You know you're old when.....

[Circlotron]

You know you’re old if you got excited about a magazine article telling you “build your own radio and save!”

[Brumby]

... when you got excited reading about building your own computer - vis-à-vis - the EDUC-8


... when you actually purchased the 2650 mini computer kit   ... (and then sold it at a profit a couple of months later having done nothing more than check that all the parts were there.)

[bsfeechannel]

... you had a beige computer.

[kanuk]

You know you are old when you speed because you don’t want to forget where you’re going.

[harerod]

... when you actually purchased the 2650 mini computer kit   ... (and then sold it at a profit a couple of months later having done nothing more than check that all the parts were there.)

Ah, Signetics 2650.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signetics_2650

How many Signetics 25120 WOMs did that kit come with?
https://github.com/spacerace/write-only-memory/blob/master/datasheet-signetics-wom-25120.pdf

[TimFox]

My entry to the Signetics 25120 WOM contest (mid-1970s) drove the logic inputs through a grounded-grid 12AT7/ECC81, with TTL drive to the triode's cathode, to make sure the WOM did not ignore the signal.  By the nature of the device, I could not verify the result (but they did send me one).

[SeanB]

Chemistry kits were available at many shops, and contained things that could, and would, make explosive results.

Those stains never could be removed from the wall, even after sanding down and repainting, they were visible again after the first humid day.

Shops sold fireworks to children under 10, no questions asked, and the fireworks included the larger types that would go bang, and also rockets that did a similar thing.

[TimFox]

You know you're old when you debate vaccine hesitancy, and the others in the debate did not know any polio victims.

[ozcar]

... when the first computer you used expected input in the form of punched cards. 

And you used to write your shopping lists and "back of fag packet" designs on the back of used/spare one. Also, made great bookmarks.

[glentek]

You know you are old when, as a young teenager you made a rifle powered by a thruppenny bunger. It was only ever fired once, my right ear was ringing for hours afterwards.
And not to mention the petrol powered flame thrower...
And the home made very unstable explosive that badly burnt my brother's hand...

[Cerebus]

... when the first computer you used expected input in the form of punched cards. 

And you used to write your shopping lists and "back of fag packet" designs on the back of used/spare one. Also, made great bookmarks.

(Attachment Link)

Lucky bastard! I still can't find anything that makes quite such a satisfactory, and multi-purpose, bookmark. It's the particular combination of stiffness, thinness, and smoothness that just hits the sweet spot.

Sequitor: You know you're old when bookmarking something means you need something physical to do it with.

[TimFox]

Bookmarks:  Hollerith cards had the right weight, but needed to be torn in half to fit smaller books.  By the way, from before my time, Mr Hollerith chose that size since his census office was convenient to the Bureau of Engraving, who had lots of frames to hold American paper currency, which was physically larger then.  After punching one full census himself with a railroad conductor’s punch, he invented carpal tunnel syndrome.

[DH7DN]

...when you are wearing white tennis socks in the public 

This is so 80's/90's 

[AaronLee]

...when you are wearing white tennis socks in the public 

This is so 80's/90's 

I never noticed. I guess someone forgot to send me the memo. However, I'm too old to care about how in fashion or out of fashion I am. If I need new clothing, I just pick the first thing on the shelf that looks reasonable and is reasonably priced. Spending more than five minutes choosing a clothing item is way too long.

[Boris_yo]

... you become environmentally-conscious McGyver

[harerod]

Mmmh, can't seem to find any punch cards at the moment. However, here is some unpunched "ticker tape". My mother worked as a programmer in the 1970s, therefore as a kid I had more punch cards, tape and drawing paper than I would could ever use.
That roll has been with me since then and somehow keeps ending up in the lab. The background is barely thirty years old, though, printed by some 9-nozzle inkjet (before it was terminally clogged).

[Gregg]

I remember the school as well as the city libraries used a system of cards to keep track of all the books.  Real paper books, no digital rubbish existed.  It was the Dewey decimal system.  There were stacks of narrow wooden drawers with a card for each book.  Also each book had a separate card in a little sleeve fastened to the back cover that was removed when a book was checked out and the name or library card number of the person checking it out was hand written on that card which was filed by date for when the book was due to be returned. 
It was quite efficient and the system seldom had any down time unless somebody really screwed up.  Keeping such a system backed up would have been a monumental task.

You know you are getting old when you read through this thread and remember long forgotten things that no longer have significance but were very relevant at the time.

[AaronLee]

You know you are getting old when you read through this thread and remember long forgotten things that no longer have significance but were very relevant at the time.

Yes, and your library example is a prime example of that. I can't even remember the last time I was in a library, but for sure it was several decades ago. Haven't thought of the Dewey decimal system nor those wooden drawers since that time, until reading your post. Throw a kid or young adult into one of those old libraries and have them try to find a book, and they'd be totally lost. And probably some of us older people would need to dig deep to energize long abandoned brain cells to find what we're looking for.

[ozcar]

You know you are getting old when you read through this thread and remember long forgotten things that no longer have significance but were very relevant at the time.

When I was a university student, I remember reading somewhere (obviously, not “online”), of a prank that I thought was great:

Two young blokes get on a bus (or maybe it was a train), each carrying a well-filled briefcase (just as I used to do every weekday). After a while there is a noise – the very distinctive sound of a phone ringing. The two blokes look at each other, but ignore it for a short while, but then one open his case and takes out a telephone handset and says “hello”. After a short delay, he hands it to his companion, and says “It’s for you”.

You know you are old when you struggle to explain that to somebody.

[TimFox]

That joke was exploited beautifully on stage in Stoppard’s play “The Real Inspector Hound”.

[tpowell1830]

You know you're old when you remember when the Berlin wall went up, and when it was taken down.

[TimFox]

and all those years in between when you thought it was permanent…

[NiHaoMike]

Some comments on a very recent TastyPC video reminded me that at one point, WAP didn't mean a Wifi hotspot. Rather, it was a "lite web" for mobile phones that tried to work better with the technology limitations of the time.

[BradC]

but then one open his case and takes out a telephone handset and says “hello”. After a short delay, he hands it to his companion, and says “It’s for you”.

When I first got my license we built a battery powered supply to ring a standard "bell ringer" phone (STC "princess" from memory) and we used to do that at traffic lights. Phone would ring, wait for odd look from the next car over then "answer" the phone and wind the window down, then hold the handset out with an "it's for you".

I'd forgotten about that.

[themadhippy]

you know were  Yugoslavi,bombay,peking,saigon,ceylon and burma are.