a computer game code from a magazine in order to play a game...

I bought my kid one of those classic Fisher Price toy phones.  I realized that as it was a rotary phone my kid will have no idea what it is supposed to represent.

Do Consoles still use cheat codes?  I honestly don't know.

He means whole programs that you had to type off the pages of computer mags in the days when computer games didn't come with floppies, CDs or DVDs.

A German computer tv show also distributed software to their viewers - at the end of the show they would play a computer software tape via audio. You could record it with your normal tape recorder and then use this program on your computer.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Camerus on July 27, 2011, 11:25:14 PM
Quote from: DGuller on July 27, 2011, 11:06:15 PM
Young people today don't know what it's like to get 5 AOL CDs in a month in mail.

Or for that matter, the AOL floppy disks.  I used to erase them and use them for my own files.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Razgovory on July 27, 2011, 11:28:01 PM
Quote from: Syt on July 27, 2011, 11:12:26 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 27, 2011, 10:55:37 PM
Quote from: Barrister on July 27, 2011, 10:35:01 PM
How about typing in a computer game code from a magazine in order to play a game...

I bought my kid one of those classic Fisher Price toy phones.  I realized that as it was a rotary phone my kid will have no idea what it is supposed to represent.

Do Consoles still use cheat codes?  I honestly don't know.

He means whole programs that you had to type off the pages of computer mags in the days when computer games didn't come with floppies, CDs or DVDs.

A German computer tv show also distributed software to their viewers - at the end of the show they would play a computer software tape via audio. You could record it with your normal tape recorder and then use this program on your computer.

Eh, I didn't get a computer till the 1990's.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Barrister on July 27, 2011, 11:59:07 PM
What Syt said.  I remember typing out games on my Apple II (and you guys wonder when I became an Apple fan) that came in magazines...
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:24:35 AM
I came in magazines in the 80s.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Barrister on July 28, 2011, 01:18:15 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:24:35 AM
I came in magazines in the 80s.

I sure hope those were a different kind of magazines...
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Caliga on July 28, 2011, 06:45:15 AM
Quote from: Barrister on July 27, 2011, 11:59:07 PM
What Syt said.  I remember typing out games on my Apple II (and you guys wonder when I became an Apple fan) that came in magazines...
Did that with my Commodore 64.  COMPUTE!'s Gazette :wub:
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: FunkMonk on July 28, 2011, 06:55:49 AM
Quote from: DGuller on July 27, 2011, 11:06:15 PM
Young people today don't know what it's like to get 5 AOL CDs in a month in mail.

Ahh, the free coasters. I forgot about those.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Larch on July 28, 2011, 07:36:55 AM
One thing that is more a change of habits due to technology than a technological experience per se is calling a buddy to their home landline. Nowadays I only call people at their cellphones rather than at their houses. The only people that call me at my landline nowadays are my mother and telemarketers.
This habit change has also created a pet peeve of mine in my friend group, phoning or messaging you to do something RAIT NAO. What happened with planning stuff ahead?

It's also been ages since I last used a floppy disk. At the office our computers still have disk drives, but nobody uses them anymore. The IT guys told me that they wanted to phase out disk drives for our newer units but some old farts resisted the change so they still had to provide at least a few units with them.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 07:39:45 AM
Quote from: The Larch on July 28, 2011, 07:36:55 AM
One thing that is more a change of habits due to technology than a technological experience per se is calling a buddy to their home landline. Nowadays I only call people at their cellphones rather than at their houses. The only people that call me at my landline nowadays are my mother and telemarketers.
This habit change has also created a pet peeve of mine in my friend group, phoning or messaging you to do something RAIT NAO. What happened with planning stuff ahead?

It's also been ages since I last used a floppy disk. At the office our computers still have disk drives, but nobody uses them anymore. The IT guys told me that they wanted to phase out disk drives for our newer units but some old farts resisted the change so they still had to provide at least a few units with them.

Haven't had a landline in years and I haven't seen a floppy drive in even more years.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Josephus on July 28, 2011, 07:40:04 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on July 27, 2011, 08:48:17 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 08:08:52 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on July 27, 2011, 12:51:48 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on July 27, 2011, 12:43:42 PM
You know what I find funny?

How we represent saving in computer programs by an diskette icon.

How are you suppose to know that means saving if you've never seen a diskette?


Or how are people who live in high rises supposed to know that the little house represents your home page?

They have seen houses, there are houses in the world. There isn't many diskettes left anymore.

Guess what, one used to save or even play games from tapes/cassettes. The same ones used by the Walkman...

That's what I learned on. I actually remember my first, and only, computer science class in Grade 12 back in like the mid-80s. There were about 8 IBMs in the back of the classroom and ONE tape recorder taht the teacher would wheel on a trolley from one PC to the next for us to save our work on.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 07:41:19 AM
Quote from: The Larch on July 28, 2011, 07:36:55 AMThe only people that call me at my landline nowadays are my mother and telemarketers.

Which is why I don't have a phone set hooked to the landline. It's there just for DSL.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Larch on July 28, 2011, 07:41:48 AM
Another curious change of habits related to technological advance is the change of pace in office work. My father, who is still in his late 50s but has been an old man at heart for ages, constantly reminisces about the good old times in which there were no computers at the office, and when you were asked for something the deadlines were of weeks or months, and you had to check up piles and piles of documents to find references of stuff, when nowadays they're of hours or days and information is just a few clicks away.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Josephus on July 28, 2011, 07:48:17 AM
I remember a summer job I had back in 88 or 89 and being in awe of the fax machine. "I just got a fax from Finland!"
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Ed Anger on July 28, 2011, 07:56:43 AM
I personally dislike the over reliance on tech nowadays. When I see 20 year olds unable to figure out 6% sales tax without a calculator/cell phone/app, I want to strangle them.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Larch on July 28, 2011, 07:58:12 AM
Quote from: Josephus on July 28, 2011, 07:48:17 AM
I remember a summer job I had back in 88 or 89 and being in awe of the fax machine. "I just got a fax from Finland!"

Heh, my mother worked for a British company since the mid 70s and when she started they didn't even have a direct phone line to their offices, phone calls had to be routed through the nearest village switchboard operator and getting a call to or from their central offices was a small odissey. Then they got a switchboard operator for their company alone. Then at some point in the early 80s they got a telex and my mother swears that everybody was amazed at such a technological breakthrough.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 28, 2011, 08:34:21 AM
The business cards for my company list a fax number along with our direct lines. However, no one actually knows if there is actually a fax machine somewhere connected to that number.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Valdemar on July 28, 2011, 08:39:26 AM
My card lists a direct fixed line number, but in the 3,5 years I've been here I have never had a phone on my desk. I asume that anyone calling the number is autodirected to my cell without ever having been through a land line :D

V
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Brazen on July 28, 2011, 08:42:20 AM
Today's youth have never had to wait five minutes for the TV to warm up, watched just three channels, have broadcast finish at the end of the night then switched it off until just a white dot and the smell of static remains. Or have to wait three weeks for a repair man to turn up with a new valve.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: derspiess on July 28, 2011, 09:27:33 AM
Quote from: garbon on July 28, 2011, 08:34:21 AM
The business cards for my company list a fax number along with our direct lines. However, no one actually knows if there is actually a fax machine somewhere connected to that number.

I still use a fax machine pretty heavily.  I have an electronic fax number to receive incoming faxes & send them to my email address as PDF attachments.  But as I lack a scanner at my desk, I often have to use our ancient POS fax machine.

We have several clients who do not have voicemail-- that is a major pain in the ass.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Warspite on July 28, 2011, 09:32:59 AM
Quote from: DGuller on July 27, 2011, 11:06:15 PM
Young people today don't know what it's like to get 5 AOL CDs in a month in mail.

Yes. Now I have to pay for my drinks coasters.  <_<
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: HVC on July 28, 2011, 09:54:55 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.
Please type = block letters FYI


:P
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 10:01:00 AM
Quote from: HVC on July 28, 2011, 09:54:55 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.
Please type = block letters FYI


:P

:D Well I suppose it's possible that he's a complete moron.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 28, 2011, 10:15:42 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.

I only use a scanner at work. ^_^
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:35:50 AM
Quote from: Josephus on July 28, 2011, 07:48:17 AM
I remember a summer job I had back in 88 or 89 and being in awe of the fax machine. "I just got a fax from Finland!"

Had to laugh, I remember the first time I saw a fax.  I think it was 87 or 88.  A professor brought in a lengthy fax he had recieved from Australia overnight.  He was very excited about the new technology and told us it would change the world.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:38:17 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.

I suppose if you dont care about knowing for certain that the communication was recieved you would not use a fax.  But in most of the civilized world things like being certain a communication was recieved and having the ability to demonstrate that fact still count for something.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 10:43:16 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:38:17 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.

I suppose if you dont care about knowing for certain that the communication was recieved you would not use a fax.  But in most of the civilized world things like being certain a communication was recieved and having the ability to demonstrate that fact still count for something.

OK, Luddite.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 28, 2011, 10:49:47 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:38:17 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.

I suppose if you dont care about knowing for certain that the communication was recieved you would not use a fax.  But in most of the civilized world things like being certain a communication was recieved and having the ability to demonstrate that fact still count for something.

When I send a document in the e-mail, the recipient can write me back that they got it.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Syt on July 28, 2011, 11:21:48 AM
Quote from: Brazen on July 28, 2011, 08:42:20 AM
Today's youth have never [. . .] watched just three channels, have broadcast finish at the end of the night [. . .]

Good one. Hell, it was a major occasion when tv showed Ben Hur or Dr Zhivago.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:28:10 AM
Quote from: garbon on July 28, 2011, 10:49:47 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:38:17 AM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 09:34:53 AM
In my experience only the third world (the US and Africa) used fax machines after 2000.

Hell a colleague even came across a US government form that had to be filled out with a typewriter. Who the fuck has had a typewriter since the 80s? Luckily we worked at an old company and he could find one in the basement.

US = laughing stock.

I suppose if you dont care about knowing for certain that the communication was recieved you would not use a fax.  But in most of the civilized world things like being certain a communication was recieved and having the ability to demonstrate that fact still count for something.

When I send a document in the e-mail, the recipient can write me back that they got it.

Yes they can. But what if they dont?

Just this week a regulatory body failed to communicate its decision to all the parties using email because they didnt use someone's propery email address.  That is just one of many things that can go wrong with email.

With a fax you know immediately if it didnt go through to the intended recipient - but I suppose this is one of those technological things that is lost on younger people.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: HVC on July 28, 2011, 11:33:56 AM
There's a confirmation of receipt option on emails. But i agree, in many cases faxes are better.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:37:41 AM
Quote from: HVC on July 28, 2011, 11:33:56 AM
There's a confirmation of receipt option on emails. But i agree, in many cases faxes are better.

Again yes if the person actually uses it.  They can choose not to.  So if you dont get the confirmation you dont know if a) they just have not looked at it yet for whatever reason; b) they have choosen not to confirm reciept for whatever reason; c) the email has not yet arrived for whatever reason.

For some types of communication - ie the important kind - that sort of uncertainty is generally not acceptable.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: HVC on July 28, 2011, 11:41:16 AM
Even then you might fax the wrong number. Courriers are the nly sure way :D
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Warspite on July 28, 2011, 11:52:08 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:28:10 AM
With a fax you know immediately if it didnt go through to the intended recipient - but I suppose this is one of those technological things that is lost on younger people.

If you send a fax, you have to follow up with the phone call, because there are plenty of things that can stop a fax from getting to its intended recipient. In the times I've used faxes, I've had everything from the wrong person in the office picking up the paper, to a confidential message ending up in the communal machine, to one of those new-fangled machines with memory storing the message even though it had no toner to print, so even with the delivery confirmation, nothing had actually been printed. A lot of modern fax numbers in fact are not fax machines per se, but rather a fax-receiving capability of a network which then get sent to the recipient's e-mail address anyway; I was using this kind of system over ten years ago in my first job.

I've learnt the hard way, if you want something delivered and proof of it, you pay for a courier.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:52:41 AM
Quote from: HVC on July 28, 2011, 11:41:16 AM
Even then you might fax the wrong number. Courriers are the nly sure way :D

If you fax to the wrong number you know as soon as the fax confirmation sheet is printed.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:54:54 AM
Quote from: Warspite on July 28, 2011, 11:52:08 AM
If you send a fax, you have to follow up with the phone call, because there are plenty of things that can stop a fax from getting to its intended recipient.

Couriers are the best option - I agree.

Couriers > fax > email/electronic communication
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 12:08:57 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:38:17 AM
I suppose if you dont care about knowing for certain that the communication was recieved you would not use a fax.  But in most of the civilized world things like being certain a communication was recieved and having the ability to demonstrate that fact still count for something.

I don't know how things work across the Pond but over here in the wild merely sending a fax is no better than sending an email. If you need proof when delivering a document you use a specialized service postal companies provide that has legal value in court.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 28, 2011, 12:10:21 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:28:10 AM
Yes they can. But what if they dont?

Just this week a regulatory body failed to communicate its decision to all the parties using email because they didnt use someone's propery email address.  That is just one of many things that can go wrong with email.

With a fax you know immediately if it didnt go through to the intended recipient - but I suppose this is one of those technological things that is lost on younger people.

Oh, I generally end up asking them if they got it / calling them if they don't respond.

I had to send faxes at my last position. I hated doing it.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:16:49 PM
Quote from: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 12:08:57 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 10:38:17 AM
I suppose if you dont care about knowing for certain that the communication was recieved you would not use a fax.  But in most of the civilized world things like being certain a communication was recieved and having the ability to demonstrate that fact still count for something.

I don't know how things work across the Pond but over here in the wild merely sending a fax is no better than sending an email. If you need proof when delivering a document you use a specialized service postal companies provide that has legal value in court.

You dont have fax confirmation reports that are generated automatically by the machine?
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 12:26:46 PM
That doesn't mean anyone relevant has actually picked up the fax. It is of no more value than the automated server confirmation of delivery for an email.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:34:35 PM
Quote from: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 12:26:46 PM
That doesn't mean anyone relevant has actually picked up the fax. It is of no more value than the automated server confirmation of delivery for an email.

Here, if someone gives you a fax number as a means with which you are able to officially communicate with them sending a document to that number by fax is considered delivery.

The onus is on them to pick it up.  If they do not wish to have that onus then they can decide not to offer fax as a method of delivery.

In your jurisdiction you have to prove that the person to whom the document is addressed has to actually have it in their hands?
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:47:10 PM
 :D In lawyerland actual communication isn't important. Good thing they don't operate nuclear plants.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:51:31 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:47:10 PM
:D In lawyerland actual communication isn't important. Good thing they don't operate nuclear plants.

In nuclearland actual communication is, I assume, not wondering if someone has recieved an email the plant is about to melt down.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:53:04 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:51:31 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:47:10 PM
:D In lawyerland actual communication isn't important. Good thing they don't operate nuclear plants.

In nuclearland actual communication is, I assume, not wondering if someone has recieved an email the plant is about to melt down.

OK, Luddite.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 12:56:05 PM
When someone needs proof that I have read something (safety plans for example) I sign on a piece of paper or electronically. I guess that's the same in Brain's case.

I've never, ever heard of proving something just by firing away a simple fax. Then again, I too work as an engineer, not a lawyer.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 28, 2011, 01:12:35 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:51:31 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:47:10 PM
:D In lawyerland actual communication isn't important. Good thing they don't operate nuclear plants.

In nuclearland actual communication is, I assume, not wondering if someone has recieved an email the plant is about to melt down.

People typically reply to my e-mails and if they don't...screw 'em.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Norgy on July 28, 2011, 01:14:36 PM
I just realised I am probably one of the last people of my family at least to own a whetstone. And an axe, a saw, and a fully supplied tool box. It's not that I am such an immensely practical person, but my generation was perhaps the last to be taught how to use tools properly. Which also accounts for a lot of weird book shelves, mirrors that won't hang properly and general carpentry-gone-wrong.

Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: FunkMonk on July 28, 2011, 02:23:22 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 28, 2011, 01:12:35 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:51:31 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:47:10 PM
:D In lawyerland actual communication isn't important. Good thing they don't operate nuclear plants.

In nuclearland actual communication is, I assume, not wondering if someone has recieved an email the plant is about to melt down.

People typically reply to my e-mails and if they don't...screw 'em.

I'm pretty sure it's proper e-mail etiquette to send a response. I know I get mad if I don't get at least an "Okay" or "Thanks". People need to learn to close the loop on issues.

My work recently installed MS Office Communicator for everyone, which is basically work-sanctioned IM. Pretty handy.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on July 28, 2011, 02:42:56 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 28, 2011, 01:14:36 PM
I just realised I am probably one of the last people of my family at least to own a whetstone. And an axe, a saw, and a fully supplied tool box. It's not that I am such an immensely practical person, but my generation was perhaps the last to be taught how to use tools properly. Which also accounts for a lot of weird book shelves, mirrors that won't hang properly and general carpentry-gone-wrong.

I've a tool box although until recently it had a garlic press in it. :blush:
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Iormlund on July 28, 2011, 03:57:10 PM
I've got a few tools in the car, but I'm not stupid enough to use them unless strictly necessary. That's what the pros are for.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 05:04:24 PM
Quote from: garbon on July 28, 2011, 02:42:56 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 28, 2011, 01:14:36 PM
I just realised I am probably one of the last people of my family at least to own a whetstone. And an axe, a saw, and a fully supplied tool box. It's not that I am such an immensely practical person, but my generation was perhaps the last to be taught how to use tools properly. Which also accounts for a lot of weird book shelves, mirrors that won't hang properly and general carpentry-gone-wrong.

I've a tool box although until recently it had a garlic press in it. :blush:

Now that is the kind of tool I person needs.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Malthus on July 28, 2011, 05:12:47 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 28, 2011, 01:14:36 PM
I just realised I am probably one of the last people of my family at least to own a whetstone. And an axe, a saw, and a fully supplied tool box. It's not that I am such an immensely practical person, but my generation was perhaps the last to be taught how to use tools properly. Which also accounts for a lot of weird book shelves, mirrors that won't hang properly and general carpentry-gone-wrong.

Heh, here in Canada some people I know are seriously into what I could call "hand tool fanboism" - that is, getting seriously into buying really expensive hand-tools for doing jobs generally done by power tools these days.

Check out the Lee Valley catelogue.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/Index.aspx?is=L
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Josephus on July 28, 2011, 06:03:08 PM
Quote from: FunkMonk on July 28, 2011, 02:23:22 PM

I'm pretty sure it's proper e-mail etiquette to send a response. I know I get mad if I don't get at least an "Okay" or "Thanks". People need to learn to close the loop on issues.
[/quote]

You would think? I'm like you on that; and I get very frustrated when people don't reply.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Norgy on July 28, 2011, 06:41:51 PM
At MSN/Microsoft, we had a small sticker on our laptops with a few Achtungs about e-mail etiquette.

From memory.

"E-mails marked with a red ! and addressed to you are to be responded to ASAP and demand action from you
E-mails sent to you with your name in the To field are sent to demand response and action from you
E-mails sent to you with your name in the Copy field are for your information, but may require action later"

People sent a lot of e-mails. And then angry phone calls were made. I felt really bad for Sue in Dublin.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Pedrito on August 03, 2011, 05:10:59 AM
Quote from: Syt on July 27, 2011, 12:41:15 PM
Technical stuff kids of today probably won't encounter/experience anymore - unlike most of us here:

- dropping off a photographic film for development


My kids take pictures with disposable film cameras.

What they *really* enjoy is using an old instant camera I took out of a box in the attic: they absolutely love to take a photo and see it develop in a minute or so, from blank square to fully exposed picture.

About televisions: in my youth days, we had a TV without remote control. Gosh, what a war with my sister to decide who would rise from the couch and change channel.  :D

L.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Slargos on August 03, 2011, 05:18:16 AM
 :lol:

I recall our first VCR. It had a remote connected via a cable. Funny as balls, thinking back on it.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: CountDeMoney on August 03, 2011, 05:35:23 AM
They'll have my rotary phones and my typewriters when they pry away my cold, dead fingers.

My Dad's basement is a museum full of racks of dot-matrix printers, 2400 baud modems, Tandy computers and VCRs. Hell, he still has my grandfather's top-loading VCR from the late '70s. It's the size of a Chevy Caprice.

I fired up my Odyssey2 video system last summer.  Still fucking works.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 06:14:55 AM
Quote from: garbon on July 28, 2011, 02:42:56 PM
Quote from: Norgy on July 28, 2011, 01:14:36 PM
I just realised I am probably one of the last people of my family at least to own a whetstone. And an axe, a saw, and a fully supplied tool box. It's not that I am such an immensely practical person, but my generation was perhaps the last to be taught how to use tools properly. Which also accounts for a lot of weird book shelves, mirrors that won't hang properly and general carpentry-gone-wrong.

I've a tool box although until recently it had a garlic press in it. :blush:
I've got a pink tool box. That's not a euphemism.

Every woman should own a power drill.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: CountDeMoney on August 03, 2011, 06:17:27 AM
Quote from: FunkMonk on July 28, 2011, 02:23:22 PMMy work recently installed MS Office Communicator for everyone, which is basically work-sanctioned IM. Pretty handy.

Yeah, that thing is great.  I am: BUSY
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Zanza on August 03, 2011, 06:41:47 AM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 11:28:10 AM
Just this week a regulatory body failed to communicate its decision to all the parties using email because they didnt use someone's propery email address.  That is just one of many things that can go wrong with email.

With a fax you know immediately if it didnt go through to the intended recipient - but I suppose this is one of those technological things that is lost on younger people.
A correctly configured email server will also inform you that it couldn't deliver an email. But I suppose this is one of those technological things that is lost on older people.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: garbon on August 03, 2011, 09:10:27 AM
Quote from: Brazen on August 03, 2011, 06:14:55 AM
Every woman should own a power drill.

Is that a euphemism?
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: Neil on August 03, 2011, 10:40:15 AM
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on July 27, 2011, 07:40:09 PM
When I escaped the NE of England, back in the 70s, I worked for a few weeks at the Ford plant in Dagenham (East London). An amazing experience. Spent a couple of hours a day churning out car parts, the rest of the time was spent playing cards in the changing room and buying/selling things there. I'm sure this was not what the shareholders of Ford had intended when they made their large investment (about 40,000 employees at it's peak)...................what were they thinking of  :hmm: ?
I'm sure they got all sorts of breaks from Labour in exchange for not laying everybody off.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: derspiess on August 03, 2011, 12:12:06 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on August 03, 2011, 06:17:27 AM
Quote from: FunkMonk on July 28, 2011, 02:23:22 PMMy work recently installed MS Office Communicator for everyone, which is basically work-sanctioned IM. Pretty handy.

Yeah, that thing is great.  I am: BUSY

Also great in that you get to diss co-workers you don't like by refusing to let them add you as a contact.


What's not so great: people who add 'notes' to their statuses with some empty inspirational phrase.  And have their font set to red 22pt. italicized comic sans serif.
Title: Re: Technological experiences current youths won't make anymore
Post by: alfred russel on August 03, 2011, 05:32:34 PM
Quote from: crazy canuck on July 28, 2011, 12:51:31 PM
Quote from: The Brain on July 28, 2011, 12:47:10 PM
:D In lawyerland actual communication isn't important. Good thing they don't operate nuclear plants.

In nuclearland actual communication is, I assume, not wondering if someone has recieved an email the plant is about to melt down.

I doubt that they fax communications to each other if the plant is about to melt down--getting a fax confirmation seems something to check a box on a legal formality but not much else.