I miss the 1990's

[Paolo]

The 90's were a great time to grow up. We never had the distraction of cellphones, smart phones face book or twitter or net flicks we actually enjoyed talking to people, playing outside instead of online, going for walks, actually picking up the phone to talk to our friend instead of texting then, actually going to a store to shop instead of clicking a button, having a 2-way conversation instead of posting a status update. Boy the world has changed not necessarily for the better

 

[Johnny Au]

The 90's were a great time to grow up. We never had the distraction of cellphones, smart phones face book or twitter or net flicks we actually enjoyed talking to people, playing outside instead of online, going for walks, actually picking up the phone to talk to our friend instead of texting then, actually going to a store to shop instead of clicking a button, having a 2-way conversation instead of posting a status update. Boy the world has changed not necessarily for the better

That was a much better time. Good thing my childhood was in the 1990s. Knee-jerk reactions were much rarer back then and most opinions sent to news media were in the form of letters (and yes, letters tended to be much more polite and well-thought than online posts). People were more fit as well.

 

[doady]

True enough. It seems the video drivers and processor needed for gaming grew in capability and resource demands at exponential rates from the late 1980s until the end of the 1990s when most gaming moved to consoles.

Interestingly, the growth in processor speed has pretty much plateaued this last decade. The iMac G5 I bought in 2004 only became obsolete in 2014 due to discontinuation of OSX support. Otherwise it would keep running today. I expect to keep its replacement, a Dell mini tower until at least 2020.

View attachment 41932

That graph only shows Intel CPUs thoguh. If you want higher clock speed you need AMD CPUs. They are far more powerful than Intel CPUs as a result. They consume a lot less electricity as well.

 

[torontojays]

I remember getting my first cell phone when I was 16 years old. It was a Nokia 5110 and I could change the face plates!

Face plates were the previous incarnations of phone cases! No protective cases were necessary back then, phones were built like bricks
My first phone was the Nokia 8190/8290

 

[Michael1985]

Best part about the 90s in Toronto was MuchMusic and the fact that there was no social media!

 

[wild goose chase]

It closed a few years back, but does anyone who grew up in the 90s ever remember going to this, which was like a knock-off version of Chuck E. Cheese's?

 

[Skeezix]

Best part about the 90s in Toronto was MuchMusic [...]

Yes! MuchMusic at its peak, with Erica Ehm, Speaker's Corner, Electric Circus, broadcasting from the sidewalk at Queen and John, relatively eclectic play lists (compared to anything these days), etc. And it was so, so much better than MTV in the States, which just seemed to play Undressed and The Real World over and over again on rotation.

That and CFNY in the 1980s.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Yes! MuchMusic at its peak, with Erica Ehm, Speaker's Corner, Electric Circus, broadcasting from the sidewalk at Queen and John, relatively eclectic play lists (compared to anything these days), etc. And it was so, so much better than MTV in the States, which just seemed to play Undressed and The Real World over and over again on rotation.

That and CFNY in the 1980s.

Yeah, MM and CityTV was so edgy compared to everyone else then - now it is just this sedate pile of festering poo.

AoD

 

[narduch]

Rogers really did ruin CityTV.

I miss listening to Martin Streek (RIP) doing the Thursday 30 on the Edge.

 

[Skeezix]

To be fair, the business climate for both MuchMusic and City-tv has changed considerably. While I don't absolve the owners, Bell and Rogers respectively, of blame for dumbing down both stations, neither station could have continued as they were. When I was 17, I used to watch Good Rockin' Tonite and MuchMusic religiously, to see the latest videos and hear the latest music. If any of my favourite bands were appearing on MuchMusic, I'd make sure to watch (and set the VCR!). 17 year olds today have their videos and music on YouTube, Apple Music, etc. etc. and interact with the bands on the web and social media in a manner that was incomprehensible in my day. They wouldn't have the patience to sit around waiting for Steve Anthony to play something good.

And we all now the problems with local TV. Local news is no longer the cash cow it once was, and City's Great Movies (despite having been cheap and popular programming at the time) would be an anachronism in the age of Netflix. And teenage boys today have access to all the porn they want - no need for Baby Blue Movies (or, for someone growing up in Ottawa, Blue Nuit on TQS).

But, yeah, I do agree. Both stations are festering piles of poo and have been ruined.

 

[syn]

I think MuchMusic and CityTV could've adapated to the current reality when they were part of CHUM. As subsidiaries of giant corporations, it's no surprise they are what they are now.

 

[Skeezix]

I think MuchMusic and CityTV could've adapated to the current reality when they were part of CHUM. As subsidiaries of giant corporations, it's no surprise they are what they are now.

Other than the fact that the models we loved are undoubtedly not feasible today. Broadcasters around the world are having huge difficulties in adapting. Not sure what CHUM would be doing today. In any event, both stations would be unrecognizable.

It's worth remembering that CHUM was already cutting hundreds of jobs and restructuring operations before selling to Bell in 2006. The Waters family saw the writing on the wall.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Other than the fact that the models we loved are undoubtedly not feasible today. Broadcasters around the world are having huge difficulties in adapting. Not sure what CHUM would be doing today. In any event, both stations would be unrecognizable.

It's worth remembering that CHUM was already cutting hundreds of jobs and restructuring operations before selling to Bell in 2006. The Waters family saw the writing on the wall.

It's the content, not the medium - and they were the wrong type of medium at that.

AoD

 

[syn]

Other than the fact that the models we loved are undoubtedly not feasible today. Broadcasters around the world are having huge difficulties in adapting. Not sure what CHUM would be doing today. In any event, both stations would be unrecognizable.

It's worth remembering that CHUM was already cutting hundreds of jobs and restructuring operations before selling to Bell in 2006. The Waters family saw the writing on the wall.

I'm not suggesting it was a guarantee they could've adapted, but I think they could've done a better job altering/adapting the model than Bell and Rogers have.

 

[Skeezix]

I'm not suggesting it was a guarantee they could've adapted, but I think they could've done a better job altering/adapting the model than Bell and Rogers have.

Except they didn't have big pockets and were already suffering. Yes, the corporate culture may have been better, but that is of little use in insolvency proceedings.

Had CHUM not bought Craig Media, they might have held off a bit longer. But Craig Media was the canary in the coal mine for CHUM.