I couldn’t help but feel waves of gratitude and nostalgia going through Gwern’s exhaustive list of all the ways that “many hassles have simply disappeared from my life, and nice new things appeared” since the mid 90s, which is around when I became a teenager, that is to say, semi-conscious and painfully self-aware.
Sharing a few of my favorites here.
Source: https://gwern.net/improvement
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hotels and restaurants provide Public Internet Access by default, without nickel-and-diming customers or travelers; this access is usually via WiFi
Hygienic Mice: no longer needing to clean computer mice weekly thanks to laser mice
GPS: not getting lost while frantically driving down a freeway7; or anywhere else, for that matter
Universal Storage: we no longer need to strategize which emails or photos or documents to delete to save space
having Fansubs available for all anime (no longer do anime clubs watch raw anime and have to debate afterwards what the plot was)
all cars have electrified Power Windows; I don’t remember the last time I had to physically crank down a car window
Clothing has become almost “too cheap to meter”, as the Industrial Revolution in textiles never stopped
the Shipping Speeds have dramatically improved, especially for low-cost tiers: consider Christmas shopping from a mail-order company or website in 1999 vs 2019—you used to have to order in early December to hope to get something by Christmas (25 December)
safe McDonald’s coffee which doesn’t explode in one’s lap while trapped in a car & causing disfiguring third-degree burns requiring skin grafts
even Mass-Market Grocery Stores like Walmart increasingly routinely stock an enormous variety of foods, from sushi to goat cheese to kefir
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