Thanks, Technology! Six Things We No Longer Have to Deal With in Modern Life

This post is presented in partnership with Invisalign.

Parents love to say we don't know how good we've got it. Fact is, they're probably right.

"Kids today" don't have to deal with smallpox, unconvincing CGI in their King Kong movies, or, generally, the music of Shawn Mullins.

That's not to say young Australians have it all good, all the time. However, it's probably worth remembering the awkward things we no longer have to deal with. Here are six examples that’ll make you say, “thanks, technology.”

1. Map Books

So, you’re on a road trip, or maybe just driving down an unfamiliar street late at night, and you finally come to a realisation: you have no idea where you are. If this was the ‘90s, you’d have to turn down your No Doubt cassette, take off your bucket hat and fish for the map book under the backseat (probably buried under a sea of dead Tamagotchis). Now, you can pull out your phone, plug in the coordinates and have a calming robotic voice guide you to your destination. In fact, you wouldn’t have gotten lost if you’d done that to begin with. Onwards!

2. Video Stores

In the not so distant past, if you were in the mood for a particular movie, you’d have to put on shoes, drive to a video store and hope someone else hadn’t already rented it out. And though a visit to a video store could be a wondrous, wandering experience for film lovers, it usually meant most of your night was spent strolling down aisles (and when you got home, it was usually with some other movie than the one you wanted). With the arrival of streaming services and online downloads, you can check out whatever you want, whenever you want.

3. Metal Braces

Orthodontics has come a long way over the years. So much so, there's now an alternative to braces that you don't even need to keep in your mouth 24/7 to permanently straighten your smile. With the advent of removable aligners, like Invisalign aligners, people can adjust their teeth and still eat their favourite foods whenever they please. Beautiful!

4. Paper Cash

Leading experts are saying Australia could be done with physical money as soon as 2020, but most Aussies can already get away with a cashless life. Your local farmers market has tap-and-go facilities these days. The era of hoping you have enough small change in your pocket for parking is also a distant memory. The future is now.

5. Floppy Disks

‘member Floppy Disks? These bad boys could impressively hold 1.44mb of data. Or, to put it in more relatable terms, about half of an Ed Sheeran song, or, nine seconds of Westworld. But, back in the day, floppy disks were the only way to transfer documents (or tiny games) to your friends’ computers. Now, you can simply throw your data into the Cloud and download at will. Yes, even a full Ed Sheeran song. What a time to be alive.

6. Dial-up Modems

Does this sound familiar?

Enough said.

Not sure if the Invisalign System will work for you? Take a look at what teeth straightening issues Invisalign treatment can help you with, how Invisalign treatment has helped other patients, and the different Invisalign treatment options for teenagers. Find out more.

Photo: NBC