<p>This is a very low-tech niche market kind of thing.</p>
<p>Something all quilters can’t do without:</p>
<p>Rotary cutters, mats, rulers</p>
<p>Changed the way quilters worked back in the 1980s. :)</p>
<p>Without a doubt - TIVO! The people who designed it not only nailed the customer need but also created an extremely user-friendly user interface. Even the shape of of the remote is comfortable - which is important because when you watch TV you always want to have the Tivo remote in your hand so that you can instantly pause it. </p>
<p>We also have a digital DVR on one of the TVs, but it is no match to the Tivo system.</p>
<p>I think the most important invention in the last hundred years for women is the automatic washing machine. Take a moment, sisters, to think about how our lives would be different without it.</p>
<p>Disposable diapers come in a close second.</p>
<p>The flat iron for hair. Also those round blower brushes. </p>
<p>GPS - no more getting lost in the car</p>
<p>convection ovens/double ovens/microwave ovens</p>
<p>Answering machines/voicemail</p>
<p>
Dude you hit that nail on the head. I had TiVO at my old spot, but when I moved back home here for a couple months, I convinced my dad to get DirecTV with DVR, and TiVo is 30 times better IMO.</p>
<p>Other inventions I love are the cell phone, digital music players, air conditioning, and the “show your tits” phenomenon.</p>
<p>Interesting web site on various inventions:</p>
<p><a href=“Inventors and Inventions: D - Enchanted Learning”>Inventors and Inventions: D - Enchanted Learning;
<p>We love the robotic vacuum cleaner, Roomba!</p>
<p>I must live in the Dark Ages as I do not even know what TiVo is.</p>
<p>The only things on this thread that I actually own are the cell phone, washing machine, answering machine and my D has the flat iron (replaced many times).</p>
<p>Oh, and yes, once used disposable diapers. </p>
<p>Do not have AC, digital music player (kids have IPods though), robotic vacuum cleaner (not sure what this is), TiVo, convection oven, GSP, digital DVR (not sure what that is actually), or the quilting supplies.
(I do have electricity in case you’re wonderin’, lol)</p>
<p>Caller ID!!!
iPod
music downloads
online license renewal/replacement!!</p>
<p>Roshke, have you tried the new ovens that combine convection with microwave? They cook food in one-quarter to half the time. No hint that microwaves are involved. The most perfect chicken, turkey and roasts in a fraction of the time. Crisp skin, moist meat. I honestly don’t remember how I survived with one!</p>
<p>Here’s a website for the robotic vacuum cleaner.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=95[/url]”>http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=95</a></p>
<p>can’t live without: hot running water/shower, flush toilets, eyeglasses, washing machine, automobile, air conditioning, microwave oven</p>
<p>great time savers: disposable diapers, velcro fasteners on little kids shoes, dishwasher, no-iron fabrics, superhighways, airplanes</p>
<p>great pain savers: epidural anesthesia, modern dentistry</p>
<p>also, I’ve noted significant progress in, um, “feminine products” since the 70s–but still hate the ads</p>
<p>cell phones: When second son was first driving, he would sometimes get lost, but he could call home and find out how to get where he needed to go. It also makes it much cheaper to keep in contact when he is at college.</p>
<p>computer and Internet: an obvious one, of course. However, without it, I would have to go out somewhere to work. Now my commute to work involves walking across the living room to the computer. And for writing, how wonderful to be able to make changes without having to use correction fluid or retype the whole thing.</p>
<p>TiVO must really be good, because we have DVR with our TimeWarner Cable and we think it’s mah-velous. :)</p>
<p>As another person who has experienced the TiVo/DVR difference, I will say that TiVo is a lot more user friendly. However, paying $40 a month for it is another matter entirely. For what it’s worth, my year with TiVo was not so impressive as to encourage me to tell my parents to upgrade from the DVR we have. That said, the general pause/rewind/record technology is invaluable; whenever we’re at a hotel or another house, we have the hardest time not being able to properly play the “Did he just say what I think he said?!” game.</p>
<p>I consider electronic technology to be a mixed blessing – it’s certainly made our lives easier (I grew up on computers; my grandpa let me play on his when I was old enough to read), but it’s also made them increasingly complex in other ways. Now you are expected to be reachable at all times – email, cell phones, fax, et cetera, et cetera. If you’re not? You’re behind the times. There’s something to be said for being “unplugged” once in a while.</p>
<p>I think my favorite invention (aside from those that have already been mentioned – gotta admit mornings would not come so early without hot showers) is the Ziploc bag. When they seal, they seal well, and they preserve my food, my papers, my knick-knacks – anything and everything, especially now that they’re branching into the SpaceBag size.</p>
<p>Wifi!!!</p>
<p>Wifi!!!</p>
<p>What’s amazing to me about the Internet is how easy it’s made my job. Most of the local town zoning codes (searchable too!) are now on line and all their building department forms. It makes my life soooo much easier.</p>
<p>I don’t need hate my cell phone though it’s occassionally useful. I feel no need for caller ID or Tivo.</p>
<p>I liked diaper service even better than disposable diapers. I think pull-ups were the devil’s invention.</p>
<p>I live in the south, but am an avid skiier. Thank heavens for Thinsulate, fleece and hot hands (hand warmers for inside the gloves). No longer do I have to ski in layers of clothes tha make me look like a blimp and move like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz. Ski clothes are warm, thin and easy to maneuver in. And dry. Ahh. Almost forgot. Add wicking clothes to the list. (they help with night sweats too 
)</p>