Old Technology, Young People

John Scalzi's 13-year-old daughter, Athena, recently encountered her first long-playing album, to her consternation:



I have a few amusing tales of Daughter Number Three-Point-One's experiences with the outmoded as well. Not available on video, alas, but here goes.

First story:

When she was not quite three, she was playing with her dad's 1940s-era Underwood manual typewriter. She plunked along until she hit the end of the line and the carriage would no longer move, since it needed to be manually returned.

Not knowing about that fine point of typewriter usage, she looked sadly up at her father and said "Daddy, I think it crashed."

Second story:

At about four-and-a-half, she was having one of those play dates where mom comes along and hangs out with her friend's mom. Kind of a double play date.

The little boy whose house we were visiting showed her some 33 rpm LPs, and together they played one on an old turntable. Mary Poppins, I think.

The next day, DN3.1 told another friend about it. She was at a loss for words to describe those odd, circular objects, and the best she could come up with was: "They're like...really, really big CDs."

(Another story about that little boy we had visited comes to mind. His mother told me he once informed her solemnly, "Mom, boys have a penis and girls have an agenda.")