There are several aspects of today's lifestyles that we consider necessities today but years ago would have been considered luxuries. Some of these so called necessities are cable television, cellular phones, microwaves, VCR's, dishwasher's, and even a washer and dryer. Some of these luxuries that we have today have made some chores into hobbies such as preparing food, different types of home maintenance, and even flying and taking vacations.

    Danielle Nanni's family remembers not having a television, air conditioning, portable phones, microwave, and even a computer. Her family considers all of these things as luxuries now. The computer has changed her family greatly however her grandparents just got a computer last year, they still have to figure out many things on it. Her mother, father, and sister are much more into the cyber thing than her grandparents. The patterns of recreation and consumption has changed greatly from her grandparents to her family. Her grandparents hardly ever eat fast food, where she does just about everyday.

    During the 1960's and 1970's computers have had a dramatic impact on people's everyday lives. Leslie Smarr's parents were upset about the new technology with computers at first, because so many people were losing their jobs, to computers, but they now see them as a way of life. I think that this is the same for most peoples' parents; they had to learn how to accept computers. Today there are new improved televisions, CDS, computers, microwaves, and cars. Everything in technology is constantly trying to improve itself. Technology is also more abundant for families today. Families have multiple cars when a generation or two ago they only had one or maybe not one at all.

    In 1972 Nolan Bushnell introduced Pong and his new company, Atari video games.

    In 1974 researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center designed the Alto--the first work station with a built-in mouse for input. The Alto stored several files simultaneously in windows, offered menus and icons, and could link to a local area network. Although Xerox never sold the Alto commercially, it gave a number of then to universities. Engineers later incorporated its features into work stations and personal computers.

    In 1978 Texas instruments Inc. introduced Speak & Spell, a talking learning aid for ages seven and up.