sign of the times - what kids do that we wouldn't have even imagined

[masraum]

We have 3 grandsons (almost 4, 7, & 10) via 2 couples, both of which live near each other, but about 2 hours from us. I think the cousins see each other on average once per week or maybe 2 out of 3 weeks. We try to have the boys stay at our place 3-5 days at a time several times during the summer and some holidays. When they stay with us, they facetime (video call for the non-Apple people) with their parents every night.

Well, right now we only have 2 of the 3 boys, and they are facetiming their parents, but also their cousin.

It's hilarious, and nearly incomprehensible to me that my 7 and 10 yo grandsons facetime with the almost 4 yo cousin.

Hell, I didn't even talk to my cousins on the phone much when I was a kid. Phone calls were long distance and expensive (and I'm younger than a bunch of you @ 55).

[Por_sha911]

Yup. Long distance calls were charged by the minute.

[GH85Carrera]

The olden days when I was a kid, long distance was just crazy expensive. Now, no one thinks about a video call to someone on the other side of the country.

Like most of the guys on this board, I grew up long before cell phones hit the mass market. There is no way I would ever give up my smartphone. It is my backup brain. Anyone using computers can't manage in the digital age without two factor authentication of so many places.

My iPhone 16 Pro has amazing photo and video capabilities. I quit carrying a real camera years ago. And I can take a ton of photos and it does not cost anything. I used thousands of rolls of film in my lifetime. Every click was costing money.

[Racerbvd]

Definitely was different, where I live now, Orange Park, basically a suburb of Jacksonville, Florida , it was long distance to call the beach, and even crazier (the Red X) it was long distance to call Mandarin (3 miles across the river).

[GH85Carrera]

We had two members of the local PCA region that lived on opposite sides of the metro area. They were 70 miles apart, and it was a local call. Beyond that, long distance charges applied.

Another thing a "kid" can do now if they are over 16 and have rich and stupid parents, is go buy a 1,200 HP Corvette right off the showroom floor.

In 1984, when the 3.2 liter 911 Carrera was introduced, Car and Driver, Road and Track, and all of the car magazines tested it. They all did 0-60, 1/4 mile and top speed tests and declared it the fastest car sold in America. 200 HP at the flywheel!

In 1985 the 911 Turbo came out and took that title.

[Racerbvd]

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

We had two members of the local PCA region that lived on opposite sides of the metro area. They were 70 miles apart, and it was a local call. Beyond that, long distance charges applied.

Another thing a "kid" can do now if they are over 16 and have rich and stupid parents, is go buy a 1,200 HP Corvette right off the showroom floor.

In 1984, when the 3.2 liter 911 Carrera was introduced, Car and Driver, Road and Track, and all of the car magazines tested it. They all did 0-60, 1/4 mile and top speed tests and declared it the fastest car sold in America. 200 HP at the flywheel!

In 1985 the 911 Turbo came out and took that title.

Huh? didn't the turbo come out in 1975/6?

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

In 1984, when the 3.2 liter 911 Carrera was introduced, Car and Driver, Road and Track, and all of the car magazines tested it. They all did 0-60, 1/4 mile and top speed tests and declared it the fastest car sold in America. 200 HP at the flywheel!

In 1985 the 911 Turbo came out and took that title.

Originally Posted by masraum

Huh? didn't the turbo come out in 1975/6?

The 930 wasn't available as a USA market car from (guessing) 1980 to 1985 or 86 and so it wasn't featured as much in USA car mags. So you're both right!

[zakthor]

Originally Posted by Gogar

The 930 wasn't available as a USA market car from (guessing) 1980 to 1985 or 86 and so it wasn't featured as much in USA car mags. So you're both right!

And I’m not even into muscle cars but my high school friends dad gave him a barracuda with the boxy girl front and flip up headlights and it was stupidly powerful. If I stomped the pedal at a stop sign the smoke from the rear tires went around us as we slowly slid off the line. No idea of year but that must have been a dark period in American motoring if the carrera was considered the fastest (or even fast.) Maybe there were different car magazines for domestic cars?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by zakthor

And I’m not even into muscle cars but my high school friends dad gave him a barracuda with the boxy girl front and flip up headlights and it was stupidly powerful. If I stomped the pedal at a stop sign the smoke from the rear tires went around us as we slowly slid off the line. No idea of year but that must have been a dark period in American motoring if the carrera was considered the fastest (or even fast.) Maybe there were different car magazines for domestic cars?

There were powerful (relatively) fast cars (straight line) until the early 70s. Starting in 1970, the HP of most vehicles dropped precipitously. Prior to that I the hottest cars had mechanical lifters (vs hydraulic) and compression ratios from the factory that could be as high as 12.5:1 as well as big 4bbl, 3x2bbl, and even 2x4bbl carb setups to feed massive amounts of fuel to the thirsty motors. Some of the highest rated motors were rated around 450hp from the factory, but there were ringers that were heavily underrated by the factory whether for insurance reasons or to lull the competition into a false sense of security.

By 1974, I think almost everything was running 8.0:1 or maybe 8.5:1 compression and enough emission controls to choke the previously brawny motors.

Things stayed pretty anemic until things started to pick up in the mid 80s, but V-8 motors with 200-250 hp were still considered powerful in the day. And the cars that they were having to push were likely MUCH heavier than the 911 of the day.

Of course, today, with computers and everything else, there are cars that would run circles around the best of the golden years, but with less style and character.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Gogar

The 930 wasn't available as a USA market car from (guessing) 1980 to 1985 or 86 and so it wasn't featured as much in USA car mags. So you're both right!

more data (from another post in another thread)...

Originally Posted by David

Turbos inported to US:
1976..530
1977..727
1978..461
1979..1,200 (mine is #934)
1980 to 1985..none
1986..1,424
1987..438 + 183 cabs + 87 targas = 708 (87 of each style are slant nose)
1988..701 + 591 cab + 141 targas = 1,433 (USA & Canada, there were slant noses but I can't figure out how many)
1989..639 + 109 targas + 600 cabs = 1,348 (USA & Canada)

For a grand total of 7,831.

This data is out of the Porsche 911 Red Book. From 1987 to 1989 the data gets a little weird so I wouldn't rely on it, especially the slant nose data.

[PorscheGAL]

I'm a little younger than you, but I had the same experience growing up. I only talked to my cousins when there was a family event.

That said: This is a huge reflection of you, your family, and how you raised your children. The fact that the cousins are that communicative with a 4-year-old cousin is beautiful. Congrats on building a wonderful family.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

a 1950's kid (Brn Nov. '43)....in my old neighborhood, as I found out, that applied to corporal puishment as well. Too often, I found my ass on fire right along with my buddy across the street...his mom played no favorites and showed little mercy.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

I'm a little younger than you, but I had the same experience growing up. I only talked to my cousins when there was a family event.

That said: This is a huge reflection of you, your family, and how you raised your children. The fact that the cousins are that communicative with a 4-year-old cousin is beautiful. Congrats on building a wonderful family.

Thank you to my more feminine namesake.

They are great kids. We are tickled with them all. I pray that they stay as sweet.

[oldE]

Most kids have in their possession a device which can answer any question they might have and can serve as instant communication with most of their friends and family. It can provide music and can entertain through gaming aps. Interaction in person in real time seems alien to many of them.

[masraum]

No phones for the grandkids yet. They are a bit young to have their own. They have cheap Amazon pads that they use for games, but to make calls, they use an adult's phone.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by masraum

Huh? didn't the turbo come out in 1975/6?

Yea, but the Turbo vanished from America for a few years, and reappeared in 1986. The 86 was way faster than the earlier ones. Like every generation of new Turbo.

And I was mentioning the 80s and a car with 200 HP was the fasted car sold new in the USA.

The 1985 Corvette was a 350 rated at just 230 HP, but it weighed 3,216 lb. https://corvettestory.com/specs/1985-Corvette-specs-options.php

It was a slug.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Yea, but the Turbo vanished from America for a few years, and reappeared in 1986. The 86 was way faster than the earlier ones. Like every generation of new Turbo.

And I was mentioning the 80s and a car with 200 HP was the fasted car sold new in the USA.

The 1985 Corvette was a 350 rated at just 230 HP, but it weighed 3,216 lb. https://corvettestory.com/specs/1985-Corvette-specs-options.php

It was a slug.

Yep, I think the '82 corvette was rated at 200hp. I believe the 1980 or 81 corvette was rated at 180 or something like that. Sad, sad times!

i think the early-mid 80s mustang gt was rated about the same, 200-220hp, but it was lightweight (relatively) and simple.

[rcooled]

Originally Posted by oldE

Most kids have in their possession a device which can answer any question they might have...

And also expose them to all the nastiness and depravity on the internet, like hardcore porn, or ideas and concepts that are beyond their ability to fully understand or make sound judgements about.

For example...in simpler times, sneaking a look at Playboy was about all a young guy had to satisfy his curiosity about the opposite sex.

Now, every deviant sexual behavior is documented and readily available to any kid with a smartphone. Raising children in this day & age has become much more challenging.

What are kids doing now that we wouldn't have even imagined? Plenty...and much of it completely hidden from their parents' watchful eyes.

[GH85Carrera]

My favorite Science fiction writer is Issac Asimov. I remember one of his stories he wrote in the 1950s about the far future. Everyone had a small computer clipped to their belt, so not really that small. All of them were connected to the Multivac super mega computer. People could ask questions and get an answer displayed on a small black screen with yellow text in just minutes.

It has been many decades since I read the story. It is funny that the great imagination of Asimov was bypassed with a small pocket computer, with very high definition video with almost instant response. With headphones it has fantastic stereo sound, and the ability to store hundreds of gigabytes or even a terabyte of data, and it has a broadcast quality video camera and a photo quality better than virtually any camera of his era.

Of course he was astonished America landed on the moon in 1969. He envisioned that it would take us much longer to do that in his stories.