Monday, 7 July 2025

A Nostalgic Post - How Old Am I?

I've realised I am of a unique age, being born in the 70s. I'm a Gen X apparently. 

This means I am young enough to accept this modern digital world of mobile phones, WiFi, online shopping and even the electric car, having grown with it, yet as a child, I remember the coalman delivering our coal and having our milk delivered by the milkman. 

My dad actually became a milkman, and I helped him on his rounds, even getting to drive the infamous Unigate milk float. Now, many children these days can say they helped the milkman - let alone seen one. 

Even our post isn't delivered everyday with everything going online or emailed. It's changed from post to parcels. 

I even remember the halfpenny, and going to the corner shop to buy penny sweets with our pocket money. 10p's worth! 

I have photo albums from old family holidays. Now everything is stored on our phone. I get to see my photos when my Amazon Firestick goes onto screensaver. I save my photos to social media, as another storage platform. I no longer use physical albums. 

I have a seven-inch single vinyl collection, (yes, they're tucked away somewhere) as well as having owned albums on vinyl, tape, then CD. Even the CD is now outdated, with downloading music via Spotify or Amazon. Record stores are very hard to come by. 

Then, we used to record our favourite programmes via a VHS Video recorder. My brother convinced our dad to buy one. Gosh, I even remember our black and white portable TV! Snooker was difficult to watch then. 

Then the DVD player came along, and the Blu-Ray. But even these are obsolete with streaming television programmes and films via streaming channels. I would not be without my Netflix or Disney+. 

I've seen computers arrive, and grow... and shrink to laptops.

I remember the landline as the only way to phone friends and family, using a phone in the picture... and if someone was on the phone, you got an engaged tone. Now we are reachable - if we choose to be - via our mobile phones 24/7. No engaged tone, it will go to voicemail. 

I still love my paperback book, that's one thing that hasn't changed, however, we can now read books via a eBook reader, or listen via an audiobook! These can be downloaded instantly! 

There are probably so many other things I've lost track of over the time, taken for granted what we used to have to do. But how a world can change so quickly... 

What do you remember as a child that no longer exists today, having become obsolete?