Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So to people who still remember the 50s or 60s or any time before the 90s. What are your guys thoughts on todays current technoloogies? What do you like about them and what don't you like about them? How would your past self react if you were given a chance to see what life was like today?
So to people who still remember the 50s or 60s or any time before the 90s. What are your guys thoughts on todays current technoloogies? What do you like about them and what don't you like about them? How would your past self react if you were given a chance to see what life was like today?
I remember watching Star Trek back in the 60's (origional broadcasts of course) thinking their communicators were SO cool. Just think if you could just talk to your friends anywhere. And the computers.... It was such a futuristic tomorrow like place.
Now we all have our own communicators, er, cell phones and people complain about them being used everywhere. And with the smartphone which can keep you online 24/7, you can be even more integrated into this subworld. I wonder how many people got a flip phone for the first cell since it just *felt* like a communciator? I think in a sense we did have a sneek peak. The idea of computers doing the multitude of things we have them do in personal life was a rather tomorrow like idea too.
I got my first pc in 1986, and worked as a programmer before that with dear old COBOL. I discovered bbs's the same time I got the desktop and the world has never been the same since. We all heard about the global village in the 60's. Well, now we truely do have it.
I don't think my teenage self would be really believing that fifty years later there's all these things that kids don't remember a world without. It sounded much to futuristic.
I like the easy access to information via the internet.
Dislikes:
1. "State of the art" gadgets seem to become obsolete after a few months.
2. The added costs of #1.
3. The myriad of options (cell plans, internet providers, cable tv, etc.) can be overwhelming for some folks.
4. The added costs of the items in #3. Prior to the 1980s there was one phone company, tv was free (once you purchased the tv), no internet, no satellite radio, etc. Life was not only cheaper, it was also simpler.
5. People are too connected today. It is extremely rare to see younger people without their cell phones in hand, and often times it is used as a buffer between them and the people who they are physically with. The same thing is true with social media.
I don't think that the "good ol' days" were better than today. I actually think that our society is progressing overall. Obviously, new technology has advantages. However, for every advantage there is a drawback (e.g. higher costs, added complexity, social issues, etc.). This is why I believe that new technology is basically a "zero sum game."
The funny thing is that the innovations have happened so gradually that we're often not even aware of them until we have perspective forced on us.
For example, my wife and I happened upon an old episode of Quincy (Remember? Jack Krugman played the coroner). No DNA. No mobile phones. Electric typewriters. Digging around in the police files. And everybody smoked at the office.
Or, we watched The Day Of The Jackal last weekend (A freaking great movie about the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle). Couriers had to motor around picking up messages. Couriers had to drive around to hotels to pick up names of guests. Communications were terrible in 1963 when the movie was set. MrsCPG looked at me and said, "If that were today, that guy would have been caught in about 15 minutes. And there wouldn't have been a movie."
I feel like technology is improving quickly just as much so as the 50's and 60's, but there are less life-changing things being invented right now than back then. The internet and cell phones were invented years ago, not this past decade. Yet they have been greatly improved during the last decade. We don't see any life-changing technologies such as the microwave or combustion engine being invented during the last decade.
I feel like technology is improving quickly just as much so as the 50's and 60's, but there are less life-changing things being invented right now than back then. The internet and cell phones were invented years ago, not this past decade. Yet they have been greatly improved during the last decade. We don't see any life-changing technologies such as the microwave or combustion engine being invented during the last decade.
Yes, Internet dates back to 1969 and cell phones to the early 70's. Both were available to the public, in small doses by the early 80's. They're nothing new really, even their widespread use dates back a good 15 years now.
Oh yeah I was thinking, does anyone remember the Disney show Kim Possible. It ran from 2002 to 2007, so it's hardly that old. But Kim's 'communicator' in that show, could easily be a modern-day iPhone, which first came out in 2007 I believe when the show ended. When that show first came out it seemed futuristic and that was only ten years ago.
I hate smart phones. No longer can you have a conversation without somebody looking down. I think once they're not new anymore people will go back to normal but it is really aggravating to me.
I like the easy access to information via the internet.
Dislikes:
1. "State of the art" gadgets seem to become obsolete after a few months.
2. The added costs of #1.
3. The myriad of options (cell plans, internet providers, cable tv, etc.) can be overwhelming for some folks.
4. The added costs of the items in #3. Prior to the 1980s there was one phone company, tv was free (once you purchased the tv), no internet, no satellite radio, etc. Life was not only cheaper, it was also simpler.
5. People are too connected today. It is extremely rare to see younger people without their cell phones in hand, and often times it is used as a buffer between them and the people who they are physically with. The same thing is true with social media.
I don't think that the "good ol' days" were better than today. I actually think that our society is progressing overall. Obviously, new technology has advantages. However, for every advantage there is a drawback (e.g. higher costs, added complexity, social issues, etc.). This is why I believe that new technology is basically a "zero sum game."
Without a doubt. I look forward to the day I never have to deal with cash again, and I think smart phones could bring that about. But I think the more negative aspects of new technology are felt in the short term and as people become bored with it, the long-term effects are more positive.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
