TECHNOLOGY - FROM OX WAGON TO THE MOON AND BEYOND
WRITTEN BY TOM RAYMOND
Have you ever just sat down and pondered over “the beginnings”
of what we today call technology / progress ? I recently allowed myself the luxury of doing so and had a little fun doing so. I will share a few with you and go back a little in time .
For the purposes of this article, let's go back a hundred years or so. In the early 1900's, the commercial use of electricity was in its pioneering stages, the light bulb or incandescent lamp as it was known had just made candle power obsolete. The cooler room too began to fade as refrigeration technology took the form of that all to familiar refrigerator . The ice factories also took a hit as mobile/rail transport no longer needed ice to cool things down .
As the headline in the article suggests, horse drawn vehicles now were also on the decline due to the widespread use of the modern internal combustion engine which was at the heart of the new horseless carriage. Life as this generation knew it would change forever... famous last words... This then is the sort of backdrop I am referring to in this article. The subject matter is so vast for such a short article in any event but fun to look back on nevertheless.
I often wonder if the folk around at that time ever thought of what the future held. The simple,uncomplicated life – gone forever. All in the name of progress. There is a saying out there, necessity is the mother of invention – Hmmm , I wonder.... . Just the two developments I have mentioned were mind boggling !!
Here we have Oom Hendrik ditching his oxen and jumping on a shiny new contraption called a tractor (or trekker) as he would call it , zooming up and down his land, ripping, ploughing and planting his lands in double quick time and in some cases, allowing him to plant multiple crops in a season.... the comical side of the serious march forward.
I will continue this look at life and technology in the coming issues and look forward to sharing with you as we go forward!
The old refrigerator!
Tom Raymond is a radio presenter, a avid technology freak who enjoys all avenues of technology and the progress throughout the ages!
The old days ... the cooler room!