Upside

22

Technology—A Language Best Spoken by the Young?

ONE HUNDRED YEARS ago, when the first members of the G.I. Generation were turning 10 years old, the one invention against which all others are often compared hadn’t even been invented yet.

Any guesses as to what I may be referring to?

Perhaps the expression has become a tad archaic, but I am referring to “sliced bread,” as in “that’s the greatest thing since . . .” Hard to believe, but while the pop-up toaster first came to market in 1919, sliced bread didn’t make the scene until 1928.

But those first ten years of the G.I. Generation’s entry into the world were marked by numerous other technological advances. The previous decades’ advancements in electrical engineering were finally being applied ...