Generation ??

[germdoc]

I have been thinking of something recently that has fascinated me. My generation--latter part of the baby boomers--may be unique in recent history in that we did not grow up with any new life-changing technologies. What I'm referring to here is innovations that would change the way we live, like the auto or TV or radio.

Think about it--during my formative years we had autos, TV, tape recorders, movies--all invented years before--but we didn't have personal computers, the internet, the walkman, video recorders and players. If we missed Friday night's movie on ABC or the short run at the theater that was it. You called someone on the phone or wrote them a letter, no emailing. You drove to vacation in an un-airconditioned car--no flights to Cancun! If you mis-typed something you whited it out and typed over it--wo word-processing.

On the other hand, my father experienced the birth of TV, aircraft travel for the masses, and several other life-changing advances. Not to mention open-heart surgery, safe blood transfusions, effective antibiotics, etc.

Toward the end of my formative years or shortly thereafter we saw the disappearance of Southern Democrats and the rise of the Moral Majority, the Walkman, the video and then the CD, the CT scan, the angioplasty, the microwave, cable then satellite, the advent of HIV/AIDS, herpes, the drug crisis, the end of cheap gas...

Hmmmm--I'd trade them all in for the 60's anyday. Unless I had a brain tumor or needed a heart procedure.

[BobSch]

Hmmmm--I'd trade them all in for the 60's anyday. Unless I had a brain tumor or needed a heart procedure.

Every time I start getting nostalgic for the 60's I think of that.

(Had my new heart valve for 11 years now.)

[LarryG]

A friend and I were discussing almost this very thing not long ago. He pointed out that while it seems just the opposite, there were hardly any startlingly new breakthroughs during the second half of the 20th century. There was a lot of refinement of existing technologies (i.e., transistors were made ultra-small, producing the microchip) and there was widespread adoption of a great number of things that had been around for a while (television, telephones, air conditioning; even indoor plumbing, in some parts of the country), but there was very little that was truly "all-new."

Thinking about it, I realized he was correct. An example I gave of my own was the SR-71 Blackbird spyplane, still the fastest airplane ever built. A close cousin (essentially an early prototype, actually) of this aircraft, the A-12, first flew in 1962. That's over 40 years ago! BTW, you remember the big deal that was made over the F-117 stealth fighters during the Gulf War? That too all began with the A-12, which was designed toward the end of the 1950s.

The one big exception, which I did point out to my friend and which has already been mentioned, is advances in medicine. That's one area where I think the new developments have been both nonstop and astounding.

[cabinetman]

Jeff

I think about the debilitating health problems of the 60's and I said to myself "By the time I get that, they'll have a cure." They didn't have cure per se, but the advancements were amazing. For example, I'm a cancer survivor due to advances in urological development. I don't know how long ago cystoscopic exams and surgeries first came into use, maybe in the 90's, but I had about three months to check out time, if nothing was to be done. The exams are no treat, but after 5 years and no problems I feel very lucky. Every time I think about where all the research money disappeares to I'm glad some of it went in my direction.

Just as an addendum to this heart wrenching story, when I was a kid, and got sick, our family physician actually made house calls (can you believe that). On one occasion, he was called and came over, examined me and prescribed something, and looked at my father and decided he was the one to get the shot.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[BobSch]

Thinking about it, I realized he was correct. An example I gave of my own was the SR-71 Blackbird spyplane, still the fastest airplane ever built. A close cousin (essentially an early prototype, actually) of this aircraft, the A-12, first flew in 1962. That's over 40 years ago! BTW, you remember the big deal that was made over the F-117 stealth fighters during the Gulf War? That too all began with the A-12, which was designed toward the end of the 1950s.

Look at the B52. It's been flying for better than 50 years with no sign of giving up — they just keep updating them. I just saw a shot of a BUFF with four new engines replacing the original eight.

[Popeye]

No offense guys but at 53 I'm getting to the point that I'm not so sure I like reading threads that point out how old I'm getting
This middle age thing is not all they said it would be. Pat

[JR]

I think we can say that the transistor falls into the category of a life-changing technology, and it has been developed exclusively during our time, having been patented in 1948. Even during the 60s portable radios were called "transistor radios." The eventual changes in the way products are designed has made for incredible leaps in productivity and entertainment technology.

The Internet, first funded as DARPAnet in 1969, is exclusively of the late 20th century and definitely qualifies as a significant invention. The concept of connectionless communications has completely revolutionized the way we acquire and distribute information. It's as important as the printing press, IMO, because it completely redefines how we think about acquiring information, processing it, and distributing it. The resultant changes are still appearing: IPTV, instant messaging, VoIP, remote control of home systems, etc.

JR

[offthemark]

IMHO the difference between a cell phone and a land line phone has had more affect on our lives than the change from radio to TV. Now my wife can nag me any time she wants. So I'm not sure it's a change for the better. Of course my grandfather used to say the same about TV.

[TheRic]

What about the BT3000 & BT3100!!! If it wasn't for those saws we wouldn't be here today discussing this!!!

[Warren]

Having participated in the JFK Southeast Asian War Games (we placed second) I have only a few fond memories of the 60's. The 50's were, for me, a time few responsibilites and freedom. When a doctor was needed he came and gave very personalized attention to the patient. I could shoot a moose outside my parent's back door. I didn't have to pay to camp near a great fishing stream. Doors were left unlocked. And, true or not, I remember that people were more polite to each other.

The good memories seem to supplant the bad as I get older. We had the Cold War but, as a youngster I didn't give it a thought. Salk came out with his vaccine. Polio was a great fear when I was a kid.

I don't know that any era is particularly better than another. Each era is just simply stepping stone to the next which brings inventions and improvements that leave the witness wide eyed in wonder. And what drives technological innovation is domination or defense from domination, war or the threat of war. I guess whether a new invention, or improvement is good or bad depends on your perspective. As for me, I'll take the 50's as the some of the finest years of my life. Though, if I had my druthers I really would have liked to live in the 1870's and 80's. Life might have been shorter and harder but, it was simpler.

[Kristofor]

The medical stuff has been mentioned before and I would agree that's probably the biggest leap. DNA (well, it was around before...). Genomics and proteomics. Effective radiation, chemo, and surgical techniques for dealing with cancer. Immunosuppressants for non-twin transplants.

Food technologies are somewhat related. People have been cultivating new types of plants and animals for centuries but the yields per man-hour shot through the roof with new hybrids, fertilizer, and pesticides. Toward the end of the century you saw the rise of the GMOs (at least in the US, the rest of the world is less fond of them) and the potential for similar increases (with legitimate risks pointed out by many folks). You've also seen a push toward a more conservation minded agriculture at least in some areas.

There were some more general technologies which became widely used post 1950 though some may have been invented earlier... Things like superconductivity, lasers, electron microscopes, LCD & LED.

Space was also more or less new... The V2 was around in the mid 40's but I would say there's more than a little refinement between that and "one small step for man" (there have been no people on the moon in my lifetime ), or flocks of GPS, Weather, and ComSATs, and probes sent to most (or all depending on definition) of the planets in the solar system.

Kristofor.

[Hoyden]

.

The good memories seem to supplant the bad as I get older. We had the Cold War but, as a youngster I didn't give it a thought. Salk came out with his vaccine. Polio was a great fear when I was a kid.

I Though, if I had my druthers I really would have liked to live in the 1870's and 80's. Life might have been shorter and harder but, it was simpler.

Have to agree with the first part of Warrens Quote. My Dad had polio when I was in Grade School don't remember much other than his being in bed and hurting. We have so many vacines to keep us well now. Also many new diseases to be cured.

The 60's are some of my best memories. However I would not change the time I live in. It' nice to have money to spend, a nice car to drive, electricity to run things. I grew up on a Farm in the 50's and 60's when money was scarce and things were hard to come by. Age 55 to 60 made you an old person. earlier times may have been simpler but harder just does not do justice to the amount of work you had to put in just to live day by day.

Right now is the best time of my life, even if I am nostalgic every now and then.

[dlminehart]

I think the move from analog to digital information has been a profound feature of the late 20th century. Combined with transistors and integrated circuits, it's brought mass production of TV, radio, CD, DVD, PC, cordless and cell phones, video games, satellites, GPS, robotics, etc. etc.

I read a book recently about the OSS in WWII, in which the insertion of spies into occupied France and Germany was described. Along with the spy, a radio operator and his suitcase-sized tube radio set would have to be inserted, in order that the information could be transmitted. The radio operator had to know how to repair the tempermental sets, frequently damaged during parachute drops. Nowadays, anybody could carry a satellite phone in their pocket.

[Thalermade]

Change, technology.
Generations and decades. Technology. Progess, change, timing, discovery, need, making the connection.

As simple as the 50's were, the telephone and electricity were still not everywhere in America for everyones daily use. But were certainly more available than in the 1930's. Progess, slow progress

The state route which ran in front of our house originally supported the public transportation streetcar line which ran between Dayton, Ohio and Richmond, Indiana. Before the 1960's the streetcars were gone. The folks in the rural towns and villages lost alot, and needed to buy second cars, or move closer to the big city.

A a nine year old, I remember in 1969, the big deal when my Dad bought the family a color tv. Needed to see the big event in late July of 1969. We loved Tang orange drink for breakfast.

Cable TV existed for years in areas where the broadcast signal would not reach. Ted Turner helped create the monster we now have.

http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/mooreslaw/ Need I say more

The medical break throughs have been and are amazing. The business of Health Care has become atrocious.

I still remember my Mom yelling at me when I was a teenager for wasting paper towels, and she informed me paper towels didn't exist when she was growing up.

My fourteen year old daughter has been using a computer for a decade now. We now own two, an old "slow" P3 and a one year old computer soon to be old and obsolete.

Change.
Generations and decades. Technology. Progess, timing, discovery, need, making the connection. And oh yeah a little bit of luck here and there.

Darwin, Franklin, Marconi, Eastman, Einstein, Tesla, Westinghouse, Edison, Ford, Kettering, Farnsworth, Crosley, Hughes, Moore, Jobs, Wozniak, Nesmith (and his Mom), Gates, Mark Cuban........ and many more and so it goes.

I am becoming comfortable in this world of constant change, though I do still yearn, at times, for an ice cold Pepsi in a 16 ounce returnable bottle!

have fun

[cwsmith]

Definitely going to date myself with this one, but what the hey. I was born in 1944, so very much agree on the medical changes that have made so many of our lives better. But I also recall several technical changes that I consider either milestones or just plain amazing advances.

When I was in "junior high", we were still using fountain pens (1956 - 57). Ballpoints didn't come into widespread use until 1958.

When I was a kid, the entertainment center was a rather large console set that my parents had purchased around 1953. AM/FM and a 78 rpm (I think) record player. Early evening programs on the AM were the "Inter-Sanctum", "Green Hornet", and the detective series "Pam and Jerry North". The only thing you could find on the FM was what we referred to as "long hair music".

I got my first interest in radio communications during my Freshman year in high school (1958) and my first rig was an 1942 Army surplus SCR 522. about 12 watts AM, it measured about 20 x 12 x 12 and used a separate power supply that was about half that size. Both weighed 30 or so pounds. At the time, a "Gonset" 2-meter transciever was the leading edge of VHF communications, and it measured about 12 x 10 x 12-inches, was AM with capacitor controlled receive and crystal controlled transmit, only five channels. At about 7 watts output, when properly tuned, you'd be lucky to talk over 10 miles simplex and I've seen the time when you'd couldn't get a signal 300 yards away. Today I have a FM handheld that is smaller than the Gonset microphone. Runs on two bands, fully synthesized FM, uses AA rechargeables and easily exceeds that gives me 10 miles on simplex and unlimited via the repeaters.

1958 was also the year I took my first flight. It was in a 1940 Piper Cub, about 65 hp, tandem, duralumin tubing and fabric fuselage and wings. The gas tank was mounted between the engine and the instrument panel and employed a long wire on a cork float for measure the fuel supply. No starter, someone had to flip the prop. (But what a fun airplane!)

In 1973, I remember one of our engineers buying the first compact electronic calculator in the company. It was almost $300 and could do basic math. No capability to handle algebraic equations. About the size of today's PDA's, it was made by Monroe.

My first computer, a 48K Atari 800 was purchased in 1979. My first printer was an Epson MX-80, dot-matrix, costing $450. I also purchased a modem that year, 300 baud, acoustic coupled (you put the hand set in the cradle). My first IBM compatible was a portable Hyperion which I purchased in 1984. The retail on that was $3600, complete with 512 kbytes of RAM, a built in 7-inch amber monitor, 2 floppys, no harddrive.

I love technology, and find it amazing how far we've come in 50 or so years. Things are so much more compact, reliable, and cheaper than any of us could have ever imagined.

CWS