TheaterFire

Xennials gotta be kings of useless talent right? Beeper codes, VCR programming, and car stereo installation

Posted by Jack0Trade@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 146 comments

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146 Comments

Because_I_Cannot@reddit

Holy shit, car stereo installation hits HARD. I still have a roll of Monster cable and a 200 Watt amp just sitting in my garage
View on Reddit #21253955

Typical_Wrap2121@reddit

Just got rid of my Bass Bazooka when we moved last year—mostly because I couldn’t install it in my Ram. But also I got tired of carrying it every move.
View on Reddit #21521954

hokie47@reddit

I replaced my wifes shit stock speakers in 2018. Went back to crutchfield. Site is still perfect. Spent like 200 dollars and now it sounds great.
View on Reddit #21263625

judge_dredds_chin@reddit

The Crutchfield magazine was a highlight in my house for years. I was always excited to see what new head units were coming out. I kinda miss that customization, but also appreciate the fact that now my car just offloads it all to my phone and I never have to replace a head unit again.
View on Reddit #21291570

elbaliavanuemanresu@reddit

Agreed 100%. I just replaced my wife's car stereo with a stereo I bought from Crutchfield. I found my account was still active, and they had all of my orders going back to 1998! The installation on a newer car was WAY more difficult than it used to be. I called support several times, and they were still knowledgeable and awesome to work with.
View on Reddit #21267386

Sandtiger812@reddit

I've used Crutchfield as a deciding factor for which car to buy, it was cheaper to buy a lower spec'd model and upgrade the head unit to one with the options I wanted instead of the more expensive one. 
View on Reddit #21280433

hokie47@reddit

It gets a bit more complicated today with all the Apple or Android car play. I just kept the head unit but the new speakers did wonders.
View on Reddit #21286232

balsaaaq@reddit

You were the bitches bastard if you had a hcca225
View on Reddit #21271403

PrarieDogma@reddit

Rockford Fosgate and JL Audio for me. Loved car stereos back in the day
View on Reddit #21255495

MacG467@reddit

Phoenix Gold up to and including the silver ZX series. Although, I prefer the white ZX amps. Infinity or Alpine for speakers old skool speakers and square Solobarics for subs.
View on Reddit #21268950

Deshackled@reddit

2 12 inch JL Audio in a bandpass enclosure for the win!
View on Reddit #21262128

PrarieDogma@reddit

Now you’re speaking my language hahaha
View on Reddit #21262173

Deshackled@reddit

2 12 inch JL Audio in a bandpass enclosure for the win!
View on Reddit #21262124

SHRLNeN@reddit

dynamat everywhere
View on Reddit #21261214

dalelew123@reddit

But no rattling
View on Reddit #21268005

AccordingTax6525@reddit

I used to be good at that stuff, too. When pimp my ride came out, we made all kinds of modifications on cars little stuff nothing like them, of course. I had a couple of those old S-10 Chevy blazers, and we cut speakers in the inside of the tailgate . That shit was pretty cool back then!
View on Reddit #21255900

spirit_of_a_goat@reddit

Using the microfiche and card catalog at the library.
View on Reddit #21314167

FalseQuestion7864@reddit

Nah, because the common denominator is that we know how to figure shit out. That type of talent translates to all kinds of facets of life. We are the last of the 'Renaissance People'.
View on Reddit #21296793

Past-Adhesiveness150@reddit

Just the code to get 30 lives on Contra.... never learned any of that other stuff.
View on Reddit #21295105

shutterslappens@reddit

How about hard coding HTML to create *beautiful* homepages?
View on Reddit #21256661

Aselleus@reddit

Try looking up your webpage on [The Wayback Machine ](https://archive.org/web/) My geocities page from 1998 is archived on there, so yours might be too
View on Reddit #21274069

shutterslappens@reddit

I’ve gone searching in the past with no luck. It was all built off of hyperlinking (I thought I was being cool by doing so), but I may go searching for it again, but I don’t have high hopes of getting lucky.
View on Reddit #21294568

Gay-Lord-Focker@reddit

Don’t forget tripod !
View on Reddit #21269297

Tyler_Durdens_Sister@reddit

My Livejournal was better than todays shit. lol
View on Reddit #21261612

mercurystar@reddit

GeoCities!!! LOL remember all those flashy "under construction gifs"?
View on Reddit #21257020

shutterslappens@reddit

0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣2️⃣1️⃣ Visitors so far.
View on Reddit #21257200

Gotumn@reddit

Getting those counters working was so validating. ![gif](giphy|a9VLyqyLWysLAzwZme|downsized)
View on Reddit #21259218

shutterslappens@reddit

It was, but not as much as when they signed my guestbook.
View on Reddit #21259506

Traditional_Cat_60@reddit

Why am I the only one that can set the clock on the office microwave?!!?!?!!??? It isn’t difficult. Press “clock”, enter the time, then press “clock” again.
View on Reddit #21265921

Lake2two@reddit

When I was a kid, there wasn't even a clock button. You had to know some weird combination of buttons to hold down. And we never complained!
View on Reddit #21291523

triggeron@reddit

My first job was working in a repair shop fixing VCR's, that's real useless knowledge right there.
View on Reddit #21258831

Lake2two@reddit

There's still one in Milwaukee that makes housecalls.
View on Reddit #21291483

MartyFreeze@reddit

That's right, Jay!
View on Reddit #21269420

Lake2two@reddit

T9, {*S drop*, manual transmissions, smoothing out a dollar for a vending machine, hacking jukeboxes, bar photo searches, blowing on NES cartridges, napter and limewire searching, using 1-800-COLLECT to leave messages to each other via payphones, recording CD/radio on tape to make perfect mixtapes, burning CDs, curating minidiscs, folding notes, and slamming POGs.
View on Reddit #21291382

MrFeverDreamJr@reddit

I spent my 20s working in video and music stores. I might as well have worked in a buggy whip factory
View on Reddit #21255468

Colonel_Green@reddit

I worked at an adult video store. "Sure, Grandpa, people would come in with a roll of dimes and leave with plastic box of porn tape, right?" "And they'd look me dead in the eyes when they returned it an hour later."
View on Reddit #21290273

Havoc_111@reddit

I just have to let you know you made an internet stranger laugh waaaaay too hard with that comment 🤣
View on Reddit #21287171

high_everyone@reddit

We had a laserdisc section in ours.
View on Reddit #21262874

WarcraftFarscape@reddit

Your buggy whip factory had laser disc players?! This sounds like a weird business model
View on Reddit #21271263

high_everyone@reddit

They were previously selling Selectavision machines in the early 80's, which were surprisingly adaptable to Amish communities wanting to have movie nights. It being an analog disc system, they could operate it via hand crank and run the output through a candle to lens transmission based on the grooves in the discs. The only downside was having to turn the candle upside down for side two would force them to play the movie at double speed or risk having to change candles mid feature a second time. They were also surprisingly good at repairing LP's. One of the reasons the Amish are still around today is their ability to safely manufacture technolgy free analog hardware such as slipmats, record needles, direct drive belts, etc.
View on Reddit #21281454

itsasnowconemachine@reddit

[- Drake, you ever watch any Bruce Lee movies? - I got every one of them on laser-disc. Well, come in, come in.](https://movie-sounds.org/comedy-movie-sounds/quotes-with-sound-clips-from-black-sheep-1996/drake-you-ever-watch-any-bruce-lee-movies-i-got-every-one-of-them-on-laser-disc-well-come-in-come-in)
View on Reddit #21271378

Easy_Stick3766@reddit

I clearly remember thr time my husband tried to apply his car stereo installation skills...to a 2011 Honda crosstour. The last time he installed a car stereo was on his mid-90s Ford ranger.  The experience was slightly different this time around.  It took almost a week with flood lights in the backyard, after work in the evenings, to change out the stereo and add a back up camera.  When it was all done and it worked, he finally conceded that it was way harder than anticipated and he would never be doing that again because modern cars have way too many wires. Lololol
View on Reddit #21289724

MegaManSE@reddit

Programming in assembly, especially real vs protected mode, xms memory, simd optimization, mode 13, svga etc etc
View on Reddit #21287331

Srslywhyumadbro@reddit

Don't forget building computers
View on Reddit #21273011

mhook52@reddit

Working in DOS.
View on Reddit #21275714

MegaManSE@reddit

Compuserv
View on Reddit #21287198

Srslywhyumadbro@reddit

Feeling like a hacker constantly, oh yeah
View on Reddit #21276946

mhook52@reddit

Lol, I was in like second grade, and ti make my games work I had to type through dos,  good thing I learned cd/dir
View on Reddit #21282053

Calm-Tree-1369@reddit

Do people not still build pcs? There's a huge subreddit dedicated to that. It can't all be older guys and gals like us, can it?
View on Reddit #21279876

Srslywhyumadbro@reddit

Well, it's generally cheaper to buy a prebuilt nowadays, and when graphics cards are in tight supply it's often the main way you can get those cards. Also laptops are hella powerful compared to how they used to be, and desktops are less popular overall.
View on Reddit #21280066

BKKJB57@reddit

420-911
View on Reddit #21286449

DocBrutus@reddit

How to type on an actual typewriter.
View on Reddit #21274961

mhook52@reddit

I had 4 years if typing classes in school,  cause they didn't  know what else to do with the just built computer lab.  1 semester of typing out of a typewriter book.  It had an article about how a computer could never  replace a typewriter 
View on Reddit #21275844

DocBrutus@reddit

I got to do typewriter in elementary and moved to the superior computer in middle school.
View on Reddit #21276273

mhook52@reddit

Yeah, my first computer lab experience was about muddle school,  my school  went k-8.  It's funny when typing was like an actual skill
View on Reddit #21282108

DocBrutus@reddit

Just like cursive. Almost completely useless in today’s age.
View on Reddit #21286272

IGotMyPopcorn@reddit

How to adjust the tv antenna.
View on Reddit #21284915

HotgunColdheart@reddit

Installed most of my friends stereos for a few years during school, we had two years where we could do it as a Shop class project.
View on Reddit #21284481

Kain316@reddit

How to write a business letter
View on Reddit #21251667

Good_Apollo_@reddit

Ahem. How to write cursive.
View on Reddit #21252449

rjcpl@reddit

How to write at all.
View on Reddit #21253752

AIShalmanezer@reddit

How to read
View on Reddit #21256155

BlackPhoenix1981@reddit

...
View on Reddit #21257014

NachoNachoDan@reddit

Morse code!
View on Reddit #21282714

HotgunColdheart@reddit

S
View on Reddit #21284237

DamarsLastKanar@reddit

We learned to write, so we can left.
View on Reddit #21258248

ButIDigress79@reddit

It’s still be taught in some places. My High School aged son learned it but I don’t think they spent as much time as we did.
View on Reddit #21258107

flashy_dragon_@reddit

I relearned cursive this last summer after feeling a bit of shame that my penpal was writing letters in cursive and I wasn't. I'd stopped writing cursive nearly 30 years ago in 7th grade, when my teachers warned me that the couldn't tell the difference between my r and s. I originally learned D'Nealian, and picked up a Zaner-Blosser practice book for 5th graders to see if learning a slightly different way would help. So now I write as much as I can in cursive. I'm doing my part to keep that torch going!
View on Reddit #21255715

scottyd035ntknow@reddit

Fax Cover Sheet.
View on Reddit #21261971

punknothing@reddit

TPS cover sheet.
View on Reddit #21276386

Clams_N_Scallops@reddit

Hey Peter man! Check out channel 9!
View on Reddit #21280555

SumpCrab@reddit

It seems many older people have abandoned all sense of formatting, and the younger generation seems like they have never even seen a physical letter. In emails, both "Karen" and "Jayden" are using the subject line as a text message, leaving the body of the message blank.
View on Reddit #21265333

flashy_dragon_@reddit

I took a class in college on business writing. How about memo writing? There are days that I wish folks would write their emails like memos instead of wannabe novels...
View on Reddit #21255802

hokie47@reddit

Memos are still used today but only for rather offical office documents.
View on Reddit #21263508

RedditGotSoulDoubt@reddit

Dear Sir or Madam:
View on Reddit #21260509

Kain316@reddit

That greeting is even outdated
View on Reddit #21260692

Jack0Trade@reddit (OP)

I don't know about useless, but certainly full on replaced by AI.
View on Reddit #21251727

deltronethirty@reddit

Jerking off to a magazine.
View on Reddit #21258437

Gotumn@reddit

I had the JC Penney Christmas Catalog. ✌️
View on Reddit #21259443

itsasnowconemachine@reddit

[Sears Catalog](https://youtu.be/CRj61dcvmuU?t=14)
View on Reddit #21271533

ronchee1@reddit

I knew this was the link Bravo
View on Reddit #21283366

LyleLanley99@reddit

"Growing up, I would have never thought I would need a computer just to masturbate." \- Norm MacDonald
View on Reddit #21268412

deltronethirty@reddit

Our kids are gonna need VR goggles and next gen flashlight.
View on Reddit #21279136

obviously8t@reddit

Glamour?
View on Reddit #21262367

The_broken_machine@reddit

This reminds me, I want to replace my car stereo.
View on Reddit #21282913

nernst79@reddit

Fax machines
View on Reddit #21282381

cranialvoid@reddit

When you can’t afford to pay someone to do something, you got to figure it out yourself. It was harder to look up how to do things before google and youtube were to prevalent and full of info. But the bonus to that is you get better at figuring things out on your own and all those things you learned in the past can sometimes help figure out the next thing.
View on Reddit #21282102

MardelMare@reddit

How to fix my mom’s computer. From a distance.
View on Reddit #21281536

tool22482@reddit

How to play the recorder
View on Reddit #21255319

mnemonicer22@reddit

B-A-C
View on Reddit #21258227

Gotumn@reddit

Hawt Crawss Bunzzzzz
View on Reddit #21259114

tomqvaxy@reddit

You’ll be happy to know the hot cross buns is still a thing.
View on Reddit #21279875

Gotumn@reddit

![gif](giphy|vvbGMpbhZMcHSsD50w|downsized)
View on Reddit #21279941

Calm-Tree-1369@reddit

It's transferable to other similar instruments, though, and music isn't going away any time soon. Music is timeless.
View on Reddit #21279829

Dad3mass@reddit

Kids still learn that. Thank god.
View on Reddit #21263205

tomqvaxy@reddit

May I add FOUR DIFFERENT WAYS TO APPLY TO THE SAME JOB. Kill me.
View on Reddit #21279659

The_OtherGuy_99@reddit

I think we all have an engineering degree through osmosis after all the shit we had to work out. The fact that Nothing Fucking Worked is why we know how to fix shit. Kids today (I just puked in my mouth typing that) can't fix anything because everything has always just worked.
View on Reddit #21277065

TulsaWhoDats@reddit

We are
View on Reddit #21275999

ElmerTheAmish@reddit

My wife and I *still* use "143" to each other. And while I could still do it if pressed, I've just moved on to buying cars with good stereos so I don't have to mess around with it! lol
View on Reddit #21273228

JVM_@reddit

We're the peak of humanities analog technologies. Everything peaked analog and went digital during our childhoods, we needed to learn the analog ways and the in-between analog/digital ways. Now almost every media and communication system is digital and soon to be AI assisted.
View on Reddit #21272443

itsasnowconemachine@reddit

Freeing up conventional memory under DOS.
View on Reddit #21271666

ChromeDestiny@reddit

I just adapted with times so now my skillset has become home theater installation, changing the settings on my multi region Blu-Ray player and computer maintenance.
View on Reddit #21271622

mrlizardwizard@reddit

Texting with number buttons without looking
View on Reddit #21250104

mechapoitier@reddit

I was so pissed when those T9 phones started getting phased out. I could text perfectly from memory. Now I make so many fat fingered mistakes on my iphone, and I’m neither fat nor do I have fat fingers.
View on Reddit #21271608

Gloomy_Use@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/1o443c0jmdlc1.jpeg?width=646&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c4acba89908c882f04084de96c42e7f6c94368a
View on Reddit #21263007

BlackPhoenix1981@reddit

Holy shit yes. If I knew where 5 was, I was set. Everything falls into place.
View on Reddit #21257103

balsaaaq@reddit

*143
View on Reddit #21271415

bitwarrior80@reddit

I just showed my 8 year old how to enter the minus world in super Mario bros. He was impressed
View on Reddit #21271154

Sab65@reddit

Oh yeah..try installing one …
View on Reddit #21271138

OJimmy@reddit

You just described a mid level member of Avon/Carlos crew from the Wire.
View on Reddit #21271121

midnight-dour@reddit

I feel the difficulty of programming a VCR was always blown way out of proportion.
View on Reddit #21254106

non_clever_username@reddit

It was in general, but I do have a little sympathy for people who struggled with that because those VCR users interfaces were crap and wildly inconsistent between brands
View on Reddit #21270081

Gotumn@reddit

It was a test. "Does your kid compulsively fix blinking 12:00's? Try Ritalin today!"
View on Reddit #21258993

ihavenoidea81@reddit

Man car audio was such a huge thing in high school in my area. “What system you bumping?” Was one of the most important things ever. Best Buy had a whole god damn corner of the store just for car audio
View on Reddit #21269256

taleofbenji@reddit

Did the high end car stereo industry go extinct?
View on Reddit #21254936

MacG467@reddit

Not *really*. You need to look at other manufacturers than what you or I remember. I've been watching videos from [Williston Audio Labs](https://www.youtube.com/@wal) recently. He reviews old skool and new car audio. Down 4 Sound seems to be one of the new "best bang for the buck" amp brands you can buy.
View on Reddit #21269238

justkeeptreading@reddit

everything is a screen these days. the climate controls, backup camera, configuring if the horn goes off when you lock the doors, all of that goes through the stupid screen. id like to believe its possible to replace that with something aftermarket and keep all the functionality but when i looked into it for my last car it seemed basically impossible to do without losing a lot of functions
View on Reddit #21257726

FineAunts@reddit

There's a box you can get called Maestro which sits between your head unit screen and your car's wiring which helps translate most of these functions. It's infinitely more complex as you have to first connect it to your computer to set up the config properly, but it works like magic when done right. Steering wheel controls can be customized to do whatever, etc.
View on Reddit #21267069

mjd1977@reddit

Gave nintendo cartridges mouth resuscitation! Actual CPR doesn’t even do that anymore
View on Reddit #21258887

PoisonMind@reddit

My kid was blowing on a Switch cartridge yesterday. My wife and I looked at each other and asked, "Where did he learn to do that?"
View on Reddit #21266666

Admira1@reddit

T9 texting
View on Reddit #21265684

symonym7@reddit

I’ll bet your mom doesn’t think my talents are useless.
View on Reddit #21265332

Traveshamamockery_@reddit

Car stereo install is still useful. I’ve done it twice in the past 3 years for my boats.
View on Reddit #21264996

ashcach@reddit

VCR programming was big. Blew my parents mind when I showed them there was another way to record their shows other then pushing the record button while the show was on. They never bothered to learn though and I still had to program everything for them. I used that to get back at them if they pissed me off. *Oops, sorry mom. I forgot to program Days*
View on Reddit #21264270

Zane42v2@reddit

Writing modem init strings
View on Reddit #21255136

TheBr0fessor@reddit

✨ATDT ✨
View on Reddit #21262542

ticklechickens@reddit

Getting the magnetic tape back inside the cassette Remember when you would randomly see cassette tape tangled up and blowing around outside like a tumbleweed?
View on Reddit #21253776

playmakebesteve@reddit

Holy crap I’d forgotten that was a thing.
View on Reddit #21261643

flashy_dragon_@reddit

I was weirdly giddy recently when I saw what I thought was cassette tape blowing on the road. It was just a communication cable on the ground, and my environmentally-despicable giddiness was dashed.
View on Reddit #21255912

Gloomy_Use@reddit

That brought back some memories! I remember about 24 years ago I was visiting my boyfriends parents house and I fixed every clock in their house that was flashing 12:00. They looked at me like I just did black magic
View on Reddit #21260736

Numpty712@reddit

Got about as much useless info as Gen Z spews verbal diarrhea
View on Reddit #21260329

Max-Powah@reddit

Seeing as I installed a new stereo in my boat two seasons ago and a new stereo in my son's car so he could have hands free Bluetooth to comy with our states "no cell phone in your hands while driving" law, I don't see that as useless....
View on Reddit #21259778

Sinborn@reddit

Hey I learned how to make subwoofer boxes too!
View on Reddit #21259593

BanThisOneSpezBoi@reddit

jfc 7676776 that annoying code for the universal remote my dad had. It was hard to forget that's for sure
View on Reddit #21258815

turnpike37@reddit

I could still use a card catalogue and Dewey Decimal System if needed.
View on Reddit #21258435

PlaneLocksmith6714@reddit

We’re sleeper agents
View on Reddit #21257998

73ld4@reddit

——{-@
View on Reddit #21257199

Old_surviving_moron@reddit

I still remember how to calculate the proper impedance for amps.
View on Reddit #21257183

ButIDigress79@reddit

Getting a better analog signal
View on Reddit #21252137

flashy_dragon_@reddit

Still trying that! I have a small Sony radio in my home office that occasionally gives me fits.
View on Reddit #21255950

AccordingTax6525@reddit

Yeah. In the late 90s early 2000 I was pretty good at putting a new stereo amplifiers etc. I wouldn’t try to open the dashboard of my newer car though. No way. I was also good at connecting several televisions together to watch some thing at somebody’s house . Like everybody’s watching the same game I could hook unlimited TVs up or video game systems. Really good it’s setting up surroundsound and speakers and all of that foolishness now it’s all Bluetooth!
View on Reddit #21255801

BigTomAbides@reddit

In the late 90s I was in college taking some tv/film production classes & they were still teaching us how to splice tape. And you can’t fuck with my white out tape skillz.
View on Reddit #21255748

kittensbabette@reddit

I could text super fast when you had to scroll through the numbers to form words
View on Reddit #21255747

Verbull710@reddit

https://i.redd.it/7znrksfc2dlc1.gif
View on Reddit #21255138

gregofcanada84@reddit

We're tech savvy.
View on Reddit #21254705

judge_dredds_chin@reddit

Man I spent so much time customizing stereo stuff in my cars over the years. Good times.
View on Reddit #21254544