Categories
Ten areas of everyday technology, each with its own set of then-and-now comparisons.
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Communication
Every communication technology answers the same old need: getting a message from one person to another across distance. The comparisons in this category follow that need from handwritten letters and telegraph keys to switchboards…
Fax Machines vs Digital Document Sharing · Postal Mail vs Email · Rotary Phones vs Smartphones · …
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Computing
Computing began as a way to take the drudgery out of arithmetic. The pairs in this category start with the abacus and the hand-cranked calculating machine, then move through vacuum tubes and transistors to…
Abacuses vs Electronic Calculators · Mechanical Calculators vs Spreadsheets · Vacuum Tubes vs Transistors
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Photography and Media
Photography turned fleeting scenes into objects you could hold, share, and keep. This category compares the chemistry-based methods of capturing and storing images with the electronic ones that followed, and it also covers the…
Film Cameras vs Digital Cameras · Photo Albums vs Cloud Photo Libraries · Printing Presses vs Digital Publishing Platforms
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Audio and Entertainment
Home entertainment has always depended on how sound and pictures are stored and delivered. This is the largest category on the site, and it covers records, cassettes, videotape, radio, television sets, and game cartridges…
Broadcast Radio vs Podcasts · Cassette Tapes vs Digital Audio · CRT Televisions vs Flat-Panel Displays · …
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Navigation
Finding your position and choosing a route are among the oldest technical problems in travel. The comparisons in this category trace how sailors, drivers, and hikers have answered them, from ink on paper and…
Magnetic Compasses vs Smartphone Navigation Sensors · Printed Maps vs GPS Navigation · Sextants vs Satellite Positioning
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Home Technology
Household technology tends to disappear into the background, which is exactly why its history is easy to overlook. Clocks, lightbulbs, and thermostats have all quietly changed how a home is lit, heated, and scheduled…
Analog Clocks vs Smartwatches · Analog Thermostats vs Smart Thermostats · Incandescent Bulbs vs LEDs
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Information Storage
Keeping information has always meant choosing a physical form for it: ink on paper, holes in cardboard, magnetized coatings, or electric charge trapped in a chip. This category compares those forms and the habits…
Floppy Disks vs Cloud Storage · Printed Encyclopedias vs Digital Knowledge Platforms · Punch Cards vs Solid-State Storage
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Work and Productivity
Offices and shops were among the first places where machines replaced repetitive manual steps. The comparisons here look at the tools that shaped clerical, retail, and design work, and at the digital versions that…
Manual Drafting vs Computer-Aided Design · Mechanical Cash Registers vs Point-of-Sale Systems · Typewriters vs Word Processors
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Transportation
Getting around depends on more than vehicles. It also relies on engines, roads, fares, and information about when to be where. This category looks at three quieter pieces of that system that changed a…
Carburetors vs Fuel Injection · Paper Timetables vs Real-Time Transit Apps · Toll Booths vs Electronic Toll Collection
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Access and Infrastructure
Some technologies decide who gets through a door, onto a train, or into a network. This category groups comparisons where the central issue is access: the means by which a person is recognized, admitted…
Dial-Up Internet vs Fiber Connections · Paper Tickets vs Mobile Passes · Traditional Keys vs Smart Locks