MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Bike stuff aside, what tech genuinely makes your life just that little bit better? Loads of examples for me, but Scanbot is a recent favourite. It's a very simple document scanning app that just uses the phone camera. It does a simple job really effectively and is so much easier than using a flatbed scanner. My office is also tidier as a result 🙂
I am [b]not[/b] on commission from Scanbot 😆
A bit frivolous perhaps, but I love Shazam, it's still witchcraft in my book, but it makes finding new music a lot easier - quick Shazam, single click to add it to Apple music - Done.
Electricity......its applications have been endless, and has helped me achieve some amazing things....
Microchip.
Evernote (and therefore I guess other note taking apps). I can go into a meeting and take notes on my iPad then edit them on my desktop. Then I check them on my phone again on the way home. It's genuinely brilliant.
Microchips here too. Also those burgers you can microwave.
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Google maps and satellite imagery.
I can visit the potential site, walk around it, get a feel for its location and all from my comfy office chair rather than lose a day to a fruitless site visit.
Uber. Can't be bothered talking to someone one the phone, trying to describe where I am and then waiting 20 minutes for a taxi, Uber does all that in a couple of clicks and I don't even have to get my wallet out to pay at the end. Even more useful abroad when you don't speak the language.
The internet. End Of! and not for p0rn!
Blood Glucose Meter
Google maps and satellite imagery.
This*. I can check whether that dotted line on the map actually exists, before I then have to go and discover it's pretty much unrideable anyway.... 
Although I find Bing maps are generally better.
Dishwasher.
Blue tooth headphones*, I use them for about 2 hours a day and not getting caught up or having to untangle wires is great.
* on the move though I can't have my phone in my left pocket as the receiver is on the right and I seem to be too dense for the signal to pass through, all puns allowed.
Chromecast audio** - ours gets lots of use at the weekend when the radio is even more terrible than usual. Playing back old shows and using spotify.
** Except for that time when the firmware was updated and it destroyed the BT router!
So overall good but not great tech.
Pens. Incredibly useful. Scissors too. And knives, now that I think about it.
Contraception! imagine how many abortions would have been needed or unwanted people there would be in the world without it.
There's this great timekeeping/project management bit of software I used once. Asana. Never took off in our group though so it's sadly fallen by the way side.
Blood glucose meter
...that doesn't require a finger prick, a'la freestyle libre.
The sooner that can be linked to insulin pumps, the better.
...and added to NHS prescriptions, obvs...
Mine has to be pretty much anything by Tesla! I never thought i'd ever fall in love with driving or more accurately the experience of driving a car. It is just fabulous!! Big smiles all round.
GPS navigation has saved my marriage
Google maps and satellite imagery.I can visit the potential site, walk around it, get a feel for its location and all from my comfy office chair rather than lose a day to a fruitless site visit.
On top of this I can build engineering models and view them in context.
In recent years varifocals.
Internet shopping!
I used to hate/dread having to go into town and trek through West Quay Shopping Centre, so claustrophobic. Being able to order almost anything online is bliss.
Smart phones! Being able to take Hi res photos of broken machinery & email them to parts suppliers, while located in the middle of Scottish sea lochs never fails to impress me. Genuinely makes my job easier.
Apart from when I'm trying to figure out how to use it & swearing at it cause Im a thicko 😆
Blue tooth headphones
+1 I spend a lot of time on trains and a good pair of over ear, noise cancelling, bluetooth headphones are a godsend.
Text messages. Apparently us brits were massive early adopters and perhaps it fits the national character. Phoning someone is very demanding of their attention - RING RING SPEAK TO ME NOW!. A text is only as direct and demanding a conversation as the recipient wants it to be, you can reach someone no matter where they are or what they're doing without disturbing them as the only have to look and reply when they're ready.
Ferris-Beuller - Member
Mine has to be pretty much anything by Tesla! I never thought i'd ever fall in love with driving or more accurately the experience of driving a car. It is just fabulous!! Big smiles all round.
And you can charge it back up by jacking up the back wheels and leaving it running in reverse 🙂
Wheels.. even better with pneumatic tyres.
Audiobooks. I drive quite a lot and these preserve my sanity when the radio doesn't have anything on.
Evernote (and therefore I guess other note taking apps).
OneNote has quite literally changed my life. It's one of the best things Microsoft has ever created (so presumably they bought a startup who created it in the first place), it's like carrying a backup brain.
In a similar vein, shared calendar apps (specifically Google Calendar in my case). If it's not in the calendar it doesn't exist, it's an utter godsend if you've got to schedule your life when there's more than one person in it.
Wheels.. even better with pneumatic tyres.
I do worry about someone in a world in which wheels make a "surprising" difference. You're gonna shit when you discover fire.
(-:
First choice was going to be Google Earth but as that has been taken I'll go for on-demand catch up TV. I can get so much more done by not having to be at home at a certain time to watch a show or remember to set the DVR. Get on with life then watch when I'm ready at a few clicks of a remote 8)
Music streaming. Just brilliant...
I'll go for on-demand catch up TV.
Rewinding live TV surprised me at how instantly natural to use it was. Within a day or two of buying a PVR I found my hand reaching out intuitively to try and rewind the radio when I was driving.
I know that we consciously live about 0.5 of a second behind the moment. But it would be really nice if reality had a 10 to 15 second buffer that we could just jog back through if we've not been paying attention - for those moments when someone gets to the end of a sentence and you realise that [i]now[/i] your interested in how it started.
Lots of technology is amazing, but if we're specifically talking about "surprising" then I'd say my iWatch. Got it on a whim really, but it's surprising how useful it is to have little snippets of info on your wrist, plus voice control of stuff.
Medical stuff used in ITU.
Mrs EGF has got through some bad times with the help of that lately.
having tweets embedded in news articles a good way to get garbage opinions without spending time on public transport or listening to phone in radio
having tweets embedded in news articles a good way to get garbage opinions without spending time on public transport or listening to phone in radio
Excellent
An extra .8 inches of Jumbo Jim. 4.0s were kind of pish for me, the 4.8s are awesome.
tomhoward - MemberThe sooner that can be linked to insulin pumps, the better.
Aye, can't be far off. I hated the pump, it's just a permanent syringe at the end of the day but a smart pump'll be another thing entirely.
The cloud & connectivity
I can work between a desktop, 2 laptops, tablet and a phone with very little delay or hassle. Replying to an email when on the bus or out, picking it up when I get to the office or get home. I can leave the office early or start late as I have all the info at my finger tips at home or on the move. I've had meetings from campsites etc. Work can bend around my life much more.
maccruiskeen - keeps the mileage low! 😉
Chromecast. I can chose a movie or a YouTube or red bull TV on my phone or chromebook and "send" it to my telly... What the actual ****?!
Magic
Washing machine - a greater impact on humanity than the internet according to some/many
Washing machine
I think it's place has been over stated by many. Before convenient laundry, people simply didn't wash their clothes that often, the parts that got grimy quickly were removable and often disposable (collars and cuffs) and darker clothes were fashionable.
Quote button on forums. Amazed at how much this makes my life easier... oh wait 😉 😀
I'd second the mobile phone camera. Apart from its obvious use it's really useful for photographing things in shops to check with someone at home, or as a note-taker. I've photographed the side of a van to get the phone number of a tradesman and photographed whiteboards at work. Not life-changing but really handy and not something I'd have thought of when I bought my first phone with a camera.
I think it's place has been over stated by many. Before convenient laundry, people simply didn't wash their clothes that often, the parts that got grimy quickly were removable and often disposable (collars and cuffs) and darker clothes were fashionable.
I'm guessing you didn't see you Mum/Grandma do the washing in a great big coal fired copper, a wash barrel and dolly peg and a hand cranked mangle? Every Monday.
a hand cranked mangle?
I used to watch Neighbours, pass the mindbleach please.
RIP Vivean Gray
IT: Bluetooth - just makes it all that bit nicer
Bike: eTap wireless shifting
Home: Washing machine - I could live without a dishwasher, but not a washing machine.
Home: Teasmade - when you've had one, you'll know why 😉
IT: Bluetooth - just makes it all that bit nicer
I'd say reliable bluetooth that works properly. Back in the day it was a bit shite which made it more of a pain than it was worth. Pretty good now.
Garmin Bluetooth - still shite
Else that would be on my list of great technology. Live sync my ride from Garmin to phone to Garmin/Strava is pretty cool. But shite pairing ability means it doesn't work.
NFC. Saves literally seconds of my life by not having to take my card out of a wallet and type in a PIN. I've got a tag on my watch strap now, so I don't even have to dig out my wallet (and shop assistants who haven't seen it before look at you like you're Derren Brown).