Lists of Technological Progressions

Although people of my generation did not get to wittness the invention of the airplane, or the transition from horses to automobiles, we forget how many technological changes we have been witness to.

Below are a handful of lists -- in approximate chronological order -- that Gye Greene and I came up with last night. At which point along these timelines, dear reader, did you come in?


Car Audio
-No radio in car
-AM radio comes standard
-AM/FM radio comes standard
-(Was ''AM/FM with 8-track player'' ever standard?)
-AM/FM with cassette deck comes standard
-AM/FM w/ CD player coms standard

Home/Personal Audio Media
-Player pianos
-Cylinder phonographs
-78rpm records
-33rpm LPs
-Reel-to-reel tape players
-8-track decks
-Cassette tape players
-Walkman-style cassette players
-CD players
-Walkman-style CD players
-mp3 players

Automobile Restraint
-No seatbelts
-Optional after-market seatbelts
-Seatbelts standard with car
-Baby car seats
-Shoulder harnesses
-Toddler car seats
-Front airbags
-Side-impact airbags

Computer External Storage
-Punch cards
-Magnetic tape
-8”(?) floppies
-5” floppies
-Cassette drives
-3” double-density floppies
-3” high-density floppies
-Zip disks
-CD-R
-CD-RW
-USB flashdrives
-DVD-R
-DVD-RW
-Mini-hard drives

Home Lighting
-Incandescent bulbs
-Fluorescent lights
-''Energy-saving'' spiral fluorescent lights
-LED-cluster bulbs

Clothing Attachment
-Lace up with cord
-Frogs
-Hooks and eyes
-Buttons
-Zippers
-Snaps
-Velcro
-Future? -- electromagnetic pads? static-charge pads? gecko feet VanDerWal force pads?

Telephones
-Vertical, with separate earpiece on a cord
-Rotary dial
-Touch-tone pushbutton dial
-''Brick'' mobile phones
-Home answering machines
-Home voicemail
-Medium-sized mobile phones
-Medium-sized mobile phones with text messaging
-Teeny mobile phones
-Teeny mobile phones with mp3 players and digital cameras

Capturing Movies
-Big film (35mm?)
-8mm home movies
-Video cameras
-Digital video cameras
-Digital cameras and cell phones that capture video


Feel free to add your own suggestions. :)


--TG