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What's the year in the USA (in the southeast)?

Answer is at the end (don't peek)

You have no idea of how good you have it today!

No TV and no air conditioning

There was AM radio (FM just starting), but no TV.

There were vacuum tubes, but no transistors.

There were no computers and no microwave ovens.

Non-black-and-white movies were just beginning.

There were kerosene space heaters and electric blankets, but no air conditioning.

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Twelve years after this year, there was...

Telephoning long-distance by using several operators for $3.70 for the first three minutes and about a dollar a minute after that, depending on the distance. It's was cheaper on Sunday.

In today's (2021) dollars $3.70 in that year would cost $35.96.

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No turn signals. brake lights, or seat belts

Cars were generally not equipped with turn signals and often not even brake lights. For stopping, the driver would hang the left arm out the window pointing downward. If making a left turn, the arm was held straight out. For a right turn, the arm would point skyward. 

Seat belts were generally not available.

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There were no vaccines for...

Polio,

Flu,

Diphtheria,

Tetanus,

Yellow fever,

Measles,

Rubella,

Mumps, and

Rabies.

Penicillin was just introduced.

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Women did not have...

Birth control pills.

Legal abortions.

Access to most jobs other than being a nurse, a secretary, a school teacher, or a housewife.

Men did not have...

Freedom from military conscription

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There was no atomic bomb, but...

There was no atomic bomb,

but synthetic rubber has just arrived.

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What they ate (and didn't)

A lot of canned goods, both store-bought and home-canned.

Very little fresh food except from private gardens.

A lot of potatoes and onions and other root vegetables.

Maybe people ate at a restaurant a few times per year.

Some chicken and ground beef. Eggs. Milk.

No pizza.

No yogurt.

No fast-food restaurants.

No Japanese, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Mexican, or French restaurants.

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Want to fly one-way from Washington, D.C. to London?

Flying on a DC-4, it'll take you almost 18 hours and cost you $380 before tax ($5,689 in today's dollars).

Domestic postage is 3 cents (45 cents); airmail on a DC-4 is 6 cents (90 cents).

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Want to play music?

You can play music using the 78-rpm record and record player. The 33 rpm and 45 rpm records and players have not been invented yet.

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In that year No One in the world had...

  • A cassette, cassette player, or cassette recorder

  • An 8-track tape, player, or recorder

  • A CD, player, or recorder

  • A VHS tape, player, or recorder

  • A VCR disk, player, or recorder

  • A DVD disk, player, or recorder

  • Walkmans

  • Ipods

  • Mp3 players

  • A flash disk, player, or recorder

  • Streaming music or audio

  • Napster

  • Downloadable music or audio

  • Electric keyboards

In that year No One in the world had...

  • Color TV

  • Cable TV

  • Satellite TV

  • Captions

  • Digital cameras

  • Camcorders

  • Streaming movies and videos

  • Downloadable movies and videos

  • Video recording devices

In that year No One in the world had...

  • No area codes and country codes

  • Direct-dial long-distance calling within countries

  • Direct-dial calling around the world

  • Conference calling

  • Telephone answering machines

  • Call waiting

  • Voice messaging

  • Immediate voice messaging

  • Mobile phones

  • Satellite phones

  • Texting

  • Calling and videoing around the world for free with just an Internet connection (Skype, Facetime, Google Voice, Wechat, Whatsapp)

  • Smart mobile phones​

In that year No One in the world had...

  • Zip codes

  • One-day package delivery around the world

  • Container shipping

  • High-speed trains

  • Meituan

  • Doordash

  • Electric cars

  • Uber and Didi

  • GPS

In that year No One in the world had...

  • Computers

  • Mainframe computers

  • IBM computers

  • Calculators (they used hand calculation, slide rules, and logarithm tables)

  • Mini-computers

  • Computer dial ups

  • Micro-computers

  • PCs

  • Laptops

  • Tablet computers

  • Apple

  • Microsoft

In that year No One in the world could shop online with...

  • Amazon.com

  • Taobao.com (China)

  • eBay.com

  • Etsy.com

  • InspireUplift.com

  • Overstock.com

  • Wish.com

  • Alibaba.com

  • Aliexpress.com

  • Walmart.com

  • Sears.com

  • Kohls.com

  • Costco.com

  • Target.com

  • Asos.com

  • Brooklinen.com

  • BHLDN.com

  • Cuyana.com

  • Konga.com

  • Jumia.com

  • Wayfair.com

  • Genuine-People.com

  • Everlane.com

  • Garmentory.com

  • Adidas.com

  • FreePeople.com

  • Zappos.com

 

In that year No One in the world could contact and communicate with almost anyone else in the world by using...

Facebook

Zoom

Whatsapp

Wechat

VooV

Facetime

Twitter

Instagram

Snapchat

Pinterest

Linkedn

Nextdoor

Classmates

Vero

Skype

Clubhouse

Goodreads

Couchsurfing

Virtualtourist

Vimeo

MeWe

Bumble

Tinder 

OKCupid         

Hinge 

Coffee Meets Bagel   

Happn

The League    

Her     

Clover 

Plenty of Fish 

Match 

eHarmony      

In that year No One in the world could get information, training, and have questions answered almost instantly by using...

  • Google

  • Baidu

  • Wikipedia

  • WebMD

  • Examine

  • NutritionFacts

  • TED

  • Youtube

  • CNET

  • Khan Academy

  • Ebooks (Kindle)

  • Codeacademy

  • Skillshare

  • Maps.Google

  • Answers

  • StackExchange

  • Quora

  • HowStuffWorks

  • And thousands of other information sources

In that year No One in the world could get their heart replaced or survive many other conditions...

  • Laparoscopic surgery was generally unavailable

  • Heart transplants

  • Kidney dialysis

  • Liver dialysis

In that year No One in the world could play games or enjoy VR adventures (they had only solitaire, bridge, chess, scrabble, etc)...

Console games: Sony Playstation and Microsoft Xbox

Computer games: Valorant and Tekken 7

Online games: PUBG and League of Legends

Smartphone games: Pokémon GO and Candy Crush Saga

Oculus Quest 2: Walkabout Mini Golf and Supernatural

In that year No One in the world could enjoy using any of these home appliances

  • Deep freezers

  • Rice cookers

  • Top-loading automatic dishwashers 

  • Clothes dryers (for the average person)

  • Juicers (for the average person)

  • Blenders (for the average person)

  • Automatic coffee pot

  • Steam irons

  • Microwaves

  • Coffee percolator

  • Food processor

  • Induction cooker

  • Circuit breaker (for the average person)

  • Electric pressure cooker

  • Electronic timers

  • Crock Pot (slow cooker)

  • Yogurt makers

  • Air fryers

  • Robo vacuums

In that year No One in the world could get or receive or invest money electronically (and so easily)...

  • Debit cards

  • Credit cards

  • ATMs

  • Paypal

  • Apple pay

  • Epay

  • Bitcoin

  • Capital One banking app

  • Charles Schwab online investing

In that year No One in the world had access to all these fitness tools and apps...

  • Scuba diving

  • Rebounders

  • Gyms generally available for workouts

  • Stationery bicycles (for the average person)

  • Treadmills (for the average person)

  • Whole-body vibration machines

  • Red-light therapy machines

  • Biometric fitness measuring devices

  • Sleep measuring devices

In that year No One in the world had access to all these great ways to make travel easier, cheaper, and more fun...

  • Interstate highway system

  • GPS guidance and online maps

  • Airbnb

  • Couchsurfing

  • Virtualtoursit​

  • Inexpensive airfares

  • Trip.com

  • Skyscanner.com

  • Expedia.com

  • Tripadvisor.com

  • Uber

  • Hotels.com

  • Yelp.com

  • Cruises.com

  • Mobile phone translation apps

  • Gapyear.com

  • Thewonderlusters.com

In that year No One in the world could take advantage of these safety and security products and services...

  • Handicap person radio message alarm

  • Baby monitor

  • Home-security video monitor

  • 991 dialing

  • Seat belts as standard

  • No smoking in public places

  • Anti-stalking laws (in many countries)

  • Password protection for safes, doors, and other access points

In that year No One in the world could easily and almost without cost broadcast their text, voice, music, photo, or video to potentially billions of people...

  • Kindle books

  • Facebook

  • Vimeo

  • Blogs

  • Vlogs

  • Podcasts

  • Webinars

  • Email broadcasts

  • Websites (like AskDwightHow)

  • Internet radio

In that year No One in the world had a device that could...

  • Smart mobile phones with various apps (examples)

    • Make and receive telephone calls by radio waves

    • Texting send or receive 

    • Stickers send or receive

    • Voice message send or receive 

    • Translate Chinese text messages into English 

    • Translate English voice into text and send 

    • Saved photo send or receive 

    • Live photo send or receive

    • Photos take 

    • Videos take 

    • Money send or receive with friend 

    • Money QR code send or receive vendor 

    • Video chat with friend/business 

    • Voice chat with a friend/business 

    • Three+ ways calls with others 

    • Create/join a wechat group where all messages are shared 

    • Post photos, videos, text to share with all wechat friends 

    • GPS fixed location send or receive 

    • GPS real-time location send or receive or check 

    • Clock

    • Timer

    • Alarm

    • Current date

    • Calendar check 

    • Task management 

    • Order and pay for Uber or Didi 

    • Keep track of real-time location with GPS 

    • Wechat friend-card send or receive to or from another wechat friend 

    • Scan information code 

    • Scan COVID status code to certify health 

    • Pay for subway 

    • Pay for taxi 

    • Order and pay for sit-down meal

    • Order food delivery 

    • Record voice 

    • Record wechat voice call (app)

    • Take notes (app)

    • Make calls on Skype 

    • Make Zoom or VooV video and share meetings 

    • Learning course (app)

    • Buying stock (app)

    • Personal accounting (app)

    • Shopping (app)

    • Use browser to do almost anything you can do on a computer (browser)

    • Interpret English voice to Chinese voice (app)

    • Interpret Chinese voice to English voice (app)

    • Interpret English voice to Chinese text (app)

    • Interpret Chinese voice to English text (app)

    • Scan English text and translate to Chinese text (app)

    • Scan Chinese text and translate to English text (app)

    • Translate English text to Chinese text (app)

    • Translate Chinese text to English text (app)

    • Play music (app)

    • Read books (app)

    • Watch movies (app)

    • Singing karaoke (app)

    • Voice speak with actor video, with sound removed

    • Games (app)

    • Teaching (apps)

    • Chat with people nearby (wechat)

    • Compass (app)

    • Counts footsteps (app)

    • Mirror (app)

    • Flashlight (app)

    • Donate to beggar (wechat)

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Okay, enough hints! Here's the answer!

1944

from the day and the year I was born

...just 77 years and 28, 252 days ago...

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