Technology and Its Social Impact

The march of technology is incessant, it seems, and barring some mega-catastrophe, things are likely to continue at a break neck pace.

Digital cameras have finally gotten to the stage of development that I can afford one and get my creative jollies off running around taking pictures and editing them on my computer.

Just a few years ago, things were quite different in the world of digital cameras. For instance:

In Orlando, Minolta and Nikon displayed 5-mega-pixel, professional-grade cameras, but most people would be hard pressed to use them since a 5-mega-pixel image could take the better part of a day to upload to the Internet. For most consumers, the ability to post pictures on the Internet is the driving force behind digital imaging.

popularmechanics.com

Twenty years ago, I'm not sure you could even buy a digital camera. But, you could buy a cell phone:

Although mobile telephones had been around since 1946, it wasn't until the 1980's that the quality of frequency modulated sound, combined with reasonably priced microprocessors, digital switching, and a final decision on cellular system spectrum combined to make it feasible to offer the first commercial cellular phone services in the United States.

www.fcc.gov...

Technology has driven society from the beginning, but the advent of the industrial revolution has made change a daily challenge as we deal with ever more complex gadgets that are intended to make life simpler.

Now, you can carry around a $350 dollar device that will hold several million dollars worth of CDs stored on it and can be stolen or lost in a heartbeat. Ah, simplicity.

When my grandfather was born in 1906, heavier than air flight was in its infancy.

When my father was born in 1928, radio was king and this was a cool ride:



When I was born in 1949, this was what a television looked like and not only was there precious little programming, but most people couldn't afford one.



Now, there are people in college who can't remember when there wasn't a PC.

By the time my grandfather died in 1980, man had been on the moon several times, air travel was becoming just another form of mass transit and television had permanently damaged the brains of an entire generation and MTV was still a year away!

What does technology do for you?

I want you to think about it. Think about what your life would be like if you were suddenly transported back to an earlier time and you had to find a phone booth to make a phone call.

What if you had to wash clothes in one of these?



What if electricity was as rare as it is in rural India?

...1.6 billion people around the globe lack access to electricity and the on-off switches we take for granted.

www.time.com...

Think about it. This could be fun.


[edit on 2006/7/31 by GradyPhilpott]

he, he, Grady this will be fun for the younger generation, I which I can bring some good post but I am old enough to remember most of the old times and my transition through modern day has been very nice.

But if I have to go back to old times the only thing I will miss the most is my microwave oven and my cellular phone.

BTW I miss the telephone booths I can not find any around here where I live.

I forgot . . . I would not be able to survive without the net.

I have to agree with the microwave sentiment. I love being able to pop a half-gallon of ice cream into the microwave for about a minute, so I don't have to wait to eat it when I get home from the store.

And take heart, the phone booth returneth:

www.usatoday.com

That is just absolutely insane that booth look like a space trasnporter.

BTW I like my ice cream hard as a rock.

I use the microwave for many other things from re-heating to cooking.

Grady you were born just a few years to late. When you were born yes TVs had just been born and managed to come down where people could afford one.

What I remember is that in the mid forties only 40 to 50 percent of homes had indoor toilets most still had out-houses. My grandmother lived within a few blocks of Milwaukee city hall and did not get an indoor toilet until 1947.

At the very same time garbage, milk, ice (yes Ice; very few had refrigerators either) were all hauled by horse drawn wagons and most everything was delivered right to your door. Oh and let us not forget that coal was the main source of fuel used to heat homes. That was labor intensive just to keep one stoked so it would burn all night long.

In addition to the above most still cooked on coal fired stoves and that is roughly just 60 years ago.

There were no fast food resturants as we know them today the closest thing were a small White Castle who sold very small burgers called sliders. There were no frozen TV dinners you had to cook a meal if you wanted to eat.

The primary mode of transportation was the electric Street car, streets were mostly cobble stone or brick paved not asphalt as they are now.

There were no dial phones either (all calls had to be made through an Operator) and private lines were virtually non existent, so you had to watch what you said because everyone on your party line could listen into what you said on the telephone

Cops walked a beat and knew everyone by name on their beat, so you had to be good because if he caught you not only did he give you a swat on the butt, he then took you home and told your mom (most moms did not work either they cooked all day and on Monday's they did the laundry) who in turned told your dad when he got home from a 12/14 hour work day and really gave you a good spanking.

I liked the washing machine, yet I can remember wash boards more so, also mobile phones were mobile yes but at that time they were called radio phones which also required an operator to make a phone call. Klondike 6500 Pleeeeeze And let us not forget that in those days most people only took a bath once a week and the whole family shared the same water simply because there were no water heaters either at that time, so water was heated on that wood/coal fired stove.

Yeah technology has and is moving at a very fast pace in fact at times I think it might be too fast.



[edit on 8/1/2006 by shots]