
“The washing machine has changed society more than the Internet”   - danso
http://odewire.com/48802/%E2%80%9Cthe-washing-machine-has-changed-society-more-than-the-internet.html
======
tsotha
_What else did it do for society?

“Women started having fewer children, gained more bargaining power in their
relationships and enjoyed a higher status."_

I'm not buying it. It's true women no longer require a man to pay the bills,
but by the same token household appliances mean men don't need women to keep
house.

The thrust of the article is probably correct, though. There were a whole lot
of changes in the 19th and 20th century that had a bigger effect than the
internet, though I think the interviewee glosses over online retailing. You
can buy almost everything you need in life over the web now, which is a both a
big time saver and a reduction in the number of opportunities to form chance
relationships.

~~~
danso
I posted the OP but I agree with you...I think the author is jumping to
unsupported conclusions. However, I've never really thought about the time
saved from washing clothes. In raw amounts of time, it probably has done more
(so far) to change society, since individuals at every geographical level need
to wash clothes (outside nudist colonies)...whereas it's possible to have a
thriving local business/enterprise that does not have an Internet
presence...for the time being.

* Also, I think the Internet's benefits are harder to quantify. Everyone can think about how much time and energy they'd spend washing clothes; it's much harder to visualize what you'd be doing without the Internet. For example, the Internet has exposed me to a lot of educational material and distribution channels that has allowed me to explore new career and personal opportunities. It did not necessarily _save me time_ because I may have gone down another thought process entirely without the insights gained.

(and of course, this phenomenon affects those in the information sector
disproportionately...just as the washing machine wouldn't affect the change in
lifestyle for the upper-class, who may just have to pay more for
clotheswashing but may not have a drastic change in lifestyle)

------
buss
I never really appreciated washing machines until I had to wash my clothes by
hand for a couple weeks. It takes forever and I couldn't even get my clothes
fully clean (they still smelled a bit).

The amount of leisure time humanity has gained from washing machines must be
enormous.

------
BruceIV
Purely anecdotally, my great-grandmother (who lived through the majority of
the technological advances of the 20th century) rated indoor plumbing as the
best of them. I think we tend to get caught up in a definition of "innovation"
which is "the same thing, _but_ 10% _faster_ " as tech folks, and the change
of perspective is worthwhile.

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drewrv
There's way more to women's liberation than washing machines. For example,
contraception. Besides that, an egalitarian society could have men share in
the washing. So the importance of the washing machine is lost on me.

Similarly, I think Chang is underestimating the internet here, there's more to
the internet than online shopping. Chang mentions reading the news. Does it
occur to him that, with the internet, we're getting live firsthand news
accounts from almost everywhere, almost instantly. The "fourth estate" is more
powerful than ever. Transparency is growing. This is great news for the
billions of people who live with authoritarian or corrupt governments.

Given that throughout human history up to and including today, most people
have never lived in a democracy, the democratizing effects of the internet
should not be underestimated.

~~~
Turing_Machine
"So the importance of the washing machine is lost on me."

Spend a year living without appliances, electricity, running water. Then
you'll understand.

~~~
Turing_Machine
"an egalitarian society could have men share in the washing"

And no, it doesn't work that way. The men were spending all their time doing
heavy manual labor in the fields (another area where technology has been
incredibly liberating).

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i_like_robots
Hans Rosling made an inspiring case for the washing machine being the greatest
product of the industrial revolution in his Ted Talk
[http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_and_the_magic_washing_machine.html)

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codebearded
The washing machine did not link the world, did not propel globalization. This
article's arguments are deprecated and trite.

~~~
dalke
The point is entirely that there are other dimensions by which to measure
cultural change, in addition to "linking the world" and "globalization."

I can assure you that most people now do not consider indoor plumbing, washing
machines, and dish washers as big things.. but then consider what happens when
there's no power or water for a week. While people have internet access
through their phones, and can make business deals to the other side of the
world, they can't operate the various home appliances which made life feel
normal. These are the things which used to be done by servants and women of
the household, back before there was home electricity.

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bsenftner
So what. No one's getting new wealth from washing machines. We care about the
Internet because we see it as a means of gaining financial security.

~~~
mkr-hn
That's what the washing machine helped do for half the population.

