How Times Change!

Depending on when you born, you may have had the privilege of seeing progress at its best (and worst).  This post touches upon only a few of the changes that many of witnessed over such a short period of time.

Way back when, 1960 to be exact, you could get a half pint of milk for four cents/pennies.  A gallon (a bit less than four litres) would cost about 60 cents.  A gallon of milk now costs about $3.50.  You used to be able to get a candy for a penny.  The same sized candy now costs you anywhere from five to ten cents.  More shockingly, the penny itself has gone extinct (in Canada at least)! 

For the music buffs, many have never seen, much less played/listened to, vinyl records.  There were also 8-track tapes and cassettes that now have been replaced by CDs and other forms of digital recordings.  These older forms of recordings have, for the most part, disappeared.

For the video buffs, there was such a thing called “film.”  Later, there came Super 8 film.  Eventually it entered our homes in the form of Beta and VHS video cassettes.  All of these forms of video now have been replaced by the DVD.

Only a few decades ago, all calculations were done by hand using the computing power of the human brain.  Computers then came along with the purpose of facilitating such menial tasks, allowing people to focus on more “meaningful” endeavours.  At first, computers were the size of large rooms.  Now these “machines” can fit in the palm of your hand (or even smaller).  Some believe that computers/machines will eventually replace humans…or is it just that human beings will become so lazy that they will let the machines take over everything?!

Some would question whether or not progress is a good thing.  I guess it depends on your perspective.  If progress allows people to become more “productive,” I would venture to say that it might be a good thing.  On the other hand, if progress raises costs of everything and makes us lazier than we already are, I’m not so sure that progress is such a good thing!  Regardless, my stance on the whole subject is simple: Blame it on fast foods!


- B. J. T. Pepin