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You're underestimating what a difference of degree we're talking here. For a quick refresher of what 'cutting edge' technology was like in 1995, go back and re

You're underestimating what a difference of degree we're talking here. For a quick refresher of what 'cutting edge' technology was like in 1995, go back and rewatch Hackers. See those guys phreaking payphones (remember payphones?), gushing over 28.8k modems, and rocking Mac powerbook 150cs, which feature such awesome tech as a 600x400 pixel color LCD screen, and a trackball, and where major plot points hinge around floppy discs. Any computer which is sitting on a desk boasts a maybe 15 or 17 inch CRT monitor on top. There are fax machines. 20 years later, I'm surrounded by devices which have thin, black, glassy screens, each with megapixels of display resolution. Many of them respond to touch input. Half of them have tiny cameras mounted nearby which can capture high definition video. With wireless networking I don't have to wait for someone to get off the phone before I can dial a modem - I'm already connected to the internet (and the GPS network) and bandwidth is so plentiful I can enjoy high definition video phonecalls with people on another continent, essentially free. Send back a 70 inch 4K TV, an iPhone, a photo of the Shanghai skyline, and a gay couple's marriage certificate, and I think you'll handily surprise someone from 1995.

vacri 10y ago
'95 back to '75: - no mobile phones - no personal computers (and punchcards and 'computer time' were still a thing) - internet didn't exist at all, apart from a handful of people - civil rights for minorities and women still in it's infancy (much more difference 75-95 than 95-15) - cold war at it's height, no 'pax americana redux' - blue collar work was still very common, and poorly paid as a result - the 90s was when the trades started to make serious money - fitness craze of the late 70s + 80s not in view yet; smoking wasn't seen as unhealthy - portable music players didn't exist - international travel eased considerably (though maybe as much again to 2015?) - 24 hour trading came in in the '80s and early '90s. In the 70s, if you hadn't done your shopping by Sunday, you would go hungry... - exotic food amongst anglos was 'stroganoff', 'stroganoff', and 'stroganoff' - the food revolution kicked off in the '90s :) The thin glassy touchscreens we have now are seen in scifi at least as far back as the '60s; they're not all that suprising, I wouldn't think. China's industrialisation might not be so surprising either, given the amazing things Japan managed to do in the relatively short time after the Meiji Restoration - in only 50 years they were sitting at the big players' table in naval treaties limiting size of fleets, for example.

vacri 10y ago

'95 back to '75: - no mobile phones - no personal computers (and punchcards and 'computer time' were still a thing) - internet didn't exist at all, apart from a handful of people - civil rights for minorities and women still in it's infancy (much more difference 75-95 than 95-15) - cold war at it's height, no 'pax americana redux' - blue collar work was still very common, and poorly paid as a result - the 90s was when the trades started to make serious money - fitness craze of the late 70s + 80s not in view yet; smoking wasn't seen as unhealthy - portable music players didn't exist - international travel eased considerably (though maybe as much again to 2015?) - 24 hour trading came in in the '80s and early '90s. In the 70s, if you hadn't done your shopping by Sunday, you would go hungry... - exotic food amongst anglos was 'stroganoff', 'stroganoff', and 'stroganoff' - the food revolution kicked off in the '90s :) The thin glassy touchscreens we have now are seen in scifi at least as far back as the '60s; they're not all that suprising, I wouldn't think. China's industrialisation might not be so surprising either, given the amazing things Japan managed to do in the relatively short time after the Meiji Restoration - in only 50 years they were sitting at the big players' table in naval treaties limiting size of fleets, for example.