Yeah, I think he's wrong by 25 years or so. The cheapest way 50 years ago was still TV.

Cheapest? Help me out here. When and how was a TV cheaper than telling stories?

Time is money baby

Let's say you make $$$/hr with unlimited overtime.

Can you draw a schematic for me to understand how buying a TV saves money?

Also, kids 50 years ago already had ATARI consoles.

In 01972? Maybe Pong, but that was at the pizza parlor, not in your house. And it sure wasn't cheap.

Atari was producing home video game machines before long, I guess, but if they sold ~x00,000 units, that was an awfully small percentage of the population.

Some people had (non-kit) microcomputers ~1981, but again, that was an extremely small percentage of the US.

Yeah, but 50 years ago, Atari's home video game machines were still 5 years in the future.

I wasn't there, but going by Wikipedia, 1972 was about when they started doing something.

Yup, Pong.

50 years ago Return of the Jedi was still 11 years in the future? [0] Star wars was still 5 years away, Blade Runner 10. Colour TV on all networks was 7 years away [1] But hey, a house cost $28K, a car cost $4K, a quarter pounder of beef cost 16c [2] the convention that made Star Trek popular happened[3] (in two days). There was also terrorism, Watergate, the space shuttle programme, and the days of the week match this year (until that pesky leap day)

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_of_the_Jedi [1]: https://www.thoughtco.com/color-television-history-4070934 [2]: http://www.mytwodollars.com/2009/10/22/the-cost-of-living-in... [3]: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_convention

>> 50 years ago Return of the Jedi was still 11 years in the future?

Woa, I didn't say that happened 50 years ago! I mean, you'd expect my mother to tell me the tales she remembered from her childhood, no? So you can imagine that at least a couple of decades had passed between the time The Return of the Jedi first appeared on screen and the time I heard the tale of the Handsome Prince with the laser sword and the evil knight in the black mask.

But, I'm not willing to say anything more precise about my age. Sorry :)

Maybe your mother saw Reign of Fire, it makes the exact same claim, Star Wars will be the new folklore in the post apocalypse.

Interesting. I've watched the movie but I didn't remember the Star Wars reference.

Heh, 50 years seems like a long time ago, until I recite my own age. Honestly that's probably more of 70+ years now.

My mother wasn't the type to watch Star Wars movies so it's plausible she learned of them from her own mother...

Your mother is awesome.