And Then There's The "Save" Icon . . .

I saw a conversation online recently (part of the "discourse," as they say) about someone asking if phone booths were real things, or just plot contrivances made up for movies. The thread had lots of helpful people – with photos and anecdotes – explaining how they were, indeed, real. It was a surprisingly sweet thread.

It got me thinking about how many elements of life and gaming are just . . . history. We were playing Artbox recently with the extended family, and I "drew" a classical (pre-cellular) phone: box, cradle-line across the top, cups on the ends of the receiver. All the adults knew what it was; the kiddos did not. Which makes sense; a "pick up the receiver and push mechanical buttons on a box attached to a wall"-style phone doesn't exist to them.

It's curious what other aspects of gaming and geeky life are like this, and – perhaps – what elements I don't even realize are evaporating into the time stream: The connection between crayons and dice. How a printer can form the genesis of accordion snakes. Why some Dungeons & Dragons adventures came with markers. I'm sure there are others, so chime in with your own bits of near-forgotten gamerly goodness over on the forums.

-- Steven Marsh