Great Age of Innovation: Less thought of breakthru's since the 1940s

[CharlesB]

I was having this conversation with another innovation and gadget loving friend of mine over tea the other day and it seemed perfect for hte forum. We had been talking about the seemingly endless amounts of innovation that have occurred since the 1940s and had agreed about Computers, Internet, these sort of massively known bits that had changed life as we know it.

But what about those lesser known but possibly even more important innovations. When we started making a list I pointed out TEFLON. That silly little nonstick coating on our pans and skillets etc.

Think about it...that material not only revolutionized the kitchen but allowed us to build even more technology and machines and everything else because of the power of heat resistance and easy application. It revolutionized mass production of food services industry etc.

Do you guys have any thoughts on these little seen inventions that change our world since then?

 

[Twitch]

Yeah teflon is great stuff! Also all the adhesives that now exist are far more capable and varied in application. Things like carbon fiber material that is strionger than steel and lighter than aluminum are big. Kevlar material for anti-aballistics vests has now even more applications.

Those are a few that come to mind.....

 

[John in Covina]

Chemistry and Physics

I find it amazing how they continue to make new materials that can withstand stresses that would have been impossible to take just years ago. Ceramic metals in jets and the material brake pads and shoes are made of now are a scientist's dream.

Plastics are used for more and more things and the computer chip is getting included in all sorts of items.

Here are some marvels to me small but wonderful:
Intermitent windshield wipers - what a great idea
timers in items like thermostats for the house or coffee makers
gel pens -astonishing writing charactoristics
Aluminum cans & plastic bottles

One thing that is different is refrigerators as a kid to young man I recall moving a refrigerator was a big deal because they weigh a ton, it was like they were made from lead and cast iron exclusively. Today a modern refrigerator weighs so little it is as if it was made of helium instead of metal.

 

[imported_the_librarian]

gotta be Tang....velcro, the breakthrough's by NASA...then of course there's the little red laser thingie.....that's what reads all our barcodes at the grocery store!

 

[MrNewportCustom]

My father was born in 1933. He watched technology go from comic book to reality: From Dick Tracy's Two-way Wrist Radio in the '40s to digital watches with calculators in the '80s. This came somewhere in between. This is available today. (It says this video may not be suitable for all viewers, but except for a quick flash of cleavage (accidental?) at the very beginning there is nothing objectionable.)

In my lifetime, I've seen photos go from waiting a week to see the family snapshots to super sharp filmless pictures that you view on the back of the camera within moments. One meduim has all but replaced another, each with the same goal.

Microwave ovens, of course. We've gone fom cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal in just under a day to hot, buttered popcorn in two minutes. (I remember pouring kernels into a large pot, adding oil and then shaking the mixture over a medium flame for several minutes. You added the butter and salt later.)

I don't think breakthroughs have stopped or lessened - quite the opposite. I think they're coming so quickly that we hardly have time to ooh-and-ahh over one before the next one grabs our attention.

Just had to add this: Technology also brings us new forms of Pie-in-the-Face humor. lol


Lee