Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Greatest inventions
No, not the microwave oven. Not the Internet.
The two single best inventions of my lifetime (which commenced May 1964) are the percent change calculator and precooked bacon! :-)
What are your favorite advances in civilization?
--ER
The two single best inventions of my lifetime (which commenced May 1964) are the percent change calculator and precooked bacon! :-)
What are your favorite advances in civilization?
--ER
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This is actually a party game my friends and I used to spring on people: Best Invention Ever?
My friend Bear would inevitably and immediately say, "The shower."
I'd say, "The electric guitar."
Fatboy would say, "The fermentation of grain."
The historian Frederick Lewis Allen would have definitely told us of his love for the forklift, had he been at the same party.
It seems like maybe we were really talking about which innovations took the most abstraction of thought ("Rain in my house? You want me to drink the old, rotten wheat?").
Can't wait to see what others will say.
My friend Bear would inevitably and immediately say, "The shower."
I'd say, "The electric guitar."
Fatboy would say, "The fermentation of grain."
The historian Frederick Lewis Allen would have definitely told us of his love for the forklift, had he been at the same party.
It seems like maybe we were really talking about which innovations took the most abstraction of thought ("Rain in my house? You want me to drink the old, rotten wheat?").
Can't wait to see what others will say.
Best invention ever? The Bike.
When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments. Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man. And (unlike subsequent inventions for man's convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became. Here, for once, was a product of man's brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others. Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.
~Elizabeth West
The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon.
~Bill Strickland
BUT, if we're talking only MY lifetime (1963), then I'd have to say the padded bicycle seat.
When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments. Here was a machine of precision and balance for the convenience of man. And (unlike subsequent inventions for man's convenience) the more he used it, the fitter his body became. Here, for once, was a product of man's brain that was entirely beneficial to those who used it, and of no harm or irritation to others. Progress should have stopped when man invented the bicycle.
~Elizabeth West
The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon.
~Bill Strickland
BUT, if we're talking only MY lifetime (1963), then I'd have to say the padded bicycle seat.
The inventions which changed lives the most are
1. The Birth Control Pill.
2. The disposable diaper.
Women's lives have never been the same.
1. The Birth Control Pill.
2. The disposable diaper.
Women's lives have never been the same.
Most inventions and innovations in technology are little more than the continous compresion of time and space.
There are some however that superceed that criteria and those are the ones that truely make the difference.
I nominate:
1. Writting
2. The Zero
3. Flight
4. Anti-biotics
5. Birthcontrol
There are some however that superceed that criteria and those are the ones that truely make the difference.
I nominate:
1. Writting
2. The Zero
3. Flight
4. Anti-biotics
5. Birthcontrol
# posted by 
: 1:20 PM
: 1:20 PM
Now in the spirit of ER, I nominate:
1.Cruise control on my car.
2.Dr. Pepper
3.the Mute Button on my TV
4.paper plates
5.digital cameras
1.Cruise control on my car.
2.Dr. Pepper
3.the Mute Button on my TV
4.paper plates
5.digital cameras
# posted by : 1:26 PM
: 1:26 PM
Best inventions made during my lifetime (that I can think of at the moment:
1. Color TV
2. Cable (or Community Antenna) TV
3. Birth control pills (thank heavens for me that they weren't available in the mid-1950s!)
4. Microwave ovens
5. Personal computers and all that comes with that, including the intrawebs.
6. High quality digital photography available to the masses.
7. Huge improvements in sound technology.
8. Mega improvements in public health -- immunizations and HUGE advances in treating HIV/AIDS; public sanitation and clean water supplies. Too bad we'll all die of bird flu, but at least we won't be in an iron lung when it gets us.
9. Improved construction techniques.
1. Color TV
2. Cable (or Community Antenna) TV
3. Birth control pills (thank heavens for me that they weren't available in the mid-1950s!)
4. Microwave ovens
5. Personal computers and all that comes with that, including the intrawebs.
6. High quality digital photography available to the masses.
7. Huge improvements in sound technology.
8. Mega improvements in public health -- immunizations and HUGE advances in treating HIV/AIDS; public sanitation and clean water supplies. Too bad we'll all die of bird flu, but at least we won't be in an iron lung when it gets us.
9. Improved construction techniques.
Oh yeah, the remote. Definitely an improvement over using pliers to change the channel on the B&W TV with tinfoil wrapped around the rabbit ears.
best invention in my time? carnation instant breakfast.
of all time? the time piece. oh, it's a big one....
KEvron
of all time? the time piece. oh, it's a big one....
KEvron
F-117 Stealth Fighters
B-2 Bombers.
AR-15/M-16 Rifles
M-1 Abrams Tanks
And, of course, Sony Playstation!
B-2 Bombers.
AR-15/M-16 Rifles
M-1 Abrams Tanks
And, of course, Sony Playstation!
Hmmmm ... I like this topic.
Gotta be the remote control and wireless-Internet-capable laptop computer.
Of course, if you ask my dad, he's had remote control TV since the 1960s -- first my brother, then my sister, then me. :-)
Gotta be the remote control and wireless-Internet-capable laptop computer.
Of course, if you ask my dad, he's had remote control TV since the 1960s -- first my brother, then my sister, then me. :-)
Good contributions, all!
At the risk of inviting weeks of abuse, which is what happened the last time I dared to agree with Bro. Dad openly on a fine point, I agree with him:
Guns, and tanks, and etc., don't kill people. People kill people.
At the risk of inviting weeks of abuse, which is what happened the last time I dared to agree with Bro. Dad openly on a fine point, I agree with him:
Guns, and tanks, and etc., don't kill people. People kill people.
Oh, two more:
Fritos!
Chili!
And onions! And a strip of mustard!
Ok, that's four ... and I'm bein' goofy.
Fritos!
Chili!
And onions! And a strip of mustard!
Ok, that's four ... and I'm bein' goofy.
Of course, this entire conversation wouldn't have taken place without the invention of movable type, thank you Mr. Guttenberg.
No, no, no, Rich. You've seen the Flintstones! There would be a little bird inside my computer, chiseling out my messatge and flying it out to a bunch of other birds with chisels somewhere and ... well, you get the picture.
You know. The Internest. :-)
( ... wocka-wocka ...)
You know. The Internest. :-)
( ... wocka-wocka ...)
I didn't mention type/printing because I thought this was during OUR lifetimes and the first one who dares ask how I liked life befor Guttenburg dies.
Oh, and Bro. DooDad, I'd think that you'd have at least one good ol' inerrant, infallibly biblical PLOWSHARE on that list of weapons of war! Hoo hoo!
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