Heritage: Biggest Invention of a Lifetime

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - For a member of Generation X, which has seen most inventions be luxury entertainment items such as video cassette recorders and portable music players, the question of what constitutes the most important technological advance of its lifetime is not a particularly compelling question. For someone of my grandparents' generation, which was born in the first quarter of the 20th century before widespread indoor plumbing or electrical distribution, the question is considerably more profound.

In previous conversations with my paternal grandparents here in Kennewick, they had expressed the opinion that the technological advance that created the greatest change in their lives had been radio. Before the advent of radio, both their ability to hear news from outside the eastern portion of Washington state where they lived and their forms of entertainment had been radically different. Their citing of radio was especially interesting considering the fact that television has since completely supplanted radio in both roles in their lives.

On this visit, I asked a slightly different question--what invention did the most to make life easier. The answer again came through very clearly--the washing machine. Where previously each garment had to be processed individually, even if there were some mechanical aids before, the washing machine allowed an entire load to be completed at once, a major time-saver that even the dishwasher did not match.

Arguably, the availability of electricity was really the underlying invention that led not only to the washing machine but lighting, refrigeration, automatic dishwashers and eventually all of the modern home appliances. However, my grandmother was pretty clear that in terms of saving time as a housekeeper, her choice was the washing machine.

So what would my choice be? I think that one is also pretty clear--the same technology you are using right now to read this essay also allows people to stay in touch with lost friends and acquaintances worldwide, form interest communities, and find obscure out-of-town news and facts--the Internet wins.