Advances in technology

 

                                                     An earlier form of transportation, a train with a steam engine

When I got back from my Alaska cruise, I was happy to see the computer keyboard I had ordered waiting for me. Despite all those news reports about porch pirates, I was lucky. It was there waiting for me on my front porch. I had worried about the delivery date and fretted that it would come while I was away. Of course it did. Not that it is an expensive keyboard or anything but finding work arounds so that I could still use my desk top set up with its two screens was quickly getting old.

The two screens thing became popular a few years ago and definitely makes work easier but I'm reminded how computing has developed over the years. One of my screens is an old square shaped HP monitor from 2006, ancient in tech terms. But the length of time isn't that great especially when considering how long it took for other technological advances to change the world.

When I trace my own family's movements, advances in transportation come to the fore. My maternal grandfather worked for the London and Southwestern Railway before immigrating to Canada. Railways also played a part in his transportation to his new country. He first reached Canadian Shores on a CP Rail ship, the Empress of Ireland, before furthering his journey on a train to Saskatchewan. He made quicker progress than members of other family lines who had immigrated to Ontario and PEI much earlier.

My birth family's immigration to Canada was also influenced by changing times in the transportation industry. When WWII ended and my father left the RAF, he joined one of the airlines which were just getting off the ground. Marriage and children followed and, soon after, a transfer to Montreal. Needless to say our journey to North America was faster than my grandfather's but nowhere as quick as the flight today. Back then airplanes had propellers and there were frequent stops to refuel. Like a lot of other technology, there have been lots of advances in airliners since that time.

Although changes in transportation had a huge impact on our lives, other advances in technology had equal or larger parts to play. Things have changed exponentially in my lifetime. But that was also true for my father and grandfather. That's something to remember as I explore my family's history.