Contemporary things that will seem amusingly dated 15+ years hence

[silkyman]

The national obsession for coffee chains, all the various coffee shop chains occupying the same square mile of every town centre. The people who need their daily: two shot, Guatemalan bean, vanilla skinny latte. Can't remember all this being the case 10 years ago. You had tea and coffee shops yes, and you bought either a tea, or a coffee. That's that. I can't imagine it'll still be so fashionable and common in 10 years time?

They are ruining tea.

It won't be long before all the caffeine and sugar mills half the population and those of us who prefer builders tea and borderline alcoholism will rule the world!

 

[White Army]

Kale

 

[StagsForLife]

#NikeAthlete

 

[silkyman]

I remember linking two lines together to achieve a top line download rate of 6 kb/s when I first got it! Trying to download a song or look at filth was painstakingly slow!

This sound...

 

[smat]

This sound...

How is that fucking contemporary?

Here's one. Taking blocks of stone and, by a process of chipping or flaking, producing primitive tools which are then used to hunt, fish, or engage in warfare with other nearby bands of prehistoric foragers.

 

[mnb089mnb]

How is that fucking contemporary?

Here's one. Taking blocks of stone and, by a process of chipping or flaking, producing primitive tools which are then used to hunt, fish, or engage in warfare with other nearby bands of prehistoric foragers.

Did you have a nice time in Sheffield?

 

[smat]

Did you have a nice time in Sheffield?

No mate, it was shit.

 

[blade1889]

No mate, it was shit.

Did warn you. What did you do in the end?

 

[mnb089mnb]

I have been going through boxes of crap post-decorating and found some photos from my uni days (circa 2001-5). It all looks dated now - clothes, haircuts, the other misc. bits of semiotic detritus that inhabit the margins. It officially belongs to a different era, like a parachute pant wearing man from the 1980s, or a shell suit clad East 17 cast off from the 1990s. Looking at this stuff made me feel old, obviously, but it also made me think about the here and now, leading me to ponder which bits and bobs of our current world and its various aesthetic tics will jump out as comical and archaic at a similar temporal remove. What are the things that the 2016-set remake of Life on Mars would use as a shorthand for the period? What will Michael MacIntyre Jr be LOL-ing at on I Love the 2010s?

My suggestion: the irritating and distinctive nomenclature of tech companies and their products: iPhone, iPad, vowel averse apps (Flickr, Tumblr etc), everything-ly and everything-ify.

WHAT ELSE?

Smat's disappointing trip to Sheffield and militant atheism.

 

[smat]

Did warn you. What did you do in the end?

It was alright really, I was just being belligerent to the facetious Welshman above. We drank in a few places (didn't note the names unfortunately), saw some comedy at Regather (which is a pleasing little alternative venue which I presume is only open quite rarely), went on that ride that swings you round in the air a bit for six pounds, learned all about steel production at the Kelham Island Museum (got a bit sad about 13 year old boys embarking on extremely short careers at the grindstone before fucking dying), and had a sensational veggie breakfast at Tamper this morning. The friend we'd gone to cheer up because he's had a baby by mistake went a bit bad and started shouting "HELP" out of the taxi window, but all in all I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

 

[blade1889]

It was alright really, I was just being belligerent to the facetious Welshman above. We drank in a few places (didn't note the names unfortunately), saw some comedy at Regather (which is a pleasing little alternative venue which I presume is only open quite rarely), went on that ride that swings you round in the air a bit for six pounds, learned all about steel production at the Kelham Island Museum (got a bit sad about 13 year old boys embarking on extremely short careers at the grindstone before fucking dying), and had a sensational veggie breakfast at Tamper this morning. The friend we'd gone to cheer up because he's had a baby by mistake went a bit bad and started shouting "HELP" out of the taxi window, but all in all I'd give it a 7 out of 10.

Fair enough, the bit about your friend made me laugh but maybe shouldn't have. Have heard decent things about Temper...will have a look at Regather when I'm back, never heard of it before and have been dissapointed by the last laugh comedy that runs out of the city hall.

 

[silkyman]

How is that fucking contemporary?

Here's one. Taking blocks of stone and, by a process of chipping or flaking, producing primitive tools which are then used to hunt, fish, or engage in warfare with other nearby bands of prehistoric foragers.

It wasn't it was continuing the 90s internet nostalgia subtopic.

 

[Son of Cod]

learned all about steel production at the Kelham Island Museum (got a bit sad about 13 year old boys embarking on extremely short careers at the grindstone before fucking dying)

Sounds a bit like Arsenal tbf.

 

[RavenBish]

vloggers

 

[Martino Knockavelli]

Yes, and more specifically:

The best passage in the enjoyable but not exceptional Martin Cruz Smith novel Gorky Park sees a communist-era Russian rozzer holed up in an NYC hotel, watching TV whilst waiting around for the denouement. He ends up stumbling across The Price is Right, and is stunned by it, the idea of people guessing the prices of mediocre white goods for entertainment. It's a great bit of estrangement, making the familiar absurd by forcing the reader to see it through new, fresh eyes. One thinks, yes, this really is an artefact of an utterly insane society.

Well, after the apocalypse/Jackpot, _that_, but with the specific vlogger-type phenomenon of "unboxing". Literally millions of people watching an iPhone being taken out of a box. Fin de siecle shit.

 

[blade1889]

Lets not forget the stepping stone of Deal or No Deal in-between the two

 

[Son of Cod]

Well, after the apocalypse/Jackpot, _that_, but with the specific vlogger-type phenomenon of "unboxing". Literally millions of people watching an iPhone being taken out of a box. Fin de siecle shit.

There's something very creepy about unboxers. Like, I wish I was a porn star doing this to a 19 year old girl's panties but that's merely a pipe dream. Nevertheless, I can, and I will do it to this new Nexus tablet and share it with the world. Heavy breathing optional, but definitely preferred.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Zombie apocalypse and start again? Yeah? Yeah.

 

[nousername]

There's something very creepy about unboxers.

It's another manifestation of our current obsession with superficially rating and reviewing everything. It's particularly evident now in the hotel/restaurant business, where quite a few good meals have been sullied by someone jamming an iPad in your face asking to rate the ambience out of 5.

 

[blade1889]

It's another manifestation of our current obsession with superficially rating and reviewing everything. It's particularly evident now in the hotel/restaurant business, where quite a few good meals have been sullied by someone jamming an iPad in your face asking to rate the ambience out of 5.

Had that the other day...sat down to eat and a bloke turns up with an iPad to ask me to rate the perfume of the reception when I came in. Wtf, go away and let me eat

 

[silkyman]

Jesus, McDonalds has changed...

 

[shane]

vloggers

Great shout.

 

[Smally]

Lads having haircuts like Butt-head

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Man buns.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

TV channels.

 

[Stagat]

TV channels.

Aye. Was thinking TV schedules, along similar lines.

Gonna say websites too. Maybe won't be extinct but may well be a relic among apps (or whatever will have replaced apps by then).

 

[Mr. Scruff]

I reckon at some point people are gonna look back on our society and the quality of air we breathe with absolutte disgust. That we are willing and don't give a second thought to surrounding ourselves with huge chunks of metal spewing out toxic crap.

Given the fact I live in a dangerously polluted country it affects me more than most on here but shit has anyone ever stopped and looked at how much just one car spews out into the air. Its disgusting,, yet we allow our city centres, streets and even our leisure spaces to be covered with them and instead of trying to reduce them people keep buying even bigger ones and using them more.

One per family is not enough now. Now we have to have 2 or 3. When the local goverment here tries to restrict the cars on the road by implementing a license rotation policy people just buy more cars so they have more license plates. Not to mention the amount of 4 by 4 fucking fours I see that serve absolutely n purpose other than trying to show off how much money they have or want other people to believe they have.

They also seem to turn anybody driving one into a massive c*** almost instantly too, so fuck motorists , fuck top gear, they are not cool in any way. They are horrible polluting menaces we need to get rid of.

 

[Dr Mantis Toboggan]

i feel like loyalty is getting pretty outdated. sticking through a community through thick and thin, staying with your friends and having their back

 

[blade1889]

I reckon at some point people are gonna look back on our society and the quality of air we breathe with absolutte disgust. That we are willing and don't give a second thought to surrounding ourselves with huge chunks of metal spewing out toxic crap.

Given the fact I live in a dangerously polluted country it affects me more than most on here but shit has anyone ever stopped and looked at how much just one car spews out into the air. Its disgusting,, yet we allow our city centres, streets and even our leisure spaces to be covered with them and instead of trying to reduce them people keep buying even bigger ones and using them more.

One per family is not enough now. Now we have to have 2 or 3. When the local goverment here tries to restrict the cars on the road by implementing a license rotation policy people just buy more cars so they have more license plates. Not to mention the amount of 4 by 4 fucking fours I see that serve absolutely n purpose other than trying to show off how much money they have or want other people to believe they have.

They also seem to turn anybody driving one into a massive c*** almost instantly too, so fuck motorists , fuck top gear, they are not cool in any way. They are horrible polluting menaces we need to get rid of.

A 4x4x4 eh? That's some impressive stuff

The government in some parts of Colombia have tried doing the same, all that happens is the richer people buy a second car, reight effective that is!

 

[Stagat]

I reckon at some point people are gonna look back on our society and the quality of air we breathe with absolutte disgust.

It's kinda scary to me that people walking about the streets wearing dust masks i.e. a future nuclear wasteland film trope is seen as normal here.

I only imagine it getting worse though mate, unfortunately. The opposite to your post. Like, that time when some people didn't even wear masks is gonna be like The Wonder Years to the next generation.