In the late 1970s, just before we were married, my wife and I purchased
our first home. At that point in my life, I didn’t have a lot of
household items to bring to the marriage. In fact, I didn’t even own a
single piece of furniture.
To the best of my recollection, my entire contribution to the new home
all fit into my small car. One trip across town was all I needed to
move. You could say the house was vintage. It had a built-in milk chute
and a large, gas-gravity furnace that used to burn coal. With its large,
octopus-like arms reaching out in all directions, it dominated the
basement.
Upstairs, the thermostat was very simplistic. If you wanted more heat,
you turned the knob to the right; if you wanted less, you turned it to
the left. Our television had a rabbit-ear antenna for controlling the
reception and we changed channels manually, not remotely. The VCR? Well,
we were still saving to buy one.
As our family grew, so did the houses and the technology within them.
Today, with all the boys grown up and on their own, we decided to move
again. With just the two of us, it just made sense to get smaller and
simpler. Well, the new place is definitely smaller, but I’d hardly call
it simpler.
I remember when telephones were just for talking. Today, they’re
essentially mini computers. I’m still amazed that I can control the
volume on my television with my phone. And instead of having speakers
and audio equipment around the house, we have a remarkable device called
a sound bar. It not only provides incredible sound on the television,
it can also play all the music on my wife’s phone.
Our high-efficiency furnace takes up only a small portion of the
basement compared to the old octopus. My new thermostat looks like
something from NASA. It tells the outdoor temperature, the indoor
temperature and humidity and even gives a seven-day forecast. And, of
course, I can control it with my phone.
Throughout my lifetime, technological advances have amazed me. To an
extent, they’ve also confused me. That’s why I had “technicians” tutor
me on how to use the television, sound system and thermostat. Yes, it
was a little embarrassing to have to contact a technician in order to
adjust the household humidity.
Now, when I buy a new computer or software program, I educate myself. In
today’s high-tech world, almost everyone needs some sort of help or
self-education to understand these incredible new products. I believe
the days of just selling a product like a television without tech
service and ongoing education are numbered. People are making careers
out of servicing high-tech equipment and educating the users.
The world is certainly more complex, but the benefits are well worth the
time to learn how to operate a television, furnace or, for that matter,
any other household item.
It’s easy to overlook how fast technology is changing our personal
lives. I noticed how it improved things at the office and in the
financial world. But my recent move really made me aware how much it has
changed our day-to-day living at home. We’ve come a long way from
milkman delivery and newspapers on the porch.
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