Author Topic: New inventions in our lifetime........  (Read 37833 times)

Offline Arad-3

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2006, 09:52:41 pm »
Microwave ovens!  Heres a funny story, at least I think so now looking back at it.

Growing up my parents owned and operated a small town restauraunt. Well this had to be around thirty years ago when my mother was talked into buying by a very persistant salesman a oven that cooked with microwaves.  it sounded too good to be true because it would come in handy at a restaurant. Well when it arrived everyone from the dinning room came in to see it. I remember it so well because it was a saturday and there was no school so I was allowed to help in the kitchen, washing dishes or doing little things
.
Anyways.. my mom was afraid to use it. so with some encouragement from the dinning room crowd  (who were all in the kitchen by this time)  she decided to bake a potato. When she put the potato in and set the timer and turned it on everybody ran from the kitchen like they do in a Dentist office for exrays.  After a few minutes the timer went ding and everybody slowly peaked into the kitchen. Very cautiously they took the potato out and put it on the counter. Everybody watching my mom cut into the potato and to everyones amazement the potato was steaming and fluffy. everyone in the restaurant clapped with joy and amazement!

It took awhile before we stopped clearing out of the kitchen when it was on though! Who would of thought? :o
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Offline Arad-3

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2006, 09:59:10 pm »


"The funny thing is, we never felt deprived of anything. Indianapolis only had 4 tv channels, and nobody ever thought anything about it. The possibility of hundreds of tv channels would have seemed ludicrous to us back then. But now I wonder how we ever survived without them."
[/quote] By David 925

Ludicrous is right David because we didn't have remotes and we would have to manually click through all them channels! It was a pain enough to get up and click back and forthwith 3 or 4 of them!
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Offline delalluvia

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2006, 10:25:57 pm »
and how the hell did we make arrnagments to meet without the phone calls saying
where are you? or texts saying 'I'm running 5 mins late - just get me at the bar' etc etc

I think people were more considerate and punctual back then becuase they knew they were limited in communications.  Once they gave their word to be somewhere they had to keep it or be branded rude and inconsiderate.

Someone invited me to their home for a wedding.  I was expected.  Long been expected.  Suddenly, before my arrival, the parents decided to run to the store to pick up some last minute things.  They wouldn't be home to greet me and let me in the house. 

Easy fix, right?  They called their daughter and told her to call me on my cell phone to say they were going to be late/not there when I arrived.

My friend replied, "She doesn't have a cell phone."

Oops.

They left anyway and I had to sit on the stoop like a stray dog until they arrived.

Or else if your friends were flakey and were habitual late or no-shows you found out a lot faster, rather than having to deal with constant calls 'I'm running late', 'I'm almost there." 'I'm lost.' which some people think excuses their rude lateness.

I think people had to be more organized.  They couldn't call home to find out what was needed at the grocery store, so hey, they made lists before hand.  What a concept, actually being prepared.

Park rangers are complaining that people go into parks and wilderness areas unprepared for any eventuality as they caution them to be - take extra water, jackets, rain ponchos, flashlights, etc. in case a storm blows up or etc. - because they have a cell phone and think if they run into trouble they can just call and have someone bail them out, rather than take responsibility for their own safety.

Yes, cell phones are a great salvation for many things.  They also cover up a lot of faults as well.

Offline Katie77

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2006, 10:34:00 pm »
Some of these stories are so funny, probably because we all went thru similar things with these new dang inventions......

I remember my step father having to get up on the roof every time (yes everytime) we wanted to watch one of the three channels we had....he used to twist the aeirial and yell out to us down in the loungeroom if it was working....then it was back on the roof to turn it back after that show was finished.....

And the dear old microwave.....my mum put a raw egg, still in its shell in there one time......i remember, i couldnt believe how much stuff was actually in one little egg, not one part of the microwave insides did not have a bit of egg on it.....

And computers....I'm still learning......I only found out, about 2 years ago, that I could play a CD on it......duhhhhhhhh!!!!....

And I shocked a few friends the other day, when I told them, I dont use a mobile, except when I go away on holidays...neither do my husband or sons....ive got one, but its in one of my drawers waiting for when i skip town again.

I remember the first VCR we got, then went to the one video rental store that was half hour away, where they had about 20 movies.....I thought to myself "what am I gonna watch, once I've seen all of these?"

And digital watches.....they came out when my eldest son was at school....he could tel the time on his digital watch, but couldnt tell the time on an ordinary clock with the clock face.

And dvd's......still a point of dissention in our household.....Hubby reckons the Cassette tapes were better, cause we could fast forward them.....

So many more, I cant think of now, cause we take so much for granted now....but a lot of funny stories, I am enjoying them.
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It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfection

Offline 2robots4u

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2006, 10:56:23 pm »
Not just TV stations but the concept of TV itself.  I remember my grandmother saying it was just a fad (1948 or 1949), would not last and she would not put the money into buying one.  I did not actually watch TV until early 1953 when my parents were finally broken by family pressure.  They were hugh pieces of furniture and weighed more than me at the time, so once is was in place, it was never moved.  Wonder what granny would think of TV and the many models available today?  She died in 1987, ironically, while watching TV.....

Offline David In Indy

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2006, 01:58:29 am »
Oh. I just thought of another one!

<drum roll> .........................................




................................................................................................


.........................................................


........................................... Wait for it..................................................




................................................................................................



.............................................................................

Oh Hell. I forgot what I was going to say.  >:(

..................................................


Oh yeah...... coffee makers!    :D

I remember watching my mother's percolator for a very long time when I was a kid. I loved watching the coffee "percolate" up and down through the little glass handle on the lid. But it took hours for it to percolate...or brew.

Now, we can pour a pot of cold water into a machine, press a button, and in 3 minutes we have a fresh pot of coffee! That is, when the damn things work. I flooded my kitchen in vinegar last week trying to clean mine.

Does anyone know a good brand of coffee maker out there? I'll buy it just as long as it doesn't piss vinegar all over the kitchen counter.

It's all good!

Coffee makers! Now that's a great invention.

Or as they use to say... "Now that's a great cup of coffee honey!"  :D
« Last Edit: October 09, 2006, 02:00:49 am by David925 »
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Offline Katie77

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2006, 07:01:31 am »
Typewriters......I learned on a manual typewriter....bang, bang banging on the keys......if i made a mistake, we had a typewriter eraser.......

The the electric typewriter came in, and we were so used to banging the old keys, that everytime we hit a key now, it came out half a dozen times.......

And carbon paper copies......i worked for a finance company, and we had to type an original and about four copies of the loan contracts...if we made a mistake, we got out the little bottle of white stuff, and dabbed each copy, waited for it to dry, then type the right letter.....the white stuff smudged all the copies...

Thank goodness once again for computers.....

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It means you've decided to see beyond the imperfection

mvansand76

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2006, 07:36:40 am »
The.... iPod/MP3 player...

Not so long ago, just before I got my iPod, I was sitting on the train with my portable cassette player, listening to all these mixed music tapes I had made when I was a child. I opened the cassette player to get the cassette out and the sound that it made, KAPLOING (or something, can't really describe it) actually startled some people out of their sleep-induced comas and there were these kids who looked at me and the machine in my hand with a mortified look on their faces, and they were asking their mothers what it was.

Aaaaw... the good old cassette player...

Offline David

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2006, 07:45:54 am »
Boy, I remember the very first time I heard about a cell phone... actually it was a car phone. I couldn't figure out how it would work. I remember picturing a huge reel of telephone cord on the trunk of the car. Then I remember realizing a reel of cord on the back of a car wouldn't work. The cord would get all tangled up as the car drove down the street and turned corners. I think the first time I ever heard about a car phone was probably in the early 1980's. Of course back then, only the very rich could afford one and I never actually saw someone using a cell phone until the early 1990's. My friend Claude owned one, and he carried the phone around in a case (about the size of a brief case) which contained the phone, the telephone's computer and a large battery.

Remember in the 1970s when some TV detectives had "Mobile Phones" ? 

I remember a TV show called "Cannon" starring William conrad.  He drove a silver Lincoln Mark IV with a telephone in it.   It looked like a regular phone.  He'd pick it up and ask for the mobile operator and then give her the regular phone number he needed to be connected too.    Very impressive then!

It wasn't until the mid 1980s that they became more popular.  Yet still very expensive!   $1500.00 - $2,000 US Dollars then!    :o

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: New inventions in our lifetime........
« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2006, 08:57:24 am »

Does anyone know a good brand of coffee maker out there? I'll buy it just as long as it doesn't piss vinegar all over the kitchen counter.


Saeco Vienna Deluxe Super Automatic

Press the button and the machine grinds the beans, puts them in the little holder, spritzes the water through, dumps the beans and makes one perfect cup of coffee...anything from the tiniest cup of espresso (ristresso) to a mug of American style coffee. If you want the whole barista experience, you can foam milk, make lattes, etc., but I never bother.

I bought this machine five years ago and it was expensive. My husband almost had a stroke. But it has paid for itself ten times over in that I never buy coffee out anymore...it is just not up to the standard I have become used to.

Leslie
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