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The Most Disruptive Technology of the Last 100 Years Isn't What You Think
HughPickens.com writes: Ana Swanson writes in the Washington Post that when people talk about "disruptive technologies," they're usually thinking of the latest thing out of Silicon Valley but some of the most historically disruptive technologies aren't exactly what you would expect and arguably, the most disruptive technologiy of the last century is the refrigerator. In the 1920s, only about a third of households reported having a washer or a vacuum, and refrigerators were even rarer. But just 20 years later, refrigerator ownership was common, with more than two-thirds of Americans owning an icebox. According to Helen Veit, the surge in refrigerator ownership totally changed the way that Americans cooked. "Before reliable refrigeration, cooking and food preservation were barely distinguishable tasks" and techniques like pickling, smoking and canning were common in nearly every American kitchen. With the arrival of the icebox and then the electric refrigerator, foods could now be kept and consumed in the same form for days. Americans no longer had to make and consume great quantities of cheese, whiskey and hard cider — some of the only ways to keep foods edible through the winter. "A whole arsenal of home preservation techniques, from cheese-making to meat-smoking to egg-pickling to ketchup-making, receded from daily use within a single generation," writes Veit.
Technologies like the smartphone, the computer and the Internet have, of course, dramatically changed the ways we live and work but consider the spread of electricity, running water, the flush toilet developed and popularized by Thomas Crapper and central heating and the changes these have wrought. "These technologies were so disruptive because they massively reduced the time spent on housework," concludes Swanson. "The number of hours that people spent per week preparing meals, doing laundry and cleaning fell from 58 in 1900 to only 18 hours in 1970, and it has declined further since then."
Technologies like the smartphone, the computer and the Internet have, of course, dramatically changed the ways we live and work but consider the spread of electricity, running water, the flush toilet developed and popularized by Thomas Crapper and central heating and the changes these have wrought. "These technologies were so disruptive because they massively reduced the time spent on housework," concludes Swanson. "The number of hours that people spent per week preparing meals, doing laundry and cleaning fell from 58 in 1900 to only 18 hours in 1970, and it has declined further since then."
The Most Disruptive Technology of the Last 100 Years Isn't What You Think
Don't tell me what I think. You don't know what I think.
You don't want to know what I think.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
...and continue to consume great quantities of cheese, whiskey and hard cider.
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Sorry, I'm only a 1336 h4x0r.
You can just live in a bubble, and avoid anything dangerous. Oh wait, we found that we need a good supply of microorganisms to keep our body healthy, so living in a bubble is bad for our health too.
Our body can deal with with many of these "Bad" things when at the correct level. And with the amounts ideal, you are probably overall healthier than without them.
We americans trend towards excess, and will even go with excess of absence. Our body is designed to process many of these things, and without ingesting these harmful things, those part of our bodies atrophy and weaken our ability to protect against it. But that doesn't mean go hog while and base your diet strictly on foods with harmful elements. Just take things in moderation. A Balanced Diet, not an extreme one.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
The contraceptive pill.
It's saved trillions of dollars, saved trillions of hours of work, reduced poverty, childhood deaths, and the threat of countries being invaded for their land.
The AK-47. Bringing armed revolution to the masses!
I had a dream, bright and carefree, but now there's doubt and gravity
Canning = Preservatives
Say what? No preservatives in anything I've canned.
Step 1: Buy pork
Step 2: Cut pork into smaller pieces
Step 3: Pack pork in canning jar
Step 4: Put lid on
Step 5: Process through pressure canner (~1.5 hours)
Step 6: Put on shelf for up to 5-10 years
Step 7: Serve and enjoy!
Pressure canning is one of the easiest things I've ever done.
The most disruptive tech of the last 100 years was the washing machine. Because it gave women some actual time to DO something during the day. Before the washing machine, women washed clothes all day. It was the most laborious thing they did, and it was a constant process. Yes, refrigeration REALLY changed a lot of things, but it didn't make life drastically more worth living for half the population. Washing machines. No question at all. Without them, women didn't need the vote, because they didn't have time to read, or work on getting educated. We're talking about half the population becoming part of the population, as opposed to beasts of burden.