Okay, Listen Here

Okay, Listen Here

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

New Fangled Things


         I am of an age that I can look back to see all the changes that have happened in the world and wonder how we got along without all the gadgets.  I remember a simpler time where there were no computers, no cell phones, no social networking, no email.  There was nothing vaguely electronic in our lives except maybe a transitor radio which I guess wasn’t really electronic.  Oh well…

         These things have become a part of our every day lives.  We take for granted inventions that would have been a wonder for us in the seventies.  I remember my first Texas Instrument calculator (which replaced the slide rule we used in chemistry).  That piece of electronics changed my view of math ( ha, still didn’t make me like it).  I also remember the first air conditioner we hung proudly in our window, cooling the living room when I was five.  Ah, lying there in utter contentment and not sweating.  I remember the first color television we bought, a clunky small thing but oh so fascinating!  And cable television!  Wow, we could get more than three channels!  I was grown and working as an attorney when we bought our first PC – another clunky slow thing but such a wonderment!  And the first brick phone!  I felt like Mudair, secret agent!  Sounds silly, doesn’t it?  Considering the waves of technology engulfing us every day.  You buy a phone or a computer and it’s already old, replaced by newer faster technology.  Kind of makes your head spin.

         But to me the greatest invention was the post-it note.  I cannot live without my little yellow sticky notes.  I write messages to myself, stick them places and wah-lah I can remember what I am doing.  Yes, I know, my cell phone can do reminders but nothing can replace seeing that yellow sticky note on my dashboard reminding me to go by the grocery store and buy milk.  I will hold onto my little yellow pads, a comfort.  I praise the inventor, whoever he or she is/was, because that little yellow piece of paper has kept me on time and on task for years.

         What is the greatest modern invention in your opinion?  What has helped you the most?  What could you not live without?

9 comments:

  1. Beyond a doubt, the computer. God bless word processing programs. I wrote my first seven books on a typewriter, with carbon paper. Having a computer made me a better writer, because I could go back and tweak a sentence without having to retype the whole damn page. BC (before computers), I'd let the sentence go untweaked, which weakened my writing and the story. So, professionally, it's the computer.

    But in my personal life, I can't think of anything I couldn't live without. I wouldn't like living without a coffeemaker, but I know how to brew coffee on the stove, so I could get by. I don't have to have a toaster; I can toast bread in the oven. My hair wouldn't be as smooth without a big curling iron, but having curly hair wouldn't kill me. And when it comes to cell phones, I'm actually about to downgrade. I don't want a smart phone. I don't want to do e-mail on my phone, I don't want to watch movies on that itty-bitty screen, and I don't play games on my phone. If Verizon carries a nice basic phone with a keyboard that let's me conveniently text, then I'm good. In a small way, I'm about to disconnect.

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    1. Oh I remember the days of carbon paper (I usually went around with blue fingers). I agree that word processing systems are something I don't think I could live without. Moving sentences or correcting something awkward (more the case with me) has helped me enormously.

      As for the coffee, I have a stove-top coffee pot which I keep around for the times that the power is out. Every time I use it I always think the coffee tastes better and I should use it more often. The convenience of the coffee maker, however, makes me forget. I always am ready to get rid of the smart phone - it's annoying.

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  2. I am with Maven Linda on it being the computer. I have a love hate relationship with it. I love when it works and makes my life better but I hate it when it doesn't work the way I want it to.

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    1. I have the same relationship with computers. My problems improved once I started using the Macs; they seem to have a lot less problems. I always blame the machine, never the user. ;)

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  3. Got to be the computer, obviously.

    But apart from that--though I don't know about the living without--microwave oven are pretty life altering.

    Oddly, the think I would most hate to give up--though it isn't electronic--is my Swiffer Wet Jet. I love to mop often, but I really, really hated a string mop and bucket.

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    1. You know, I rarely used the microwave. Guess I could let it go. Don't have a Swiffer Wet Jet any more - not since the cleaning lady used the linoleum stuff on my hardwood and killed the finish. That was a tough one.

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  4. Oh....I have been accused by everyone in my personal life that someday I will turn into a PostIt Note! LOVE those things! The PostIt App on my desktop does NOT do the same thing, btw. The one on my phone is good enough on the go and makes me feel like I'm saving a tree, but still...the sticky ones are my passion. :D

    I admit, I'm a pretty simple person...I could just about get rid of everything and be happy so long as I could brew a cup of coffee first thing in the morning...I have a stove top Melita Cone, just in case. I agree whole heartedly on the word processor though. I could type the story, but it would be less efficient. I did keep writing during the storms incidentally...on my iPhone. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it worked. Did that when my computer died, too. And the smart side of my phone? Well, I'm addicted to all things musical...YouTube, 8Trax, Pandora, Rhapsody...and I watch movies on it while I'm working out. I'd have a very hard time handing it over. In fact, I might even cry. Sad, I know.

    So all in all, I guess I'd have to say my iPhone is my favorite because it multitasks and keeps me moving forward.

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    1. No, the Post Its can't be replaced. I have to have my little sticky notes. I figure the trees that go into pulp wood were raised for it so I feel less guilt.

      Don't really use the smart side of the phone much. I just haven't bothered. Now that the cell companies are going to start limiting data usage I am not going to get addicted. Couldn't afford the bill when my contract is up for renewal.

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  5. Greatest invention? Computer, hands down. Computers opened the artistic field in a big way. I love the easy access to information, or just being able to copy and print something for myself, rather than having to go somewhere else to do it. ;)

    But information overload can be detrimental too. So...

    What can't I live without? My family.

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