Posted on 08/12/2010 3:05:50 PM PDT by B-Chan
Given the lack of investment in technological advancement, particularly in the West, the rank stupdity in our polity and our public life (primarily through the propogandistic dumbing-down of our interactions and exchanges via the media) and our seeming inability to even engage in important infrastructure improvements and advancements (thank you to the zero-growth mania of the greens)...I would say that it is not at all out of place to think that we are now entering a new Dark Ages.
Obviously he's never hear of FR or online dating or...
They promised us jet packs and flying cars. Hmmmmpphh.
This is exactly the old patent office official’s quote in 1865 that EVERYTHING HAS BEEN INVENTED...
The biggest change I see since 1959 to today is that kids that do graduate from High School...............can’t read or write. What progress we have made. Most could’t design or even assemble a computer today, let alone use the keyboard.
I wonder what MiMi the Mechanix Illustrated girl looks like now
I think medical advancements are pretty good since 1959
To discount innovation with respect to invention is short sighted at best.
bump for later.
Is this guy drunk? The computer alone has gone through a dozen major technological jumps since 1959. Calculators today have more computing power than put a man on the moon. Heck the really kick butt calculators probably have more computing power than existed in 1959.
Beyond computers tons of other stuff has changed. International telephony actually works for everybody not just a few, and can be done from the palm of your hand in your back yard not physically connected to anything. Speaking of more computing power than existed in 1959, how about them smartphones. He’s just plane wrong about commercial jet flights being routine in 1959, commercial flight wasn’t routine for anybody and commercial jets were rarer still. Then there’s the revolution in cars, better fuel, better comfort, and now they can tell you where you are and how to get where you want to go. And as for televisions forget about it, the change from 13” black and white over the air to 52” HD satellite and cable and possibly even 3D ready is so dramatic they probably need a new name.
Then there’s the stuff he didn’t even bother to mention. How about lenses. Anybody whose been wearing glasses for the past 10 or 15 years knows some amazing changes have happened there. Every pair I get is lighter and more durable than the ones they replace even though the prescription is stronger. And how about the revolution in the storage and transfer of music. Heck just in the performance of music, one of the reason so many old farts keep touring is they love playing with the new technology.
So much for predicting the future. When you get right down to it, let's face it.....it's impossible.
I guess the central question, the central thesis, is that the degree of change in the last fifty years, as large as it seems to us in our lifetime, is - according to the author - a matter of whole lot of “refinement” based on earlier “groundbreaking” discoveries; whereas the previous fifty years was a period of a whole lot of brand new breakthroughs.
They may be right, but what about “medical science”. To me that area seems the reverse of Mr. Murray’s thesis; with the period of 1900 to 1950s being “refinements” of earlier discoveries but the 1950s to 2000 seeing some major breakthroughs. Am I wrong?
Right. And the computing/storage capability of today's laptops would have weighed about 10 million pounds and have been the size of a the pentagon. Cost? Probably about the same as obamacare.
I'll take the unimpressive tech of today and he can stick with the '59 version.
About a year ago, my 12 year old daughter and I were watching an episode of the Brady Bunch. I asked her what year she thought the episode was filmed in. She said 2000.
Yogi Berra couldn't have said it better.
There’s not a lot of stuff in a Brady Episode to pin the time frame. Sometimes you might see the trunk of their car in an outdoors scene, that would pin it to the 1970s. I don’t remember ever seeing a TV in it. If you got a good look at the kitchen and noticed the lack of microwave that might put it pre-1980. The hideous 70s clothes is really about it, and there was a 70s “style” rebirth in the early 2000s. So that’s not a bad guess on her part, especially considering that at age 12 she probably doesn’t have much knowledge of the differences in the world between Brady era and now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.