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As you look forward to what awaits you in 2014, you can also want to think back to 1984 and consider how different life was 30 years ago. The technology revolution has affected our daily lives at home and at the office. But have you ever thought about how different your job would have been 30 years ago?
Before we could access the Internet from our computers and our phones, the ways people earned a living were very different. Just as the advent of the automobile lead to auto mechanics, car dealers and windshield repair services, the progression of personal technology has lead to many jobs that didn’t exist 30 years ago.
As I write these Wonder of Tech articles on my computer and post them to my website, I often think about how this blog would not have been possible 30 years ago. I will find out about new tech, research it online, and then post about it here in an article. I then share the article with others via email and social media. Not only are the topics of my article recent technology, but the methods of delivery are too.
But tech as tech has created jobs, it has also eliminated them. Typists, switchboard operators, ice men, elevator operator, bowling alley pinsetters all saw their jobs end because of advancements in tech.
Looking ahead to 2014 we can only guess which jobs will be changed, ended or launched by advancements in technology. But looking back 30 years, before widespread use of personal computers, could we have anticipated which jobs would have been created by tech?
What about your job? Did it exist 30 years ago in 1984? If so, was it pretty much the same job or was it drastically different?
Vote in today’s Wonder of Tech poll and let us know whether your job existed in 1984:
As you ponder your profession, check out this Infographic from Semester Online that helps you predict your career based upon your favorite TV series:
Your Thoughts
Where do you think your job is headed in the next 30 years? Will your job still exist in 2044? Will it be significantly changed from today? Let us know in the Comments section below!
The core of what I was doing in 1984 at Lanier Upshaw is basically the same. However, technology has changed certain pieces and commoditized the less sophisticated parts of it. I have seen fax machines come and go; the advent a cell phones morphing into Smart phones & desk top computers. Also during this time we have gone ‘paperless;’ not in the bathroom thank goodness, but with the customer files…:).
Yes, I’m old…:).
Hi Bill, So far the poll results are about 50/50 with half the people saying their jobs haven’t changed at all and they other half saying their jobs didn’t exist or were significantly different. This will be very interesting to see as it develops!
You and your firm are definitely staying up with the technology, Bill, as you adapt to the times. I’m glad you’re not completely paperless though!
Hi Carolyn,
1984!!, I was still a baby, I assume, however, I should be the crawling baby that disturbs the whole house.
Technology has changed and revolutionized everything; from the way we eat, walk, transact business, worship God e.t.c. it has changed everything.
My fear is still the unknown, 20 years from now, how will the USA be? I”m guessing a new flight technology would be around whereby people would no longer buy ticket to enter a plane but rather become the plane themselves.
Thanks for sharing, I wish you a happy new year in advance.
My job definitely didn’t exist in 1984; the closest thing to an eCommerce website would have been a catalog. Compuserve, Prodigy and some others were there shortly after 1984, but the catalog was still supreme at that time.
Hi Alex, You’re right, that is very different from what you would have been doing in 1984. I wonder what a similar job would be 30 years from now?
In 30 years, you will 3d print your purchase from whatever the “web” has morphed into. SMBs like mine will get squeezed out by Amazon-tron in 2035.
My work right now never existed 30 years ago. I work as an online freelancer, so without the fast-paced evolution of technology, I don’t know what would be my job as of the moment. Probably I’ll stay as a full time mom for the mean time as my kids are still very young to be left behind at home with someone except me or their dad.
Hi Jeremy, Great point. Having the Internet available in our homes gives us the ability to work from home. Very convenient and efficient!
I don’t necessarily work, so I can’t really answer the question (but, I am more serious about my upcoming blog..planning to consider it as a business. So, I could be considered as a ‘working’ blogger).
I don’t think blogging existed in the 1980s, did it? (Internet itself was invented in the 90s, right?).
I am doing my bachelor’s in Nuclear engineering..so I will become a nuclear engineer in a couple of years (Nuclear engineer did exist in ’84!).
Anyways, thank you for sharing the interesting question and the infographic, Carolyn 🙂 Appreciate it!
I consider myself to be a blogger, so in a one word, no my job did not exist in 1984. Hell, I was only three years old back then! It was great to remind myself how much the world has changed since the ’80s. The internet has played a major role in this change and will surely continue to shape things in the future.
Hi Carol, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, the world of blogging really has been born and blossomed during our lifetime. How wonderful that we now have such rich resources because of the Internet.
Hi Carolyn,
I think I was using a typewriter in 1984. I bought a computer in the 1980’s though. I’m trying to forget 1984 not remember it!
Happy New Year. I will try to make this one more interesting. I’ve been looking at filters for my camera. I might buy some and a new lens. I officially retire in a month, so will have to find something to do! 🙂