| But again -- the problem cars were solving haven't gone away. We still need a way to get 1-to-N people and cargo from point A to point B. Improvements in cars over the last forty years: anti-lock brakes and airbags are now standard. Backup cameras are now standard. Cars can be fully electric now, and there is coast-to-coast charging infrastructure. The biggest change in my use of a car -- besides being able to charge it at home and not care about the price of gas -- comes from the team-up between cars and mobile phones. I no longer care about directions. My friends don't need to tell me about the red barn or the corner where the big tree used to be when I want to go visit them. I don't need to call AAA and request a map with directions to the antique mall in Binghamton. I don't need to backtrack to try figure out why I'm now in the wrong state. I just sit down in my car, it pairs with the phone in my pocket, and I say "directions to the Papa John's on Plank Street", and turn by turn directions pop up on the car's display. If I'm driving around somewhere, take a wrong turn and get lost, the directions I'm following will update or I can request new directions home. Sure, it might be the cell phone that enables it, but it makes a huge difference in how I use a car versus 40 (well, 10-20) years ago. |
What's changed your life is the internet connected device in your pocket.
However that change is more visible in social history type records than simple lists of technologies etc.