I was thinking about @jpop’s comment of how downloadable music would’ve been a godsend to him growing up in Eastern Europe. And it got me wondering if there were any cases where the reverse was true. Where an old technology is replaced and we lose something valuable as a result.
I remember a French teacher telling me how in the 1980s she went to what was then Yugoslavia and how she bought these beautiful hand-stiched colorful tablecloths. At the same time, the people in the village craved the vinyl tablecloths in the West that were easier to clean.
I know that we have lost the sounds of the high pitched squeeks that a dial up modem made before connecting, but I don’t consider that a loss. Quite the opposite.
I think one bit of technology that I do miss is “easter eggs.” Finding out about one and then getting it to work on your machine was always a thrill.