Stuff we take for granted that would have been impossible 10 years ago.

Akrasia

Right now I'm listening to a podcast on my smartphone that I've downloaded at home over wifi with a 8mbs internet connection.

Later on I might watch a video on youtube on my mobile phone that I can stream seamlessly on an 'all you can eat' mobile data plan that costs less than 20 euros a month

This is a huge part of my life.
10 years ago I used to listen to the radio, now it's audio books and podcasts, but if I want to listen to music, I can get any song from any band for free on youtube or any number of other legitimate internet sources.

I used to spend thousands of pounds (old money) on music, now I spend 20 euros a month on a pay as you go mobile phone that gives me all the media content I could ever consume for free.

What stuff do you all do every day now that would have been impossible 10 years ago?

Corkbah

Akrasia wrote: »

Right now I'm listening to a podcast on my smartphone that I've downloaded at home over wifi with a 8mbs internet connection.

Later on I might watch a video on youtube on my mobile phone that I can stream seamlessly on an 'all you can eat' mobile data plan that costs less than 20 euros a month

This is a huge part of my life.
10 years ago I used to listen to the radio, now it's audio books and podcasts, but if I want to listen to music, I can get any song from any band for free on youtube or any number of other legitimate internet sources.

I used to spend thousands of pounds (old money) on music, now I spend 20 euros a month on a pay as you go mobile phone that gives me all the media content I could ever consume for free.

What stuff do you all do every day now that would have been impossible 10 years ago?

be happy !! (I was a miserable old sod 10yrs ago, now I'm happily married)

jester77

I no longer have to dissect my computer mouse every other week, when my mouse pointer decides to go left instead of down, and remove all the fluff and grime from the wheels and cogs.

131spanner

Using the M7 as opposed to the old N7 to get from Limerick to Dublin. Big improvement.

KeithM89

Akrasia wrote: »

What stuff do you all do every day now that would have been impossible 10 years ago?

Use my 2013 calendar.

kneemos

Warp speed.

Akrasia

jester77 wrote: »

I no longer have to dissect my computer mouse every other week, when my mouse pointer decides to go left instead of down, and remove all the fluff and grime from the wheels and cogs.

forgot about that
That gunk was something special, Hard and gooey at the same time.

There's a chemistry PHD in there somewhere

Wabbit Ears

yea, going from A-B almost exclusively on motorways for the bulk of the distance has really made a huge difference to my daily life.

Also digital TV and online videos, Really makes the choices on how we consume media pretty limitless.

Sunglasses Ron

I thought the concept of smartphones was flash in the pan hipster bollocks for Apple fanboys that wouldn't catch on in a million years. I mean, who the **** needs to be attached to the internet on demand 24/7 using a phone that costs more than a laptop?

Last year I was sacked after a vote at the Nokia AGM

Seriously though, I did think it was nonsense. Particularly after how ****e WAP internet was and never caught on. But much like how I never recognised the nee to have a mobile until Christmas 2000 into 2001 when everyone suddenly had one and I realised what I was missing, Christmas 2011 into 2012 seemed to be the day the average Joe realised he needed one, and I followed on.

Probably the main difference is that apart when I am out of battery I haven't bought a newspaper or magazine since getting smartphoned. I hate commuting without something to read, always have, and I have about nine news and sports news apps to keep me going.

Akrasia

131spanner wrote: »

Using the M7 as opposed to the old N7 to get from Limerick to Dublin. Big improvement.

Same with the ennis bypass and the new M18. I can get from my house in Ennis to work at Shannon in 20 minutes. 10 years ago that would have been 40 minutes plus

Sgt. Al Powell

I'm telling Three you're tethering.

Davidius

I thought smart phones were still only for rich people.

Akrasia

Sgt. Al Powell wrote: »

I'm telling Three you're tethering.

Shhhhh

Akrasia

Davidius wrote: »

I thought smart phones were still only for rich people.

You can get a smart phone on PAYG for 40 quid now. So unless you have a really low bar for what counts as rich people...

sok2005

I miss Polyphonic ring tones!

Paddy Cow

With the internet you could pretty much do everything from home and not have to leave the house (unless for medical reasons). Banking, work, food, clothes, music, movies, tv, education all available. Must make the lives of agoraphobics a lot more manageable.

Tzardine

Google Maps. Makes my life an awful lot easier.

Also WIFI. Its only 10 years old believe it or not.

And I would like to add in something that I believe will not be around in 10 more years.

3D TV.

Sunglasses Ron

sok2005 wrote: »

I miss Polyphonic ring tones!

LOL :pac: God remember back in the day when i you didn't have a personalised ringtone of your favourite tune bought for 3 odd euro people gave you a funny look. Now you can have one for free and nobody bothers with them!

Carrying a case full of CD's for a road trip or a flight is another thing I don't miss. Or scratched CD's skipping!

Akrasia

I used to bring a backpack with me everywhere just to carry my CD collection just in case I felt the urge to listen to one song. I haven't carried a backpack in years.

When I was coming home from college some arsehole stole my rucksack with all my CDs in it. Thousands of euros gone in an instant and they probably dumped them over a hedge (doubt the scumbags would have been big fans of Mogwai or the screaming trees)
I used to make a bit of cash as a DJ in the students union, the only qualification you needed then was a big CD collection. Now everyone who can be bothered has tens of thousands of MP3s most of which they've probably never listened to

Tzardine

Oh I have one more.

Visa Debit Cards. Something which we were always lacking in Ireland. Laser cards were sh1t when it came to ordering stuff online as they would not be accepted anywhere outside of Ireland. They were also useless when you were on holidays.

Its great being able to go into a shop anywhere in the world and use your debit card to pay for stuff.

Akrasia

Strituck wrote: »

Oh I have one more.

Visa Debit Cards. Something which we were always lacking in Ireland. Laser cards were sh1t when it came to ordering stuff online as they would not be accepted anywhere outside of Ireland. They were also useless when you were on holidays.

Its great being able to go into a shop anywhere in the world and use your debit card to pay for stuff.

Meh, I still prefer travellers cheques

(not really)

Alun

Akrasia wrote: »

This is a huge part of my life.

You need to get out more.

sbsquarepants

Sunglasses Ron wrote: »

I thought the concept of smartphones was flash in the pan hipster bollocks for Apple fanboys that wouldn't catch on in a million years. I mean, who the **** needs to be attached to the internet on demand 24/7 using a phone that costs more than a laptop?

I remember when cameras appeared on phones for the first time - I was convinced it was ridiculous. Who the fúck wants a camera on their phone - after all no one ever needed a phone on their camera did they?. Eh, i'm starting to think I may have been wide of the mark with that one.:)

At the weekend my son asked me did I have Jay Zs new album, I didn't but literally 2 minutes later I had downloaded it, synched the ipod and had it playing away on my sexy wireless speakers - bloody sorcery I tells ye.
Now when I go on holidays, I can bring a thousand albums with me in my pocket - couldn't do that a decade ago! Maybe 3 or 4 cds stuffed in somewhere but that was about it.

Akrasia

Alun wrote: »

You need to get out more.

I do get out, the point is that you can listen to podcasts and audiobooks while you're also doing other stuff

Never again do I have to endure the monotonous chirping of wild birds (though I have yet to find a solution to the oderous stench of those wild flowers)

krudler

streaming 1080p episodes of a tv show the day after it airs in the states, legally. Gotta love netflix.

kippy

As others have said, the motorway network has probably been the biggest game changer, for me anyway.

muppetkiller

Touch screen interfaces. I always find it funny when you see kids trying to get laptops to work by pawing the screen

Saab Ed

Lose money selling a house

Sunglasses Ron

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I remember when cameras appeared on phones for the first time - I was convinced it was ridiculous. Who the fúck wants a camera on their phone - after all no one ever needed a phone on their camera did they?. Eh, i'm starting to think I may have been wide of the mark with that one.:)

.

Even on high end phones it took quite a few years for phone cameras to actually be decent quality. They have been around 10 odd years but the quality on even expensive ones was atrocious. I was never one for the latest phone, all I wanted was make calls and decent sized text memory, but I did spend about 150 euro on a Nokia around 2008 which, for its time, had a cutting edge camera and video.

By today's standards it was ****e. And even at that Apple camera quality (particularly iPad) is rubbish compared to the one on my half the price Samsung Galaxy. Sharper than my old digital camera this baby is!

krudler

Sunglasses Ron wrote: »

Even on high end phones it took quite a few years for phone cameras to actually be decent quality. They have been around 10 odd years but the quality on even expensive ones was atrocious. I was never one for the latest phone, all I wanted was make calls and decent sized text memory, but I did spend about 150 euro on a Nokia around 2008 which, for its time, had a cutting edge camera and video.

By today's standards it was ****e. And even at that Apple camera quality (particularly iPad) is rubbish compared to the one on my half the price Samsung Galaxy. Sharper than my old digital camera this baby is!

one of the new Nokia phones has a 41MP camera or something close, ridiculous, sure there's full lenght movies shot on phones these days

Sunglasses Ron

krudler wrote: »

one of the new Nokia phones has a 41MP camera or something close, ridiculous, sure there's full lenght movies shot on phones these days

I remember a few years back Kellogs had a collect tokens for a digital camera promotion.

**** me I should have known better, I reckon they must have scored some 80's test models they were so poor.

Savoir.Faire

Ordering an Iced Double Caramel Skinny Latte from Bucks.

Overheal

For less than the cost of 1 CD per month I have access to any album, any artist, any track, at any time I want on demand and available to download for offline playback. Press play and the track responds as quickly as if you popped the disc in. Even if Im in the car. Or quicker. Look up an old favorite band. Oh they came out with a new album recently? *tap*, instant gratification. Play the whole album. No buy prompt. No extra charge.

10 years ago it was a thing to spend 6 hours downloading a 2 minute audio clip from an Austin Powers movie on Napster. This clip. Audio only.

Overheal

krudler wrote: »

one of the new Nokia phones has a 41MP camera or something close, ridiculous, sure there's full lenght movies shot on phones these days

http://petapixel.com/2012/04/16/wal-mart-selling-the-sony-mavica-floppy-disk-digital-camera-for-just-269/

"Wal-Mart stores have so many items that occasionally an outdated one will remain on the shelves for years after they’re no longer relevant. Case in point: the Sony MVC-FD200 Mavica digital camera. The one above was recently found at a Wal-Mart in Illinois. The camera first hit the shelf back in 2002 and has remained there ever since. It featured a state-of-the-art 2-megapixel sensor and allowed photographers the convenience of storing digital photos on 1.44 MB floppy disks (remember those?). If you think Wal-Mart’s trying to rip you off, consider this: the lowest price for this camera on Amazon is nearly $1000."

Markcheese

Time travel , of course now that my future self has given me access to time travel there's nothing to stop me giving it to my past self either...

Pighead

Thanking posts on boards. Much handier system than the old way of PM'ing the person to ask for their address before sending a thank you card in the post. Gotta love technology.

AnonoBoy

Recently I was on a bus to work, browsing the Internet on my phone via the wifi network on board the bus. I got bored and went back to reading my book.

Then I realised what me ten or fifteen years ago would think of this and thought "well ain't technology something."

And then I went back to reading my book.

Cause books are still nice to read.

markomuscle

uploading a video to youtube

WilyCoyote

Buying a laptop for under $300

Mammanabammana

Hoverboards!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ZdMOMUgXE

Jordan 199

Overheal wrote: »

http://petapixel.com/2012/04/16/wal-mart-selling-the-sony-mavica-floppy-disk-digital-camera-for-just-269/

"Wal-Mart stores have so many items that occasionally an outdated one will remain on the shelves for years after they’re no longer relevant. Case in point: the Sony MVC-FD200 Mavica digital camera. The one above was recently found at a Wal-Mart in Illinois. The camera first hit the shelf back in 2002 and has remained there ever since. It featured a state-of-the-art 2-megapixel sensor and allowed photographers the convenience of storing digital photos on 1.44 MB floppy disks (remember those?). If you think Wal-Mart’s trying to rip you off, consider this: the lowest price for this camera on Amazon is nearly $1000."

A camera with a 3.5" floppy drive :cool:

As for the 3.5" floppies, they sure did lack the floppiness of the 5.25" disks.

hatrickpatrick

Anyone remember the days when loading a website with a lot of pictures meant hitting Go and going off to boil the kettle or make a sandwich, hoping it'd be almost loaded when you got back?

Legs.Eleven

Not being able to knock my boobs off my knees whilst walking. 10 years ago they were all pert and firm and upright and I couldn't knock them off anything getting from A to B.


Cuh! How times change. *Looks into the distance*

Fox_In_Socks

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

Not being able to knock my boobs off my knees whilst walking. 10 years ago they were all pert and firm and upright and I couldn't knock them off anything getting from A to B.

You've gone from an A to a B and they're about your knees?

Hmmmm...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hyutTEBydAg/UVN-pSmJ3aI/AAAAAAAAAE8/ojRPQ0Npb7s/s1600/NotSureIfSerious.jpg

Legs.Eleven

Fox_In_Socks wrote: »

You've gone from an A to a B and they're about your knees?

Hmmmm...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hyutTEBydAg/UVN-pSmJ3aI/AAAAAAAAAE8/ojRPQ0Npb7s/s1600/NotSureIfSerious.jpg

You have to kind of knee them out of the way but you get there in the end!

Fox_In_Socks

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

You have to kind of knee them out of the way but you get there in the end!

I've kneaded a boob the odd time, but never kneed one!