It was new; now it's old

Think back to the world that your parents lived in when they were as old as you are today. For many of us, that was some time in the 1980s. What was new and exciting then, but is taken for granted today? What new developments alarmed and confused people back then, but have become accepted and understood in the intervening years?

What were some of the new things that your parents struggled with at the time? And how do those things look from today's perspective?

This week's theme is one generation ago.