The other day a friend and I were discussing how he and his wife still don't have a GPS. He joked that his wife has excellent navigation skills and can find her way out of city she's never been to just by whipping out her Atlas.
We don't have a dishwasher in our apartment and can't do anything to change that other than move. My aunt says that plates and flatware aren't sanitized by just washing them in the sink with soap and hot water. Well, there was a time when dishwashers didn't exist and people didn't die from eating off of hand-washed plates. Right?
I created a list of ten modern conveniences that make life much easier. None of these items were available back in 1982.
1. Cell Phone - I know this is a mixed bag for some. Some love it, some hate it.
2. Wikipedia - I'm on this site daily!
3. Social Networking - As you can see, I live for it! As a kid I had 100s of pen pals all over the world. Imagine the money I would have saved on stamps!
4. GPS - See above, I suck when it comes to directions and maps!
6. DVR - Before DVR, it was VCR! As a youngster, I had to tape my favorite shows like Kids Incorporated, etc.
7. Bagless vacuum - Saves money on bags and better for the environment! I remember mom running out of bags for the vacuum and trying to find the correct one for her Hoover.
9. Netflix and On-demand Movies - no more late fees, no more empty video store shelves on weekends! It's midnight on a snowy evening, let's order an instant movie off Netflix!
10. Keurig - Making one cup of coffee in seconds would have really been helpful for my on-the-go parents!
Great list, Ally. Being a bit older than you, I didn't even have VCR's when I was a kid. It is interesting how much we have at our fingertips that we just take for granted these days.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice, sometimes, to step away from it all. I try to take a week or so and go backpacking in the Cascades every summer here in Washington. There's nothing like living with only what's on your back for awhile to make you 1)realize that you don't really need all that stuff to survive; and 2)appreciate it all the more when you get back to "civilization". ...kind of love/hate relationship!
Either way, it's amazing to see how far technology has advanced in our short lifetimes.
BTW - MAJOR CONGRATS on the local write-up!!! Sounds like your site is doing awesome! What a great idea - I may try something similar with my childhood location, since it was a nice little community (still is) and I lived there for 22 years! Way to go, I'll be able to say "I knew you when..." :)
Darryll
Wow... The list can really go on & on! I know I'm only a few years older than you, but how about cordless phones? I remember when beepers came out & it was the "Big Thing"... AND... How about the internet?!?! Yike-a-roonies! Lisa
ReplyDeleteYou sure brought back some memories...oh, the simple days. Wasn't it great?
ReplyDeleteA cordless phone, microwave, cable TV!!!!
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was a kid I'd go out and play with water. That was the big toy, everyone had to have. There were so many things you could do with it too. Like drinking it and... splashing...
ReplyDeleteThank god for the items on your list. Except for cell phones. I still won't use one.
The one thing on this list I could not live without is...is...is...WIKIPEDIA!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun post. Your titles always lure me in. I love that, and the content never disappoints.
I liked this list. One thing I'd add is Mucinex. That stuff works miracles.
ReplyDeleteTelevision. We finally got one around 1951 or 1952, but most of the day was the test pattern.
ReplyDeleteWe did have a video game...sorta. It was called Winky Dink and You. We had a piece of green plastic that went on the TV screen and we could draw on the screen and help Winky Dink.
We didn't have phones with a rotary dial. You picked up the phone and the operator said, "Number please." We also had a party line. More than one family shared the line.
We didn't have a microwave until sometime in the late 1970's.
We manually opened the garage door.
No automatic locks on the car doors. We pushed and pulled the button thing. The car had no A/C, but that was OK because the house didn't either.
Give me time and I'll think of more...and I'll give my grandmother and mother's famous "you kids today are spoiled" speech. Which someday you'll probably give to your children. It makes you wonder what we have today that will seem antique in another couple of decades.
Am I dating myself?
I love wikipedia and netflix to pieces. How did we cope when we didn't have an encyclopedia for the whole internet?
ReplyDeleteThere weren't cup holders in cars? I don't remember this!
ReplyDeleteNot only did we not have cell phones, or cordless phones, I totally remember only having rotary dial phones.
I will never go back to watching TV without DVR!!!
I never had Ipod's or DVD recorders. We also always just had VHS tapes and now it's all DVD's going into Blu-Ray! I never had cup holders in the cars either!
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how things keep changing over the years! Great post! Thanks for visiting my blog tonight!
My iPod. That alone has save my husband hundreds in CDs.
ReplyDeleteUmmm, I still don't have a cell phone younger than 7 years old. You wanna know what it does? Squat. Has a B&W pixel screen and makes calls. That is all.
We still don't have DVR...:(
They didn't have toys that were robotic and you could connect to the internet and manipulate the toy, make a facebook profile for the toy and chat with other toys around the world.
ReplyDeletekids are so spoiled these days! I'll stick with "My little pony", thanks!
man that remote control brings me back.
ReplyDeleteWow, alot of that stuff today is necessary and I could not live without.
ReplyDeleteCell phone, DVR, and Wikipedia are some of my daily essentials.
I am not sure how as a kid I was able to do without!
My Thoughts
I have to admit, I use all ten of those things every single day.... Well, except for the vacuum....
ReplyDeleteThis is a great list. The biggest difference for me is the cell phone and the computer/internet difference.
ReplyDeleteI remember back when you had to be 'next' to the phone in order to use it because cordless phones didn't exist. And the first one we had weighed 50 pounds.
Speaking of, our first computer was a 386SX and it weighed a ton and cost $5,000! Damn thing had like a 50 meg hard drive or less.
I remember that if you wanted a modem (2400 baud mind you) you needed to have someone install it as it was impossible to do yourself.
Great post Ally!
I can't believe I forgot to list the iPod! As for the microwave, I vaguely remember the day Dad brought us a Litton brand microwave. I bet he got that shit hot from his friend who owned pawn shops. I'll have to ask him because I don't recall my folks actually shopping for one. According to my good friend Wiki, that wasn't until about 1986. So yes, add that to the post-1982 list!
ReplyDeleteOh I remember all of those things not existing when I was a kid (hah, awkward sentence much?)
ReplyDeleteBut the things we didn't have when I was a kid were PCs, self cleaning litter boxes, and those cadillac strollers with all the bells and whistles that tak up the whole sidewalk. We had to be carried or walk it baby!
Love my Kuerig! I'm also fast forgetting about all of the road trips I've taken where I had to use a map. Wonder how many kids (or adults for that matter) don't know how to use atlas's or maps?!?
ReplyDelete