How did we ever live without?

Obviously the internet, otherwise we wouldn't be here, but what I'm talking about are things that have changed over the years and you wondered how you ever managed! For me it's this little list, and I'm sure I'll remember a few others. In no particular order

1. Automatic kettle - Our first kettle was at least electric but you'd have to actually watch, or listen out for it boiling then literally pull the plug out, our wall sockets didn't have switches on them in those days

2. TV remote control - Ok there was only 3 channels, so channel hopping wasn't really an issue but even so it still would have been handy!

3.Cordless telephone - Our telephone was fixed in the hallway, so a private conversation was not an option unless of course everybody else was out

4. Being able to fast forward and pause live tv - who would have thought? If somebody rang in the middle of corrie, you'd had it! There wasn't even an omnibus edition in those days and with the phone being in the hallway, you couldn't even talk and watch at the same time!

5. Digital photography - Although I've added this, there was something quite exciting about waiting to have your photographs developed. I did have a chunky great polaroid that took instant snaps but I think the replacement films cost more than the camera

6. Gonna have to put in the old tinternet and this is because of emails. I know there's still nothing like receiving a hand written letter from a friend or relative, but for other matters it's great not having to wait for "snail mail" - To be fair though the service was a lot better in those days. First post 7am, 2nd post 11am - These days there's only one and you're lucky if you get it before 2pm!

7. It's got its faults - but satnav. Gone are the days of sitting in the passenger seat with a huge AA book of the road and having screaming arguments with the driver 'cause you've read the map wrong or vice versa cause they misheard you!

For me it was CDs.

I had loads of records and was always trying to get perfect hi-fi, but vinyl records always developed clicks, pops, scratches, static, and sometimes "wow" (speed variations) however hard you tried to look after them. And they didn't have enough dynamic range (difference between very quiet sounds and loud sounds) or frequency response (able to reproduce sounds from low bass notes to the highest picalo notes and above. And you had to keep paying out lots of money for replacement diamond styli (EEK would not do!) when they wore out, otherwise you would damage the records beyond repair.

Then CDs came out.

They were designed, right from the start, to be better than human hearing in both frequency response and dynamic range, and wow was impossible. And they were almost indestructible compared with vinyl records, as well as taking up a fraction of the space.

My quest for hi-fi was ended (apart from getting better amplifiers and speakers lol).

And although not a new invention compared with most of the above examples, how could we live without vacuum cleaners, fridges, freezers and washing machines?

My first - washing machine. Previously I used a luxury spinspeed bath tub. The time saved by not faffing around wringing and rinsing...
My second - broadband. Having waited with diminishing patience for my old dial-up to connect me...
My third - flat screen tv. Quality picture and a bigger screen (so I can sit further away) than my old Sony Trinitron...
My fourth - has to be my Kindle e-reader. I never imagined how ingrained in my book-loving life this would be... Packing for holidays is soooo much less stressful these days!

I remember the days when only the poshest, most expensive suitcases had wheels! Now it's the norm. I don't know how we managed - I guess that's why it's called luggage..you had to Lug it!!!

I'm surprised that this excellent topic hasn't had more response.

I keep thinking of more items that I would hate to live without, the next is my MICROWAVE.

But I would also like a "REVERSE MICROWAVE" where you put in a drink at room temperature, and 30 seconds later it is ice cold.

Well come from a time when there were only 2 Channels BBC and ITV!

Another item I've come to rely on is my induction hob, it's so much cleaner and controllable than the gas hob, is very easy to clean, and it has a timer so I won't forget to turn my cooking off.

BTW I've just realised why this topic isn't getting the response I expected. It's because it is in the Drop, so many forumites won't see it.

Remote controls... first for telly, then increasingly for other things. No more having to get up and change the channel, increase/decrease the volume.

I don`t miss the days when you queued up in a supermarket with kids in tow and had to fiddle around with either cash or write a cheque or if crisis hit and you realised you didn`t have enough cash on you, chequebook was at home and you had to ask the assistant to take some of your shopping off the bill. God bless debit cards !
I also don`t miss queuing in banks during a lunch break to withdraw cash because holes in the wall machines hadn`t been invented.
I don`t miss writing out cheques for utility bills, sticking them in envelopes, buying stamps and having to post them.
I don`t miss all shops closing by 6pm and then realising you had no bread/milk/cat food or whatever.
I don`t miss the days when petrol stations sold nothing but petrol, oil and antifreeze.
I don`t miss the old fireplaces and coal fires which had to be raked out, reset with wood, paper and coal and would then take an hour before you got any heat from them.

stratobuddy said:

Another item I've come to rely on is my induction hob, it's so much cleaner and controllable than the gas hob, is very easy to clean, and it has a timer so I won't forget to turn my cooking off.

BTW I've just realised why this topic isn't getting the response I expected. It's because it is in the Drop, so many forumites won't see it.

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I have a small plug in single plate induction from Andrew James that I bought when I moved into a flat with no cooker and I didn't want to be rushed into buying a cooker. I still use it as it is excellent for cooking stir fries. Love how fast it heats up.

Also remember the pre - duvet days. Making the bed was a proper chore. I remember the first continental quilts as they used to be known as emerging in the late 70's and becoming the absolute norm by the early part of the 80's. I remember digging down into a tightly made bed, a lovely feeling getting between those cold sheets, however after a couple of turns the whole lot was all over the place on the floor, down the side of the bed, wrapped around your legs and ankles...Yes thank God for duvets!!!

I miss seeing new Mums pushing coach built usually Silver Cross prams. When I had my first baby over 40 years ago it was an exciting day going to the pram showroom and choosing your Rolls Royce of prams. Of course it wasn`t allowed in the house until the baby had safely arrived ( it was considered bad luck ) and for months beforehand you`d be collecting beautiful pram covers with matching pillow shams to show off your new baby and pram. Back then very few Mums had their own cars and you`d walk to the baby clinic and meet other new Mums and there`d be a plethora of bedecked Silver Cross prams outside the clinic doors. Having a dirty pram was frowned upon and women took great pride in washing them, polishing them and making sure they looked spick and span.
It was nothing unusual for such prams to be lent to other friends or relatives once your own baby outgrew it but you always claimed it back when your baby number 2 arrived.

merryone said:

Also remember the pre - duvet days. Making the bed was a proper chore. I remember the first continental quilts as they used to be known as emerging in the late 70's and becoming the absolute norm by the early part of the 80's. I remember digging down into a tightly made bed, a lovely feeling getting between those cold sheets, however after a couple of turns the whole lot was all over the place on the floor, down the side of the bed, wrapped around your legs and ankles...Yes thank God for duvets!!!

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Thanks for this post reminded me of how lovely.it was being tucked in bed as a child with sheets and blankets.

Love duvets. Hated, even as a child, that pinned in feeling from tucked-in sheets and blankets. Whenever I'm faced with that in hotels, my first chore is to unmake the bed.

Although I've now gone from being a chilly sleeper to a hot sleeper, my 11.5 tog duvet probably needs to go to charity. I find a 4.5 tog too hot at this time of year and just a sheet does me fine (not tucked in of course).

I tell you one modern innovation I definitely can live without ... those self-service checkout points!!! Invariably something goes wrong, and then you have to send out a search party for someone to assist you, and all the while some electronic voice is bleating redundant or useless advice to you :mysmilie_11::mysmilie_10::mysmilie_455::headbang:

maymorganlondon said:

I tell you one modern innovation I definitely can live without ... those self-service checkout points!!! Invariably something goes wrong, and then you have to send out a search party for someone to assist you, and all the while some electronic voice is bleating redundant or useless advice to you :mysmilie_11::mysmilie_10::mysmilie_455::headbang:

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My Tesco has self SCAN. So I go around the shop with a scanner, scan goods, and can then put them straight into my own bags. I can weigh items then print a bar code label and scan it, so I can get exactly the weight I want

I go through a special checkout area, it has never been busy so far. I just point my scanner at the checkout and pay.

I LOVE IT !!!!!

Self scan is OK till they need to do a rescan!

In my original post I mentioned the cordless landline phone - How could I forget the mobile phone. Now I'm not talking smart phone here (alhtough I have one, and as good as they are but as an essential, they're not) Just a phone you can make and receive calls on and send text messages. Long gone are the days of having to wait in for a phonecall, you couldn't even pop to the corner shop just in case you missed it, nor would you have been able to tell whether you had missed it 'cause the humble home phone was basic - If you could hear it ringing and you could get to it in time you'd answer it - end of - So even sitting out in the garden on a hot day was a no no - You needed to be in hearing and reaching distance of that phone!
So you're on your way to work, or you're meeting a friend in town and the bus hasn't come, what would you do in the past? Go back home and phone work? Try and find a phone box that's either working, or isn't occupied by someone else, and then try and find some change! All we need to do now is press the word "work" on your mobile screen, or your friend's name and say "sorry, the bus is late I'll be another half an hour -simples! calling a taxi late a night from anywhere you find yourself, specially if it's raining and the nearest taxi rank's a good walk away and likely to have a 20 minute queue!
As annoying as they can be, but hey they can be switched off, turned to silent and used only for emergengies - Where would we be with out mobile phones!?

On the subject of televisions, I remember having to wait at least 10 minutes for the thing to "warm up" and of course all the faults that don't seem to happen any more like the picture rolling, although a quick smack on the top of the cabinet usually put it right.
A lot of good stuff has happened in the world of vacuum cleaners too. We used to have a hideous upright hoover, it was either that or electrolux in those days, (electrolux was a cylinder cleaner I believe) both having big bags that you had to remember to buy, they were as noisy as a jet aircraft and you'd have to actually move heavy furniture to clean around and under it. How did we manage without cordless, bagless and quieter vacuum cleaners with all those useful attachments?

Sliced Bread.. All the above are the best thing since....