[antiterra]

I knew of a decent number of people with cable TV in the early 80s, but it was also not uncommon to have a powered antenna on the roof that you would rotate to the ideal orientation to receive a channel via a dial. I do remember a long period of time where it was common to rent the VCR along with the VHS video tape containing the movie you wanted to watch. This was even a thing for the Nintendo 64.

[marpstar]

When I was a kid, my mother would take me and my brother to Blockbuster every Friday. We could each rent a game. Every time we'd go, we'd beg her to let us rent whatever the newest console was at the time (mostly Playstation, though we rented GameBoy Color a few times, too).

She'd give in occasionally. After we had finally come to own a PS1 and N64, my brother and I had a paper route and would buy cheap used games instead of renting.