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> There are tons of things that are much better in today's life when compared to a generation ago. Ok, so we've got smartphones and social media now. Sure you

> There are tons of things that are much better in today's life when compared to a generation ago. Ok, so we've got smartphones and social media now. Sure you can get a lot of info and navigation help with your phone. I'm not sure we're better off with the social media, though. And the big downside now is that housing has become unaffordable. I'm an early X'er and I think we had it a lot better - I graduated with $8K in student loans (paid off in 4 years), bought our first house at 27 ( 20% down with a 15 year mortgage) and paid it off in 9 years. That's a lot harder to do now. Bought a 2nd house (rented out the first) in 2010 when houses were on sale (paid $186K, now worth ~$450K) and paid it off a couple years ago - kind of feel like I've been at the right place & right time, but people 20 to 30 years younger have hit the wrong place at the wrong time.

kleiba 3y ago
Are you joking, or is smartphones and social media really the only thing you think has improved for the current generation?
- UncleOxidant 3y ago
  When I was a kid we had vinyl records. And then there were cassette tapes. And then there were CDs. And then there was streaming. And now we're back to vinyl (and cassettes, too, apparently). Sure, there have been medical advances, but often times it's the insurance companies that limit their use because they won't pay. Cars: generally better. They generally last longer than they did in the 70s and get better mileage, but some of that is negated by them being much larger than they were 30 years ago - ie we could have even more efficient vehicles if they were sized like they were in the 90s. Also, I think peak reliability was probably in the 90s, especially Japanese cars from that era (I still drive a late 90s Honda - it's very simple compared to more recent models which means it's cheap to fix and there's less to go wrong). We do have a better selection of tastier apples now, so there's that. And no, I don't think social media has improved anything.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    Social media is the Red Delicious of the internet.
deleted 3y ago
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kleiba 3y ago

Are you joking, or is smartphones and social media really the only thing you think has improved for the current generation?

UncleOxidant 3y ago
When I was a kid we had vinyl records. And then there were cassette tapes. And then there were CDs. And then there was streaming. And now we're back to vinyl (and cassettes, too, apparently). Sure, there have been medical advances, but often times it's the insurance companies that limit their use because they won't pay. Cars: generally better. They generally last longer than they did in the 70s and get better mileage, but some of that is negated by them being much larger than they were 30 years ago - ie we could have even more efficient vehicles if they were sized like they were in the 90s. Also, I think peak reliability was probably in the 90s, especially Japanese cars from that era (I still drive a late 90s Honda - it's very simple compared to more recent models which means it's cheap to fix and there's less to go wrong). We do have a better selection of tastier apples now, so there's that. And no, I don't think social media has improved anything.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Social media is the Red Delicious of the internet.

deleted 3y ago

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