Name 12 pieces of technology that...

Are in the average modern american home that we're not 50 years ago. (1962)

Note : New versions of old technology doesn't count. You can't say a flat screen TV because it's still just a television.

 

So would a microwave oven count? It is still an oven, but the technology is vastly different.

 

Digital clocks.
Computers.
LED lights.
Vacuum cleaners with a beater bar.

 

Most all technology is new versions of old technology.

Pure inventions are very rare; it's all innovation.

The microwave is a newer version of the convection oven which was a newer version of an oven which was a newer version of a range which was a newer version of a pot over a fire.

I just don't know where to draw the line with that requirement...

 

In light of this very good point, and if VoT is open to this, perhaps defending the inclusion on the list by stating how the innovation has dramatically altered everyday life...?

 

Pockets Sized Cameras
Portable Stereos
Mobile Phones
Desktop Computers
Home game console
Laser Tech - in general that enables all of this
A black friend

The microwave is NOT a newer version of the convection oven AT ALL! The oven along with a pot over fire uses the same process of thermodynamics. The microwave does not, it's an entire new way of cooking food (when it was invented) - literally using microwaves to vibrate the water molecules (water absorbs microwaves) in your food, causing friction (heat). Besides salt crystal pretty much everything you can eat has water content.

but to your larger point I some what agree, well far as the home tech is concerned - other pure invention aren't rare, just rare to see in someones home.

 

audio cassette
breast implants
Acrylic paint
handheld calculator
post it notes
printer & mouse
cell phone
viagra ;p

 

Home video camera
Remote control
Automatic ice dispenser
Headphones
Mp3 player
Juicer
Double glazing?
Sliding glass door?
Slap chop

 

I think microwaves are a result of military radar technology.

Integrated circuits and transistor component electronics.
Computers, hand-held electronics, video game consoles...
Liquid Crystal Displays

 

Common rail diesel engines.
Tdi engines.
Computer programmable ECU's.
Variable valve timing.
Sequential gearboxes.
6 speed gearboxes.
US Built BMW's
Bullshit Hybrids like the Prius.
Round core car batteries.
Cars that do more than 10mpg
Cars that go around bends.
Headlight washers.

 

I know all this. But it's a new way of cooking food innovated into an already existing form of small oven appliances.

 

this thread is full of flaws... as Duck has pointed out.. but on a more serious note..

30 years ago what was something you never heard a person say when they called you?

"Where Are You?"

Was pretty tough to leave your house with a corded phone

 

i dont remember the last time I had any diesel engines in my home either lol

 

my refrigerator runs on a diesel engine

 

Solar panals and improved batteries are pretty hard to spot.
When was the last time you wound a watch or a clock?
(When was the last time your watch battery was replaced?)

Speaking of batteries, cordless drills and saws and other tools are new.

New technology is not devices that implement new science. They are new arrangements of largely off the shelf items.

Speaking of new, Tang and Instant Coffee weren't around 50 years ago.
Coke was there, but no version of Red Bull.

What can one say about the explosion of craft beers. 50 years ago, it was variations on Bud. Today, Anchor Steam is not the only different kind of beer.

Gaming systems.

Would accurate weather forcasts count? How about satellite photos.

Instant Replay. No delay in the news while film is being flown to the studio.

Underwater exploration vehicles have improved dramaticaly. (Heck, isn't scuba younger than 50?)

Oh yes, the Moog synthesizer and its offshoots.

And of course, 1962 was before the Grateful Dead.
Multi-track recording, multi-channel amplification at concerts are all young. (Weren't the Beatles one of the first bands to record in 8 channels?)

Exctacy and acid are new. And the hybridized strains of MJ have to count as tech.
Hurrah for purple weed!!

As does the prevalence of #2 corn in everything we eat.
High Fructose Corn syrup is new.

Did anyone mention CD's and DVD's ?

When did air conditioning become standard? When did central heat become standard?

And, everyone can tell that I'm making use of the new inflated value of twelve.

(Do multi-blade razors, sharpened with a laser, count.)
The disposable razor, the single edge razor, the electric razor.

On the downside, there is one less professional football league.
But, the Cubs still haven't won a pennant since we dropped the bomb on Japan.
I guess that some things never change.

 

lol and drive it away with its 6 speed gearbox lol