XPost: uk.tech.broadcast, uk.tech.digital-tv, uk.rec.audio   
   XPost: sci.electronics.repair   
   From: G6JPG@soft255.demon.co.uk   
      
   In message ,   
   Roderick Stewart  writes:   
   >In article <52589936bfdave@davenoise.co.uk>, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:   
   >> > and it was still   
   >> > pounds, shillings, pence and no one could make change   
   >>   
   >> In the days of lsd, the average person could do rudimentary mental   
   >> arithmetic. These days most need a calculator, even although a base 10   
   >> system makes things simpler.   
   >   
   >Yes, people used to be taught things like spelling and multiplication   
   >tables in school. I used to get my pocket money in shillings and pence,   
   >occasionally shops would give change that would include farthings, and I   
   >don't recall having any problems with this.   
   >   
   >It was a world in which spellcheckers and calculators hadn't been   
   >invented yet, and in their spare time, brainrotting electronic gadgets   
   >like MP3 players and video game consoles not having been invented yet,   
   >people would sometimes read books. We grew up in it and got used to it.   
   >   
   >Rod.   
      
   Aw, c'mon, Rod - although there are _some_ advantages in having these   
   old skills, it is as unrealistic to consider them as essential now that   
   we have things which do them for us as the skill of making our own   
   clothes, copperplate handwriting, and so on. (_All_ of these are useful,   
   just not as essential as they once were.) As for mp3 players and video   
   consoles being brainrotting, I don't think they are any more so than   
   gramophones, playing cards, dominoes, rallies, ... (-:   
      
   As for books, there may be some evidence that the recent rise of the   
   kindle and its friends has _increased_ reading. (Whether of the sort of   
   books you'd approve of, of course ... but it was ever thus, even when   
   dead trees ruled the roost.)   
   --   
   J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf   
      
   The reason for the oil shortage: nobody remembered to check the oil levels. Our   
   oil is located in the North Sea but our dip-sticks are located in Westminster.   
   (or Texas and Washington etc. - adjust as necessary!)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)