5 ms·

You're also downplaying the creation of a global communications infrastructure that is nearly ubiquitous and unprecedented in its capacity. Other than that, no

• Houshalter 13y ago
  But how much did the internet actually improve people's lives or change things? The major changes of our time are nowhere near as major as the ones of the last two centuries. Industrialization and mass production and trains and electricity, and massive population growth, and crazy amounts of scientific progress. Almost all of the major improvements happened early on in the century, not so much in recent times. All the low hanging fruit has been picked. There is never again going to be a single technology that improves people's lives as much as mass adoption of electricity did (short of a singularity at least.) More efficient or even self driving cars compared to today's cars, will be nothing compared to what cars were for horses and trains. No single medical technology is going to have as big of an impact as antibiotics did. Cell phones are not nearly as big of an improvement as the first phones were. Did the world really change and improve as much between 1970 and now as it did between 1930 and 1970? Did it change as much then as between 1890 and 1930?
  • some_guy_there 13y ago
    Mass use of shipping container in 1970s alone has changed more lives than all those inventions from 1930 to 1970 combined.
    • sytelus 13y ago
      Seriously? The way I see it, containers made transport of goods more efficient. Without containers, it was still possible to have all the goods, may be at higher prices, but possible.
      • gwern 13y ago
        > may be at higher prices, but possible. Because lower prices don't affect anyone's lives?