How has technology improved in your life?

[kevxu]

I was born in 1938, and began life in a small town in WWII...and yes, horses were still used for a few things. Almost all the machines and gadgets that I am surrounded with have been developed in my lifetime, or seriously revamped from those of the past. I went to work in a large computer center in 1975, and, thus, was on the proto-internet, etc. quite some time before most people were aware of how big a part computers were going to play in our lives.

If I stop and reflect I am aware of how much things have changed since the Forties and Fifties (and afterwards, of course,) but, in fact, I rarely do that. All those computers that run everything from A to Z do their stuff without my pondering on the wonder of it all.


What I am aware of most is the few things that make my own life easier on a daily basis:

• Email
• Computer (mainly appreciated as a word processor, though obviously you can't have email or the internet with it. Still use desk tops, read with travelling or having lunch alone.)
• Internet (appreciate most for ease of shopping)
• Certainly several medical advances from which I have personally benefited
• Jet air travel

Technological changes that at present I am indifferent to, or don't like:

• mobile phones (totally annoying and 100% unnecessary for 99.44/100% of the population.)
• synthetic fabrics in clothes (still prefer cotton, linen and wool & except for some outdoor jackets, most of my clothes are made from 100% of these three.)
• frozen food (I buy fresh produce as needed.)
• packaged mixes and dried food (I use the same types of packaged food products (e.g. pasta) that existed more than a half century ago.)
• television (watch an hour of news, wouldn't care if it came by radio; despite watching much TV earlier in life I have always read much more than watched TV.)
• antiperspirants (cause too many unpleasant reactions for me to like.)
• CD's and most current standard home audio equipment (the sound quality is atrocious, and no one improves on it.)

I think this list a reflection of my geographic move. I lived in about ten minutes from Times Square from college to retirement, and with one brief exception always worked in midtown Manhattan. Upon retirement I selected a town of 20,000 people in Europe, modern facilities all available on a small scale, but an almost Fifties lifestyle except for June-August.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by chirack

Ah how on earth does one evaluate thinking out the box on a paper test? It would have confused the heck out of me.

The answer to the story problem is (of course) 14. Think backwards and figure out what different problem results in the same answer.

Part of innovation follows basically the same template. You have a problem, come up with a possible answer, see if your answer solved other similar problems before and extrapolate whether it's a good solution for your problem or not.

Of couse the story problem is crazy-simplistic, but these are problems for little little kids to solve. They train little minds to deal with the problems inherent in a complex world where there are no directions (or too many competing possible directions!) and one size doesn't fit all.

Like I said, it's a good concept, but it's a bad implementation.

[texdav]

I can make a list if I chose to for world to see instantly if I chose to but chose not to. Life's good.

[Chava61]

I am able to hang out online (using Google+ webcam) and be virtually present at family events even though I don't live close by.

[wutitiz]

I still find google amazing. Growing up, one of my favorite pieces of music was "One of these days" by Pink Floyd. It has no singing, but one spoken line, but the sound is so distorted that I could never tell what was being said. I even asked a local rock DJ if he knew what the 'lyric' was but he didn't. It remained a mystery.

Then 40 years later I googled 'one of these days+lyric' and there it was. Turns out the lyric was "one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces.' (lovely...)

[Zot]

Until internet, I always assumed trolls were imaginary creatures. However, they turn out to be ubiquitous.