Is there a piece of technology that has changed you life? [Archive]

Lester C.

10-04-2006, 02:48 PM

If so how? I’m in need of topic for a technological critique paper and I need help. I was going to do a paper on playstation two but that paper overlaps too much with my senior thesis topic so I’m need of a new topic.

vanityman

10-04-2006, 02:50 PM

the remote control for the tv

content decisions were in the hands of the consumer rather than the media

Grazzt

10-04-2006, 02:51 PM

Well, the Internet provides me with a place to talk to others without actually having to deal with the messiness of actual human interaction, allows me to communicate with my family long distance for cheaper than a phone, provides me with entertainment, and exposes my mind to new ideas. That enough of a life changer for you?

I suppose you meant new piece of technology, though. Sadly, I have a tendency to fall behind on the latest toys.

Lester C.

10-04-2006, 03:01 PM

Any technology is good as I just need something I can sink my teeth into. I personally don’t like the internet as I feel it has not lived up to its promise. We were told that it would democerize communication because it would enable everyone to be a publisher. However this isn’t the case as communication through the internet is mostly asymmetric. Furthermore we hide behind false names, back stories and use the medium not to foster meaning dialogue between others but rather discussing hobbies and pursuit that interest us rather than bring us closer together in a meaningful exchange of ideals and culture.

Grazzt

10-04-2006, 03:07 PM

Lester C.

10-04-2006, 03:09 PM

Hey, I was just suggesting something that changed lives, not something that changed them all for the better. :D And I would wager that it has changed far more lives than the PS2.

Just out of curiousity, how recent does the technology have to be?
It doesn't have to be recent. The point of this paper is to critically examine a technology or a technological issue.

Grazzt

10-04-2006, 03:12 PM

It doesn't have to be recent. The point of this paper is to critically examine a technology or a technological issue.

How about gunpowder, then? That pretty much changed the world.

Lester C.

10-04-2006, 03:16 PM

How about gunpowder, then? That pretty much changed the world.
Both gunpowder and internet are on my list of contenders. It will be a downer of a paper but I can certainly discuss both papers on a critical level.

Grazzt

10-04-2006, 03:22 PM

Both gunpowder and internet are on my list of contenders. It will be a downer of a paper but I can certainly discuss both papers on a critical level.

If you want something a little more upbeat, how about genetically modified food? Specifically, Norman Borlaug's work (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug) has been creditted for saving many from starvation.

Red Jack

10-04-2006, 03:33 PM

My iBook G4 has made my web series possible. indeed, it was the inspiration for doing it. Using only the basic software included with the unit, I've been able to edit, add sound and even create animations for my ongoing show, THE DARK.

Pretty damned powerful little box. I hardly touch my tower anymore.

Um.

yeah.

you know what I mean.

Sabrinaset

10-04-2006, 03:36 PM

How about the vibrator? It's changed the lives of many women!

Alex L

10-04-2006, 03:36 PM

Cell phones have made it possible for businesses to contact employees while on vacation, made it easier for parents to find their kids, and manages to be the Invention People Hate But Can't Live Without™.

EspanolBot

10-04-2006, 04:03 PM

Internet. Without it I wouldn't have met my awesome girlfriend, Joy. :wub:

Lester C.

10-04-2006, 04:07 PM

How about the vibrator? It's changed the lives of many women!
It also changed the life of men. How the !@#$ can we compete with a vibrator. This invention, along with cloning which doesn't need male sperm, is going to DOOM MY KIND TO EXTINCTION THROUGH NATURAL SELECTION.:mad:

Dark Galaxy

10-04-2006, 04:14 PM

For daily life, I'd have to say the internet. Ours was out most of Sunday, and it was shocking how many times in a day I run to it to solve problems, answer questions and do day-to-day activities.

For one thing, I am running a small ebay business, so that was screwed over.

I wanted to check on a movie time (was planning on going to a theater pub to see Superman before it was out of the theaters all together, since I missed it this summer) the theater was new, and it wasn't in the phonebook we had. I had to actually call my mom and have her look up the time for me.

There were about a dozen other things that I went to the computer to do, and then remembered the internet was out.

Gilda Dent

10-04-2006, 05:05 PM

Synthetic hormones and related medications.

Plastic surgery.

Those literally changed my life, to such a degree that it's possible for me to even have any semblance of a real life.

Gilda

heystacy

10-04-2006, 05:44 PM

I have to say contact lenses. I appreciate wearing my eyeglasses for years, however, after many school teasings as a child for wearing coke bottles on my face, I think the ability to blend in, and not stand out is underappreciated.

Ogdred

10-04-2006, 08:04 PM

The toothbrush. And the micro-chip.

Cam63

10-04-2006, 10:03 PM

How about the vibrator? It's changed the lives of many women!

I would've thought that lil' contraption should've been a Nobel nominee that year.

Cam63

10-04-2006, 10:04 PM

As for my personal pick, I'd have to go for the personal home computer.

Karen El

10-05-2006, 03:52 AM

The contraceptive pill, the internal combustion engine, the telephone. All these things radically changed the lives of everyone at the time.

My personal choice is simple and obvious. Without the internet there would be no Planet Karen.

It's also a good pick because nobody foresaw it. Science fiction is based on the premise of extrapolating from current technologies to imagine what the future will be like and even the most technically accurate and scientifically based writers never saw it coming. Unlike almost every other major technological advance, it wasn't until it was already happening that it appeared in fiction at all.

WhiteRose

10-05-2006, 04:24 AM

Transition lenses. I just had some put in my eyeglasses, and they are bloody fantastic.

No more prescription sunglasses for me!

Also, portable gaming systems. Anything from the Gameboy Pocket onwards.

Sharpandpointies

10-05-2006, 04:38 AM

Word Processing - writing was a painful thing before it.

Is there a piece of tech that WOULD change my wife's life, would be freaking easy for them to make, and doesn't exist? Yes.

An english to english Voice Recognition translator. You can buy French-english, german-english, and others. It picks up what the person is saying, and print out the (closest possible) meaning it figures out.

Obviously it isn't perfect. Obviously there are bugs to get out, and the VR software can't be right all the time (or even 50% of the time, with how some people speak...).

But it would make a big difference if you could just flick a switch and have it translate english to english for deaf people....

If anyone knows of such a beast, I would be glad to hear of it.

DungeonmasterJim

10-05-2006, 05:08 AM

I'll be original (yeah, right! LOL!) and say the personal computer. Here's why:

I originally got it to make a webpage for myself

I went back to writing a journal again (blogging)

Went back to playing fantasy sports through on-line drafts

can now store my artwork on CDs/DVDs instead of having to keep a massive pile of original artwork

I can make music CDs of my favorite songs rather than carry around ten thousand CDs with tons of songs I never listen to

I wrote, grayscaled and made my comic book 'print ready' all on my computer

Wasted LOTS of hours playing games on it (all my PCs suffer through this - all the way back to my Commodore 64)

I use it for word processing

I'm sure there's more but you get the idea.

DM Jim

hellokittykat

10-05-2006, 05:50 AM

How about the vibrator? It's changed the lives of many women!

Beat me to it!:p
The first smart ass answer that I thought of when I saw this thread.:)

The next was toilet paper.