Slow and Unnoticed Change
It is crazy how technology has changed the world. It happens so slowly that we barely realize it, but just think about all the things that are gone from when we were children. When was the last time you saw a payphone, a handheld camera or a disposable one, or even used a traditional parking meter? All around us everyday items are disappearing and being replaced and we barely notice. Below you will see a list of items that have evolved quickly that we do not even think about.
Phones
Growing up most of us saw tons of commercials for long distance phone providers. Everyone was trying to sell their service and it was a huge advertising market. Today long distance is free nationally on almost any cellphone plan. In fact, long distance and home phone commercials have long since given way to cellular providers. Now we are witnessing another evolution of mobile devices. Companies are no longer talking about minutes used or voice service, everything is now about data. The mobile providers talk about who has the most reliable networks and who has the best speeds. Gone are the days of voice clarity being a major selling point. Who knows what the next step will be? Maybe what trumps data has yet to be invented.
Television
Growing up most of us should remember the battle between VHS and Beta tapes. Today both are ancient history. DVDs are also obsolete and so are DVR television boxes. The way we watch video media has changed to an on demand and streaming world. We no longer need to record our favorite shows, we simply go to the networks on demand service and watch at our convenience. The most popular television shows are no longer available on basic cable and premium services are needed to watch. Furthermore, many people are ditching cable service entirely. Why pay for 100 plus channels if we are only watching a few of them. Many households now only pay for internet service and select media options and purchase them separately. Even Disney has jumped on this band wagon with the launch of Disney+. Services like this allow people to only pay for what they want and, in theory, should cut down on the average cost of television. As we move forward as a society who knows what the next step will be. Maybe one day cable television will go the way of video rental places and disappear forever.
Making and Sharing Memories
When I was a child I remember going to a party where there were a bunch of disposable cameras available for use. The idea was that you take pictures at the party and develop them and share the memories later. This concept seems stone aged when compared to modern technology. Who waits to see pictures? We take them and immediately look at them and even delete the ones we do not like. We post them instantly on countless social media platforms. People have made entire careers revolving around posting pictures for all to see. This was not the way things worked 30 years ago. We used to have to buy film and be careful not to expose it light and ruin the photos. We used to have to wait to show them to our friends and family and deal with the ones we didn’t like being printed. Gone are the days of vacation photo books and slide shows. In fact, gone are the days of everyone carrying a camera, most people simply used the cameras built in to their phones. Why not, they are always on us and ensure we do not need to carry more then we must. Phones now give us the ability to share our life stories without delay and with almost anyone. However, it is important to note that posting photos for everyone to see does diminish privacy.
Banking
It is hard to remember life before online banking. It is simple for us to log online and see exactly how much money we have and even see recent payments made. Gone are the days of keeping detailed check books and hoping we didn’t make a mistake. Wire transfers have not taken the place of bank written counter checks. Debit and credit cards have replaced personal checks and cash as the primary payment method. Furthermore, we don’t even swipe cards often anymore. Mobile payment applications and chip readers have already replaced traditional credit cards. It is crazy to think how quickly technology has impacted the financial world. Stocks and bonds can be purchased and sold much quicker and the stock market reacts to the world much quicker as well. More information has resulted in quicker reaction times. This can be both a good and bad thing, but that is beyond our control. We just must be aware that financial markets are much quicker reacting than they used to be.
Gas
What was the price of gas 30 years ago? The answer is shocking, $1.30 a gallon. That sounds crazy inexpensive by today’s standards. The oil market has undergone some serious changes over the last 30 years. As a result, the heating and automobile industries now focus on efficiency. The days of high powered gas drinking engines is gone. The market is now about who can get the most powerful and most efficient engine. As we learn more about the side effects of fossil fuels we also begin to realize that there are a finite amount of them. One day we will use up all the natural oil on the planet, and then what? Our energy needs continue to grow and as we move forward we continue to invent alternate and more efficient ways of producing energy. We learn from our past and this has resulted in a whole field of alternate energy sources. It is too early to tell what will eventually replace oil, but something will. Like landline phones and VCRs, fossil fuels will eventually become dated. It is just a question of when.
These are just a few examples of how technology had changed our lives without us even thinking about it. There are many more. The world will continue to evolve and so will the way we live in it. Just remember to always look toward the future and never dwell in the past.