What Year Are You Living in?

outlander on 07/03/2019 - 14:18

It's 2019. I don't have a robot vacuum cleaner, VR goggles, or a 70 inch 4k TV. I feel deprived.

Instead, I feel more like I'm in 2008. My cars 15 years old, I have a decent computer setup with 2 screens, a 5 year old laptop that is quite thin and plays 1080p video (without stuttering or using special codecs), a phone that can access the web… by 2008 standards, I'm not doing too bad.

I would like to get automated lighting installed, and some efficient reverse cycle air conditioners, so that my living space is always well lit and comfortable. I think that would bring me up to 2015 standards at least.

What year are you living in? and whats the next thing you would like to do to bring yourself one step closer to the living in the present (or beyond?)

Home & Garden

Comments

  • team teri on 07/03/2019 - 14:24
    +7

    I don't do social media - unless you count this forum. What year does that put me in?

    • bobbified on 07/03/2019 - 14:27
      +26

      Probably 2021.. after social media gets banned because someone felt offended by something someone wrote!

      • iDroid on 07/03/2019 - 14:46
        +25

        I'm reporting you to the mods.

        • iand on 12/03/2019 - 23:43

          these would have to be 3 of the most offensive posts I have ever read

  • Nugs on 07/03/2019 - 14:24
    +5

    no subscriptions for streaming here, so yeah, mid 2000's too.
    .

  • [Deactivated] on 07/03/2019 - 14:28

    I'd prefer the 80s but probably about 2001.

  • Diji1 on 07/03/2019 - 14:29
    -1

    Sounds like a waste of money to me other than the air con.

    Seems like many people allow constant data collection inside and outside their home which then leads to further unconscious losses because of advertising and marketing which leaves the victim acting brainwashed: losing money to "earn" it, electing the Liberal Party to lower electricity costs, voting to tax themselves.

    Home automation doesn't have to involve this of course.

  • Daniel Plainview on 07/03/2019 - 14:36
    +12

    Keeping up with the Jones'/Upgraditis is the scurge of the modern world - and a large reason why it's going to hell in a handbasket. There's a lot to be said for being 'Ok' with what you have.

    'Hitching' the benchmark to your 'happiness' to owning/acquiring new stuff is a very slippery slope.

    IIRC there was a big breakthrough in the advertising of products to consumers after consultation with Sigmund Freud and instead of focusing on the products features on implying that they needed to have the product to be a certain quality they idealised e,g sexy, manly, happy, successful etc.

    Without wanting to sound like a sap - thats nearly always shown to be a mirage in no time at all - and so rinse and repeat & buy another item hoping to find that certain fleeting something.

    FWIW you're in good company - we have 15yr old car, ~8yr old plasma, yada yada - have plenty of $$ to upgrade but only when it makes sense for us.

    • outlander on 07/03/2019 - 17:42

      True. If your doing it just to have the best stuff on the block, then it doesn't really make all that much sense. I'm talking more about the time saving, improving economic-competitiveness kind of way.

      eg.

      • Run air conditioning throughout the day, cost $5 or something in electricity, but now instead of losing focus and whining about the heat, you can use the many hours productively.

      That's how it seems an economy should run to me. A time saving invention is made, that saves more in the long run than it costs. It gets pushed out to everyone, and after x years or so its payed back its initial cost and it still working to save you time going forward, leaving people more time to work on creating future time saving inventions and repeat the cycle.
      You keep going forward like that and suddenly everyone lives in houses that take care of themselves, no vacuuming or cleaning needed, with nothing but time on their hands!

      Thats the theory at least, but people don't seem to think that way. They seem to get kind of stuck in certain periods that they were familiar with, so that even if there's something you'd be silly not to buy (like LEDs in a house that has halogens), they'd rather stick to what they know and hang onto their money.

      Still, it boggles my mind how long some of the technology takes to infiltrate all the markets. My grandma only got a microwave in 2010! She was stuck in 1965 for a long long time.

    • afoveht on 07/03/2019 - 18:48

      there was a big breakthrough in the advertising of products to consumers after consultation with Sigmund Freud

      Google Edward Bernays (Freud's nephew) for more info on this topic. It's fascinating.

      • miwahni on 07/03/2019 - 22:33

        There's a brilliant three part doco on youtube about him and the industry he spawned. The Century of the Self.

  • brendanm on 07/03/2019 - 14:42
    +4

    No point upgrading things if they do what you are happy with. I prefer owning everything outright and not having a million dollars in Harvey Norman credit/credit cards. Air con is definately worth it though.

    • iand on 12/03/2019 - 23:45

      that's probably close to 1950's attitude since about 1990 it's been borrow and buy things you don't need and may never need but are the newest and brightest

  • HighAndDry on 07/03/2019 - 14:42
    +4

    Mid-2000s honestly. Car doesn't have Carplay or Android Auto, I barely stream (anything), I only use one messaging app, I use no social media unless OzB counts…

  • Markmathews on 07/03/2019 - 14:56

    I'm currently reading Jane Austin

    • seraphim2017 on 07/03/2019 - 15:08
      +5

      by candlelight!

    • [Deactivated] on 07/03/2019 - 15:21

      Is that a The Chase joke?

    • HighAndDry on 07/03/2019 - 19:49

      Jane Austin?

    • ihbh on 08/03/2019 - 16:06

      P&P is my favourite novel.

  • [Deactivated] on 07/03/2019 - 15:39

    Always summer of 69…

    On the weekend, I caught enough seafood for a few days and harvested enough veggies for the week ahead.

    Your technology has no power here.

    • outlander on 07/03/2019 - 15:46
      +1

      Catching seafood, with a line and no drone assistance? Veggies not hydroponically grown?
      Mate you're living in the BC era!

      • [Deactivated] on 07/03/2019 - 15:55
        +4

        I caught my seafood with a blunt knife and spear.

        Vegies are in a wicking bed.

        My house is heated with firewood.

        (But… Biometric external doors, smart light, 4K TV, massive Orbi wifi coverage, smart garage doors, smart ACs, induction cooking… Little cheats here and there… )

  • Markmathews on 07/03/2019 - 16:07
    +1

    I'm currently humming out Fugue in D minor, recalled from a rendition by a touring symphony, and can almost see Bachs score transcribed before my eyes as I walk from work along the tree lined Anzac Parade.

  • Gnostikos on 07/03/2019 - 16:40
    +3

    Mentally: Sometime after the fall of Rome. I mean the first fall of Rome, not the current fall of Rome.

    Materially: 2010. When everything peaked more or less in terms of consumer purchasing power, cost of living, product and service quality and choice/quality of retailers.

    I'm barely 30 years old and the amount of times I find myself thinking: "It didn't used to be this way" / "This used to be better/easier/simplier" / "Why has company X deliberately ruined product Y?" makes me feel ancient.

    I would love to write an entire volume about the regression and devolution of most ordinary, everyday consumer products since the 1990s. Not the why, which is fairly obvious, but the how, because once you start to truly examine everything from toothbrushes to televisions, the magnitude of this "superficially making products look better whilst simultaneously worsening them" phenomenon and the untold man-hours of wasted time and dissatisfaction in our lives through all of the unreliable and not-fit-for-purpose sh*t we buy which not only drains our money, but also our time, attention and sanity; and it dawns on you that we might actually be happier with a cardboard box for a home.

    • [Deactivated] on 07/03/2019 - 19:34

      "superficially making products look better whilst simultaneously worsening them" phenomenon and the untold man-hours of wasted time and dissatisfaction in our lives through all of the unreliable and not-fit-for-purpose sh*t we buy which not only drains our money, but also our time, attention and sanity; and it dawns on you that we might actually be happier with a cardboard box for a home.

      This is too true but I don't blame the products. I blame the people. People cling to the belief that their life is somewhat special and they're entitled to all the things the world has to offer.

      Of course someone is going to come along and fill the market with $2 wonders.

      Ever notice the demographics that make the worst spending decisions?

  • [Deactivated] on 07/03/2019 - 17:30
    +2

    I just wanna go back, back to 1999
    Take a ride to my old neighborhood
    I just wanna go back, sing "Hit me baby, one more time"
    Wanna go back, wanna go

    1999

    • outlander on 07/03/2019 - 18:57
      +1

      Another hot hit from Wikki's Dance Party playlist, hey? Sounds like a banger.

      As an aside, how many times have they made that song??

      Back to the 80's - Aqua
      1985 - Bowling for soup
      1996 - The wombats

      Nostalgia is a powerful drug

      • [Deactivated] on 09/03/2019 - 08:42

        Nostalgia is a powerful drug

        It sure is! To think I used to be your age once :P

  • RandomNinja on 07/03/2019 - 17:31
    +1

    I'm in 2008 too! Still own the same car I had in 2008, living in the same home and with the same TV and even better, the same wifey.

    Only 'modern' things I have are tech (gaming rig, laptop, phone) of which the laptop and phone are covered by my employer. Oh and I do have a Netflix subscription which is shared across a few family members in different households:D

  • Kangal on 07/03/2019 - 17:40

    **things rounded off to the nearest 5-year interval
    Mens Clothes peaked in ~1970 (Noir, leather jackets, blue jeans white t-shirt)
    Watches peaked in ~1985 (some of the best work from Casio and Seiko)
    TV peaked in ~2000 (old cartoons especially)
    Where car's peaked in ~2005 (electronics intuitive/functional, less anti-consumer builds)
    Gaming peaked in ~2010 (Powerful and cheap Intel/Nvidia, decent titles from Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, and Phone Apps)
    Social Media peaked in ~2010 (Less censorship, less Fake News, less people getting offended just taking life easy)
    Laptops peaked in ~2015 (prices, spyware, functionality, and less Planned Obscelesence)
    Phone's peaked in ~2015 (SGS2, iPhone 4, Nexus 4, Sony Z3c, LG G2, Note4 Exynos, ZTE Axon7, iPhone 6S Plus)
    People peaked in ~1900 (great moral progression, before economic collapse and WW1)

    …okay, but to be serious we do have it better than we ever had when generalising (more people born, more people have fresh water, nutritious food, and healthcare, more people connected, more diversity accepted, and more people working less harder and less hours, etc etc).

  • DarthAntz on 07/03/2019 - 18:09
    +1

    2009 was yesterday to me, and that was 10 years ago.

    When I heard Keith Flint died over the weekend I went back to 1997 when firestarter and breathe were guaranteed to be playing on early morning RAGE and video hits on a saturday morning. Back when the TV used to be used for terrestrial television viewing.

    I dream of the times before mobile phones and excess information to keep us in a state of confusion.

    Despite what I've said, I'm grateful dialup modems have come and gone already. Good riddance 5kb/s top speed, using a download managing programme for resuming downloads.

    • rompastompa on 07/03/2019 - 18:42
      +1

      dialup modems have come and gone already

      We needed dialup modems to takeover our landline so someone can invent the simultaneous use for both the phone line and internet connection. It's interesting to think we don't even need the phone lines any more (well, need >1km of copper for FTTN).

      but yes.. Loading an erm.. image for example, @ 5kBps was an interesting time.. :O I still have my Netcomm Roadster 14.4K modem around somewhere ;)

      • DarthAntz on 08/03/2019 - 11:32

        How long were Dialup modems around for? I think it was the 5-6 longest years of my life. Expensive for my parents too after paying for the separate line, and the costs to connect to the internet. I think I started paying for the family internet connection when I was 18-19, so we could have ADSL. After that it was 8 years of 150kb/s top speeds before hitting 1mb/s living in a sharehouse with a better connection.
        Loading images? If only website posted some images upside down in those days…

    • Speckled Jim on 08/03/2019 - 11:26

      Must find my PSX Wipeout disc.

  • HardlyCharly on 07/03/2019 - 18:12

    What you mentioned is a wealthy person living in 2019! Which, yes, does represent the seeming majority of ozbargain users, however certainly only a small proportion of the general public.

    By wealthy person standards, I'd be living in 2012.

  • Seraphin7 on 07/03/2019 - 18:16
    +4

    I'm living in 3019. I just come here to visit.

  • onetwothreefour on 07/03/2019 - 18:25

    I'd like to start over again from 1996, the next 8-10 years were the best years of my life and I'd like to live them again and try to make them even better!

    • barbarella on 07/03/2019 - 19:04

      …if only we could turn back time… *sigh

  • outlander on 07/03/2019 - 19:18

    So to all the commenters claiming to live 10 plus years in the past, how do you feel about it?

    Do you feel like the average person lives better than you?

    • bluesky on 09/03/2019 - 19:57
      +1

      Do you feel like the average person lives better than you

      No, not really. If the stuff, whether they be appliances, car etc, are working in tip-top shape (being serviced, parts changed etc), and provided their efficiency is not far inferior than what you can get in the updated models, then I see no reason to change. And do not feel deprived.

      Of course, sometimes it makes sense to upgrade. E.g. TV of 8 years broke, was thinking of replacing the power board, which itself was over $200. So in the end, decided to just buy a new updated TV with better technology.

      • [Deactivated] on 12/03/2019 - 06:11
        +1

        At least some evidence of similar economy, bluesky.

        Older than your last TV. Two 750GB Maxtor external hard drives, owned from time when data-storage cost finally broke the very exciting $1 per GB barrier. Both drives still fine. Bought at same time, so possibly from some sort of blessed batch.

        They will stay plugged into TV's here for added/extraneous time-shifting duty, until such time as they get antzy. Not literal antzy of course, because that would be silly!

        :) Have a good week, bluesky
        (You too, outlander)

        • bluesky on 13/03/2019 - 03:39
          +1

          Talk about ancient … I have some 80GB hard drives still used for user home directories, running everyday and they just won't die :-) Second-hand bar fridge from the 80's, repurposed into a wine fridge, and still running fine. The old stuff seems to be a lot more robust.

          You have a great week ahead as well! :-)

          • [Deactivated] on 18/03/2019 - 21:09
            +1

            @bluesky: No files backed-up from either of drives mentioned, probably equals living dangerously. I'd need to look at just what's on them. No doubt something vitally important to humanity.

            You do easily win with those drives of yours, bluesky. I would have to go rummaging in storage boxes to find anything to compete with your 80GB drives still spinning. I'm just hazarding a guess that a few things would still power-up alright. Maybe.

            May (hazarding a guess here, too) trounce you for non-magnetic memory.
            I was stubbornly resistant to digital photography, at least and until megapixelled-writing well and truly on the wall. First camera purchased was purely a travel camera, though in and of itself pretty adventurous, and came with a 32MB SD card. That card not thrown away, spotted fairly recently and likely still works. (Camera irritating to use and with screen-size only about that of the memory card)

            Some kB-containing gadgets kicking around here and there, but best as prompts to other memory.

            Outlander is just a few years off being nostalgic about all manner of things, including probably a simpler life.

            That great Antz Pantz ad is 30 years old. Simply not possible

            • bluesky on 19/03/2019 - 20:56
              +1

              @[Deactivated]: Yeah, digital photography in the early days was hilarious - mine had 20Mb Flash card. Memory was very expensive. I still remember, at Lake Como, I could only take about 20 pictures, and kept having to delete existing ones to fit new ones. What a disaster! :-)

  • Roll Eyes on 08/03/2019 - 09:47

    I have a 1971 car and a 1969 car. I don’t have a computer, I don’t use social media Facebook etc, don’t have air con in the house, my mobile plan is $20 per month because I hardly use it. Im not impatient and don’t rush all the time. Have a 32” tv but the antenna isn’t even plugged into it. I’m 34 years old.

  • nikey2k27 on 08/03/2019 - 14:43

    i live in 2012 that age my house my car is brand new after replace it last year rest of my Tech is old i still desktop computer under the TV so it not smart. i have google home but that just for laziness some to chat too.

  • AncientWisdom on 08/03/2019 - 18:08

    My car's 2008 model, it's actually now better than it's ever been because it gets upgrades once in a while (stereo, suspension, tires etc.). There's nothing too fancy at my current home, but two things that I am keen on getting onto at some point are smart lighting and Android Auto (after borrowing my dad's car and using a huge aftermarket internet connected smart counsel, so much better and safer to operate while driving!)

  • Inzo on 08/03/2019 - 20:00

    I feel pretty modern - Bought a 2017 Mustang with carplay, to use with my iPhone X. I have dual 32" monitors hooked up to my gaming PC which can stream video from my 10tb media server, over the wifi to any of my 4 TV's around the house, or over the internet using my 100/40mbit fibre NBN.

    Yeah, my aircon still has a panel on the wall to turn it on and off, as do my lights, and my front door has a key that wiggles in the barrel, but they are still functional, and i've had no need to replace, so havent.

    But the things i really wanted (the first paragraph), i bought, so yeah - maybe the age of self entitlement?

    • outlander on 08/03/2019 - 20:37
      +1

      I think you're doing quite well. Color me impressed
      Evidentially we keep more up to date on the things that are important to us. For you thats cars, phones and computers.

      i've had no need to replace, so havent.

      I think thats how a lot of people operate, myself included, but I think its not the best way. Really the question shouldn't be 'do I need to' and more 'will it improve my life more than it costs'
      Otherwise you just end up struggling along with your old stuff, while the money builds up and up. Which is admirable if you have something your saving up for, but most people seem to just bank it away, until they decide they really need a holiday away from all their suffering and go throw $15k on a trip to Europe.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/03/2019 - 19:13
    +1

    Robot vacuum cleaners are evil. Ninety-nine percent, sure, I read that somewhere.

    May I interest you in a foldable phone?

    The Present..
    The near
    Future

    You could readily do without most in your list (and in those) and still be variously immersed and involved, comfortable, happy.
    Avoid being immersed and with resemblance to fish, around unimmersed wearing resemblance to top hat.

    Is a metaphor.

    More-energy-efficient A/C is a very good thing.

    Your car may be a sought-after classic at some point. It's possible.

    What year are you living in? Every year I can remember keenly, which for good or for ill is most of them past age five, or thereabouts.

    My grandma only got a microwave in 2010! She was stuck in 1965 for a long long time

    Some of these blokes dudes may be your grandma's age, now! Be sure to let her show you some of her best dance moves, next time she visits you, or you visit her.

  • AlienC on 21/03/2019 - 20:03

    Oh I live in the future but I am still poor and everything deprived.. but at least I don't live in the past like past pleb.. yeah future plebs ftw

    • outlander on 21/03/2019 - 20:41

      Are you still sweating through the hot days, or did you manage to get a place with AC?

      • AlienC on 21/03/2019 - 20:46

        The hot days are long gone for now.

        Fans did the trick for me.

        I can live through heat easily.. AC is a luxury option if it is there it is there if not I am good with fans.

        • outlander on 22/03/2019 - 01:09

          In NSW maybe. In Melbourne we had a resurgence of the 30 degree days, along with a decent serve of humidity. Thankfully thats almost over.

          If you look at it through those glasses, its all a luxury mate, the whole shebang.
          But there's luxuries that are pure decadence, and others that make financial sense. AC to me is one luxury that pays for itself in terms of a good sleep at night and improved focus during the day. I only use the current unit sparingly because its a window unit with limited efficiency and because I live in a house thats leaky as a seive, but once I get to the point where my room is fully insulated with a new high efficiency AC unit I'd like to run it near 24/7. One less thing to detract from my motivation.

          • AlienC on 22/03/2019 - 01:12

            @outlander: I live in the blue mountains which stays relatively cool all year long.

            In the summer it does heat up but nothing 1000m altitude and a cool breeze can't fix.

            Fan is a godsend up here.

            That is probably why it wasn't so bad.

            Even on the hottest days a fan was more than enough.

            Rare part of NSW where heat is for the most part irrelevant.

            Travel 100km to the sea and the weather changes drastically.

            • outlander on 22/03/2019 - 01:20

              @AlienC: Sounds like a nice place to be. Summer is the death of me, so much so that I was considering enrolling for an instay clinical drug trial just for the climate (not bad money either).

              Winters handle well?

              • AlienC on 22/03/2019 - 11:19

                @outlander: Nope winters do not handle well.. That's the trade off.. Coldest winners I have experienced in Australia. Saw snow once for one day middle of July I think 2016.

                So cool I mean cold.

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