If the rate at which things have been invented was at its fastest during the 20th century, surely the pace picked up and reached a peak during the second half. Or - to split hairs - during the last 50 years. Just think of all the gizmos and gadgets that were, for a brief period of time, "must haves" for every home in the Western world. Where now are all the fizzy drink-making machines or the fondu sets which no self-respecting suburban housewife would have been without back in the mid-1960s? (Was it then that we all held fondu parties or was it later?) How many toasted-sandwich makers lie buried beneath plastic supermarket bags, quietly rotting in the bottom of a cupboard somewhere? And what has happened to all those woks? Yes, I know. The wok wasn't an invention of the 20th century - but it might just as well have been given how it was treated in much the same way as those in-then-out-of-fashion-just-as-quickly inventions.
(We still have both the sandwich-maker and the wok. The sandwich-maker is used occasionally as it doubles as a waffle-maker, but I scraped a decade of dust off the wok when I redecorated the kitchen - before putting it back on top of the cupboard to collect another decade's worth.)
Some of those inventions have, of course, become normal, everyday fixtures in our lives: the mobile phone and the TV remote control, for example. I can fully understand why the mobile phone plays an important part in modern life although I do think its importance (or necessity) frequently over-rated. The Old Bat and I have one between us but it is intended primarily for use in emergencies. Having said that, I don't think it has ever been used in an emergency: it's main use is for booking tables at restaurants while we are in France.
The TV remote control, however, is something for which I am very grateful. When my parents bought their first television there were just two channels to choose from. That had, I think, increased to three - or maybe four - by the time the OB and I were married and contemplating buying a set. Nowadays, given the plethora of channels we are able to enjoy - no, from which we can choose - the remote control is almost essential. That is especially so for us oldies as we are less agile than we once were and find it a struggle to get out of the chair and across the room just to switch from one pointless reality show to another. Staying with the television for a moment, I am grateful for a DVD recorder. The old video tape recorders were fine in their way, but it is a whole lot easier to record to a hard drive. The time delay option which we have on our recorder is useful at times. Last night, for instance, we were watching a show ‘live' (by which I mean it was not one we had recorded) when the phone rang and I was involved in a 10-minute conversation with a fellow Lion. On returning to the living room I was able to resume watching the show from where I had left off. I grant you that my life would hardly have been changed for the worse if I had missed those ten minutes, but it was nice not to have done.
But the gizmo that I consider the absolute acme of luxury is the snooze button on the radio-alarm clock. Having, for many years, had to jump out of bed as soon as the alarm sounded, the thought that I can press that little button and turn over for another nine minutes is bliss - as is pressing it again after the first nine minutes! The guy who invented that tiny gizmo should have been awarded the Nobel prize for something or other. I would certainly vote it the greatest thing since sliced bread (another 20th century invention I really dislike).
2 comments:
For me one of the joys of retirement is never having to use an alarm clock. I wake up when I wake up.
I daren't do that in case the dog leaves me a puddle in the kitchen!
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