In-depth comparisons of older and modern technologies. Filter by category or period, sort by name, time or category, or search by keyword.
35 comparisons found
Computing
Abacuses compared with Electronic Calculators
Long before batteries and chips, people kept sums by sliding beads along rods. This comparison sets that hand-operated frame beside the electronic calculator, looking…
Home Technology
Analog Clocks compared with Smartwatches
A clock answers one question, and it has answered it for centuries with hands sweeping a dial. A smartwatch answers that question too, then…
Home Technology
Analog Thermostats compared with Smart Thermostats
A school janitor walking from room to room adjusting dampers led to one of the first automatic room thermostats. More than a century later…
Audio and Entertainment
Broadcast Radio compared with Podcasts
Radio sends one live signal to everyone within range; a podcast sends a file to whoever asks for it. Both fill commutes and kitchens…
Transportation
Carburetors compared with Fuel Injection
Gasoline burns as a vapor, not as a liquid, so every engine needs a way to turn fuel into a fine mist and blend…
Audio and Entertainment
Cassette Tapes compared with Digital Audio
The compact cassette was designed to fit a jacket pocket, and it ended up carrying a generation's mixtapes. Digital audio replaced it with numbers…
Audio and Entertainment
CRT Televisions compared with Flat-Panel Displays
A CRT television builds its picture by steering an electron beam across the inside of a deep glass tube. A flat panel lights a…
Access and Infrastructure
Dial-Up Internet compared with Fiber Connections
Dial-up sent data as audible tones across a line built for voices, while fiber sends pulses of light through hair-thin glass. This article follows…
Communication
Fax Machines compared with Digital Document Sharing
A fax machine sends a picture of a page over a phone line, and a shared file sends the page itself. The gap between…
Photography and Media
Film Cameras compared with Digital Cameras
One kind of camera records light as a chemical change on a strip of plastic; the other turns it into numbers. This article follows…
Information Storage
Floppy Disks compared with Cloud Storage
The save icon still shows a 3.5-inch disk that many users have never held. Floppy disks put data in your hand; cloud storage keeps…
Home Technology
Incandescent Bulbs compared with LEDs
One bulb makes light by getting extremely hot; the other makes it by moving electrons across a semiconductor junction. That single difference explains most…
