The biggest negatives I remember from life in the 1980s:
1. No air conditioning. We didn’t have it at least
Very limited access to information. Three TV networks. One local newspaper. No internet. A handful of reference works (like encyclopedias). The library was the main place for info discovery. (Yes, I know cable was expanding but we couldn’t get it)
Horrible consumer amenities. It was hard to get a good cup of coffee for example. America was still a mass consumer society.
