tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post1497853335512980931..comments2024-02-23T03:17:22.061-06:00Comments on Destination: Austin Family: Technology: Any "Early Adopters" In Your Family Tree?Thomas MacEnteehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09925130637060406529noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post-76617801501824166762007-11-20T17:52:00.000-06:002007-11-20T17:52:00.000-06:00This is cool. My grandpa, in the final couple of y...This is cool. My grandpa, in the final couple of years of his life (he was born in Dec 1900 and died in April 2001 and so lived through the entire 20th century), wrote a paper called "Twentieth Century Developments" wherein he offered up his observations about various and sundry inventions and changes he'd observed in this lifetime. <BR/><BR/>There's lots to do with transportation, beginning with railroad (his grandfather -- from the 1880s and uncles worked for the Denver and Rio Grande RR in Colorado). Then, in 1912, my grandpa's father bought a Model T -- and his description goes into the art of care-care before there was much in the way of documentation. <BR/><BR/>My grandfather worked as an engineer for the General Electric Co, (one of the high tech powerhouses of 1920s, akin to Google, et al., today). <BR/><BR/>He talks of the airplane and first jet engines (which he worked on in the WW2 push) and Gas Turbines and power generation, which he worked on from the late 30s until his retirement, and well after his retirement when he worked as a consultant. <BR/><BR/>Other topics: The single cylinder Corliss engine, a seemingly all-purpose boiler room type of motor, then later versions.<BR/><BR/>he wrote of plumbing, of the washing machine. and, of course, the refrigerator, which <A HREF="http://www.2020hindsight.org/2000/01/18/a-lake-george-diary-day-6-the-refrigerator-story/" REL="nofollow">I've blogged about back when</A> -- OMG, nearly 8 years ago!! Oh, and communications and computers, too. There's medical observations, too, ranging from the time before antibiotics to after -- "I can still remember, in grade school in March, the empty desk or two which would not be occuped the rest of the year, because the occupant was stricken by diptheria." [list of other common but deadly illnesses] "Now all of these have either been eliminatd or are well under control."<BR/><BR/>(oy! this is long-winded! I oughtta copy and past it and post it on my own site, too!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post-57371178178600998772007-11-20T10:36:00.000-06:002007-11-20T10:36:00.000-06:00No I'm not a marketing major - I went to college s...No I'm not a marketing major - I went to college so long ago I don't even think that had invented marketing yet. Well, I guess things have been marketed since The Serpent marketed the Apple, but they just didn't have a name for it.<BR/><BR/>I was an Art History and Spanish Language and Literature major. Right around the time of Cervantes as I remember. LOL!<BR/><BR/>I use the term quite a bit in the Information Technology field which I've been in for over 20 years. We also call them "cheerleaders" because they adopt the technology and then can talk it up among colleagues.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the kind comments!Thomas MacEnteehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09925130637060406529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post-42713211217982995772007-11-20T09:37:00.000-06:002007-11-20T09:37:00.000-06:00I still have a phonograph player that works, and t...I still have a phonograph player that works, and the records to go with them. Granted we don't use it much, and we have to hunt on ebay for replacement needles. But we also have iPods... <BR/><BR/>I enjoyed your article very much. Are you also a marketing major? (Just curious, because I am, and "Early Adopters" is an often use marketing term).<BR/><BR/>JaniceJanicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17476918537317701594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post-79607506737019040852007-11-16T11:33:00.000-06:002007-11-16T11:33:00.000-06:00I can recall how radio and tv ads were built aroun...I can recall how radio and tv ads <BR/>were built around the old phone <BR/>district name system.Even now at <BR/>59 I can recall the old commercial for a rug company in Boston whose <BR/>jingle made you remember their <BR/>number:<BR/><BR/> "How many cookies did Andrew eat?<BR/> <BR/> ANdrew 8-8000!"Bill Westhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01266937924453737084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post-21756457705208903902007-11-12T05:11:00.000-06:002007-11-12T05:11:00.000-06:00Thanks Apple.Now you can't be that much of a techn...Thanks Apple.<BR/><BR/>Now you can't be that much of a technophobe as a blogger using a computer right? Unless it is a Commodore 64 I guess.<BR/><BR/>It is an interesting topic and I discussed it with a few people this weekend - lots of them remembered certain things that I had forgotten: the first pop up toaster didn't appear until the 1950s; you had to mix a coloring tablet into the margarine to make it yellow.Thomas MacEnteehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09925130637060406529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077536894458666315.post-32680374367557244252007-11-11T17:04:00.000-06:002007-11-11T17:04:00.000-06:00I am a true technophobe. I tried ATM's in the 90's...I am a true technophobe. I tried ATM's in the 90's. The bank's machine swallowed my card and that was that. My kids have big screen TV's with lots of boxes and remote controls that I can not make work. My grandkids already have the old board games out when they know I'm coming to babysit. A high school student recently looked at my cell phone and called it an antique! <BR/><BR/>An interesting topic and one that I plan to tackle for my mother's life and then perhaps take back one generation at a time.Charley "Apple" Grabowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07193646109965731249noreply@blogger.com