My grandfather’s education probably included some instruction on how to write a good letter, as letters were the main communication mechanism. Now these have been displaced by the telegraph, telephone, and mobile wireless that carries voice and data. Entire new media, such as television have developed and transformed society in my grandfather’s lifetime. The TV has become a necessity -- on a trip to rural Mexico, I was astonished to notice that many poor households would buy a TV before a refrigerator!
The history of refrigeration seems like a failure of imagination. Before mechanical refrigeration, things were kept cold by cutting ice out of ponds in the winter, and packing it underground in straw for storage and use during the hot summer. When mechanical refrigeration was first invented, it was used to store and transport ice that was chipped out of ponds. Then came the central ice plant, where ice was made more-or-less locally and distributed to the icebox in every home. Finally, the home refrigerator came along, which replaced an entire industry and transformed what we eat.
My children think nothing, indeed do not even notice, that some of their food has come from the Southern Hemisphere, traveling thousands of miles refrigerated to arrive almost fresh. This nearly unimaginable distance to my grandfather has now become routine.
My son was entertained; my dog was not. My son was focused intently on a book, unaware that it was also a computer.
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