Friday, March 24, 2017

What are some similarities and differences of the technology of 1902 and that of 2019?

In terms of countries like the United States and Great Britain, in many ways the technological contours of the modern society we know today were already in place, at least among the upper classes. Wealthy people had indoor plumbing, flush toilets, telephones, and electrical wiring in their homes. The difference between then and now was that a very small percentage of the population could afford such amenities.
The automobile had been invented by 1902, though again, only the wealthy could afford to own one, and these were primitive and dangerous vehicles by our standards. However, large cities such as London and New York had or were soon to have subway systems (London's Underground in 1863 and New York in 1904) as well as electrified trolley car lines, which were widespread in the United States by 1902, leading to the urban sprawl along these tram lines. Trains also crisscrossed industrialized countries, making travel much swifter and less perilous; people could travel, though not by air, in many of the ways possible today.
Fresh food was also readily available in ways not too different from today with the advent of refrigerated train cars (chilled with actual ice). Many canned foods were also readily available.
What people did not have in 1902 were the forms of mass media common today: there was no radio, television, or internet. Many medicines we have today were also unavailable, meaning that today's treatable illnesses could lead to institutionalization or death. There were no antibiotics, and tuberculosis was therefore still a major killer. As mentioned earlier, the indoor plumbing and electricity that a large number of people now enjoy were only available the wealthy in 1902.

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