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Engineering that changed my life.

Lisa Miles
Here's a bit of Friday fun for everyone. smiley


Tell us the top three feats of Engineering and Technology that you consider to have made most impact in your own life and why.


I'll start with mine...


1 - The internet - goes without saying that this has probably had the biggest impact on most peoples lives not only mine! From increased knowledge and communication with the rest of the world to the simple act of being able to buy goods without leaving your own home... yes


2 - Medical Imaging - without it, I wouldn't be here today....


3 - The motor car - having a car and being able to drive opens up a whole world of opportunities. smiley


So what's yours?

  • 0
    Because of the divsion of labour in our house, I do the "cleaning type things" my top ones are:


    1: The vacuum cleaner.


    2: The washing machine.


    3: The dishwasher.


    4: As a leisure bonus I'm also going to go with MP3 technology.


    B/R


    David


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    Ahhh MP3!  Yes absolutely! Having your entire music collection on a small device that you can take anywhere with you! yes


    Incidentally I met with Dr Chiariglione of MPEG a number of years ago, and organised and filmed an interview with him which you can watch here. wink
  • 0
    Right then...I will take your challenge on Lisa...this might get a bit deep...
    1. The thermionic valve. Without this there would be no electronics industry (I'm not convinced the transistor would have developed without the valve happening first), and without the electronics industry I probably wouldn't have become an engineer.

    • The printing press. My life would have been totally different without books for a huge range of reasons.

    • I'm going to cheat and wrap two together - and in fact there are several more here: Chemotherapy and radiotherapy equipment, without which my wife would no longer be with me.


    Those who know me well will probably be surprised that I have not put in anything about railways (steam or otherwise) or any musical instrument (or sound equipment). But I think those above are the biggest.


    Bother, I just remembered another one:
    1. Adrenaline injections, without which I wouldn't be here either after that time in 1984 I discovered that I was allergic to peanuts...


    Oh dear, this has all got a bit morbid, hopefully someone will come along with some nice cheerful ones!


    Tell you what, here's three that didn't change my life as dramatically as the above, but definitely made it more enjoyable:
    1. The piano (2nd place: assorted guitar type instruments)

    • The engineering process of turning a tea plant into a cup of tea

    • The fridge



    Cheers,


    Andy
  • 0

    The fridge



    Oh yes Andy Millar‍, the fridge, definitely the fridge... laugh wink
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    Blimey, the thermionic valve! There is something about those devices that speaks beyond technical efficiency. For like-minded Poindexters*, there is a William Gibson short story - "The Gernsback Continuum” - which is all about the evocation and promise of a specific historical time, which valve technology somehow embodies. Having said that, valve-based audio amplifiers are back in vogue and very, very expensive.


    Thanks for the MPEG link Lisa. Back in the day, my Mum used to complain about my vinyl being strewn all over my bedroom. On that physical basis, these days mine and my wife’s music collection wouldn't actually fit into the house without digitisation.



     B/R



     David 



    * Taken from the best film ever made:  “The Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists"


  • 0
    laugh

    Adrian Brown:


     my first desk top PC had 50MB and my boss had a double removable brick set up to give a whopping 100MB because who would ever need more than that. 

     

    My first desktop computer had a 3GB hard drive which at the time was HUGE! laugh


    Nowadays I'm struggling with my PC at home as it only has a 40GB hard drive! I have a 2TB Cloud drive as well as another 1TB external hard drive, 1TB portable drive, two further 250GB drives and I'm rapidly running out of space for my photo collection! 


    Incidentally, I also met and interviewed the inventor of the flash drive (USB stick) Dov Moran. You can read all about it, and watch the video here.  blush laugh


    Lisa

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