Maybe the Jetsons really are on the way! - Personal Genealogy Week 8

What are some of the technological advances that happened during your childhood? What types of technology do you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid? These are the questions asked this week in "52 Weeks of Personal History & Genealogy" created by Amy Coffin of We Tree fame and listed each week on Geneabloggers for our enjoyment.


I recently made a list with my teenage daughter about the amount of advances that had come into the world during my lifetime as part of a discussion in which she felt our generation was the best one due to all the "cool things that happened in our era." I was told there would be no new John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., the experiences that we went through as this nation grappled with civil rights issues, or the excitement of the first man on the moon. She told me that no sport figure would compare with Michael Jordan, the 95,000 fans that were cheering on the women's soccer team when they won in overtime in the Rose Bowl, etc.

I tried to remind her that in her few years she has seen the revelations of the smartphone into its own little computer, the e-reader, the Ipod, LeBron James, Tiger Woods in his better days, the first African American President, and what the power of the people can do with their actions recently in Egypt, but I am not so sure she is convinced yet. I think time will change her mind.

The technology I have watched through my childhood include:

microwave
cell phone as big as a suitcase
Kodak cameras
cable Television (and of course color tv before that)
a dryer that doesn't involve a crank
home computers
8-track, cassette, and CDs and their players
drive-thru
remotes
and one of my favorites at the time--------- PONG!!!!!! What could possibly be more exciting than watching a white ball go across a black screen to hit  a white paddle over and over? I can still hear the music! My neighborhood was so excited that my father had brought home that game you would have thought we were royalty. Luckily, Ms. Pac-Man and Donkey Kong came along and took over my heart later. There was nothing like the arcades.

The toys of my adulthood include:

laptop computer
SLR camera
home and portable scanners
big screen television
high speed internet
meals that nearly magically cook themselves (I'm still waiting for the robot, but children do help)
and my trusty GPS that I chose to name Jill

I avoid to the best of my intentions:

the tech guys who choose to live outside the United States and I know much more than I'd like to admit
detailed instructions  (unless it involves anything needing to be assembled- then I am a woman on a mission that no person can keep up with!)

There is so much I could include you would be reading until tomorrow, but that Reader needs to move on, so until next time:

May all your genealogical pursuits be successful!!!