Now that we live in an age where we have a device in our pocket that can do everything from monitor our blood pressure to remotely boil the kettle, we forget about the days when we had to do things like write cheques or set the video to record or go to the library and open an encyclopedia to look up a fact.
We've lived through so many amazing advances that we barely notice them now, but can you remember any that felt incredible at the time? They've been talking about this on the AskUK subreddit after user Ok-Friend-5304 asked this:
Do you remember a technical leap forward that seems run of the mill now but felt mind-blowing at the time? I was just thinking about the first time I saw Sky+. Specifically pausing TV.
Pausing TV. I mean, TV was just waves in the air. They were ephemeral, they couldn't wait for you. Of course now I know it was just recording the show but at the time it blew my mind.
Unfortunately my mum was a bit of a neighbourhood socialite and the phone/doorbell were forever ringing during TV evenings so all this meant was that we now spent 45 minutes watching a pause screen while she got rid of Auntie So-And-So. Blessing and a curse and all that, haha.
What do you quite specifically remember blowing your mind?
Lots of people chipped in with their memories of the times it felt like the future had arrived, like these...
'I remember an advert for an early internet phone (they weren't quite 'smart' phones yet) and it showed accessing eBay or Amazon or something. The person I was with at the time said 'Why would you want internet on your phone? The screen is so small'. Oh, how times have changed.'
-PsychologicalDrone
'Digital cameras - no more sending your film off to Bonusprint and waiting a week for the results to come back.'
-Mog_X34
'Being able to easily flick through songs on a CD compared to a cassette or record was incredible for me.'
-RhubarbSalty3588
'The Ceefax/Teletext machine. Didn't use it much until it was on TV itself, but it was amazing and the first step towards the internet in homes. You could get news, weather, cinema times etc at the touch of a few buttons and a bit of a wait for it to warm up...'
-methough1
'Dial-up to ADSL. You mean to tell or you can watch a video online without having to wait a day for it to download?'
-Sad-Garage-2642
'My dad had a car with inbuilt SatNav in 1999. It was amazing the voice in the car knew where you were and where you were going.'
-jaymatthewbee
'My first PC had a feature where you could select an option on it and the CD tray would come out. Using a computer to move something in the physical world blew my mind for some reason.'
-Ill_Refrigerator_593
'Spectrum to Megadrive in 1990ish. Sitting in my dark bedroom playing Sonic for the first time, the colours blew my little brain away.'
-ScottyDug
'WiFi! Seemed like magic at the time but now it's part of the fabric of life, apparently.'
-hsw77
'I remember the days of having pages of printed out Google maps when venturing to a new city with friends to find venues of gigs we were going to.'
-Zutsky
'The first time I played a Wii I was blown away. The controller, and the different ways it could be used was just incredible. Me and all my friends became absolute pros at frisbee golf over the years.'
-PralineMinimum8111
'I remember my primary school having one or two desktop computers for the whole school to share. When we suddenly got some funding, they invested in some laptops, which felt so futuristic and high tech for us kids.'
-PsychologicalDrone