Or just full of trivial anachronisms?
Last week, a coworker was lamenting the fact that her tea got cool before she could finish it and I suggested a tea cozy. She had never heard of one.
Yesterday was the 38th birthday (anniversary?) of the introduction of the computer game Pong. Compare Pong to Halo. We were fascinated by Pong when it came out. Played it for hours. Can you imagine an ordinary 10-year-old kid today even looking twice at the game?
Every year at the beginning of the school year (about 3 months back) Beloit College puts out their mindset list, mostly to remind the professors of how old they are and to get a little news time. But one thing the list always does for me is point out the advances in technology we've made. This year's list notes that, as far as these freshmen are concerned, "IBM has never made typewriters." Typewriters. Another anachronism.
I used to marvel that my grandmother had lived through the invention of the automobile, to the electrifying of homes across the world, to open-heart surgery, and commercial air-travel. Never once in those reflections did I consider her age. That was a given. She was ancient. (Don't all children believe their grandparents to be breathing fossils?)
Now, I reflect on how much has changed in my lifetime and I think, "I can't possibly be that old!" It must be that technologies are changing faster now. I'm sure that's it. And there is room for fewer things from the past.
While I wouldn't mind seeing tea cozies make a comeback, I'm glad we've seen the back of Pong and typewriters. Along with rotary-dial phones and TVs without remote controls.
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