Comments on: The First Time News Was Fit To Print, V

By: Iris

Iris — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 21:28:49 +0000

scarcity, many people were willing to work for bare subsistence. In the and nearly in the same time too but it is consumed by a different set of

By: Claire

Claire — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:36:51 +0000

Your column is just too good! Oh dear: you’ve got my late-night brain going, but I love knowing when things started. Here’s a few off the top of the scalp, if you don’t mind. See if there are some you would like to select.

People:
Michael Moore
Anderson Cooper
Samantha B
naturists
groupies
Sue Johanson
vegans
geeks
storm chasers
paramedics
George Carlin
personal trainers

Places:
Kazikstan
the shopping mall
The Mexican Riviera
indoor soccer field
The Bermuda Triangle
The Big Apple
OC
Any “No-fly zone”

Things:
univerisal health care
electronic calculators (also pricey when they first came on the market)
pesto
water slides
killer bees
lattes
TV remote…universal remote
Duct tape
the clapper
widget
sushi
cell phone
45s…albums..CDs…DVDs
aromatherapy
flashlight
paper towel (I remember it being considered to wasteful to use it)
bottled water
facelifts
laptop computer
Johnny on the Spots (or equivalent); moveable plastic public toilets
trivia (as a passtime)

Actions:
snowboarding
hang gliding
tripping (as in while stoned)
indoor rock climbing
jerry-prepping
googling
“to spin” as in using a “spin doctor”

Miscellaneous:
just-in-time (regarding stock)
“live eye”
giga anything
groovy
gay (for homosexual)
Ms
Categories for hurricanes
Designer – anything other than clothing (like pets)
tweens
“sustainable environment”
outsourcing
call centre
lactose intolerant
“near beer”
“New Age”
The European Union
bi-polar illness
GPA (grade point average; what happened to just per cent?)
“The Projects” and equivalents for ‘inner city’ areas.
So called “Reality shows” (may they soon rest in peace)

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:23:18 +0000

how about:
10 cent machines for women to go to the bathroom
drive-in movies
ATMs
The Source/Delphi

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 19:58:12 +0000

In 1973, (High School), one of my friends spliced a second earpiece onto the earphone line of his transistor radio so he could fully experience the World Series day games in class. Until he got caught and it was confiscated.

We all made our own versions. My radio was a two inch square on its face and less than an inch thick. Take that Walkman! It was remarkably sensitive as well.

By: Beth

Beth — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:19:06 +0000

Mickey mouse
D’oh
Endangered species
Marijuana
Digital age

By: Tdave

Tdave — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:54:18 +0000

(I have my moments) I got my 1st walkman in ‘83. Just AM/FM I didn’t need the tape player. It was about $30. I have an old Popular Mechanics that tells about how Sony was coming out with a personal stereo for $200, It said the idea came from people at Sony who were using high impedance headphones to test tuner circuits before they were connected to amplifiers. Someone had the idea of mass marketing the headphones with a small radio tuner and a compact, lightweight amplifier just powerful enough for the headphones.

how about:
Digital watches
TV with stereo sound
Ice makers in the home(refrigerator)

By: Kristi

Kristi — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:21:27 +0000

How about…

mouse (as in computer mouse)
ChapStick
Neil Diamond
message boards
email address
Ticketmaster

By: sd

sd — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:16:58 +0000

hilarious!

what about:
credit card
facebook/myspace
cordless phone
lightbulb
dave matthews band
indoor plumbing?

By: DW

DW — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:57:33 +0000

Have you tried cell phone? Pizza delivery.

By: kmj

kmj — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:24:35 +0000

My great uncle invented the Nerf ball. He was a chemical engineer working for a plastics company and had 6 daughters. He was playing football woth one and it hit her in the face and broke her nose. He then decided to do something about it and Nerf was born, but under a different name. Nerf bought out the patent from his company. He only got a small (in terms of what you would think he got)bonus from the company he invented it under.