nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Forgive me it this has already been posted. Meet the Family That Shuns Technologies Introduced After 1986 Yes, there's video. :D Meet the McMillans. They're like a lot of families -- young, unmarried, with two kids, a boy and a girl -- with one notable exception: They live every day like it's 1986. Not in some vague, listen-to-The Bangles-and-wear-some-Spandex kind of way, but in a manner that is deliberate and drastic and all-encompassing. The McMillans, at home, have given up all technology that was introduced to the world after 1986. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 So they are like the Amish, plus 150 years? I will read the article later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aug17girl Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Being somewhat tongue in cheek here, this article has me scared. We purposely do not have cable or video game systems. My smart phone capable cell phone is basically a dumb phone because I don't have a data plan or free texting. I hate to think that all that is standing between my family and mullets and perms is GPS and internet access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hey! I bet they have a cassette player. The "Emergency Music" could be sent to them for a report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 Being somewhat tongue in cheek here, this article has me scared. We purposely do not have cable or video game systems. My smart phone capable cell phone is basically a dumb phone because I don't have a data plan or free texting. I hate to think that all that is standing between my family and mullets and perms is GPS and internet access. LOL. I think just having a cell phone that doesn't look like the one below should keep you on the safe side of the mullet line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aug17girl Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Hey! I bet they have a cassette player. The "Emergency Music" could be sent to them for a report. I am hanging my head in shame. We have more than one working cassette player in the house. I *gasp* sometime use my husband's sony walkman to listen to the radio. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFG Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Am I the only one who thinks, "1986? That is not THAT long ago"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Silly. Their kids are little. They aren't asking for the internet to research their homework. They aren't married. There was much more of a stigma of unmarried couples with kids in 1986. They are not facing that nearly as much. Do they not have real jobs where they need a cell or internet? A mullet? Please. Noone I knew had one, even in 1986. They use a VCR. I didn't have one is 1986. Plus, they admit they watch post 1986 movies on their TV. Just a need for their 15 min. of fame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 LOL. I think just having a cell phone that doesn't look like the one below should keep you on the safe side of the mullet line. :smilielol5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 Silly. Their kids are little. They aren't asking for the internet to research their homework. They aren't married. There was much more of a stigma of unmarried couples with kids in 1986. They are not facing that nearly as much. Do they not have real jobs where they need a cell or internet? A mullet? Please. Noone I knew had one, even in 1986. They use a VCR. I didn't have one is 1986. Plus, they admit they watch post 1986 movies on their TV. Just a need for their 15 min. of fame. I grew up not too far from where they live and graduated high school in 1986. A number of my friends had parents who were in a common law relationship, and nobody thought twice about it... and yes, mullets were relatively common back then, though more so in men a bit older than high school age. Not everyone was "80's" 80's. :) We didn't have a VCR, but we did have a videodisc player (not laserdisc). Those were short lived. :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I graduated high school in 1986, so this makes me feel old (my parents didn't have call waiting or an answering machine just because they were cheap; cable was in existence but they didn't get it for another decade at least, for the same reason). They are young parents. Whatever. They'll grow along with their kids, like the rest of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I think this couple has a great idea. The man and his girlfriend used to sit side by side on the couch at night, each hooked into their own machine. The little boy didn't want to go outside with his dad because the kid was busy on his iPad. The family has benefited from this -- they spend more time doing things together (instead of playing like 2 year olds, side-by-side), they read more, they interact with their children more, their kids play more and have noticably increased using their imaginations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 They are young parents. Whatever. They'll grow along with their kids, like the rest of us. I think people are interesting, and I don't get the urge to dismiss those who are different as silly or misguided. Though, admittedly mullets do make it a bit more challenging. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Skimming the beginning of the article, I really don't see the point of the attention they're being given. Lots of families do similar things regarding restricting technologies in order for their kids to have more "real world" time. :001_rolleyes: Look at the Waldorf school communities -- hundreds of families who shun most television in favor of storytelling. I could probably find several families around here doing the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Cable was available in 1986. I agree with the others that one can be in the 21st century and not have/utilize all the gadgets available. It is silly to have a mullet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Interesting, but kind of funny that we're reading about and discussing them online and watching them on a YouTube video. It seems pretty foolish to take the experiment so far that you lose out on employment/business opportunities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I think this couple has a great idea. The man and his girlfriend used to sit side by side on the couch at night, each hooked into their own machine. The little boy didn't want to go outside with his dad because the kid was busy on his iPad. The family has benefited from this -- they spend more time doing things together (instead of playing like 2 year olds, side-by-side), they read more, they interact with their children more, their kids play more and have noticably increased using their imaginations. If this is the catalyst that gets them moving and connecting more as a family, fine. But personally I find it silly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I think it's trendy now to do that whole "year with or without [insert social norm or something considered outside if social norm]," and I agree they are probably at least partly doing it for the notoriety, but...I think it's kinda fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Well wait! We don't have cable, don't have cell phones, or laptops, ipads or tablets. ds15 has an xbox, 3 kids have DSis and I have an ipod. We have 2 stereos one of them has a cassette player. We have 2 VHS machines. And I am on the hunt for a vintage orange or red rotary phone. Does that mean I am trapped in the 80s? lol The comments at the bottom of the article were interesting. Apparently my kids will be ruined for life thanks to our low tech family Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer3141 Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I get cancelling cable TV and even internet. But I don't understand what they are trying to do by not watching DVDs but allowing VHS tapes. So basically... their kids can watch movies but the picture is a little more grainy than a DVD. Have you ever in your life met a kid who would care about that??? Seriously. Like some 5 year old is going to say, "Oh yeah. I can't watch that. It's not Dolby surround sound." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I get backing off of technology dependence. I don't get putting your family income in jeopardy while doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Cable was available in 1986. I agree with the others that one can be in the 21st century and not have/utilize all the gadgets available. It is silly to have a mullet. Amen. And when my older boys were 4 & 3, they refused to go outside because they wanted to play Super Mario Bros. on a Nintendo that someone gave us. We took it away for a year. They've never refused to go outside again, and that time is spoken of in whispers to their little brothers to keep them from crossing the line. I don't have a smart phone. We don't have cable. We have a working VCR & VHS tapes, a working tape player, and a working record player (and records & tapes). I could've been famous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I think it's trendy now to do that whole "year with or without [insert social norm or something considered outside if social norm]," and I agree they are probably at least partly doing it for the notoriety, but...I think it's kinda fun. A lot of those stunt memoirs are quite fascinating. Maybe it can be a WTM game...if you were going to have A Year [With/Without/of Only], what gimmick would you pick? I'll go with My Year of Eating Only Foods that End in Vowels. Then again, my husband already has a serious empty-nest plan for next year: Make a different kind of dumpling each week for a full year. So maybe that will be my first project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I think limiting media to bring the family closer together is a good thing. But losing business and jeopardizing your family's income over something like this is ridiculous. Well wait! We don't have cable, don't have cell phones, or laptops, ipads or tablets. ds15 has an xbox, 3 kids have DSis and I have an ipod. We have 2 stereos one of them has a cassette player. We have 2 VHS machines. And I am on the hunt for a vintage orange or red rotary phone. Yes, but are you sporting a mullet? :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 N/M, I read a response wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I do admit I grew up in a more sheltered crowd. I went to Christian schools and most parents had white collar jobs. I am being honest when I say I knew noone with a mullet. I knew what the hairstyle looked like, although I had never actually heard the term or learned what it meant until I started watching the Duggars. Dawn I grew up not too far from where they live and graduated high school in 1986. A number of my friends had parents who were in a common law relationship, and nobody thought twice about it... and yes, mullets were relatively common back then, though more so in men a bit older than high school age. Not everyone was "80's" 80's. :) We didn't have a VCR, but we did have a videodisc player (not laserdisc). Those were short lived. :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I do admit I grew up in a more sheltered crowd. I went to Christian schools and most parents had white collar jobs. I am being honest when I say I knew noone with a mullet. I knew what the hairstyle looked like, although I had never actually heard the term or learned what it meant until I started watching the Duggars. Dawn I had the dubious privilege of seeing lots and lots of mullets, though that wasn't what we called them. We knew that particular style as "hockey hair." My current neighbor wears an especially magnificent mullet. I'm pretty sure he's not engaging in some kind of social experiment; he just digs the look. Totally works for him, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 I do admit I grew up in a more sheltered crowd. I went to Christian schools and most parents had white collar jobs. I am being honest when I say I knew noone with a mullet. I knew what the hairstyle looked like, although I had never actually heard the term or learned what it meant until I started watching the Duggars.LOL I didn't doubt you were, that's why I was careful to say I grew up nearish their home, as there were undoubtedly regional differences as well. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I graduated H.S. in '89. I knew plenty of guys with mullets. Just for fun - I think David Spade's mullet in the movie Joe Dirt is arguably one of the best mullet portrayals on the big screen. Any other contenders? :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 We knew that particular style as "hockey hair." Yes! We didn't call it that, but yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 A mullet? Please. Noone I knew had one, even in 1986. It is silly to have a mullet. Yes, but are you sporting a mullet? :tongue_smilie: Youngest has sported a mullet. I don't like hair styles that have hair in your eyes. My house rule is if your hair is long enough to be in your eyes you have to find some way to keep it out of your eyes. So Youngest decided he wanted it short at the front and long at the back for ponytails. Well he looked at some pictures on the internet and found some that he thought looked, "So awesome". https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1314&bih=934&q=mullet&oq=mullet&gs_l=img.3..0l10.749.1473.0.1674.6.6.0.0.0.0.143.474.5j1.6.0....0...1ac.1.26.img..0.6.473.cAlxZQKlptQ He wanted a mullet, and he got one for awhile. It looked as bad?good? as the ones in the link above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Cable was available in 1986. I agree with the others that one can be in the 21st century and not have/utilize all the gadgets available. It is silly to have a mullet. Yes. I graduated high school in 86 and we had had cable tv for years (since jr high at least) by then. We also had video games. Atari? That was a very early 80's introduction. I can clearly see that her hair is not big enough to be 1986 hair either. I'm sorry. She needs at least one more can of aquanet and honey! Someone teach her to backcomb already. As for the mullet... well, they ARE Canadian. I'm so very sorry to say that, for many, many people, not only was the mullet au courant in 86, it continues to be so today. We call it "hockey hair." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhanaBee Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 In 1986 I was a junior in high school. We had no cable, my parents shunned it until Dad retired in 2001. But my friends had cable. We didn't have Atari. But my brother's friends had it. We *did* have a VCR but were only allowed to watch 2 hours of tv a week [not counting the Nightly News.....which was only on NBC at our house]. Two rotary phones in the house - one in the kitchen and one in my parent's bedroom [and only they were allowed to use that one]. We didn't have many movies for the VCR because they were like, totally expensive back then! GPS? Please. I still only rely on paper maps. That's why Thomas Guides were created - to make my life easier! My 18yo now has a GPS system but it's not allowed in my car. No cell phones? Well, ok. But it's not like there are a bunch of pay phones around the way there were in 1986. So what happens when there's an emergency out on the road? Can they use someone else's cell phone? I agree that this works for them now, because the kids are little. And I don't agree that this is a lifestyle that is "aggressively retrograde". My mom took my brother and me up to the mountains every summer to get out of the smog and live in a cabin with NO phones, NO tv, none of the modern [1980s] amenities..... and a radio that sometimes worked....sometimes didn't. I guess we were living like it was the 1930's [and I'm pretty sure that stove we cooked on came directly from that era]. But it was no big deal then and I strongly suspect that there are many many people in this country living right now like it's 1986 w/o being aware that this is a Weird Thing. Dang. I should write a book about those summers in the cabin. I guess this is a cute idea and I expect it'll be a book for sale sometime in the next few years. I'll pick it up in the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Kate Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 The mullet... Business in the front, party in the back!!! (I love that phrase!! lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hikin' Mama Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Kinda dumb, if you ask me. Hubby and I don't have smart phones, never had cable, use paper maps (never had a GPS), don't like reading books electronically. I don't think it's anything newsworthy or book deal worthy, it's just what we like. If your kid won't play outside because he's busy with his ipad, take it away and go outside to play with him. The kids are 5 and 2 for pete's sake! They aren't even going to notice this year long experiment. They might be scarred by a dad with a mullet, though. ; ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Why is this in the news? They are not the only family to restrict (voluntarily or not) technology. This family is not special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest submarines Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I read about it last week. I love reading about families who do fun (and silly--more power to them!) projects together. They are obviously creative and fun-loving and have a good bond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCMom Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 Silly. Their kids are little. They aren't asking for the internet to research their homework. They aren't married. There was much more of a stigma of unmarried couples with kids in 1986. They are not facing that nearly as much. Do they not have real jobs where they need a cell or internet? A mullet? Please. Noone I knew had one, even in 1986. They use a VCR. I didn't have one is 1986. Plus, they admit they watch post 1986 movies on their TV. Just a need for their 15 min. of fame. We had a VCR AND cable tv in 1986. Hello people, I Want My MTV... And just about every high school boy (and a lot of younger boys too) I knew had a mullet in 1986 (Yes, it was the year I graduated hs... :glare:) I lived in a very rural, backwards part of the country, too. I only skimmed it but it looks like these people have just replaced modern technologies with older technologies, with the exception of cell phones, maybe. What is the difference between a video gaming system from 1986 and one from now? Besides quality, lol. Frogger vs MInecraft. Whatever. Not impressed. Georgia (there were also computers and cell phones back then, lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I wonder if they make each other mix tapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 I wonder if they make each other mix tapes. *sigh* "I made a playlist for you," just doesn't cut it. Anyone see The World's End? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I'm not really impressed. They're like two steps farther out than 97% of homeschooling families I know. And it's just stupid to cut yourself out of work opportunities these days. Plus, mullets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 They were both born in 1986. Really, how much of that life did they lead, anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 OHHHHH, let's all live like the year we were born. I was born in 1966. Maybe I should start an anti-VietNam War protest and start an anti race war campagn. I will also go back to RECORDS and type writers. Only movies that came out that year or earlier can be watched, but no VCR or DVD or Computers, so no idea how I will watch them. Reel to Reel? And no current music. The Beetles, The Monkeys, The Kinks, to name a few.....but records only. Bouffant hair, here I come! Ok, I take it all back, this could be fun! They were both born in 1986. Really, how much of that life did they lead, anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyJo Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I honestly don't get this. We've made some very deliberate decisions about how much technology we want, but we try to make informed decisions. We live off-grid. We watch shows on Netflix and Amazon. I love my laptop and my Kindle. But there's not a single light bulb in my house, and I have a fan instead of an air-conditioner. So I get weird. But, I can't imagine choosing a date and saying, "Nothing before that." And I especially wouldn't decide the year of my birth! For crying out loud, I was born in the early 70s. I wouldn't even get a stinkin' remote control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 OHHHHH, let's all live like the year we were born. I was born in 1966. Maybe I should start an anti-VietNam War protest and start an anti race war campagn. I will also go back to RECORDS and type writers. Only movies that came out that year or earlier can be watched, but no VCR or DVD or Computers, so no idea how I will watch them. Reel to Reel? And no current music. The Beetles, The Monkeys, The Kinks, to name a few.....but records only. Bouffant hair, here I come! Ok, I take it all back, this could be fun! If I could drink and smoke like they do in Mad Men, count me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 I was born in the early 70s. I wouldn't even get a stinkin' remote control. There were TV remotes in the 60's, but very basic. The step back came with cable boxes: these were wired for a number of years... as late as the early 80's, depending on where you lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I think the McMillans are idiots. I also think the whole thing is a publicity stunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 *sigh* "I made a playlist for you," just doesn't cut it. Anyone see The World's End? :) Not yet, not playing near me *double sigh*. There is just something about Simon in a trench. As for 1986, I'm there. I graduated high school in 85 and would have been a college freshman that year. Guess what! I'm now a college freshman. I was also using my parents car that year. Guess what! I'm using my parents car! I was also listening to groups like Kansas and thinking guys in muscle cars were cool. Guess what! I'm on episode 106 of Supernatural! Of course, in 1986 this would have been the hot guy in a trench - man he looks young. Maybe it is 1986 and other people just don't know it! Oh and mullet Supernatural for the tie: Ash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyJo Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 There were TV remotes in the 60's, but very basic. The step back came with cable boxes: these were wired for a number of years... as late as the early 80's, depending on where you lived. My mama hadn't heard of them. When she wanted the TV changed, she said, "Kathy Jo, go turn it to channel 10." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nmoira Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 OMG. Only Canadians will get this, but because I'm from Sarnia (something I don't often admit) and because of this thread, I googled Kim Mitchell. Look at Kim! Wow! I find him kind of attractive now... never did before. Who'd have thunk? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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