So…Pavel Durov says that Apple hasn't approved any Telegram for iOS updates in a month and a half. Interesting.

https://t.co/yarcIrV2Bh

My dad bought a Polaroid Land Camera (the pre-SX70 kind), which was only used for special occasions because the film cartridges were so expensive compared to a roll of Kodak 126 film.

12-exposure rolls of film. And flashcubes.

Sometimes it seems like that part hasn't changed much. The one thing I miss the least is buying film and having it developed. Also my crappy 1981 Ford Escort, but that's another story.

The show ends in 1987, when I was 21 years old. At that time, my technology was limited to a Sony Walkman, a portable stereo, and a digital Casio watch. A few of my friends had rich parents who bought computers, one an IBM PC (the original!), one an Apple II, and one an Atari 800. We didn't have a computer in the house, although I had learned a bit on a TRS-80 at school. And I still made sure to have a quarter in my pocket when I left the house in case I needed to make a phone call.

And--to be completely honest--watching it, I sometimes thought about the world we lived in then, before cell phones in everyone's pocket, before most people had personal computers, before the Web, when technology hadn't reached the pervasive levels it has today, and thought that in some ways, it was a better life, and how fortunate I was to have lived it.

It was a brilliant show, and as a child of the 80s (and who traveled in the Soviet bloc during that time period), I can vouch for the fact that they nailed the atmosphere of the time perfectly in every respect. I could believe I was watching something filmed in 1985.

Congratulations!

Finale episode of The Americans ranks up there with the finale of Breaking Bad as one of the best in TV history. Brilliantly written and performed, and achingly melancholy in the end. Bravo. #TheAmericans