Buggy whips

I recently read an article discussing the products that smart phones, like the iPhone, have killed off.  The article mentions point-and-shoot cameras, MP3 players, handheld game systems, PDAs, auto GPS units and several other products. That's all true, it's also a symptom of how rapidly our lives are changing. It used to take years for a technology to alter people's lives but now it takes FAR less time. The life span of "game changing" technology can be so brief that it's frightening.

Just over a hundred years ago makers of buggy whips were prospering, Horseless carriages were just starting to threaten their lucrative business but I'm sure many of them thought it was just a passing fad. Blacksmiths and other trades that were in existence primarily because the horse had been the primary means of transportation for thousands of years were also about to face a profound change.

The last century has seen such enormous changes in the way we all live our lives that it boggles the mind. Transportation, communications, agriculture, everything has changed dramatically. In 1911 people in most of the world did not live much differently than their ancestors did. People in 2011 would be hard pressed to survive if they had to go back to 1911 technology again. We're on a wild ride and I can't imagine where it will take us in the next 100 years.