To my unborn (and unconceived) children
You will never know the joys of:

- taping songs off the radio
- rewinding video rentals back to the start
- finding timid porn in a hedge (I had a single picture of a naked Pam Anderson circa 1993/94ish. That had to do)
- Encarta '95 (the internet on a CD)
- Finding things out randomly and having to take people's word for it
- Daft rumours being spread around music festivals because of the isolation from the outside world (the general concern for Elton John's death was particularly heartfelt)
- Picking up the house phone and not knowing who it is
- Picking up the house phone at all
- Smoking in pubs
- Fixing a games console by blowing into it
- Changing the channel without a remote
- Finding out games cheats from magazines, C4's Games Master and/or friends who had seen games master or bought a magazine
(El_diablo_blanco, Thu 30 Jun 2011, 20:57, 6 replies)

good list. Add wanking to porn only once a week because Eurotrash was on and you got a winner.
(snarf81, Thu 30 Jun 2011, 21:04, closed)

while standing in the corner at the volume dial cos the tv was on a bracket and had no remote
(El_diablo_blanco, Mon 4 Jul 2011, 17:43, closed)

add
-tuning in a tv
-hearing the glorious sounds of a dialup modem
-having to go to a libary to research things for a school project
-tripping over games console controller wires
-trying to set the time on a video player (this is impossible)
(JackLaidlaw, Thu 30 Jun 2011, 21:33, closed)

Awesome list - I shall elaborate personally:

Breaking the plastic tab from a VHS to stop it being recorded over
Your parents/siblings picking up the house phone and disconnecting you from the internet
That free BT Internet logon that I think half of the UK used at one point - scot3land//btsucks
Having a seperate 3d card... and realising a Matrox M3D was supported by one game made in Bulgaria
Ripping out cartridges from a Master System/Megadrive and seeing what happened
Topless Darts on L!ve TV
(Angus the Anus, Thu 30 Jun 2011, 22:26, closed)

I fucking loved Encarta. MindMaze all the way.
(thenumber18, Thu 30 Jun 2011, 22:44, closed)

And..
Recording the top 40 chart countdown, whilst trying to cut out mark goodiers voice in the process.
Putting 50p in the meter when the electric runs out
Wrestling on a sunday afternoon
Airwolf
'press play on tape'
Rubbing a cd before you play it, so it doesnt jump..
MSM
Learning to read a map..
Building a den
British bulldog

There are more, but im too old to remember..
(danniekavanagh did nothing constructive on, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 13:49, closed)