Changes worth celebrating, that have happened in my lifetime

[Lullabelle]

Camembert ,brie , croissants, petits pain au chocolat in British shops.

 

[snorri]

Greatly improved household heating systems, no ice on the inside of bedroom windows on a winter morning.
Domestic refrigerators at prices which make them available to (almost) all, no need to smell the milk before tasting.
Vast improvements in efficiency of weatherproof clothing

 

[theclaud]

I'm not bothered about heavy metal music.

 

[Smudge]

Motorcycle clothing is immeasurably better than the crap we had to put up with in the 70's & early 80's. Gore tex, cordura, thinsulate, kevlar fabric, body armour and airflow clothing have all made riding motorcycles more comfortable and protective.

 

[HMS_Dave]

on smoking, banning smoking on the tube - which came in before general restrictions.
what the hell were they thinking ever allowing that?
(I miss the wonder of pubs/bars on the underground though)

That's nothing I remember being in the car with my dad in the 80s and my late granddad smoking his pipe at the petrol station while my dad was filling up and tapping the end of his pipe to empty it out on the edge of the pump! 😳 I believe the first words over the tannoy was to the effect of 'in the name of God!" It is a family story we laugh at now but not then!

 

[Globalti]

I was a 70s and 80s motorcyclist. I'd love to have some gear that is warm and dry. I used to finish winter trips in a state of hypothermia.

I'll nominate:

LEDs.
Goretex sports wear.
Better batteries.
The www and free phone calls.
Carbon fibre.
Good AC in cars.
The coffee revival.
Much lighter clothing.
Digital radio and TV.
VOC - free paints.
Safer cars with lower emissions.
Smoking ban.
Mobile phones.
GPS.
Better treatments of diseases.
Better insulated houses.
The dismantling of militant unionism.
Better workplace safety.

Enough?

 

[avecReynolds531]

Riding through streets of broken glass: before and after the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre.

 

[Drago]

The "things that have changed for the worse in your lifetime" thread. That's well worth celebrating.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

The Internet

Bicycle engineering

Automatic Washing Machines (yes - I'm that old)

 

[avecReynolds531]

...Arsene Wenger introducing the idea of eating broccoli to professional athletes...

...and at the same time, revolutionising football in England...

...and quietly answering an infamous question: 'What does he know about English football, coming from Japan?' by winning the double at the first try...

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Bicycle engineering

Not sure I have really seen anything 'New' in the last 60 years, just variants of the same old engineering

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Colour television (and I don’t care if you don’t have one!)

 

[Bazzer]

That's nothing I remember being in the car with my dad in the 80s and my late granddad smoking his pipe at the petrol station while my dad was filling up and tapping the end of his pipe to empty it out on the edge of the pump! 😳 I believe the first words over the tannoy was to the effect of 'in the name of God!" It is a family story we laugh at now but not then!

A minor thread divert, but it is strange to look back on some events. My Dad used to smoke a pipe and on the 3 hour drive from our house to his parents, I remember several times him asking me to fill his pipe and start it for him. - I would have been aged under 12 at the time as he stopped smoking his pipe in the car around this time.
With hindsight I am not sure what was the more dangerous; me starting his pipe, the smoke in the car albeit with the window partly open, or us driving 120 miles each way across the Peak District to Lincolnshire sans seat belts.

 

[screenman]

Cycle helmets, way better now than the old hairnet style. SPD pedals, again way better than nailing your cleats on and toe straps.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The safety of climbing gear, particularly the ropes. The leader must never fall is no longer true. The evolution of winter climbing gear. The evolution of mountaineering gear.