Murph Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Deepblue's thread got me thinking. I'm 50...... My first guitar was a birthday present when I was 11. A Dixon. The Beatles were about to break up. My first amp was a Fender Champ. There were 3 channels on T.V. When I learned enough to impress my Dad, I got a 1961 Gibson Melody Maker. I was 12. It was 1970. Laugh In was on T.V. It was already 9 years old. I still have it. Point.................... When I got home from school, finished homework, ect., I was playing guitar. Maybe workin' on a girl in between, but if not, I was in my room playing guitar. There was no internet to grab my attention. No video games to waste (and I mean WASTE) my time. I hooked up with other wannabe musicians and we jammed. And put together bands. And swapped gear. And learned stuff the hard way. I was giggin' at the age of 16 for $, and have never quit. Never got rich, but I make many thousands of dollars a year. Playin' bars. I just wonder now, if the internet is GOOD, (heck, I'm here, and use it myself), or BAD, because of it being a distraction, and the hours lost (not) working on the craft. Just daydreamin' here, but when I see teenagers walking around in this constant "texting" mode, I do wonder.... How many hours do we really get? And how many do we really waste? God bless ya. Murph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlekenny Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 I know I waste a lot of time on the internet/video games etc. that could(and should) be spent playing the guitar, but I've also learned a lot through lessons or videos on the internet too. It really depends on how you use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myspace.com/jessenoah Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 the internet has been good for me because i use it to find people who need guitar work done, and because it gives me the chance it spounge off you older guys brains i dont consider it a time waster because whenever i am on the computer, im almost always with a guitar too! though typing can be a pain in the @$$ sometimes lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSG_Standard Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 The internet is good and bad, a big thanks to AlGore for inventing it. Now texting on the other hand is ridiculous! It seems ironic that kids use a cell phone (voice device) to send text to each other....I don't get it? The one thing that I don't miss from the old days, is that I was the remote control for the tv...my dad would make me change the channels on the tube...kids have it easy today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Californiaman Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Yeah KSG, changing channels for dear ol' Dad. I remember when we had only three. Now it's like 600 channels of shtuff on TV and nothing to watch. The internet is certainly a good tool if your into music. Got to go now. It's family game night and we're playing "pictionary". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Yahtzee baby !!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 The trouble these days is kids are not aloud to be kids! Modern technology has come along way even in the last 20yrs and Iam sure when my children have grown up they will look back and have similar things to say! Providing we still have a world left! Bring back the ZX81 (If your old enough to remember what that is) Flight959 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepblue Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Murph I hear you loud n' clear my friend. Im 45 now. Im at a very reflective time in my life. I lost my mom last year. I watched Parkinsons disease take over my fathers body to the point of having to put him in a nursing home. Not an easy thing to do. Now at night I lay there and remember family outings, vacations, or just sitiing around the kitchen table having a laugh with my mother. The times were simpler back then and I miss them very much. I guess we are at the age now of realizing that time is going by at an alarming rate. I try telling my daughter these things as she ( as you say ) is texting her friends, or on Facebook with all her mates having a laugh. She doesnt get it, but then again neither did I when I was 15 years old. I guess in my mind ill always be a teenager. Its a hard concept to grasp this getting old isnt it? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dynadude Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 "You'll always find time to do the things you really want to find time for." I know that sounds kind'a lame, but someone told me that years ago, and it stuck in my mind. I guess, because it's really true. There have always been distractions, during the time any of us have had, but you will always find time for the things you love. For me, the internet has become one of those things, almost as much as music. One reason is, the two seem to compliment each other quite well. There are resources available to me now, that I could have really used in my early years of learning guitar, and I would probably have have been a much better player at a younger age, had I had access to them then. I envy the new generation. They have a great leg up on me, as far as learning aids and access to info. BTW, I'm 52, and still can't believe I lived past 20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vagabond Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I envy the new generation. They have a great leg up on me' date=' as far as learning aid[b'][/b]es and access to info. One little letter makes quite the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grampa Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I'm old enough - 62 - to have not had TV until I was 8. And not in some backwoods rural area, it was suburban Sacramento. So the question for me maybe is: Is TV good or bad. The answer is yes. The same for all the "new" electronica. It depends on us whether or not we get addicted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman831 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Boy,do I remember coming back from school in early sixties watching Bonanza,Death valley,Gilligan and Flinstones.My plastic guitar had one real string on it and the rest were nylon and my old trusty daisy BB gun.Families were close then.We had no internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALIEN8 Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I'm 29, and grew up with this technology, and watched it develop, though not from the beginning. I learned about most of it, and use it for my day job... the internet is a key part of saving time at my job, by finding solutions for issues I encounter. At home, I am completely not jacked in (Matrix reference). Everything is analog at my house. No internet, no cable, though I do have a home theater. I did this because of the amount of time I did waste not completing what I wanted to do, like play guitar. Since I have done this, I have really improved my life, and my outlook. I get the local news over the airwaves on TV (4 channels total) if I need it, and I use the net at work on my breaks for finding guitar related things. My books are even analog... And I'm proud to say that I don't have a cell phone, and never did. Life is still simple this way in my eyes. Nothing to trouble shoot to get working, if it doesn't work it's broke, and I'll fix it... Nothing that someone can steal by sitting outside my house in a car... they have to come in and get past my dog and my baseball bat... Nothing that looses value because the new version is upgraded, and "better"... simple, relaxing and what I view home life to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_HEWC Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 you all have valid points.. I'm 26 and I remember both pre and post internet break through. Off course internet brings everything to your house, for both good and bad parts. But for me, I'm only thankful for it. It was a´GOLD MINE when I first began to play guitar. My older brother taught me the basics, open chords and the two most useful barré chords, but then the internet took over giving me all the tabs and chord charts I could dream of.. And pretty soon I could teach my brother cool songs. That was a huge buzz for me. And when youtube came it got even easier, now that I'm not really at a beginners level it is often enough for me to see how the guitarists play their parts. That's my five cents on the topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 great point, murph. and nice thread topic, too. i'd love to see that melody maker, as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kursal Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I make the internet for a living. Had I not been able to do that I would be a struggling musician/actor/writer. I think the Internet has saved me from... well... poverty. Funny that someone should mention families being closer when we had no internet. I think that's probably true. There are those of us, however, who have been able to bond with there families more because of the internet. My Aunt and Uncle are in Australia and now communicate with my parents on a weekly basis. I have become closer with my parents because we share an interest in using Photoshop and I can help them learn how to work with the internet. I also think, however, that my generation (I am 30 by the way) is lucky to have grown up when the technology was in its infancy. It meant that we weren't distanced from our parents the same way that I see in teenagers of today. But, I don't agree with the quote "You'll always find time to do the things you really want to find time for." In the digital world I think some things get in the way. You can go online for 5 minutes and all of a sudden an hour has gone by. That's why I have a rule. I am allowed to surf for what I want online as long as I am doing something else at the same time. That way, the only time that is taken up online is time I would be watching TV or listening to the radio. That really helped me. I would be online 24/7 otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Allen Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 Amen, Murph! You are preachin' the same sermon I've been preachin' lately. I've got some neices and nephews who see me play and say, "I wish I could do that." Of course they say this while they are playing thier Xbox or texting on thier cell phone/television/web browser/mp3 player/stealer of precious time. I allow myself a few moments a day to vist this forum and glean a little knowledge from others who are wiser on topics of guitars and music than I am. Of course, this is a good thing, not to mention that I've actually made a friend or two along the way. BUT, I spend only a very small portion of my available time doing this. The rest is spent living life to the fullest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 Yep. It's not so much the internet, it's the constant diversion from reality. The waste of time. Would there have been a Stevie Ray, or a Van Halen, ect., if there was texting, internet, and video games? Or, a Les Paul? Murph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxter Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I waste a ton of time on my computer/video games. I only really use them at night/when I can't go outside. But if it wasn't the computer/video games it would be something else retarded like sewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted December 30, 2008 Author Share Posted December 30, 2008 ? Sewing is an art. A SKILL. A video game is a "nothing"....... Why can you not play guitar at night? An unplugged electric guitar is fun. I do it all the time, quietly.......... This, my friends, is what I DO NOT GET............................................ Murph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddy light Posted December 30, 2008 Share Posted December 30, 2008 I wish it was 1970 again and i was 14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baxter Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 ? Sewing is an art. A SKILL. A video game is a "nothing"....... Why can you not play guitar at night? An unplugged electric guitar is fun. I do it all the time' date=' quietly.......... This, my friends, is what I DO NOT GET............................................ Murph.[/quote'] Im just saying if I didn't have a computer or video games to waste my time I'd be a master at sewing. I don't do anything productive at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Murph i think you care to much about what other ppl do take a chill pill some ppl play video games some ppl clean toliets so what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.