I have vague memories of a time when telephones had what they call “a dial”; if you wanted to be sure not to miss a call, you stayed home and waited for it. Also, if you wanted to watch a particular show on television, they told you when it was on and that’s when you watched it.

(all of which pales in comparison to my grandfather’s stories of the days when a horse-drawn cart brought ice every day that you’d chip off a bunch and put it in a metal box where you tried to keep things cold.)