Just
about anyone who is on Facebook has seen the photos of obsolete items
that we knew and used and couldn't life without. Remember those small
inserts that you put in 45 rpm records so you could play them on your
stereo? How about wringer washers...or clotheslines...or roller skates
that you tightened on your shoes with a key? It is amazing how quickly,
in our lifetime alone, technology has advanced farther than we could
have every dreamed.
I know that my children (ranging in age from 15 to 30+) have never used a typewriter. Remember how much fun it was to erase a typing mistake - especially if you were using carbon paper? Well, heck, when I was young, you couldn't take a calculator into math class with you...now they are considered mandatory school supplies.
Do you realize that most people in the current generation never had to dial '1' to get long distance --cell phones don't require it. Hey, I am old enough to remember party lines. Our home phone number was 932-J.
It's nothing today to have 200+ channels on TV, along with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, if you are looking for something to watch. You can record shows to watch at a later time (so you can fast-forward through the commercials), or stream them live on your computer or device. Gone are the days of the family gathering together to watch their favorite weekly show - or going back even father in time - gathering around the radio to listen to the next episode of [insert announcer's voice here] "The Continuing Saga of (insert name of show here)". Now, with so many households having multiple television, computers, tablets, etc., the only time the family gathers is during the commercials at the fridge.
We used to play games with family and friends. Remember Operation, Stratego, Monopoly, Battleship, Connect 4, Life, Sorry and Yatzee? Now the games are on line or electronic and go by the names of Killzone, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Mario and Kingdom of Hearts. Here again, we don't interact with others like we used to.
Even genealogy has changed drastically because of technological advances. Family group sheets and pedigrees were handwritten or typed. You put stamps on research correspondence and put them in the nearest corner mailbox. Research was done in dusty courthouse basements with books nearly as large as you are, or in dark microfilm rooms with the sound of the advancing films nearly putting you to sleep. Now you can send an email to get information, and a lot of your research information can be found online at Ancestry, Fold3 or Family Search. Instead of writing down every bit of information, just input them into Legacy, or Family Tree Maker (or a myriad of other genealogical programs)--all without leaving the comfort of your home.
Don't get me wrong -- I love technology and use it whenever I can. It often makes life a whole lot easier. I DO miss the human interaction, the connection to living people as well as the dead. It's still there, you just have to work harder to achieve it. But, ponder for a moment, what day to day 'must haves' will be obsolete within the next 2 generations. Scary, isn't it?
I know that my children (ranging in age from 15 to 30+) have never used a typewriter. Remember how much fun it was to erase a typing mistake - especially if you were using carbon paper? Well, heck, when I was young, you couldn't take a calculator into math class with you...now they are considered mandatory school supplies.
Do you realize that most people in the current generation never had to dial '1' to get long distance --cell phones don't require it. Hey, I am old enough to remember party lines. Our home phone number was 932-J.
It's nothing today to have 200+ channels on TV, along with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, if you are looking for something to watch. You can record shows to watch at a later time (so you can fast-forward through the commercials), or stream them live on your computer or device. Gone are the days of the family gathering together to watch their favorite weekly show - or going back even father in time - gathering around the radio to listen to the next episode of [insert announcer's voice here] "The Continuing Saga of (insert name of show here)". Now, with so many households having multiple television, computers, tablets, etc., the only time the family gathers is during the commercials at the fridge.
We used to play games with family and friends. Remember Operation, Stratego, Monopoly, Battleship, Connect 4, Life, Sorry and Yatzee? Now the games are on line or electronic and go by the names of Killzone, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Mario and Kingdom of Hearts. Here again, we don't interact with others like we used to.
Even genealogy has changed drastically because of technological advances. Family group sheets and pedigrees were handwritten or typed. You put stamps on research correspondence and put them in the nearest corner mailbox. Research was done in dusty courthouse basements with books nearly as large as you are, or in dark microfilm rooms with the sound of the advancing films nearly putting you to sleep. Now you can send an email to get information, and a lot of your research information can be found online at Ancestry, Fold3 or Family Search. Instead of writing down every bit of information, just input them into Legacy, or Family Tree Maker (or a myriad of other genealogical programs)--all without leaving the comfort of your home.
Don't get me wrong -- I love technology and use it whenever I can. It often makes life a whole lot easier. I DO miss the human interaction, the connection to living people as well as the dead. It's still there, you just have to work harder to achieve it. But, ponder for a moment, what day to day 'must haves' will be obsolete within the next 2 generations. Scary, isn't it?
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