Am I the only Zoomer? I see a lot of “I remember”-type responses, so I have to wonder.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    English
    171 year ago

    I’m in that weird group that’s between Gen-X and Millennial. I’ve seen us called Xennials or the Oregon Trail Generation.

    • @hactar42
      link
      111 year ago

      There are dozens of us!

      But seriously, I think we had one of the most interesting technological evolution of any generation. Going from using the Dewey decimal system and encyclopedias early on, to using the internet before graduating.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        111 year ago

        It really was. It was a time when most didn’t have computers at home. Once a week you’d get to go down to the computer lab and play educational games from MECC. Oregon Trail being the most popular of the bunch.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        6
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        About twice a week we would go to the computer lab filled with Apple IIes. Usually we had to play Number Munchers, Word Munchers, or some other game to reenforce whatever we learned in class. After we finished the game in the lesson plan, we could then play whatever educational game we wanted. Oregon Trail was a popular choice because nothing was funnier than having the game say a classmate had died or broke a leg. And the hunting and rafting mini games were the closest to arcade games.

        Also keep in mind that the only exposure most of the teachers had to a computer were the mainframe terminals in the school’s office or the computer lab. MECC put together a lot of software and training for teachers. A school building out an Apple II based computer lab with a bunch of MECC software was as close to turnkey as they could get at the time. The documentation for Oregon Trail or Odell Lake gives you an idea of what it was like.

        http://www.mecc.co/history/the-oregon-trail---a-157/mecc_a-157_oregon_trail.pdf

        http://www.mecc.co/science/odell-lake---a-192/mecc_a-192_odell_lake.pdf