Modern life is very convenient. However, most people are born into it without realizing the things that technology and large-scale systems can bring us.
These tools should be cherished as a part of civilization, and something to be grateful to our ancestors for having made. In a sense, each time you use something invented by someone, you’re connected to that person.
I’ve arranged the conveniences by order of approximate invention date, with the daily conveniences they bring. Granted, it takes years or centuries for trends to proliferate, so that year is simply the approximate “first” of that thing coming around, and I’m not talking about the career opportunities of each.
Irrigation (-?)
- Able to direct water to make food grow more easily.
Animal husbandry/Sailing (-?)
- Can travel faster than running.
- Can enjoy the health benefits of conveniently accessible meat.
Pottery/Containers (-?)
- Can carry liquids and large quantities of small things.
- Can eat/use something without all the risks of directly contacting it.
Bronze working (-?)
- Can use sturdier tools that don’t require re-making all the time.
Civil engineering (-?)
- Can magnify labor to create more results with less effort.
Mining (~-4,000)
- Can make sturdy structures.
Writing (~-4,000)
- Can store and share information across generations.
Plumbing (~-4,000)
- Access to potable water.
- Can pee and poop without digging a hole.
- Can drain rainwater.
Mathematics (~-3,000)
- Able to understand grouped things beyond the present moment.
Iron/steel working (~-2,500)
- Can use incredibly durable tools and make profoundly strong structures.
Mass-produced parts (~-400)
- Can make lots of the same thing to allow quicker repairs and less downtime.
Long-distance messaging (~-400)
- Can quickly communicate things across long distances.
Stored electricity (~-200)
- Can preserve energy to use later, instead of having to generate it every time it’s needed.
Gravity-powered engines (~-100)
- Able to magnify labor even further.
Movable type (~1040)
- Can share information to many people at once.
Steam power (1763)
- Able to indefinitely magnify labor.
Fueled lighting (1812)
- Able to see at night.
Computers (1833)
Hot water plumbing (1837)
- Can comfortably bathe/shower with hot water out of a pipe instead of looking for a hot spring.
Plastic/rubber working (1839)
- Incredibly cheap, practically disposable tools, panels, decorations, and components.
Internal combustion engine (1860)
- Can magnify labor effortlessly and without steam in your face.
Telephone (~1860)
- Can speak to someone across very long distances.
Automobile (1896)
- Can move anything you want, including traveling, effortlessly.
Mobile telephone (1917)
- Can speak to someone across very long distances, from anywhere.
Supply chain management (~1940s)
- Anything that can be mass-produced by some people becomes accessible to everyone.
Lasers (1960)
- With engineering, can perform extremely precise tasks.
Dot matrix printing (1968)
- Can store and retrieve, as well as distribute, any information relatively easily.
Personal microcomputers (1972)
- Can perform logic and math calculations in your own home.
Internet (1981)
- Can communicate with anyone else’s computer across the world.
Industrial robotics (1973)
- Able to have a non-living thing perform repetitive, unpleasant tasks.
Digital cellular networks (1991)
- Can communicate with anyone or anyone’s computer across the world, from anywhere.
Social media platforms (1994)
- People can make and consume each other’s creative works.