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IMHO iPhone (or smartphones) are under valued. Yes, they do not give you more (like antibiotics give more life or nuclear more energy) but they absolutely help

IMHO iPhone (or smartphones) are under valued. Yes, they do not give you more (like antibiotics give more life or nuclear more energy) but they absolutely help you to lose less time (e.g. navigation that helps you to avoid traffic jams and get lost in unknown place). That replicated in billions of people changes the world’s pace drastically.

libraryofbabel 6y ago
To be clear, I’m not saying the iPhone isn’t useful or valuable. It just simply does not compare to the key technologies of the 20th century in terms of transforming the basic parameters of human life on earth. My favorite example is the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen and producing synthetic fertilizer (invented 1910). Surely a far more “undervalued” technology than the iPhone! It enabled us to scale up global food production to feed at least an extra 3.5 billion people who otherwise would never have been born, or would have starved.[1] Antibiotics are another great example. Several hundred million lives saved. With respect, I think this is in a different league from saving some people a little time waiting in traffic. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-people-does-synthetic-fertilizer-feed https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-people-does-synthetic-fe...
- TMWNN 6y ago
  >My favorite example is the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen and producing synthetic fertilizer (invented 1910). Surely a far more “undervalued” technology than the iPhone! It enabled us to scale up global food production to feed at least an extra 3.5 billion people who otherwise would never have been born, or would have starved. It also kept Germany going in WW1 far longer than otherwise, by compensating for blockades on saltpeter for explosives.
  - libraryofbabel 6y ago
    Oh sure. Technology is neither good, nor bad, nor is it neutral.
- andi999 6y ago
  Lets also add vaccines to that. I also wish there were a process like Haber Bosch for phosporic fertilizer (of course it cant, since phospor is not in any quantity in the athmosphere)
- th-ai 6y ago
  Haber-Bosch may be disrupting billions year old nitrogen cycle, which would qualify as 'hinge' for earth history. https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-04-29/nitrogen-crisis-a-neglected-threat-to-earths-life-support-systems/ https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-04-29/nitrogen-crisi...
- retromario 6y ago
  My 99 year old grandma says that the greatest invention in her lifetime was the washing machine, freeing up an incredible number of labor and hours wasted every week in every household (and usually by women) for more productive tasks.
- bserge 6y ago
  Different kind of improvement. A smartphone (not the bloody iPhone) has fundamentally changed everyone's life directly. For the vast majority of people, food production is something that just "happens" out there. They don't grow anything, they just get it from a store. I've seen people on the Internet who can't afford a simple boiler or an indoors toilet (but they have a phone/computer)... and that's sad, but also amazing.
  - libraryofbabel 6y ago
    I agree, they are different kinds of impact. That’s why I like to emphasize the Haber-Bosch process, because it is largely invisible. Mostly people have never heard of it. Because the impact is different it’s very hard to compare. One interesting thought experiment that can help is to imagine the technology disappearing and think about what the consequences would be. Thinking that through for smartphones and the Haber-Bosch process is left as an exercise for the reader.

libraryofbabel 6y ago

To be clear, I’m not saying the iPhone isn’t useful or valuable. It just simply does not compare to the key technologies of the 20th century in terms of transforming the basic parameters of human life on earth. My favorite example is the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen and producing synthetic fertilizer (invented 1910). Surely a far more “undervalued” technology than the iPhone! It enabled us to scale up global food production to feed at least an extra 3.5 billion people who otherwise would never have been born, or would have starved.[1] Antibiotics are another great example. Several hundred million lives saved. With respect, I think this is in a different league from saving some people a little time waiting in traffic. [1] https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-people-does-synthetic-fertilizer-feed https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-people-does-synthetic-fe...

TMWNN 6y ago
>My favorite example is the Haber-Bosch process for fixing nitrogen and producing synthetic fertilizer (invented 1910). Surely a far more “undervalued” technology than the iPhone! It enabled us to scale up global food production to feed at least an extra 3.5 billion people who otherwise would never have been born, or would have starved. It also kept Germany going in WW1 far longer than otherwise, by compensating for blockades on saltpeter for explosives.
- libraryofbabel 6y ago
  Oh sure. Technology is neither good, nor bad, nor is it neutral.
andi999 6y ago
Lets also add vaccines to that. I also wish there were a process like Haber Bosch for phosporic fertilizer (of course it cant, since phospor is not in any quantity in the athmosphere)
th-ai 6y ago
Haber-Bosch may be disrupting billions year old nitrogen cycle, which would qualify as 'hinge' for earth history. https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-04-29/nitrogen-crisis-a-neglected-threat-to-earths-life-support-systems/ https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-04-29/nitrogen-crisi...
retromario 6y ago
My 99 year old grandma says that the greatest invention in her lifetime was the washing machine, freeing up an incredible number of labor and hours wasted every week in every household (and usually by women) for more productive tasks.
bserge 6y ago
Different kind of improvement. A smartphone (not the bloody iPhone) has fundamentally changed everyone's life directly. For the vast majority of people, food production is something that just "happens" out there. They don't grow anything, they just get it from a store. I've seen people on the Internet who can't afford a simple boiler or an indoors toilet (but they have a phone/computer)... and that's sad, but also amazing.
- libraryofbabel 6y ago
  I agree, they are different kinds of impact. That’s why I like to emphasize the Haber-Bosch process, because it is largely invisible. Mostly people have never heard of it. Because the impact is different it’s very hard to compare. One interesting thought experiment that can help is to imagine the technology disappearing and think about what the consequences would be. Thinking that through for smartphones and the Haber-Bosch process is left as an exercise for the reader.