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Lets help the very excellent Tim Harford with a further dose of Things.
He's looking for ideas for one more Thing that helped made the Modern Economy.
BBC is inviting suggestions for a special episode: one more thing that shaped the economic forces that surround us and changed the way we live, spend or work.
The original list of 50 can be seen here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Things_That_Made_the_Modern_Economy
and can be listened to here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04b1g3c/episodes/player
or read about in his book here
http://timharford.com/books/50things/
What ideas have you got and why?
Im going with computer mouse or trackpad.
For a generation of computer users it's been the main interface device with one of our greatest tools. Arguably it's had it's day as VR and touch screens will eventually replace it entirely. I expect pretty much everyone of an age similar to mine remembers opening up those big ol' apple mice and cleaning their heavy balls of dust, grease and lunch.
The diesel engine.
The ballpoint pen.
The pneumatic tire.
wot no puns? no jokey reasoning?
I is disappoint in you perchy.
Brilliant series, I've found myself binge listening on Iplayer.
EDIT that's also my contribution - watching and listening on demand which is changing the whole nature of tv and radio content production and how it is monetised*
* Can't believe I actually used that word 😥
I is disappoint in you perchy
*hangs head in shame*
OK, I'll make an effort, just for Stoner.
The invention that I think has made a huge impact on the modern world is the X-Ray. It's brought hours of amusement and comedy potential to internet users everywhere.
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there is no aeroplane or jet engine in the list 😯 😕
washing machine
I've 4 nominations, all must be used simultaneously..
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Brilliant series, barbed wire my favourite, who knew?
I'm going for the waterwheel or the powered loom.
Universal suffrage.
The fridge/freezer
washing machine
Listen to the episode about tv dinners which debunks the myth that the washing machine freed up a lot of time.
public key cryptography, google, iphones and compilers - none of which would work without the silicon integrated circuit which isn't worth a mention.
Will check it out, thanks.
On a very similar note, I really enjoyed this series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_We_Got_to_Now
Keep an eye out for it if it ever comes up on repeat.
no refrigerator ?? that would be my vote
Vacuum flask.
It's just so clever.
No internet porn on the list, how are we meant to take it seriously with that omission.
ed - air conditioning is in. Don't know how much of it that covers.
in the HWGTN series it was all in under "cold".
Ta, that's my commute home listening sorted.
Social media - and the associated drop in productivity?
The telegram / telephone / internet
The telegram / telephone / internet
The post office relay !
Coffee
Gin
The enclosure acts
Slavery
The Crimean War.
Follow my thinking here.
The outbreak of the Crimean war saw the Royal Small Arms factory in Enfield purchase a variety of American gun making machinery. This was the first real adoption of mass production techniques in the UK, and a fledgeling group of gunsmiths from the West Midlands teamed together to create a new factory in Small Heath, Birmingham, the formation of the Birmingham Small Arms company. (BSA). This factory and the manufacturing processes were based on the interchangeability of parts.
After the Crimean War there broke out an unusually long period of widespread European peace, not good for a gun manufacturer at the best of times, but fortunately, there were ongoing colonial fights to keep them going for a while. However by 1879 the factory was idle... then some bugger figured out that the machinery for making guns with interchangeable parts was rather good for making bicycles too... so they did!
So, we witnessed a huge boost in British manufacturing, the wide scale adoption of mass production techniques, producing massive numbers of bicycles (which became adopted as very much the mass personal transportation and recreational activity of the day), then easily converted back to war production in order to help us win WW1, subsequently leading to BSA's post war expansion into mass motorbike production, back to guns and bombs for WW2 with the massive production facilities then leading into post war production of more bicycles motorbikes, cars, aircraft etc. an entire tourist economy being built around the people touring the countryside on bikes, motorbikes, cars and then foreign holidays.
all because of the steps taken to produce guns for the Crimean war
This is great bookmarked it for future consumption!
Whoever said the integrated circuit is probably spot on. You could argue the entire modern economy is based around them.
Anyway my suggestions would be:
AI
Rechargeable Batteries
Bitcoin
This was the first real adoption of mass production techniques in the UK,
think you'll find that was the[url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_Block_Mills ] Portsmouth Block Mills[/url]
Land Registration - certainty about the title to land and property.
Love the series, but the invention of the vacuum flask (mentioned a few posts back) led to my favourite joke.
When he was younger, David Beckham came into training just after Christmas. Sir Alex asks him what he got for a present, to which David answers "A flask. It's amazing - it keeps hot things hot and cold things cold"
"What have you got it then lad? "
"Ice cream and coffee"
The 'cycling' forum. Tanking swathes of the UK's economic productivity for about 20 years. 😉
Standadised pallets
Was gonna say the shipping container but I see it's about number 3 on the list! Without pallets the container wouldn't be that useful. And where would we be without hipster, reclaimed-wood furniture projects?
Radar/sonar and eventually gps
Identifying/eliminating risks in transport, stopping things crashing into each other in increasingly crowded air/sea spaces, enabling huge growth in transport and travel. Vastly increasing (to the point of destruction, sadly) fishing yields. Aiding geological surveys etc.
Gonna subscribe to that podcast - looks excellent. Thanks