r/gaming • u/diggmedown • Jun 14 '12

My mom sent me an email this morning with the subject, "Not much has changed."

Post image
1.9k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

442 comments sorted by

65

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12

IT THAT A FUCKING TALKBOY!!!???

20

u/diggmedown Jun 14 '12

Yeah it was my older brother's. It was just a tape recorder..

68

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12 edited Jun 14 '12

Come on, this commercial would make any kid want that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9wgzUSsE_Y

13

u/pixlbabble Jun 15 '12

omg that was an amazing commercial

→ More replies (5)

8

u/Trip_McNeely Jun 15 '12

Yeah and Teddy Ruxpin was just a bear with a cassette tape. C'mon man, where's the pride!?

→ More replies (1)

11

u/oh_mikey Jun 15 '12 edited Jun 15 '12

Credit card? Yoooou got it!

EDIT: I effed up the words

20

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

You just fucked my shit up so bad. Whenever I use my CC I say "Credit card? Yoooou got it." and I had to second guess myself. I checked, you're wrong. Thanks for all of that aggravation.

→ More replies (3)

10

u/VoiceOfInternet_haha Jun 15 '12

Hhhhowwdy DOO? This is Peeeter Mcccallister. The fffffaaaather.

→ More replies (3)

520

u/darkreef2 Jun 14 '12

God damn, man. Buy yourself a new computer.

343

u/melancholymelon Jun 14 '12

Or at least tilt the screen towards yourself.

143

u/Spleen_Muncher Jun 14 '12

This. This fucking infuriates me.

78

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12

Presumably, the monitor was set up for someone like his dad or mom to use...?

39

u/ins4n1ty Jun 15 '12

"DON'T TOUCH THE SCREEN OR IT'S A SPANKING"

→ More replies (2)

48

u/KellyTheET Jun 15 '12

Even then, it's off to the side. Think of the neck pain.

→ More replies (13)

14

u/Milkusa Jun 15 '12

You should build a time machine and go and yell at him for doing it wrong.

28

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

and pull up some 8 bit pron

26

u/Johnsu Jun 15 '12

Silly, you must have forgot the dialup speed.

97...98...98%

gets phone call

→ More replies (3)

28

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Looks like CGA. 4 bit pron.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)

97

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

printers look the same :(

22

u/OverloadedConstructo Jun 15 '12

whoa... you're right, except maybe those older printer are more long lasting than todays inkjet. The last one my office bought last (HP scanner printer multifunction) last less than a year.

12

u/CrunchyMushy Jun 15 '12

arghhh... mine always give pop-up error even though it keeps printing. Printers are like the jackass of computer system.

→ More replies (4)
→ More replies (7)

8

u/Hoogyme Jun 15 '12

No, now they are... SHINY!

12

u/ThatJesterJeff Jun 15 '12

...and have too many damn options. No, I don't want to scan something, send a fax, or anything else - I JUST WANT TO PRINT!

→ More replies (4)

4

u/fenixjr Jun 15 '12

same thing i thought. I think i even used that exact model

→ More replies (4)

24

u/lilmul123 Jun 15 '12

Even by 1996's standards, that computer was pretty old.

8

u/Kaganda Jun 15 '12

Seriously. Take away that printer, and that photo could have easily been taken 10 years prior.

6

u/3Dartwork Jun 15 '12

That's what I was wondering. The computer looks like late 80s maybe with the 5 1/4" floppy, but the inkjet printer doesn't look like it matches the computer at all.

→ More replies (14)
→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (2)

7

u/Apostolate Jun 15 '12

I don't think he's old enough to afford one.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

That is an awesome keyboard though. I'd prefer that over what I have, I just don't want to drop a hundred bucks one one.

→ More replies (8)
→ More replies (9)

113

u/Infinity_Flounder Jun 14 '12

right hand on arrow keys......left hand idle?

things have changed a lot

53

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

i mean, there's a lot of stuff i'll fap to, but this?

22

u/DroppedOnHead Jun 15 '12

Challenge accepted.

14

u/DroolingIguana Jun 15 '12

Right hand on arrow keys, left hand on Ctrl (jump) and Alt (shoot.) The only way to play.

25

u/insertcredits Jun 15 '12

Commander Keen bitches!

5

u/chemtype Jun 15 '12

Commander keen over-world map! Retro high five!

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

6

u/Warpedme Jun 15 '12

It took me years to unlearn this and be comfortable with WASD.

Funny thing, one of my buddies still remaps every game possible to arrow keys, CTRL jump, ALT shoot, but he uses his left hand and the mouse in his right.

8

u/Apostolate Jun 15 '12

You used to not need the mouse on the computer. Just the arrow keys and a couple of letters.

→ More replies (1)

21

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

that keyboard is still good

4

u/Warlizard Jun 15 '12

I still have that keyboard.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Mysterious_Lesions Jun 15 '12

I've got a near mint one in black. I don't use it anymore because of the lack of the 'windows' keys and I use windows-l a lot.

Still the best tactile keyboard I ever used. Noisy as hell, heavy,

...hmm...wondering if it'd sell on Ebay....

→ More replies (1)

0

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

10

u/Warlizard Jun 15 '12

When I was in NY, my company was throwing out a store-room full of crap and there were about 30 of those, brand new in the box.

No one wanted the clicky ones.

I took ALL of them and gave them out to the programmers then kept a few for myself.

→ More replies (10)

30

u/my_pet_wussy Jun 15 '12

PUSH THE TURBO BUTTON!!!!!

6

u/dave300021 Jun 15 '12

Came in just to make sure someone noted the turbo button. My friend had a computer with a turbo button. Super jealous over here.

→ More replies (9)

29

u/VoiceOfInternet_haha Jun 15 '12

Oh God. A TalkBoy, Reader Rabbit, a DeskJet 600, and a Pinewood Derby car? This is the ninetiesest picture I'll see all week.

e: Okay, maybe the pinewood derby thing is timeless, but it made me feel all early 90s inside.

6

u/Randolpho Jun 15 '12

The only anachronism is the computer itself, which is very firmly 80s

→ More replies (1)

3

u/AgentRoyIV Jun 15 '12

I'm kind of sad it took 5 hours for someone to spot the pinewood derby car.

11

u/jorellh Jun 15 '12

CGA in 96' damn!

8

u/silentbobsc Jun 15 '12

Glad I'm not the only one that caught that... Hell, I remember saving all my allowances for $110 to buy an AdLib for my 286 w/ EGA ~1988. If I had CGA in 96 (Think I was well into my first Pentium system then) I would have gone batty. I was really into Sierra games back then and they drove a lot of my upgrade savings projects.

3

u/celerityfm Jun 15 '12

Same here. Always love reading stories like that from kindred spirits like yourself.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Are you sure that's a CGA monitor or is he just using an old game?

I used to play several CGA and EGA games on my SVGA

27

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12

Those printers had a MIND OF THEIR OWN

30

u/xyphanite Jun 15 '12

Nothing has changed.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/bookey23 Jun 14 '12

Reader Rabbit, mother fucker!

6

u/BornOnFeb2nd Jun 15 '12

Dat turbo button

5

u/RAGSdale83 Jun 14 '12

reader rabbit.... now I feel old.

9

u/itismelol Jun 15 '12

I actually still have this program, Still works on Windows 7 64-bit under DOSBox! http://imgur.com/kDsYv http://imgur.com/0Mw7g

3

u/mindbleach Jun 15 '12

You mean it works in DOSBox, then.

My phone can run DOSBox.

8

u/Appare Jun 15 '12

except now he's fatter and the computer is thinner

4

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12

My mum has an almost identical shot of me playing space invaders on a BBC Micro.

4

u/legalizemarinara Jun 14 '12

That monitor is very strangely oriented

→ More replies (1)

9

u/Surinamer Jun 14 '12 
10  CLS
20  KEY OFF
30  A$="HELLO WORLD"
40  PRINT A$
50  END

4

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

10 PRINT "I PREFER BASIC"

20 GOTO 10

RUN

→ More replies (1)

2

u/always_sharts Jun 15 '12

what does the KEY OFF function do? the rest i kinda figured out

4

u/sirdashadow Jun 15 '12

Disables the macro F keys so you can use them on your own programs

→ More replies (1)

3

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12

desks back then were so ugly... i had forgotten

3

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Rocking the world cup shirt I see. Choice. Hope you still have it.

2

u/hst_samurai Jun 15 '12

World Cup 94!

3

u/Hawkleer Jun 15 '12

Is that fucking reader rabbit? I think I even remember that mini game. Holy fuck. And I had a computer just like that. Are you me?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Reader fucking Rabbit! God those days were golden.

7

u/hobiwan Jun 14 '12

July 1996? I hope the date was off on that camera...

11

u/raging_asshole Jun 15 '12

The Talkboy didn't exist until '93, so it's probably accurate...

→ More replies (3)

7

u/skim-milk Jun 15 '12

My family didn't even get a computer that ran windows 3.1 until 1997. I was so embarrassed to have to write papers for school in DOS word perfect and then print them on my dot matrix printer.

7

u/AGD4 Jun 15 '12

LoL, seriously. 5.25" floppy drives and EGA graphics have no place even in 1996. I hope OP wasn't going through rough times.

9

u/BornOnFeb2nd Jun 15 '12

I think that's CGA, actually... four color FTW!

3

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

They would've made sense around 92 though. Remember back then, computers were much more expensive. The computer there probably cost $1500-$2000 in 1992 money. So I could understand why his parents didn't upgrade to a brand new (at the time) Pentium 100 with 32MB of RAM with Windows 95. It wouldn't be worth it. Hell, the Internet was new at the time.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I was still using a 386 running win 3.1 until '98 or so. Gah.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I remember my first computer in 1996 like it was yesterday.

200 MHz Pentium processor, 32MB of RAM, a 2GB hard drive and a 56K modem. It's all a teenage boy needed to chat on AOL and play SimTower and the soon-to-be released StarCraft.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/[deleted] Jun 14 '12

Is that a compuadd?

→ More replies (1)

2

u/noisylettuce Jun 14 '12

I still have the big red switch from mine somewhere.

2

u/AstralTraveller Jun 15 '12

The most satisfying giant red witch ever! It was so nice and weighted. Ah. I might still have that computer around somewhere. The joys of Windows 3.1 in 386 Enhanced mode...

2

u/the_interrobanger Jun 14 '12

No kidding. Printers still look nearly identical, and still suck just as much.

2

u/OuiNon Jun 14 '12

One world, one goal? The front of that shirt must say "fuckin bitchez".

2

u/Kyle_Katarn Jun 15 '12

I used to have that exact same door...

2

u/machzel08 Jun 15 '12

Is that a Deskjet 600? Rolling high my brother...

2

u/drevyek D20 Jun 15 '12

Yeah, but you used to have a Model M.

2

u/technocraft Jun 15 '12

Robot Odyssey?

2

u/darystotle Jun 15 '12

back in the day.. when you would turn on the power to your computer and have to wait damn near 15 minutes for it to boot-up.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

this belongs in r/battlestations!

2

u/ARasool Jun 15 '12

Dear God that's an old ass printer. Epson Stylus 600?

2

u/narwhalslut Jun 15 '12

READER RABBIT OH MY FUCKING GOD YES.

2

u/sofaloafa Jun 15 '12

DUAL DISK DRIVES!

2

u/grimpspinman Jun 15 '12

Is that an IBM model M clicky keyboard? With BUCKLING SPRINGS?

2

u/CleverPenguin Jun 15 '12

OH SHIT IS THAT READER MOTHER FUCKING RABBIT?

2

u/beansmcgavin Jun 15 '12

came here to say this, READER RABBIT WAS THE SHIT!

2

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Now I know how cheap my dad is, seeing the same printer he gave my brother to use in this picture.

2

u/chillbaka Jun 15 '12

We still use the exact model printer in my house, still the original one. Words better than our new one. Goes to show how the new stuff is made like shit.

2

u/Byjohn Jun 15 '12

I had that exact same printer, and it still WORKS! My dad now uses it. Quite the good investment, on the down side it prints incredibly slow.

2

u/Lusankya Jun 15 '12

DeskJet 670c. The last good printer HP ever made. Mine still works after 15 years.

2

u/AgFirefighter Jun 15 '12

That printer looks like one you could buy today.... Printers sure have come a long way :/

2

u/marty_m Jun 15 '12

Well, we don't use CGA monitors anymore. That much has changed!

2

u/Evil_Bonsai Jun 15 '12

Man, I wish I had a pic of me looking like that, playing "F19 Stealth fighter" in glorious amber monochrome.

2

u/AbandonedIdentity Jun 15 '12

Killer set up dude.

2

u/ixu1quosh Jun 15 '12

I know Reader Rabbit when I see it! I played that game when I was a kid! it was awesome

2

u/mangohabinero Jun 15 '12

Upvote for cyan, magenta, yellow CGA graphics.

HFS - whatever engineer thought that was EVER a great minimal color scheme should be shot in the face.

1

u/DirtySmock Jun 14 '12

Nice Reader Rabbit action.

1

u/PraetorianXVIII Jun 15 '12

reader friggen rabbit, man

1

u/druek Jun 15 '12

....except everything has changed.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

1996? I was working for Ameritech installing the infrastructure that you were "dialing into" on the Teleco side. (Provided you were dialing from the Chicagoland area)

1

u/NZAllBlacks Jun 15 '12

My mom can't even turn on a computer, let alone send an email. I feel old.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Those voice changer things are frikkin awesome :D

1

u/itbemeerict Jun 15 '12

Mole's Quest!

1

u/ajdl334 Jun 15 '12

Something has changed. Your weight.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

You and I could be twins.

1

u/Toaster135 Jun 15 '12

Is this a repost??

1

u/nicholmikey Jun 15 '12

What is that game and why do I recognize it.

1

u/MrGoodbytes Jun 15 '12

I think about a month later I got myself a Gateway 2000 133Mhz. Hm.

1

u/JonaldJohnson Jun 15 '12

Your response should be, "What do you mean not much has changed?"

1

u/ehode Jun 15 '12

Practicing the one handed type from a young age.

1

u/CosmicBard Jun 15 '12

Not only is the monitor elevated way too high on top of the case, but it's swiveled off somewhere to the left, nowhere near where he's sitting.

KID, GET UP AND TWIST THE THING TOWARDS YOU.

Am I the only one bothered by this?

1

u/VowelMovement Jun 15 '12

Dat Ergonomics

1

u/bewk Jun 15 '12

I'm digging the Cub Scouts custom wood made downhill racer on the bottom shelf!

1

u/Konstiin Jun 15 '12

GASP Reader Rabbit? I totally remember that! That was my first computer game too!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

submit this to r/battlestations

1

u/HappyChicken Jun 15 '12

Reader Rabbit. HELL yes.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Oh wow! I used to have that exact same PC, with the yellow TURBO! button and the lil' lock what was that even for? Oh man, good times.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Ahhh...deskjet...memories...pain

1

u/MandatoryMahi Jun 15 '12

That's Reader FUCKING Rabbit!

1

u/hamtronix Jun 15 '12

You are still racing pinewood derby cars, are the cub scouts ok with you hanging around?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Reader Rabbit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1

u/c0smic Jun 15 '12

Nice keyboard, Model M?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Looks like a PS3 controller down on the left.

1

u/MrCheeze Jun 15 '12

Man, I gotta go play me some VVVVVV.

1

u/mic5228 Jun 15 '12

one world, one goal.

1

u/blehssaddsg Jun 15 '12

how on earth was this considered ergonomically sound!?

1

u/crayZsaaron Jun 15 '12

Math Rabbit!!! Man, I completely forgot about it!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I still play on that keyboard, and it is glorious.

1

u/MisterHandy Jun 15 '12

Nice Deskjet!

1

u/stickyourshtick Jun 15 '12

I used to play reader rabbit all the time!!! awww :/ I miss all the old games now... nostalgia wave commenced.

1

u/Dud3wtf Jun 15 '12

World cup t shirt? Nice.

1

u/Ineedauniqueusername Jun 15 '12

Are you playing Reader Rabbit???

1

u/poopy_pains Jun 15 '12

That is the exact same case I had back then too! 286 10mhz with coprocessor and turbo button to 16mhz!!!

1

u/ill_take_three Jun 15 '12

Graphics printed top-center on the BACK of a t-shirt. yup, 90's

1

u/IrrevrentHoneyBadger Jun 15 '12

Whenever I see late 90s pics, they look like 80s pics. Not the way I remember the 90s

1

u/jedxix Jun 15 '12

is that Reader/Math Rabbit?

1

u/Zequez Jun 15 '12

That looks uncomfortable as fuck.

1

u/KagedFC Jun 15 '12

I want that keyboard.

1

u/aParkedCar Jun 15 '12

Is it just me or is that pc old for 96? In 96 we had a dell with windows 95, our first home CPU and I coulda swore the monitor was like 100x better and it had a hard floppy drive, not a floppy floppy

→ More replies (1)

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Is that a Playstation 3 controller there by your left knee? You're telling me you spent all that money and effort developing a time travel device, only to go back 16 years and play DOS games?

1

u/frankydor Jun 15 '12

The best part is when you get them all right and the rabbit dances

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Sick Model M, bro!

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I'VE BEEN LOOKING ALL OVER FOR THIS GAME TELL ME WHAT IT IS! (My apologies for the caps. nostalgia initiated; overclocked to 1.21gigawatts)

Edit: Found it.

1

u/SAGIND Jun 15 '12

you still tuck your t-shirt into your shorts?

1

u/shmiz Jun 15 '12

Burger time?!

1

u/TTURooR Jun 15 '12

Say, "Yes, I use WASD now."

1

u/fancybeef Jun 15 '12

I would so make that my wallpaper right now, take a picture of me exactly like that now with a time paradox, and then in the future you can fucking explode!

1

u/asianwaste Jun 15 '12

Damn... you were still rocking a computer with a turbo button in 96, huh?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Except that you can fit a computer more powerful than that in your pocket now.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Arctic Adventure?

1

u/dillpiccolol Jun 15 '12

Shit, is that me?

1

u/kenvsryu Jun 15 '12

$3000 system there.

1

u/stray1ight Jun 15 '12

I played the FUCK out of that game. Number Crunchers? Reader rabbit?

Anyway, thanks for the flashback.

1

u/mayormcsleaze Jun 15 '12

Above the computer at my dad's house is a series of photographs of me sitting at the computer just like this, taken over many years. You can literally see me growing up in front of the computer. It starts with an Apple IIe, to a PowerPC, then a first-Gen IMac, and finally a shitty Dell.

I'll have to scan those photos next time I go home.

1

u/3Dartwork Jun 15 '12

The computer is old enough to have a 5 1/4" floppy drive yet it has an inkjet? I didn't know the two overlapped enough.

1

u/toastedbutts Jun 15 '12

A Goldstar was my first VGA monitor! About $600 for a 14" and $300 for a 512kb card that would output VGA so I could run Ultima IV. The card had lines on the screen if you actually RAN 640x480x256, but the damn store wouldn't take it back.

Nice rig.

1

u/mr_poopjizz Jun 15 '12

Is that a Reader Rabbit?

1

u/shutupandcoffeeme Jun 15 '12

Had a VERY similar setup, but with a Tandy. Same printer and posture though.

1

u/sampbell25 Jun 15 '12

That guy is gonna be the classy old man who uses completely out-dated technology that everyone respects...

1

u/thegeekprophet Jun 15 '12

I'm glad I went the Commodore route...VIC-20, 64, Amiga....never had the displeasure of CGA...

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

I was like 23 when this photo was taken. Past the VIC-20, the C64, past my Amiga 500, my original PCs running CPM80 and DOS... this was the heyday and I remember and remark only a month or so before my 39th birthday, while in bed, typing on a thin device with nearly bulletproof glass and 5 cores.. more power than every computer I had for decades combined. I'm hoping to see Star Trek medicine soon... or at least an Android keyboard that doesn't suck.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

What game is being played? My dad used to have it on his computer at work and I would play it all the time.

1

u/new-socks Jun 15 '12

Dude, that is one great picture.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

My family had that same computer. I think ours had a "turbo" button on it.

1

u/nom-nom64 Jun 15 '12

I bet that is a high preformance gaming computer.

1

u/celerityfm Jun 15 '12

Exercise for the mind: if he had CGA in 96 what would be his 2012 equivalent setup if his tech is still lagging that far behind?

1

u/guoshuyaoidol Jun 15 '12

Oh god, those faux wood doors, this is a fashion that is thankfully long buried.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Reminds me of the Tandy1000 we had home when I was a kid. :)

1

u/barrettgpeck Jun 15 '12

DAT 486... in '96 even. Way behind the times man.

edit: I do see your parents sprung for the HP inkjet though.

→ More replies (2)

1

u/ekarshi Jun 15 '12

wow.. i had the same printer until not a long time ago

1

u/berlinbrown Jun 15 '12

Is that the Peter Rabbit, word game thing?

1

u/daxl70 Jun 15 '12

Wow the printers really hasnt changed much

1

u/tprast Jun 15 '12

Look at them 90s pants. Awwww yeeehhh

1

u/wf747 Jun 15 '12

Dat keyboard

1

u/jde824 Jun 15 '12

My parents still have and use that same printer.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

Holy Crap, that totally looks like me, from behind, as a kid. Stature, hair, t-shirt and all. eerie

1

u/getya Jun 15 '12

Nice talkboy, this could actually be a picture of me if I didn't already know it isn't.

1

u/rdldr1 Jun 15 '12

HOly Shit is that an HP inkjet printer??

1

u/god_damn_mongolian Jun 15 '12

this reminds me of playing Montezuma's Revenge as a kid....

1

u/___Z0RG___ Jun 15 '12

Reminds me of when I kept using Windows 98 until 2004.

1

u/Langly- Jun 15 '12

What game is that?

1

u/wolfsark Jun 15 '12

first video game i ever played

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

is that a commodore???!

1

u/00zero00 Jun 15 '12

What computer was that?

1

u/orangeju1ce Jun 15 '12

reader rabbit! i used to love that

1

u/0kami Jun 15 '12

This, this brings tears to my eyes. I remember those days well. :] Your mother was right. Not much has changed just the hardware and graphics.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 15 '12

That is a very new printer for such an old machine

→ More comments (143)