Growing up in the 90s, television was a different experience.
You turned on the TV, and whatever was playing at that moment
would become your entertainment.
Strangely enough, I miss that feeling of having something
selected for me, something I cannot influence.
I grew up a few decades before and I lack the author's nostalgia. I think some of that is because my exposure to OTA TV was much longer.
Some was because I missed TV's first Golden Age and TV trended toward awful afterward - with some exceptions (Taxi & 1980s NBC Thru night are 2). I never had cable so I can't factor that in.
Between having control over what I watch and some of the absolutely stellar content that's come out in the last generation, I've no nostalgia for OTA TV of yore. I really like what I have.
Also, people knew what was on TV before they turned it on.
People bought TV Guide magazine, which was pages and pages of listings, or looked at the TV page in the newspaper.
You also generally had the airtimes for your favorite shows memorized (I bet a lot of people who were alive in the '90s could still tell you when, e.g., Seinfeld, ER, The Simpsons, and The X-Files were on and on what channel number).
Well, I was born in black and white. As a lad in the UK in the '70s, we had three channels on the goggle box - BBC1 and 2 and ITV, which was regional. If you lived in the right place you could get two ITV regions equally badly. You tuned the TV with a rotary knob.
Viewing figures for some programmes were staggering due to the obvious reason - little choice. For example I seem to recall that some episodes of say Neighbours (Australian soap), had more viewers in the UK than the entire population of Australia! The marriage of Charlene (Kylie M) and that blonde bloke (Jason D) was one.
These sorts of things are fun projects, and I appreciate the effort that goes into them. But running my own media server with 4K mkv files I can browse and play on an OLED TV is light years ahead of what I had in the 90s, and I love it.
Certainly as an adult I was never really a channel surfer I had a lot of programs I wanted to watch and if I cared enough I would set the VCR once those were available.
I have long thought Netflix should offer such a service. Have a sitcom channel that plays constantly from a slowly evolving list. Even better if I could just pick say Seinfeld and get random episodes from an episodic show. I do not want to have to expend energy picking a season+episode, just trying to decompress.
On the radio side, XM radio has a lot of channels like this. A 70s channel, 80s, 90s, 2000s, 10s, etc.
A lot of black-market IPTV services (the kind with "30 000" channels") will have dedicated channels. A Simpsons channel, etc. where you just get whatever episode it's currently playing.
In 2005 I came across of video stream (mp4? viewable in VLC) of early 20th c. cartoons. There were dozens and dozens of them and nothing else. I never worked out who was behind it, just that it's IP was in western Europe. It was up for at least a year.
My kids were often with me during adult hours (work, etc) and I'd put it on for them. But I was also half-captivated by the idea of anonymously delivered content.
It would be fantastic to find a modern equivalent except delivering an endless slate of novel, off-kilter and largely inexplicable content.
Sometimes TikTok live streams are like that. Not always, but at certain times of day, there's a huge variety. For me, I interact with it like an old television. Just flipping channels. Not knowing what I'll get and not seeking out specific live streams. At 3 AM my time, I stumble across weirdness and it feels like my childhood watching random stuff on cable.
I'd love to have a database of once-annoying but now-nostalgic TV commercials to intersperse between the shows, and insert into commercial breaks. (Those dramatic pauses in Star Trek TOS just aren't the same without a Crazy Eddie interruption.)
I've setup something like this recently and I think it's great - I really like the idea of just dropping into the middle of a movie because honestly who has the time to watch a 3 hour movie? that's one thing I really miss about TV
kinda tempted to get a CRT just for it to make it even better
I find it quite baffling you'd want to drop In halfway through a 3 hour movie, you'd miss out on so much!
And plenty of people have time to relax and watch a 3 hour movie. They wouldn't make them otherwise.
The again I also find the idea of turning on a show or film just as background filler/noise to be quite weird as well but many people seem to do it so I guess I'm the weird one for either paying complete attention to a film otherwise I find it distracting
IIRC, some while ago, there was a post from somebody that recreated multiple 90s-like TV channels. Like, one “channel” would bring sitcoms, another would show children shows, etc. And it was dependent on the time of day, i.e. you could “miss” an episode if you didn’t “tune in” at the right time. One or two episodes per show per day. Just like in the old days.
Not sure whether he even implemented that Weather Channel simulator or I’m mixing things up in my head. But I remember that it was pretty impressive.
>Growing up in the 90s, television was a different experience.
>
>You turned on the TV, and whatever was playing at that moment would become your entertainment.
>
>Nowadays you yourself are in control, you choose what you want to see, whenever you want.
You had some control back then, too -- you could change the channel. I don't know anywhere that had a single OTA channel in the 1990s.
I had zero when I moved into my current house in the mid 90s until I was able to get cable maybe a couple years later. (And now I have zero live channels again since I cut the cord.)
Your website says that it's best viewed with Netscape 3 or Mozilla, but I can't connect with Netscape 4.05 or Mozilla 1.7.12; please consider offering HTTP.
WarOnPrivacy|5 months ago
Between having control over what I watch and some of the absolutely stellar content that's come out in the last generation, I've no nostalgia for OTA TV of yore. I really like what I have.
smelendez|5 months ago
People bought TV Guide magazine, which was pages and pages of listings, or looked at the TV page in the newspaper.
You also generally had the airtimes for your favorite shows memorized (I bet a lot of people who were alive in the '90s could still tell you when, e.g., Seinfeld, ER, The Simpsons, and The X-Files were on and on what channel number).
mingus88|5 months ago
The live experience was better for zoning out. That’s about it. You had no choice.
Today I can spend 20 minutes just browsing and never settle on anything. I’m never able to just zone out.
gerdesj|5 months ago
Viewing figures for some programmes were staggering due to the obvious reason - little choice. For example I seem to recall that some episodes of say Neighbours (Australian soap), had more viewers in the UK than the entire population of Australia! The marriage of Charlene (Kylie M) and that blonde bloke (Jason D) was one.
hapticmonkey|5 months ago
ghaff|5 months ago
0cf8612b2e1e|5 months ago
starkparker|5 months ago
joshmarinacci|5 months ago
unknown|5 months ago
[deleted]
Scoundreller|5 months ago
A lot of black-market IPTV services (the kind with "30 000" channels") will have dedicated channels. A Simpsons channel, etc. where you just get whatever episode it's currently playing.
mingus88|5 months ago
slig|5 months ago
andix|5 months ago
jazzyjackson|5 months ago
It is nice not to have to pick an episode.
add-sub-mul-div|5 months ago
WarOnPrivacy|5 months ago
My kids were often with me during adult hours (work, etc) and I'd put it on for them. But I was also half-captivated by the idea of anonymously delivered content.
It would be fantastic to find a modern equivalent except delivering an endless slate of novel, off-kilter and largely inexplicable content.
wishfish|5 months ago
cluckindan|5 months ago
jeleh|5 months ago
https://myretrotvs.com/
from: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44942602
DonHopkins|5 months ago
HEAD ON: Apply Directly to the Forehead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE
W.E.T. P.E.T.S.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMbsZU83ajc
Fine Corinthian Leather:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0diMFShiUU
Bic Banana Ink Crayon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv5O2zwyQGo
Flea Market Montgomery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ3oHpup-pk
Crazy Eddie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6S2yiuSWE
starkparker|5 months ago
mixmastamyk|5 months ago
bschwindHN|5 months ago
Spastche|5 months ago
kinda tempted to get a CRT just for it to make it even better
Podrod|5 months ago
And plenty of people have time to relax and watch a 3 hour movie. They wouldn't make them otherwise.
The again I also find the idea of turning on a show or film just as background filler/noise to be quite weird as well but many people seem to do it so I guess I'm the weird one for either paying complete attention to a film otherwise I find it distracting
shrug
andix|5 months ago
Edit: even the 5 seems to include composite video, but it requires a little bit of soldering.
naikrovek|5 months ago
mbirth|5 months ago
Not sure whether he even implemented that Weather Channel simulator or I’m mixing things up in my head. But I remember that it was pretty impressive.
5555624|5 months ago
You had some control back then, too -- you could change the channel. I don't know anywhere that had a single OTA channel in the 1990s.
(And "Stargate SG-1" was on cable.)
dingaling|5 months ago
Not in 'Rest of World'. It was on Channel 4 in the UK, over-the-air.
kilroy123|5 months ago
ghaff|5 months ago
CompuHacker|5 months ago
slowhadoken|5 months ago
october8140|5 months ago
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3323850/Blippo/
landgenoot|5 months ago
Think twice
pkdpic|5 months ago
unknown|5 months ago
[deleted]