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We live in a time where technology has become so ubiquitous we take
it for granted. When I was in Grade School and had to research about
science, I had to go through volumes of encyclopedias stashed away
in the attic. Today with the advent of the Internet, kids just get
on Wikipedia and everything is served to them on the screen. So this
got me thinking about the simple inventions that changed our world
that we might have forgotten to appreciate.
The stethoscope
Before the stethoscope, doctors were always
accused of being perverts. Imagine how many times this scenario has
happened: doctor takes patient’s bra off and puts his ears to her
chest to listen to her breathing and patient slaps doctor’s face.
Thanks to the stethoscope, there are less sexual harassment
lawsuits.
The camera
The proverb goes, “A picture is worth a
thousand words.” Now imagine if the camera was never invented.
Every time we’d have family reunions and pose for a photo, a
writer has to come in with pen and paper and say, “OK, hold that
smile … the whole family is standing in the southeast corner of
the garden with the afternoon sun providing soft light while the
grandfather smiles on the top left corner right next to the
grandmother who’s wearing a blue dress with polka dots …”
Coffee table books would take days to browse through.
The toothbrush
Before the toothbrush was invented, couples
hardly kissed and people wouldn’t have conversations longer than
five minutes. Although chewing gum sales dwindled after its
creation, the toothbrush is something we should all be thankful for.
Black Ink
If black ink was never dreamt up, we would be
using different colors for our documents. I mean, can you deposit a
check written out to you in pink? It would be too cute. And if
someone sent you a death threat written in colorful crayons, you
wouldn’t exactly piss in your pants from fear. You’d probably
just hang the note on your fridge right next to the pink check.
So the next time you use that simple innovation
to do a task, be thankful for having it because back in the old
days, we didn’t.
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