senior chef
Senior Member
For the vast amount of time mankind has been on this earth, there was little or no change in his life.
Thinking of ancient times, a man might have a plot of land. He worked that land, raised crops and usually a family. He was doing exactly what his father had done before him, and his sons did exactly the same, without even a tiny bit of change.
His wife bore children, sometimes dying in the process. If the birth was a strong healthy one, she nursed those babies, ground the grain by hand to make bread and lived her life in exactly the same way her fore-mothers had done for eons.
Every once in a blue moon there might be some very minor change, but essentially, nothing changed from generation to generation.
Not so today. The rate of change is so rapid that it is difficult for us to keep pace. When we go to buy a product, especially electronic products, almost by the time we learn to use it, it has become obsolete.
Example: not too many years ago, we saved our money and bought a stereo. Quite straight forward, and easy to set up. Not so today. Now, if we need to replace any item on that stereo, we must also change the rest of the system in order to accommodate ever fancier electronics. I found this out the hard way when I bought a more powerful amp. I soon discovered that the new amp required "banana tip" speaker cables. At extra cost, I had to buy two sets of those very expensive special cables. Then I discovered that my old speakers could not accept the new style "banana tip" cables. So, I had to buy new and different speakers.
On and on it goes. Twenty years ago we bought our Tv's. The things were heavy but they worked perfectly. The picture was just fine. The Tv's had great volume control. Then, along came flat screen Tv's. Great picture but piss poor volume. So, what then ? We had to buy a sound bar so we could hear the darn thing.
When I was a young man, I had a decent job and I could afford to take care of my family. No problem, what-so-ever paying the rent/mortgage, weekly groceries etc, etc. Life was good. I worked full-time and my wife took care of our house and children. Not so today. It takes BOTH husband and wife years and years to save enough money to afford even the smallest home. And, any thought of having children must take a backseat to thoughts of the outrageous costs of living.
OMG, the pace of change is so rapid that I'm surprised that anyone can keep their sanity.
Thinking of ancient times, a man might have a plot of land. He worked that land, raised crops and usually a family. He was doing exactly what his father had done before him, and his sons did exactly the same, without even a tiny bit of change.
His wife bore children, sometimes dying in the process. If the birth was a strong healthy one, she nursed those babies, ground the grain by hand to make bread and lived her life in exactly the same way her fore-mothers had done for eons.
Every once in a blue moon there might be some very minor change, but essentially, nothing changed from generation to generation.
Not so today. The rate of change is so rapid that it is difficult for us to keep pace. When we go to buy a product, especially electronic products, almost by the time we learn to use it, it has become obsolete.
Example: not too many years ago, we saved our money and bought a stereo. Quite straight forward, and easy to set up. Not so today. Now, if we need to replace any item on that stereo, we must also change the rest of the system in order to accommodate ever fancier electronics. I found this out the hard way when I bought a more powerful amp. I soon discovered that the new amp required "banana tip" speaker cables. At extra cost, I had to buy two sets of those very expensive special cables. Then I discovered that my old speakers could not accept the new style "banana tip" cables. So, I had to buy new and different speakers.
On and on it goes. Twenty years ago we bought our Tv's. The things were heavy but they worked perfectly. The picture was just fine. The Tv's had great volume control. Then, along came flat screen Tv's. Great picture but piss poor volume. So, what then ? We had to buy a sound bar so we could hear the darn thing.
When I was a young man, I had a decent job and I could afford to take care of my family. No problem, what-so-ever paying the rent/mortgage, weekly groceries etc, etc. Life was good. I worked full-time and my wife took care of our house and children. Not so today. It takes BOTH husband and wife years and years to save enough money to afford even the smallest home. And, any thought of having children must take a backseat to thoughts of the outrageous costs of living.
OMG, the pace of change is so rapid that I'm surprised that anyone can keep their sanity.
