> Paper maps were absolutely horrible…
No, and still not horrible. I jeep a trucker's atlas in my van for road trips. Siri and Google Maps (Gigi, we call her) don't seem to realize I want to stay on interstates making distance. Wandering some two-lane country road diagonally through Kansas might save me 10 minutes but having oncoming traffic and the possibility of a rock into the windshield (or worse)—not worth it.
I plan my routes with the paper map.
> In practice it was mostly an annoying game of attempting to guess where people were. You'd call their job, they had left. You'd call their house…
That does not ring a bell at all with me. Sure, I'd call and someone wasn't home, but that was the end of it. If someone else answered, it was "Hey, have them give me a call…" And of course answering machines became a thing…
You know, there was just generally less of an urgency to get a hold of someone then.
And you know what sucks now? Someone able to get a hold of you whenever, wherever. (Unless I go out of my way to shut off my device.)
I used to laugh at a family member and spouse. They were early mobile phone adopters and I watched them call one another constantly with, "When are you going to be home?" I finally commented, "You know what would have happened if you had not called? They would have just shown up in 10 minutes or whatever."
Urgency, expectations… too high these days.
> Cassettes are the worst way to listen to music ever invented.
Except for creating portable playlists, sure.
Anyway. <rant off>
