Asklemmy

43963 readers

1373 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
[email protected]: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

What's the piece of technology that has impacted the modern world the most? (lemm.ee)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

39 comments fedilink hide all child comments

If you ask me? Mobile/WiFi internet... The way and amount of time we use our phones had changed A LOT since their diffusion. I guess the release of the iPhone changed our idea of what a phone is too

Edit: when I say modern world I'm referring to the last 50 years. So stuff like "the electricity" or "the telephone" doesn't count.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Transistors is the defacto answer. We wouldn't have anything we have now without them.

Oh you say but what about (this thing) that doesn't have any in it? The factory it was mass produced in runs on transistors.

Going down the list of comments in this post:
Telephones. Always had transistors.
Internet. Obvious.
Coal. Everything from the trucks to the converors, to the systems that track production, and all the transportation involved after uses them.
Washing machines also use them even if they're not the stupid "smart" machines people buy for some reason.

Edit. If you're in anyway curious about transistors here's a new video from Asianometry about them:
https://youtu.be/k8cdByDa3oA?si=5B4tgJjP7X7jIuhT

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Something worth repeating is that transistors are a direct application of quantum mechanics. Quantum physics isn't a metaphysical thing about half dead cats and working only on a few ultra cold atoms. If you want to explain how a piece of silicium can be conductive or insulating depending on it's polarisation you need... Quantum physics.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Holes and dots.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

its* polarization (or polarisation, in your part of the world.)