24-05-2025
15 Things Older Adults Never Imagined Would Exist But Do
Recently on Reddit, @Late-Confidence339 asked, "What are some things that exist today that you couldn't even imagine back in your day?" Older people flooded the post with thoughtful and very informative answers. Here are just 15 responses about things that it's hard to imagine weren't always a part of everyday life:
"If you had of told me back in the early 80s when I became a teenager that one day I could have a small box in my pocket that was not only a telephone but a compass, a torch, a camera, a recording studio, a newspaper, had maps (including satellite pictures) of the entire world and could guide me around them with pictures and voice commands, could house my entire record collection, that would hold my entire book collection, that would hold my entire videotape collection, that I could watch TV on (and not only that but watch TV that was on last night or last week or last month whenever I felt like it), could turn lights and heating in my home on and off when I am not there, could be flashed at a shopkeeper instead of using money, could have video calls with relatives on the other side of the globe with FOR FREE, and I could operate all of that just by talking to it (all this as well as being able to plug my guitar onto it)..."
"...I would've told you that you are a freaking idiot."—DaveFoucault"I don't know of anyone who had any idea smartphones would be a thing. Hell, even when they were first introduced, I thought they were just going to be a novelty device, not a staple of life. I sure got that one wrong."—OftenAmiable
"Medical advancements with DNA. A genetics test told my doctors that I have the BRCA1 gene mutation while I was going through breast cancer in 2016. I kicked its ass. Years later, in 2023, forensic genetic genealogy solved my aunt's unsolved murder from 1966. It was a serial killer that no one knew about."
"When I was in my late 20s, I remember telling my new wife, 'When we get rich, I am going to hire a full-time librarian to answer any question that comes up.' Well, 50 years later, I have not gotten rich (yet), but I send $5 to the Wikipedia Foundation every month, via PayPal, because I get my questions answered every day."
—BeBopBoy1945
"I am genuinely blown away by AI. Over the last few decades, we have gone through such fast innovation with regard to anything tech. But AI for me is such a giant leap forward. What I'm seeing today I couldn't have even imagined two years ago, never mind from when I was growing up."
"Being able to watch on my television anything I want whenever I want it."
—UserJH4202
"I'm in my early 60s. About 40 years ago, I was setting up my home entertainment system. Hi-Fi VCR, receiver, dual cassette deck, and my huge 40" TV. I told my wife I can't wait til they flatten out the TVs so I could just hang them on the wall. She told me it would never happen in my lifetime. I had put around $1500 into that setup. Sold it at a lawn sale for $100."
"I can talk, via WhatsApp or a cellphone, to someone on the other side of the world in real time, face-to-(digital)-face, for practically free. This is incredible. My middle school self, eagerly checking the mailbox for letters from my foreign pen-pal, couldn't have imagined this."
—candlestick_maker76
"Top Fuel dragsters & Funny Cars (used in drag racing) going sub-4 second runs at 330+ mph and shutting off at the 1,000HP mark, instead of going the full 1,320HP. I came from the age when those two classes were turning low six-second runs at 220 mph using the full quarter mile."
"I have a tune running in my head. I ask Siri what it is, and soon I'm playing it on of humming it all day and wondering what it is."
—Live-Ganache9273
"GPS. My father used to drive while my mother attempted to navigate with a big folding map that took up most of the front seat. She wasn't a good map reader, and he wasn't a good driver when he was frustrated. Now I just click the pin someone sent me and drive right to their location with a very calm voice telling me when to turn and have a clear map to follow on the screen. It still astounds me."
"The Hubble & James Webb Space telescopes. Being able to see space without the limitations of looking through Earth's atmosphere. When I was a kid, Jupiter had 12 moons. Now it has 95!"
—RudeOrganization550
"Digital cameras. Taking pictures without the use of film."
"Bar codes. I once worked in a supermarket and had to stamp prices on vegetable cans."
—TenAfterFive
"An entire aisle in the grocery store devoted to water. I get that a lot of places in the world (and a significant number of places in the US) don't have drinkable water, but I have reason to suspect that a LOT of folks are spending a fortune for bottled water when the stuff coming from the tap in their house is perfectly fine and served generations more than adequately."
Finally, "Working from home and online ordering for delivery. I used to be overwhelmed at trying to get everything done because my day involved commuting 50 minutes each way, taking breaks where I talked to the same people about the same things three times a day, desperate rushing to get the kids from daycare on time, and getting to the grocery store and figure out dinner. The only solution I could imagine was to reduce my work hours or hire a housekeeper. I could afford neither. Now I work from home, tidy the house on my breaks, and get groceries delivered to my door. I so wish this had been a thing when my kids were children."
Smiling young woman standing on doorway and getting food delivery from young man
Is there another item or societal staple that you never thought would exist but now can't live without? Let us know in the comments or the anonymous form below!
