Name three things that have changed the world since you were born

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

• The Internet. I remember getting our first 14k modem and watching small images load very... slowly... but boy, was it exciting! And it kinda levelled the world. Suddenly EVERYONE had a voice, be it necessary or completely unnecessary. True, it hasn't always been used for good, but I'd contest that overall, it has been the great leveller.
• Satellites. Information beamed at the speed of light from one side of the planet to the other without breaking a sweat. Pretty cool, huh?
• Mobile phones (cel phones). I still remember getting my first phone at College and calling a friend with glee who was standing what, maybe three minute's walk away, on the other side of the campus? Just to say hi? Giddying times my friend, giddying times!

 

[dcassetta]

Yours would be mine also.

I will add one - care treatment for premature babies. My nephew was born very early and 30 years also either would not have survived or might have had a number of health challenges. Today he is a happy, healthy kid.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Internet, cell phones, and better medical technology.

 

[sam_gordon]

9/11.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I agree with Internet, mobile phones, and medical advances, and will add some smaller ones:

VCR/DVR/streaming - the whole country doesn't sit and watch something at the same time anymore

GPS - completely changed how people drive, and what many consider their comfortable "range"

 

[tvguy]

1) Life extending cancer treatments. Sadly not a cure, but types of cancer that in the 1960's would have been fatal in months, can be held at bay for a decade or more.

2) Shelf stable food products. Making perishable foods like milk safe to eat for years.

3) Pay TV. That's what it was called when cable first was introduced. Who in 1960 would have believed that people would pay a monthly fee for what used to be free?

 

[Buzz Rules]

1. WDW's nickel and dime policies have gotten worse since the mid 2000's.

2. The world had become more tribal which has made the common decency of humanity decline.

3. Global warming has gotten noticeably worse since the 90's.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I have seen so much in my lifetime that maybe did not change the whole world but certainly changed America: Brown vs. Board of Education, Roe vs. Wade, Jackie Robinson joins the Brooklyn Dodgers, cancer warnings on cigarettes, DNA, color TV, transistor radios, seat belts in cars, the BIC pen. I could go on and on.

 

[BrianL]

I don't know how old some of you are, but mobile phones using a cellular radio network existed in the 1940's - they were in vehicles only due to size and power needs, and could only handle one or two calls at a time on the service, but the concept is essentially the same. They were mainly only used for commercial vehicles. This is something I only recently learned, and it is kind of mind blowing!

 

[Buzz Rules]

I don't know how old some of you are, but mobile phones using a cellular radio network existed in the 1940's - they were in vehicles only due to size and power needs, and could only handle one or two calls at a time on the service, but the concept is essentially the same. They were mainly only used for commercial vehicles. This is something I only recently learned, and it is kind of mind blowing!

I thought they were used in military jeeps in WW2 (I'm probably wrong about that).

 

[bcla]

Electronics. This is a broad category, but we live in a society where nearly everyone has some sort of portable electronics including mobile phones, computers, and tablets.

Vehicle safety. I think when I was born, new career seat belts was mandatory, but usage was poor. And they weren't designed very well, including lap belts in the back. Now we have active safety (including automatic braking), traction control, anti-lock brakes, crumple zones, airbags, better tires, better handling, etc.

Energy efficiency. That might also go to vehicles, but LED lighting means that we're getting the same light out of 6 watts that a 100 watt light bulb used to output. I know fluorescents were around back then, but they weren't very good, flickered, and had weird color output.

 

[ChrisFL]

Here's one that is right up there with some of the others mentioned, but a lot of it has been "invisible" to consumers: 3D Printing.

If you take out the growth of consumer 3D printers which are still mostly hobbyist things for now, industrial 3D printers have been used for prototyping and manufacturing for decades. It's challenging to grasp unless you're familiar with the industry as "3D Printing" is more of a process than a technology. IMO it's just a different way of thinking about how to manufacture things.

From microscopic medical devices, 3D printed replacement organs to houses, cars and rockets it is very exciting because it can be way more efficient than other processes with less waste and with better/lower cost solutions.

Yes, beyond that, the internet and cell phones were basically the other big ones.

 

[BrianL]

I thought they were used in military jeeps in WW2 (I'm probably wrong about that).

They were, but commercially available afterward. There was an old Bell Labs video explaining how it worked. It's amazing that the technology was available then!

 

[Apthorp76]

I thought they were used in military jeeps in WW2 (I'm probably wrong about that).

My Dad used to say the same thing. They are at the core still radiophones. The antennae towers and transmitters that make it a cellular network are varieties of radio transmitters and receivers. He was a B-17 radio mechnic and worked for AT&T (or is sub units) for 35 years.

 

[Apthorp76]

Electronics. This is a broad category, but we live in a society where nearly everyone has some sort of portable electronics including mobile phones, computers, and tablets.

Vehicle safety. I think when I was born, new career seat belts was mandatory, but usage was poor. And they weren't designed very well, including lap belts in the back. Now we have active safety (including automatic braking), traction control, anti-lock brakes, crumple zones, airbags, better tires, better handling, etc.

Energy efficiency. That might also go to vehicles, but LED lighting means that we're getting the same light out of 6 watts that a 100 watt light bulb used to output. I know fluorescents were around back then, but they weren't very good, flickered, and had weird color output.

Electronics has brought us so much in every area of our lives, so many things are easier or done for us by computers now. I started a career in finance when people were using Visicalc on a TRS-80 or an Apple II. The inventorying and sale of television commercials in the TV division was done by hand on 5x7 green ledger cards in these big bins you could flip through like at a record store.

Record Stores Now that's a trip down memory lane!

 

[Buzz Rules]

My Dad used to say the same thing. They are at the core still radiophones. The antennae towers and transmitters that make it a cellular network are varieties of radio transmitters and receivers. He was a B-17 radio mechnic and worked for AT&T (or is sub units) for 35 years.

Welcome to the Disboards.

 

[Apthorp76]

Welcome to the Disboards.

Thank you!

 

[MrsPete]

Yeah, electronics in many forms, but I'm going to stray from that field:

I don't think anything has made more difference than birth control pills. Sure birth control existed before, but it wasn't as reliable as "the pill", which allowed women to choose whether they wanted their lives to revolve around an unpredictable number of children, which made careers possible for women (and careers made it possible for women not to stay in unhappy marriages). This led to the now-typical two-child family and casual sex. SO MUCH changed once women could genuinely control their reproductive lives.

Another huge change has been vaccinations. So many lives saved.

Finally, air conditioning, especially here in the South. It's changed the way people work and live, and it's changed our architecture. Okay, air conditioning was invented well before I was born, but when I was a child not everyone had it at home. We didn't. My schools didn't.

 

[tvguy]

Finally, air conditioning, especially here in the South. It's changed the way people work and live, and it's changed our architecture. Okay, air conditioning was invented well before I was born, but when I was a child not everyone had it at home. We didn't. My schools didn't.

Funny thing about air conditioning, we didn't have it either and it wasn't a big deal. And I live in an area where in June, August, September and early October 100+ degrees wasn't uncommon.
The same school I went to 1962-1969 has had air conditioning added, but NOW if an ac unit breaks, they send the kids home early because it is "too hot". It's just as hot as it was when I went there without ac and we didn't get sent home early.

 

[Genie+]

I don’t cry as much, we finally found out what really went down in Tunguska, and now our fingertips can access an entire civilization of knowledge (unless your kid lost the charger they borrowed).