We – those of us over sixty five – were born before frozen food, photo-copying, plastic and contact lenses.
Before credit cards, laser beams and ballpoint pens.
Before panty hose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air-conditioners and drip-dry clothes.
In our time closets were for clothes.
We managed without house-husbands, gay rights, computer-dating.
And daycare centers and group therapy.
We never heard of guys wearing earrings.
Chip was a piece of wood and hardware meant hardware.
Software wasn’t even a word.
“Made in Japan” meant junk. Instant coffee was unheard of.
And:
Rock music was grandma’s lullaby.
• • • •
And no one knew that a blog was a contraction of weblog.
5 responses so far ↓
Horace Krever // October 27, 2009 at 3:10 pm |
And good restaurants in Toronto!
Elisabeth Ecker // October 28, 2009 at 8:17 am |
And answering machines and cell phones!
Fred Langan // October 28, 2009 at 2:49 pm |
But in many ways much of what exists now was there before in another form. The telegraph made trading possible between London and New York. Secretaries took messages. There were secretaires at railroads where executives had to travel overnight by train.
Much of the work of gadgets was done by people. `One good servant is worth a thousand gadgets.” I don’t know where I heard it or who said it. But it is probably true.
Fred Langan // October 28, 2009 at 2:50 pm |
That should be male secretaries at railroads.
John G // November 12, 2009 at 8:41 pm |
“No man is a hero to his valet” but I suspect that many gadgets are heroes to their owners. I know my BlackBerry is….