You are too old if you remember.......

[vdeane]

Not sure where the idea came from that Pringles are gone...

People misinterpreting #1186 as serious, which was a joke reply to #1185, which was an answer to #1184 and not to the thread title.

Yeah, totally didn't notice that 1185 was in reply to 1184 and got confused because I didn't remember Pringles ever going away.  I usually us a ^ or quote (if the reply goes to the next page) to avoid confusion since I've noticed that replying to the thread title and not previous discussion seems to be the default here.

[mgk920]

. . . the push for sound systems with four distinct sound channels 'quadrasonic'.  It died out when increasing numbers of consumers started asking the fundamental question of "Why do we need four distinct speakers when we only have two ears?".

Mike

[kphoger]

It died out when increasing numbers of consumers started asking the fundamental question of "Why do we need four distinct speakers when we only have two ears?".

That's not really a valid question.  It's not like our brains can only hear or process two sounds at once.

[Scott5114]

Well, surround sound is a thing.

[Rothman]

Quadraphonic...

[kphoger]

Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which ...

[Big John]

Talking vending machines in the 1980s.

[mgk920]

Quadraphonic...

It was heavily promoted as 'Quadrasonic".



Mike

[kphoger]

Quadraphonic...

It was heavily promoted as 'Quadrasonic".

I guess you just proved your own point:  that you're too old because you remember that.

[Rothman]

Quadraphonic...

It was heavily promoted as 'Quadrasonic".



Mike

Heh.  I like kphoger's "sometimes" from Wikipedia.

"Wonderful perfect quadraphonic sound with distortion levels so low as to make a brave man weep." -- Douglas Adams

[kphoger]

The references I'm seeing online to "quadrasonic sound" and "quadrasonic stereo" are pretty much all related to the Ford Motor Company:  brochures, 8-track tapes, car stereo faceplates, etc.

[Rothman]

That certainly is niche.

[thenetwork]

In the days when I attended college, when you wanted to see your most recent test/exam scores, you would go down to the professor's office and they had a print-out on the hallway wall listing everyone's scores.

Back then, in order to "protect privacy", they did not show the names of the students, but rather your "Student ID"...

...which just happened to be the same as your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!

lawn.  off.

[1995hoo]

In the days when I attended college, when you wanted to see your most recent test/exam scores, you would go down to the professor's office and they had a print-out on the hallway wall listing everyone's scores.

Back then, in order to "protect privacy", they did not show the names of the students, but rather your "Student ID"...

...which just happened to be the same as your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!

lawn.  off.

Our exam scores were listed by the last four digits of the SSN, omitting the first five digits, but yeah, back then it seemed like SSN use as an ID number was routine. Our driver's license numbers in Virginia were our SSNs, and then when you wrote a check at the store they wanted to see your driver's license and they'd copy down the number and expiration date. My roommate first year of college got his SSN printed on his checks to expedite that process at the store (I always thought that was crazy—why make it any easier for a thief than it needs to be?).

[kphoger]

That certainly is niche.

Perhaps, but on the other hand, Ford isn't exactly a small fry.  So "sometimes" and "heavily promoted" may actually both be true.

back then it seemed like SSN use as an ID number was routine.

It still is.  Every job application, every doctor's office visit, etc, etc.  For many purposes, your SSN is your federal ID number.

Our driver's license numbers in Virginia were our SSNs,

Same here in Kansas.  When I first got my license, I was a bit of an oddball for not having my SSN as my DL number.

But President Bush passed a law in 2004 that prohibited that.

Then again, I still remember when you would get a book delivered for free to your doorstep every year with everyone's name, address, and phone number.

[1995hoo]

....

Then again, I still remember when you would get a book delivered for free to your doorstep every year with everyone's name, address, and phone number.

Heh. We received a copy of the Yellow Pages in the mail a few weeks ago (we had not requested one). It was striking how much smaller it was than it used to be, but I was more tempted to take a picture of it and send it to a 20-something-year-old colleague to ask him if he knew what it is. I didn't do that, though, because it felt like it would have been a bit too snarky or disrespectful. Instead, I think my wife tossed it in the recycling.

[GCrites]

In the days when I attended college, when you wanted to see your most recent test/exam scores, you would go down to the professor's office and they had a print-out on the hallway wall listing everyone's scores.

Back then, in order to "protect privacy", they did not show the names of the students, but rather your "Student ID"...

...which just happened to be the same as your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!

lawn.  off.

Our exam scores were listed by the last four digits of the SSN, omitting the first five digits, but yeah, back then it seemed like SSN use as an ID number was routine. Our driver's license numbers in Virginia were our SSNs, and then when you wrote a check at the store they wanted to see your driver's license and they'd copy down the number and expiration date. My roommate first year of college got his SSN printed on his checks to expedite that process at the store (I always thought that was crazy—why make it any easier for a thief than it needs to be?).

Identity theft wasn't nearly as common before the internet because the instructions weren't just sitting there on it. And you couldn't just open up a bunch of accounts in an hour or two like you can on the internet.

[roadman65]

In the days when I attended college, when you wanted to see your most recent test/exam scores, you would go down to the professor's office and they had a print-out on the hallway wall listing everyone's scores.

Back then, in order to "protect privacy", they did not show the names of the students, but rather your "Student ID"...

...which just happened to be the same as your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!

lawn.  off.

Our exam scores were listed by the last four digits of the SSN, omitting the first five digits, but yeah, back then it seemed like SSN use as an ID number was routine. Our driver's license numbers in Virginia were our SSNs, and then when you wrote a check at the store they wanted to see your driver's license and they'd copy down the number and expiration date. My roommate first year of college got his SSN printed on his checks to expedite that process at the store (I always thought that was crazy—why make it any easier for a thief than it needs to be?).

Identity theft wasn't nearly as common before the internet because the instructions weren't just sitting there on it. And you couldn't just open up a bunch of accounts in an hour or two like you can on the internet.

Also you needed ID and a signature to open up an account in the branch office of any financial institution in those days.  A bank was careful who they did business with when things were done in person.

[Rothman]

That certainly is niche.

Perhaps, but on the other hand, Ford isn't exactly a small fry.  So "sometimes" and "heavily promoted" may actually both be true.

Nah.

[Scott5114]

"Listen carefully to these instructions on how to use the thing you just bought by using the thing you just bought that you apparently don't know how to use."

What could go wrong?

[formulanone]

"Listen carefully to these instructions on how to use the thing you just bought by using the thing you just bought that you apparently don't know how to use."

What could go wrong?

Just insert this CD-ROM to understand how to use your new PC.

[thenetwork]

...When Discover tried the mini-Discover 2 Go tag that you'd put on your keychain???  No need to swipe someone's wallet -- just steal their keys!!!

[kkt]

In the days when I attended college, when you wanted to see your most recent test/exam scores, you would go down to the professor's office and they had a print-out on the hallway wall listing everyone's scores.

Back then, in order to "protect privacy", they did not show the names of the students, but rather your "Student ID"...

...which just happened to be the same as your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER!!!

lawn.  off.

Our exam scores were listed by the last four digits of the SSN, omitting the first five digits, but yeah, back then it seemed like SSN use as an ID number was routine. Our driver's license numbers in Virginia were our SSNs, and then when you wrote a check at the store they wanted to see your driver's license and they'd copy down the number and expiration date. My roommate first year of college got his SSN printed on his checks to expedite that process at the store (I always thought that was crazy—why make it any easier for a thief than it needs to be?).

When I was in college professors didn't all do it the same way.  Many posted a list on the door, by student ID (which was not SSN for us).  Some put the list by last name and first name.  Some just wrote our score on our test or homework and we learned what we got when we got them back.

[kurumi]

There was a time when this guy was high tech: monophonic synth + calculator + sequencer

[elsmere241]

When you thought an Apple ][ was hot stuff.