The little conveniences
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 10:35 am
I had a thought today, and thought I'd go fishing for other people's thoughts.
We live in an amazing age, with the modern technology and big changes like a computer that's also a phone, fits in your pocket, always knows within some feet where on the planet it is and how to get everywhere else and is controlled perfectly by only your voice and even does simultaneous translation and stuff like that, BUT...the little changes, the little conveniences that just make life more...convenient, they happen all the time. We hardly perceive them until, one day, we have grown used to them.
I'll give the examples that checked my ticket on this train of thought and I'd like to hear more, after all, finding out about this sort of stuff is half the fun.
Example the first: Pre-cut baking paper (or "pan liner").
In the past, using baking paper, the anti-stick paper that goes between the baking tray and whatever you bake, like a pizza or something, would involve more or less carefully unrolling however much one needed, trying to tear it off with the insta-blunting serrated edge of the cardboard box it comes in or some other surface edge at hand. This would inevitably not work, instead of a nice, straight tear it would tear at an angle and you'd either end up using two triangles of the stuff or root through your kitchen for that pair of scissors that is just NEVER there when you just need it (I have grown accustomed to keeping as much as three pairs in my tiny six square foot kitchen, and still the same problem), thus ending up wasting not just the paper but also precious time which this stuff is supposed to preserve by keeping the oven clean and everything. Now, over here, just in the last year, pre-cut has pretty much entirely displaced the old endless rolls. It makes sense, household ovens are pretty much the same size, if it's cut too big (like for my tiny tabletop oven) you can quickly and easily fold it to size. It saves time and paper, so it's even good for the environment. Not to mention saving me from many moments of "Argh, fuck, this always happens...". Fixes for the little things that always happen are very, very cool.
Example the second: Autocomplete
Not a game changing technology, not a biggie or anything (tough I'm sure technologically an impressive feat of it's own), but just so GOOD. Yes, I know, it's a sign of terminal laziness not wanting to type an entire term into the search box of Wikipedia or Google, but it's SO much more than that (though, conveniently enough, that too). Half the time, I'm looking for something which I'm not sure of as to how it is spelled, or even how the complete name is - autocomplete's suggestions take care of that in an instant. Even pointing out related items which I previously wasn't aware off but which share a similar name. The evil twin of the disambiguation page, so to speak, suggesting not topics with an identical, or almost identical name, but topics which may be entirely unrelated but whose name starts the same. And on top of that, the suggestions are sometimes so interesting in themselves, they lead me to further knowledge expansions. Bonus!
Example the third: The majestic SEEDLESS WATERMELON
Recently, I've taken to eating more watermelon than I used to.
The local supermarkets sell most of it pre-cut, as few people want to buy an entire melon (stupif people). I noticed that some of the pieces on display, on some days all of them, had little or no seeds visible like, at all. Any seed that were there were tiny and of the white, soft kind that you don't even notice when eating. I bought a whole one (the lady went to the stores in the back to get it for me) and was pleasantly surprised that, again, the thing with the seeds. I didn't think much about it, being much to pre-occupied with chomping lusciously into watermelon without having to either carefully sort out the seeds with my tongue or fear of biting on them. I assumed it was harvested early or something. But the other day, I walked past a Turkish grocery store (supermarkets have driven pretty much all grocery stores but those specializing in catering to the Turkish community here out long ago) and was confronted with a true mountaint of delicious, inviting, tempting watermelons. All much bigger than my big head, some of the oblong kind bigger than my chest. One or two even bigger than my recently wheelchair-sitting enlarged belly. But I picked a spherical one, it was the same color as the last one with the seed situation I had been so pleased with. When paying, I was surprised to learn that I had actually picked, yes, a seedless watermelon. And unlike seedless red grapes, which taste nothing like as good as proper red grapes, the seedless watermelon is fucking delicious! Just delicious, careless face-stuffing with no worry about seeds, this isn't on the top of my list only because you're supposed to keep the best for last (If I had to trade, I'd trade in pre-cut baking paper for seedless watermelon in an instant).
I'm sure I'm not the only one noticing the little conveniences, I'd like to hear of yours!
We live in an amazing age, with the modern technology and big changes like a computer that's also a phone, fits in your pocket, always knows within some feet where on the planet it is and how to get everywhere else and is controlled perfectly by only your voice and even does simultaneous translation and stuff like that, BUT...the little changes, the little conveniences that just make life more...convenient, they happen all the time. We hardly perceive them until, one day, we have grown used to them.
I'll give the examples that checked my ticket on this train of thought and I'd like to hear more, after all, finding out about this sort of stuff is half the fun.
Example the first: Pre-cut baking paper (or "pan liner").
In the past, using baking paper, the anti-stick paper that goes between the baking tray and whatever you bake, like a pizza or something, would involve more or less carefully unrolling however much one needed, trying to tear it off with the insta-blunting serrated edge of the cardboard box it comes in or some other surface edge at hand. This would inevitably not work, instead of a nice, straight tear it would tear at an angle and you'd either end up using two triangles of the stuff or root through your kitchen for that pair of scissors that is just NEVER there when you just need it (I have grown accustomed to keeping as much as three pairs in my tiny six square foot kitchen, and still the same problem), thus ending up wasting not just the paper but also precious time which this stuff is supposed to preserve by keeping the oven clean and everything. Now, over here, just in the last year, pre-cut has pretty much entirely displaced the old endless rolls. It makes sense, household ovens are pretty much the same size, if it's cut too big (like for my tiny tabletop oven) you can quickly and easily fold it to size. It saves time and paper, so it's even good for the environment. Not to mention saving me from many moments of "Argh, fuck, this always happens...". Fixes for the little things that always happen are very, very cool.
Example the second: Autocomplete
Not a game changing technology, not a biggie or anything (tough I'm sure technologically an impressive feat of it's own), but just so GOOD. Yes, I know, it's a sign of terminal laziness not wanting to type an entire term into the search box of Wikipedia or Google, but it's SO much more than that (though, conveniently enough, that too). Half the time, I'm looking for something which I'm not sure of as to how it is spelled, or even how the complete name is - autocomplete's suggestions take care of that in an instant. Even pointing out related items which I previously wasn't aware off but which share a similar name. The evil twin of the disambiguation page, so to speak, suggesting not topics with an identical, or almost identical name, but topics which may be entirely unrelated but whose name starts the same. And on top of that, the suggestions are sometimes so interesting in themselves, they lead me to further knowledge expansions. Bonus!
Example the third: The majestic SEEDLESS WATERMELON
Recently, I've taken to eating more watermelon than I used to.
The local supermarkets sell most of it pre-cut, as few people want to buy an entire melon (stupif people). I noticed that some of the pieces on display, on some days all of them, had little or no seeds visible like, at all. Any seed that were there were tiny and of the white, soft kind that you don't even notice when eating. I bought a whole one (the lady went to the stores in the back to get it for me) and was pleasantly surprised that, again, the thing with the seeds. I didn't think much about it, being much to pre-occupied with chomping lusciously into watermelon without having to either carefully sort out the seeds with my tongue or fear of biting on them. I assumed it was harvested early or something. But the other day, I walked past a Turkish grocery store (supermarkets have driven pretty much all grocery stores but those specializing in catering to the Turkish community here out long ago) and was confronted with a true mountaint of delicious, inviting, tempting watermelons. All much bigger than my big head, some of the oblong kind bigger than my chest. One or two even bigger than my recently wheelchair-sitting enlarged belly. But I picked a spherical one, it was the same color as the last one with the seed situation I had been so pleased with. When paying, I was surprised to learn that I had actually picked, yes, a seedless watermelon. And unlike seedless red grapes, which taste nothing like as good as proper red grapes, the seedless watermelon is fucking delicious! Just delicious, careless face-stuffing with no worry about seeds, this isn't on the top of my list only because you're supposed to keep the best for last (If I had to trade, I'd trade in pre-cut baking paper for seedless watermelon in an instant).
I'm sure I'm not the only one noticing the little conveniences, I'd like to hear of yours!