π πΏπππππππππ π°ππππππ Roundup
Telegram and Pinball Addiction + Perils of the Electric Home
π¨ Addicted to Communication?!
We collected some fun examples of youths communicating via new mediums being called an βaddictionβ: 1928 (telegrams), 1969 (telephone), 2003 (Texting), 2018 (Social Media.) This is a reoccurring trope that ignores the fact young people like to communicate as much as possible. It seems technology is bad if it reduces socializing or if it increases it.
π€Ή Ballsed Up Marriage
Before video games it was pinball that was the fun and addictive vice in the crosshairs of modern puritans. Some states even banned them. We found a 1954 agony aunt letter from a wife whose husband was a pinballaholic.
π¨πΌβπ¨ Thatβs Not Art!
As the art world is shaken up by NFTs, itβs worth remembering how other disruptions in the art world were met: with derision and disgust. Modern art selling for millions seemed as absurd and stupid as a jpeg selling for millions today.
This 1916 Washington Post article quoted an art expert that went so far as to blame modern art for much of the horror in the world:
βGreat harm has been wrought in the world by the degeneracy of modern art. This desire to portray the ugly, deformed and miserable which marks modern art is responsible for much of the horror in the world today.β
π· Lazy Age!
The news of βmotion pictures successfully transmitted by radioβ (television) lead to this sad screed against modernity, it is a familiar trope that rears its head any time living standards make a meaningful leap.
The writer got so carried away he began to reminisce about the good old days when there was no running water or affordable books:
βOur forefathers had to carry water in pails; chop their own firewood to keep themselves warm; hew their own homesteads out of wilderness; walk miles to the nearest neighbor to borrow books.β
π βSmartβ Home
Reminiscent of cynicism around connected devices and smart homes, this 1950s piece is a cynical and patronizing take on the electric home and the βLabor-Savingβ Age.
βA housewife is alone and on her own with a veritable Frankenstein monster, which inventors have jokingly nicknamed the βlabor savingβ house.β
βοΈ Tweet of the Week
Utah is trying to pass a law to filter adult content on all smartphones and tablets, this reminded us of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, an early response to the rise of online adult content. This law was struck down in 1997. Thatβs when The Family Research Council (@FRCdc) had a KID SHAMED ON STAGE BY HIS PARENTS FOR ACCESSING ADULT CONTENT:
