If you went back in time, what gadget would you miss the most?

[TomKat]

I'm still amazed at my iRiver T30 mp3 player. I've had it for at least 15 years, use it every day. It's of Korean manufacture, nd it still works perfectly. It's tiny and fits in my front pocket. I download mp3s from youtube or elsewhere and I never go anywhere without it. I'd feel strange driving or walking around the store without something playing in my ear. I converted it from a Windows-only device to universal format so it works with any O/S. In this age of low quality crap, it keeps going no matter how often it's been dropped. Used, the 1GB version still goes for US$50 or so on ebay, and it was $100 new. So I guess I'm not the only fan.

If you were to go back in time to, say 1970, what gadget or piece of technology would you miss the most?

[Sue (Ayt)]

If you were to go back in time to, say 1970, what gadget or piece of technology would you miss the most?

Honestly TomKat, I can't think of anything I would really miss that much. Maybe communications on the internet, but I do believe I'd quickly fill the void there.

There are a whole lot of gadgets that I do miss from the '70's though. Like reel-to-reels, 8-tracks, cassettes even. I miss quality tools, and quality cooking implements, and quality food for that matter!
Also, I miss my 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger.

[palehorse]

I would miss my 12 years old ThinkPad laptop.

[Blastolabs]

I say would artificial light, being restricted to producing light via combustion would have many down sides, and force "night time" and living in a shelter to be a VERY different than it is now.

Edit: oops, I didn't see that you stated went back to 1970...

In that case I would miss affordable music equipment.

The music studio and synthesizers that I use every day in my small humble studio would cost hundreds of millions dollars in 1970.

While I have likely spent less than $1000 for all the equipment in the past few years.

The availability of infinite studio time does however have plusses and minuses.

I'm the 1970's when a band went into the studio someone was spending a LOT of money. This meant you HAD to get down to business.

Today this pressure does not really exist which I have personally noticed having bad effects as well as amazing effects on recording music.

[Mashika]

I'm still amazed at my iRiver T30 mp3 player. I've had it for at least 15 years, use it every day. It's of Korean manufacture, nd it still works perfectly. It's tiny and fits in my front pocket. I download mp3s from youtube or elsewhere and I never go anywhere without it. I'd feel strange driving or walking around the store without something playing in my ear. I converted it from a Windows-only device to universal format so it works with any O/S. In this age of low quality crap, it keeps going no matter how often it's been dropped. Used, the 1GB version still goes for US$50 or so on ebay, and it was $100 new. So I guess I'm not the only fan.

If you were to go back in time to, say 1970, what gadget or piece of technology would you miss the most?

My mac, at least one, i would not be able to do all my experiments with old computers from the 70s, it would drive me crazy thinking about this and that and not being able to try it :)

[DaveToo]

I'm still amazed at my iRiver T30 mp3 player. I've had it for at least 15 years, use it every day. It's of Korean manufacture, nd it still works perfectly. It's tiny and fits in my front pocket. I download mp3s from youtube or elsewhere and I never go anywhere without it. I'd feel strange driving or walking around the store without something playing in my ear. I converted it from a Windows-only device to universal format so it works with any O/S. In this age of low quality crap, it keeps going no matter how often it's been dropped. Used, the 1GB version still goes for US$50 or so on ebay, and it was $100 new. So I guess I'm not the only fan.

If you were to go back in time to, say 1970, what gadget or piece of technology would you miss the most?

For me this is a bit of a strange question.

It is because I assume you are thinking about going back in time to the 1970's, knocking off 40-50 years from your age.
Would you go back in time with a younger body but retain your brain knowledge and experience?
I guess you'd have to, otherwise how would you know about missing anything?

Or were you thinking about going back to the 1970's staying at the same age (with same body/brain) you have now?

[amor]

Absolutely, my old Car which will probably survive me. I do very little traveling; however, think of walking even a mile with heavy packages or possibly being injured and unable to walk very far. After that, comes the clothes washing machine, the refrigerator and stove. Ever tried cooking on twigs and starting a fire without matches? Also, don't take your bed and comfortable mattrice for granted, or even the cheapest fan when its 100 degrees at night. How about the Supermarket. Think of what it was like before that came into existence. If you are too young for that, visit a third world country.

[O Donna]

If you went back in time, what gadget would you miss the most?

Teleporting.

https://media.giphy.com/media/xkUwycVlum47Y0WuGN/giphy.gif

[I am B]

I say would artificial light, being restricted to producing light via combustion would have many down sides, and force "night time" and living in a shelter to be a VERY different than it is now.

Edit: oops, I didn't see that you stated went back to 1970...

In that case I would miss affordable music equipment.

The music studio and synthesizers that I use every day in my small humble studio would cost hundreds of millions dollars in 1970.

While I have likely spent less than $1000 for all the equipment in the past few years.

The availability of infinite studio time does however have plusses and minuses.

I'm the 1970's when a band went into the studio someone was spending a LOT of money. This meant you HAD to get down to business.

Today this pressure does not really exist which I have personally noticed having bad effects as well as amazing effects on recording music.

But how great would it be, we'd be forced back to...

THE ANALOG WARMTH

Hahaha, jk, I didn't expect to read my thoughts exactly in such a thread!

[Sunny-side-up]

because i use all my gadgets i would to some level or another miss them all (We get programmed in)

One I would probably like to have would be water purifier lol
and a windup torch with a good beam :)

Luxury wise it would be my global communication device, ie my connected computer.

[pyrangello]

My cordless battery operated drill!

[Bill Ryan]

Another interesting question might be this one, which needs a little careful thought. (Of course, nothing electronic or electrical would work, unless it was self-sustaining in some way.)
If you could go back in time 10,000 years, what gadget would you want to take with you?
My own short list might be:


A horse-drawn plough/plow.
A reflector telescope.
A powerful solar-rechargable flashlight/lantern.
A power crossbow: one of these (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2339/1083/products/98021_17_1024x.jpg), maybe the smartest option of all because it also has telescopic sights.

If a supply of something might be magically renewable, the list could be extended to include


Epoxy glue
Antibiotics and anesthetics.

I found the process of thinking about this really pretty interesting. How did we all manage to survive back then for so long? :)

[Jamie]

Any gadget that accessed the internet, as the 'world wide web' as we know it would no longer exist.

When I was at college or University, whenever I needed to know something I would have to go to the library and spend hours, if not days, finding the information I required.
Currently I could just 'google it' and have multiple versions of the information within a few minutes.

The internet can definitely be a curse on society in relation to social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and the control of information, but it's also a real blessing for access to sites such as Avalon, and information in general.
Nearly every single day I grab my smartphone from my pocket and do a search for something I can't quite remember, or say to myself "I recognize that actor! What films were they in?"

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Absolutely, my old Car which will probably survive me. I do very little traveling; however, think of walking even a mile with heavy packages or possibly being injured and unable to walk very far. After that, comes the clothes washing machine, the refrigerator and stove. Ever tried cooking on twigs and starting a fire without matches? Also, don't take your bed and comfortable mattrice for granted, or even the cheapest fan when its 100 degrees at night. How about the Supermarket. Think of what it was like before that came into existence. If you are too young for that, visit a third world country.

Well I can tell you my mother didn't cook our dinner on a campfire in the 70s. We had a oven, a grill, a washing machine and a fridge. We also had electric fans and supermarkets. There were also microwave ovens. Although a little different, a little less sophisticated, it wasn't that bad back then.

If I could go back 50 years, to be honest with you, as long as I had some income to keep ticking along, I think I'd be quite happy. I'd lack for nothing that I do not have right now. Except...

My computer. That is the only thing I'd miss, that and probably my car (70s cars didn't have power steering and air conditioning for a start). But computer = communications/internet/word-processing/music/video/games and countless other applications, all these in one package. That would be a huge loss.

[I am B]

Wow, 10.000 years are a lot of years. I feel its a bit less about technology/comodities and more about survival.

What are the things that could be good for humanity, good for you, and not create some kind of weird religion on the long run...

My choice would be:
Dynamo/solar lantern
Decent Knife/machete
Protection vest
Lighter or similar firemaking device, the longer it lasts the better
Antibiotics
A camera and a notebook (are we coming back?)
Some book? Medicine, basic engineering, or some science maybe. Definetly not social science though.

A boomstick would be neat if it wasn't for ammo availability. Just for the laughs

GULItNlBvJc

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

If you could go back in time 10,000 years, what gadget would you want to take with you?


Provided I could come back again, quite simply a hi-definition digital camera with the largest memory card I could find.

[TomKat]

Absolutely, my old Car which will probably survive me. I do very little traveling; however, think of walking even a mile with heavy packages or possibly being injured and unable to walk very far. After that, comes the clothes washing machine, the refrigerator and stove. Ever tried cooking on twigs and starting a fire without matches? Also, don't take your bed and comfortable mattrice for granted, or even the cheapest fan when its 100 degrees at night. How about the Supermarket. Think of what it was like before that came into existence. If you are too young for that, visit a third world country.


I don't know where you lilved, but we had all that in 1970 :-)

[Chris Gilbert]

Having grown up with electronics, it's easy enough to think of things like the Internet, my laptop or PS4 if going back to 1970.

Honestly though...if we were to go back much further, I would miss flushing toilets and air conditioning the most. The former gizmos could be detached from after an adjustment period, especially if you still have books or oral storytelling.

[Ratszinger]

If I ever go back in time it has to be in the air conditioned age that is all there is to it!

[Eva2]

[QUOTE=Bill Ryan;
[LIST]
Epoxy glue
Antibiotics and anesthetics.

If I was going back 150-200 plus years, anesthetics and pain relief/medication would be top of my list - an absolute must for doctor and dentist visits!

[Sunny-side-up]

I found the process of thinking about this really pretty interesting. How did we all manage to survive back then for so long?

Yeah I hear you Bill.

Could be we where a whole lot stronger/resilient back then.
Pluss we didn't know any different so we just made the best of it.

There is this point as well, we didn't :( "

[Karen (Geophyz)]

If you were to go back in time to, say 1970, what gadget or piece of technology would you miss the most?

Honestly TomKat, I can't think of anything I would really miss that much. Maybe communications on the internet, but I do believe I'd quickly fill the void there.

There are a whole lot of gadgets that I do miss from the '70's though. Like reel-to-reels, 8-tracks, cassettes even. I miss quality tools, and quality cooking implements, and quality food for that matter!
Also, I miss my 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger.

Oh gosh Sue, I had a Dodge Dart! Dark green with white. How I loved that car!

[Karen (Geophyz)]

I think I would miss many of the modern conveniences like AC and washing machines. If I went back to the 70's I don't think I would miss much from my current life. I would love to be disconnected from the internet. If I went back much farther, I think many of the things Bill mentioned would be great but I would add medical supplies and a fire starter, a really good ax and a sharpener.

[amor]

If I found myself in the dark ages, a time machine would help.

[Justplain]

I was a teen into a young man in the 1970s. We had plenty of good things then, including nice houses, tv, radio, boats, good music, good sports, trains, planes and automobiles. I would do without what we have now and be living in a slightly better culture (sure racism was a prob, but was looked down upon). No gender confusion or much idealizing of Marxism.

Now, 10000 years ago would be after the fall of Atlantis, so no advanced tech unless it was hidden beyond reach. So what would be really helpful then would be good steel knives, axes, wood working tools, swords and spears. The wildlife was big and dangerous. I would think that the only way to survive in those circumstances would be to live in a group with well defined food gathering and tribal defense. Stone tools was all they had too.

[Ben]

As polluting as they are, I would miss my 2005 reg VW Passat estate. It's bomb proof, and two can sleep comfortably in it.
A close second would be my nutri bullet. I don't know how I survived without it before.

[DSKlausler]

I meant to quote Bill on this.

I like the idea of a crossbow... even better: how about one made of materials that could be reproduced back then. The optimum wood and sinew and stone. Similar sentiment about your epoxy selection... given chemistry of these days, I'm pretty sure a recipe of the available ingredients (back then) could be devised.

[araucaria]

How did we all manage to survive back then for so long? :)
Reproduction.
And education.

[Le Chat]

I would miss listening to the Beatles...

[Gekko]

How did we all manage to survive back then for so long? :)
Reproduction.
And education.

One's in short supply, the other is not

[Hym]

Not a single thing.

Transport yourself into the future and think of Now ..... as Then..


The biggest loss for humanity is not following the natural development, the

redeployment of its innate and real world abilities to communicate ... the awareness

that our present day convenience ...

Is A Gift ..... and it is, as it has always been ....Oh So Very, Very,

Intimately Close.


The innate ability to communicate telepathically, intuitively ... The One Thing

That has been bred out of the species, so say the communicators, the creators of such primitive talks ... abilities that could not possibly

ever be bred out ... Unless humans believe that,

in spite of their unique ability to manifest, to create entire civilizations thru thought,

they somehow cannot do what they

have done for eons ...


And for the longest time, that great and quite unique ability to create from thought ....alone,

has also been used to convince humanity that it cannot also communicate

the way it has created so many endless worlds ... the ones

that lower evolved beings with advanced technologies can ...


Now that makes no sense ... when we think beyond our training ...

The training that is truly the only alien thing in our lives ...


The inventors of these primitive forms of communication ... speaking, writing, reading,

words...All Ali Babba'd up in a tower of confusion, bubbling over with division ... and ...

manipulated emotions ....

those shape-shifting f**ks somehow forgot to recognize the futility of limiting ...

The unlimited soul that recognizes no limitations.

If humanity were to be accurately defined as one thing, it would be limitless ....


Even then, this species, humanity, has transcended those intentional limitations ...

and by the call of it's own infinite and true nature, shows the way ahead ... seemingly

unable ...

to recognize how close in time it can acquire that immediacy ... In


Really communicating

Like it has, like it can, just as it tells us it has in tales we know to be

The truest of true ....


I see the writings, hinting at what You Really Are....

You wouldn't know it if it was in front of you, as it has been for such a long time...

And you never wonder why other alien species can communicate so clearly

Without speaking, or writing, or using a device...Instead of realizing

that as you can hear the unspoken words ... and that ...

as you can receive ...

You can just as well send .... ... .. . to ...

The worlds that are listening ... to ....

All you have wanted to share .... for so very long ....Instantly...

Sharing ....


Imagery and entire concepts, sounds, scents, emotions... All

Quicker than you've been trained to limit your thoughts ....

And if someone told you that, in all silent alien conversations with you, the innocent

captive, you ... should recognize yourself ...

Would you then make that connection that awakens your own telepathy ...

and finally connect with the abilities that Creation gave you ... ?

Earth changes, the cycles of our inner and outer cosmologies ...

How many get these colorful hints, or not ....

Doesn't matter.


It does matter to take the hints to Heart ......... and ...

Remember the Remembering ... ...... ......... that ....

Is always with You

[Gekko]

Not a single thing.

Transport yourself into the future and think of Now ..... as Then..


The biggest loss for humanity is not following the natural development, the

redeployment of its innate and real world abilities to communicate ... the awareness

that our present day convenience ...

Is A Gift ..... and Oh So Very, Very, Intimately Close.


The innate ability to communicate telepathically, intuitively ... The One Thing

That has been bred out of the species, so say the communicators ... could not possibly

ever be bred out ... Unless humans believe that in spite of their unique ability to

manifest, to create entire civilizations thru thought, they somehow cannot do what they

have done for eons ...


And for the longest time, that great and quite unique ability to create from thought

alone, has been also been used to convince humanity that it cannot also communicate

the way it has created so many endless worlds ... the ones

that lower evolved beings with advanced technologies can ...


Now that makes no sense ... when we think beyond our training ...

The training that is truly the only alien thing in our lives ...


The inventors of these primitive forms of communication ... speaking, writing, reading,

Words...All Ali Babba'd up in a tower of confusion, bubbling over with division ... and

manipulated emotions .... forgot to recognize the futility of limiting ...

The unlimited soul that recognizes no limitations.

If humanity were to be accurately defined as one thing, it would be limitless ....


Even then, this species, humanity, has transcended those intentional limitations ...

and by the call of it's own infinite and true nature, shows the way ahead ... seemingly

unable ...

to recognize how close in time it can acquire that immediacy ... In


Really communicating

Like is has, like it can, just as it tells us it has in tales we know to be

The truest of true ....


I see the writings, hinting at what You Really Are....

You wouldn't know it if it was in front of you, as it has been for such a long time...

And you never wonder why other alien species can communicate so clearly

Without speaking, or writing, or using a device...Instead of realizing

that you can hear the unspoken words ... and as you can receive...

You can just as well send .... ... .. .


Imagery and entire concepts, sounds, scents, emotions... All

Quicker than you've been trained to limit your thoughts ....

And if someone told you that, in all silent alien conversations with you, the innocent

captive, you ... should recognize yourself ...

Would you then make that connection that awakens your own telepathy ...

and finally connect with the abilities that Creation gave you ... ?

Earth changes, the cycles of our inner and outer cosmologies ...

How many get these colorful hints, or not ....

Doesn't matter.


It does matter to take the hints to Heart .........

Wow, beautiful writing.