Showing my ignorance: 1982 - 2002 vs 2002 - 2022

[cometazzi]

Maybe it's me, but I feel like less has changed in the last 20 years, than the previous 20. Yet, I can't quite put my finger on what is different or the same.

I guess this is what happens when you get old?

 

[Boreas]

Maybe it's me, but I feel like less has changed in the last 20 years, than the previous 20. Yet, I can't quite put my finger on what is different or the same.

I guess this is what happens when you get old?

When you get old, you will know it.

 

[kbold]

Not to forget 1962 - 1982.

1962 - 1982: the rise of rock&roll, man goes to the moon, a TV in every household.
1982 - 2002: the rise of genetic engineering, a personal computer in every household, the internet.
2002 - 2022: 9/11, a cell phone in every pocket.

The rise of the personal computer and the internet were certainly a biggie.

 

[swervinbob]

I don’t know. Since 2002 (well 2004) the Red Sox, White Sox, and Cubs have all won the World Series. These are things that were not supposed to happen. No wonder the world is trying to come to an end.

 

[Chester P Squier]

I recently had a related thought when I replaced my outdoor TV antenna we use as a backup to the Dish system and to pickup the channel Dish doesn't presently carry.

We had had the antenna up on its 20-foot pole since 1997. It had rusted out and the matching transformer broke. We pulled down the pole, examined the antenna, and determined it's time for a new antenna.

At first, I thought it should have lasted longer. Then I realized it had been up there longer than I had lived in the town I grew up in. 1997 to 2022 is longer than 1951-1970.

We bought an antenna with two figure-8 patterns and attached it to the fascia board on the side of the house, my wife and I working together.

The antenna works very well.

All the time, I had the same thoughts as in the OP.

 

[brookdalebill]

It all changes so fast my old head spins.
Guess I’ll stick it (my head) in the sand.
That probably won’t work, either.
Doh!

 

[loopfinding]

i'm not old and the last 20 years aside from social media and IoT have been pretty stagnant/constricted.

what's different is 9/11, the crash, insane amounts of wealth inequality and debt, and now the pandemic, which have had lasting detrimental impacts on everything. it's not very different than the doldrums of the pre-war era.

contrast that with the prosperity and exuberance of the 80s and 90s. a lot of that was artificial/borrowed time, and the consequences have been felt in this century, but the backdrop was entirely different than now.

 

[bgmacaw]

 

[Telekarster]

About the only thing that we have had in the last 20 years has been cell phones and internet. Not that these things didn't exist prior, but it was the last 20 years where both of these things took off to gang busters. Of the 2, the smart phone was the biggest thing that sort of changed it all... and not necessarily for the better IMO.

 

[adjason]

I agree-I mean look at 1965-1985 - I think there were big changes, then look at 2000-2020 I would say not as much- BUT I am getting older too

 

[imwjl]

A lot has changed with our (Homo sapiens) capabilities in the past 20 years. Friends in science and engineering repeat how their work is like going down the same dark hallway with they can see going from a dim candle to now lit by bright lights.

I could barely contain my smiles Friday night when one of my twins in high school was illustrating and trying to explain to his grandmother circuits, logic and gates and his brother what he just did with DNA in class. The boys in high school know what used to start after your college prerequisites were done.

Tuning into my kids and young people I supervise shows me the breadth or depth of all the goodness beyond just seeing change and progress with products and services we can buy.

 

[Oxidao]

You got me on this.

But the world probably still moves fast and we really don't care.
We, is what haven't moved that much lately, and I am happy this way so far.

 

[Novatuc]

The mainstream use and NEED for the internet and social media are among the best and worst things that have happened in the last 20 years

 

[Oxidao]

what's different is 9/11, the crash, insane amounts of wealth inequality and debt, and now the pandemic, which have had lasting detrimental impacts on everything. it's not very different than the doldrums of the pre-war era.

In perspective, I don't think we are that bad yet.
At least comparing with just the century before. The Dustbowl, The Crack, WW1, or the MISNAMED Spanish Flu.

If you go farther, there were many wars.

Levels of material wellbeing this days are bigger than ever.
Partly because of the 'welfare state'.

 

[arlum]

Before 2002 our privacy was extremely important. Most folks didn't want big brother or the government or any one else to know any more about our personal life than the law required. Even those required things were given up begrudgingly.

After 2002 the majority of folks, by choice, started giving up vitually everything about themselves, their family and their friends through their participation in multiple social media platforms. Willingly! "Hey Frank. Did I tell you about the time I managed to .... ....... ........ .... right under the nose of Johnny Joe Law?" "Billie. Is it possible you're the same Billie I bumped into at the nudist colony behind the day care center where we used to get high and body paint each other while trading tips on tax evasion?"

 

[Recce]

The one I read is it’s hard to believe the same amount of time eclipsed from 1919 to 1970 as 1970 to 2021.
OMG that is wild.

As is correct now. Thanks to Middy for the assist.

 

[StrangerNY]

Consolidation of terrestrial broadcast outlets/introduction of satellite media
The 24 hour news cycle
Internet/social media

All have changed things in both small and large ways. Our habits of consuming media have changed a lot, which in turn has radically changed the ways they're served up to us.

Some days I think there's too much information available.

- D

 

[loopfinding]

In perspective, I don't think we are that bad yet.
At least comparing with just the century before. The Dustbowl, The Crack, WW1, or the MISNAMED Spanish Flu.

If you go farther, there were many wars.

Levels of material wellbeing this days are bigger than ever.
Partly because of the 'welfare state'.

oh no i mean, in terms of the stagnating effects that those have on society generally. it's certainly not as bad now as it was in the pre-war era (though it has the ability to erode further), but the pace/material conditions of like 1945-2000 are over. having to constantly put out global socioeconomic fires puts a damper on everything, and unfortunately there are only more severe ones coming our way.

 

[SRHmusic]

A lot of the advances are in less noticeable places than before, much of it in semiconductors and computing, but also materials and improvements in mechanical engineering taking advantage of available computing power. Some of the more significant are from a combination of several things (mash ups). For since 2002, how about:
- Digital photography (CMOS image sensors and digital signal processing)
- 3D printing (affordable 3D CAD software, microcontrollers, stepper motors, materials amenable to printing - even metal)
- Maps and navigation (cellular networks, GPS satellites and small receivers, big databases and algorithms)
- Wind and solar energy technologies (materials, electronic controls and efficient power electronics)
- Hybrid and electric vehicles (lithium ion battery and materials technologies, control electronics)
- DNA sequencing has come a long way in speed and availability since 2002, as well.

 

[Dan German]

It all changes to fast my old head spins.
Guess I’ll stick it (my head) in the sand.
That probably won’t work, either.
Doh!

They don’t make sand like they used to.

Not that it’s relevant to the OP’s point, but for perspective, when I was born, someone my current age would have been born in 1899.