Hey Madison,
I've always thought it was pretty interesting to know how the world was back when you were born. For example when I was born in 1979 there was no internet, gas was less than a $1, and you were pretty much stuck watching the big networks (ABC/CBS/NBC, FOX wouldn't be born until the late 80s) on TV. So what was the world like in 2012 when you were born?
- Broadband internet was becoming more prevalent and dial up was becoming a thing of the past. At our house, when it was working correctly, our internet download speeds were around 15MB/sec. A far cry from back when I was in high school and I though our 14.4kb/sec modem was the business.
- The internet has become accessible pretty much anywhere via laptops, tablets, and smartphones through either WIFI or 3G/4G LTE connections. The mobile connections aren't as fast but again still much faster than my "awesome" 14.4 baud modem from the late 90s.
- I can't imagine a world without the internet now. Any question you have you can get immediately answered on Google. Whether it be what time the movie is playing, where is the closest Chinese place, how to get to Wisconsin, or what was that movie with that guy who had a beard. All of these things weren't possible in the world I was born in. We had to use Yellow Pages, maps, TV Guides, and encyclopedias to answer our questions.
- Music is available on the Cloud now. You just buy something in iTunes and it magically downloads to all your connected devices. Tapes are non-existant and CDs are on their way out. Pretty much everything is digital download. Even DVDs and Blu Rays are most likely going away. We can find almost anything we want to watch online through Netflix or Hulu or...illegal downloading (I would never do such a thing though...).
- 2012 is an election year which means that all year democrats and republicans have been slinging insults at each other trying to convince us, the public, to elect them. The economy is a mess and unemployment is higher than its been since the depression. President Obama has had 4 years to get us right but I haven't seen any progress. Rep nominee Mitt Romney seems to have a business background which I would think would help him with our economic woes but he's not as relatable to the American public and is painted as a "rich white guy". Nobody likes rich white guys. Unfortunately politics has gotten very bipartisan and really nobody seems to be interested in actually fixing our problems they just want to make sure we know the other guy definitely can't fix it so you might as well give us a chance. I hate politics :(
- The top song on Billboard's top 100 for the week you were born was Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". I don't know if Taylor Swift is still around when you're reading this but back in 2012 she would date famous guys, breakup with them, and then write a scathing song about how terrible they are. I believe this one was written about Jake Gylanhall. Your aunt Kim loves Taylor Swift. I hate her. She has such squinty eyes!
- We have a crazy number of TV channels. Probably like 500. Way more than the 20 or so I grew up on. Thanks to cable there are channels for pretty much every interest. My favorites are Discovery and the Learning Channel. Your mom's seem to be Lifetime (television for women) and E!. I can't stand E! and their Keeping up with the Kardashians. A family only famous cause Kim Kardsashian was in a sex tape that got "leaked". I don't know how old you are when you're reading this but if you don't know what a sex tape is ask your mother...
- Cars are pretty stylish these days. Very aerodynamic unlike the boxy things we had when I was growing up. Due to rising gas prices ($4+!) hybrid cars are getting popular. These are cars that run on gas some times and electricity other times. I might get a hybrid once the Nissian gives out. I would really like them to master hydrogen fuel cells for cars. I think that'd be even less gas reliant than electric cars and oh so futuristic! No flying cars in 2012. Maybe in your time? Please!
- Speaking of flying - airports security has gotten crazy since 9/11. Before 9/11 anyone could walk into an airport, go through a metal detector, and sit around in the gate areas whether you had a flight or not. Now only people with tickets can go through security and in security you have to go through a metal detector, take off your shoes, possibly get a full body scan, and get swabbed for gunpower residue. Once you get on the plane you have to pay for any food you want, only the drinks (non-alcoholic) and lame snack (peanuts/cookie) are free. Back in my day you got a full meal on the plan for free! Sure they tasted terrible but they were free!!! Also you have to pay to bring your luggage. Lame.
- People say global warming is causing some havok with our planet these days. Given the very weak winter we had and the drought this summer maybe those folks are onto something. Hopefully there is still weather when you read this. Even more hopefully we control the weather by then!
- Probably the biggest group of idiots in our country this year were the Occupy people. These are people without jobs who would go to popular places in big cities and protest the fact that they couldn't get a job. Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Atlanta, Occupy Chicago, ect. If they dedicated even a fraction of the effort they dedicated to occupying a park to finding a job they wouldn't be unemployed anymore. Just an example of the sense of entitlement a lot of people have these days. They think they should have everything provided to them for little or no work. Both your mother and I worked very hard to get ourselves to the position we were in when you were born and don't expect anything to be given to us by the government. I'm going to sound like my dad here but hard work is what this country was built on not handouts. I hope we don't raise you to be an entitled little brat!
- You can get a fast food meal for around $7 these days. That'll get you a burger, fries, and a drink. You can watch a movie for around $8 ($15 if you want one of those fancy 3D movies, forget them I say!). You can rent a movie for around $5. Gas, as I mentioned above, is over $4 a gallon. Flying from Chicago to Atlanta to see my family costs about $300 a ticket. And a new 60" LED TV probably would set us back $1,500 if your mom ever let me buy one....
Well thats about all I can think of to talk about right now. Hopefully the world you're reading this in is full of crazy things I never thought were possible when I wrote this in 2012. I'm looking at you flying cars!
Love,
Dad
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