@pseudonym @Lana @smellsofbikes damn perhaps I want one too

@Lana I *knew* that Confirmation Bias would win!

@Lana

"Recency Bias" is so interesting to me since it's applicable to things like:

* More history is happening now than ever!
* Technological progress keeps speeding up
* Kids These Days.
* It has all gone wrong because of Phone/Social Media/That Jazz Music
* We are living in the Age of All Times these days!

It's just seems like it's EVERYWHERE now.

@futurebird @Lana I thought it was fairly well established that technology is speeding up, including quantitative studies. However, there is data suggesting the economic impact of technology may have peaked midcentury.

I hear you on the “It’s all gone wrong” phenomenon though. Some of the arguments against ubiquitous computing and now against AI were the same arguments made at one time against the written word.

@mkb @Lana

I thought it was fairly well established that technology is speeding up, it was only a generation ago that everyone was still knapping their flint in a series of overlapping semi-circles rather than leaving a gap to create an arrowhead with more bite. And soaking methods for weaving? We've never seen such advances. Imagine using cold stream water like your uncle once did.

@mkb @Lana

I kind of suspect that we just don't care about or can't distinguish the granularity of progress in older tech. But I get all excited if there is more memory in a USB drive. Some far future person would think of both the Apple II and iphone as "primitive computers"

@Lana I suspect that the tendency of a lot of people participating in a poll with this many options is to pick either the first or the last option, provided that the options are similar enough.

@mkb @Lana @futurebird Not to be disagreeable, but I giggled that your two (quite valid) examples both still feel forever young to me.

I still can't look at an Apple II with anything other than awe.

And of course the iPhone was revolutionary.

@EdTheDev @mkb @Lana @futurebird The iPhone *wasn't* revolutionary. Phones with email, web browsers, PIM and the ability to install software already existed. Apple were just better at marketing.

@EdTheDev @mkb @Lana

That's the long view. They aren't that different in some ways.

I just worry when I look at ancient baskets and think "wow these are really lovely" there is so much nuance and technological progress, and meaning that I'm missing.

Because I'm a 2000s person and the thought of weaving a basket with your hands is deeply impressive to me and I know nothing of the details.

@mkb @Lana @futurebird @DrHyde

I'm going to have to just agree to disagree on that point.

I would still be rocking my Palm Pilot if I could, and I personally prefer Android and Linux portables.

But as a non-Apple-fan, I won't deny that the particular design and build of the iPhone, itself, had a huge impact on the direction of technology.

@mkb @Lana @futurebird yes. That feeling gets it me, as well.

I'm a fan of this effect in one weird specific way: I collect what I all "re-retro" devices - like the "NES Mini" - remakes of a nostalgic piece of technology, but replicated with newer technology.

I love all the little trade-off decisions each device has - between convenience and authenticity.

My favorite example is a Commodore 64 clone that shipped with a large metal plate inside - to make it weigh the correct amount, in spite of the electronics taking 1/10 th the space inside.

@saxnot @pseudonym @Lana @smellsofbikes I got one of those for the family
it’s great