Watch today's kids react to a computer from the '70s

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,255   +192
Staff member

Kids these days have it way different than I did growing up. Things like smartphones and tablets simply didn’t exist back then and while desktop computers and the Internet were around, neither were nearly as prevalent as they are today.

Before the touchscreen gadgets we’re accustomed to these days, working on a computer was actually pretty tough. You had bulky hardware that was far from portable but that was only the start. Getting anything done on an old system meant you had to know a wealth of commands to operate the machine which is what the kids in the clip below found out the hard way.

What you’re looking at is the latest installment of “Kids React,” a video series produced by the Fine Bros. As the name suggests, the series asks kids ages six to 13 to react to a wide range of topics – everything from current events and cultural artifacts. As you could imagine, the reactions are often priceless as they come from a generation with no notion of the way things used to be.

The computer in question today dates back to the 1970s. It’s missing modern amenities like a mouse, hard drive, the Internet and even a basic graphic user interface. Instead, you had to rely on floppy disks to load programs and deal with the annoying “error” message each time you typed in an incorrect command.

So, how did the old system fare with something like gaming? As six-year-old Sydney says, “It’s better than Flappy Bird.”

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Yeah I remember them well, I cut my teeth on them. My 1st PC didn't even use floppy disks, it used a tape drive instead and as for the internet... it didn't exist.
 
Second time it is published here. The first time the consensus was it's stupid. And it hasn't changed.

In the meantime, many adults enjoy driving vintage cars, some even claiming those are better than the modern ones.

Those 80-s computers to ones from today are like steam engines to electrical ones.
 
Yeah I remember them well, I cut my teeth on them. My 1st PC didn't even use floppy disks, it used a tape drive instead and as for the internet... it didn't exist.

No internet, no, but there were BBSes (Bulletin Board System). Where I live there were tons of them. I bought a Commodore 64 with a 1200 baud modem and used to connect to BBSes all the time, download programs, chat with people (well, message back and forth in forums). There was actually something called Fidonet which was these forums that spanned all over North America which also had something like an email system. There were even online games, usually turn based, but it was a blast. I actually miss those days to be honest.
 
I don't hold out much hope for these children's future if pressing a reset button is "too many steps".

Back then we didn't have the internet, but we had Bulletin Board Systems, so this is slightly deceptive. You could download software, images etc... as well as play online games and chat in forums and some larger BBSes, chat live. There was even a network called Fidonet which had something like email etc.

One good thing back then, you could turn on your computer and the government didn't know about it or what you did on it.
 
The generation that comes after these kids will be reacting the same way ,looking back on all these archaic tablets and smartphones.
 
No internet, no, but there were BBSes (Bulletin Board System). Where I live there were tons of them. I bought a Commodore 64 with a 1200 baud modem and used to connect to BBSes all the time, download programs, chat with people (well, message back and forth in forums). There was actually something called Fidonet which was these forums that spanned all over North America which also had something like an email system. There were even online games, usually turn based, but it was a blast. I actually miss those days to be honest.
We weren't that advanced, I could only send something call a 'message switch' to another person but I first had to phone him to tell him to turn on his computer and our modems were only 600 baud. Cutting edge stuff indeed.
 
Back in my day, if we wanted to play a game we usually had to write the program for it... in the snow, uphill, both ways. :p:p
 
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My 1978 TRS-80 Computer still works and my TRS-80 vox-box makes it talk to you. Coleco Adam two of them they work also. 386SX still works too with Windows 3.11 and Geoworks Pro on there. Sure they're huge but that's what was used back then.
 
It was nice when people designed things to work forever instead of making them so they break in a few years and you have to buy another, wasn't it? Just goes to show that older technology was better, at least in terms of durability.
 
Great article! I am sitting next to my WANG 2200 as I type this, imagine its 1975 and you can run FOUR networked terminals. The machine was so well built, I still use the minicomputer cabinet (about 150lbs) to shock and awe PC clients, plus it swallows my EATX build. Also have a working PC-XT for playing old Shareware titles.
 
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