There are many different inventions that as soon as they debuted, they changed our lives so much they become indispensable. From the printing press and the locomotive to the internet and the smartphone of today, these inventions have become such a big part of our lives we can’t imagine our lives without them.
One such invention is the automobile. Ever since Karl Benz invented it in 1886, it has been instrumental for our traveling use. The automobile has improved our lives both socially and technologically for quite a few reasons.
Travel speed
One of the first reasons that it has improved our lives is that it has sped up the amount of time it takes us to travel. Back in the days of horses and buggies, you could only go the pace that the horse could go, and if it got tired or got sick, you were stranded until it got better. Once the automobile came into existence, our travel was not limited by the health of an animal, but more so how we could fix the vehicle. This resulted in an entire industry of new jobs for people who could fix these automobiles. Even if you get stranded and need, for example, Kia service near Streetsboro, Ohio, it will be easy to obtain because automobiles need repairs everywhere.
Individual convenience
Today, when we get into our cars, we are taken to wherever we need to go. When we need to bring just ourselves, our significant others, or our whole families, we can all just get into the car and drive where we need to be. Before, we were only limited to trains and ships which could take a few days to get us somewhere. Locally, we were limited to walking and horses. Now when we need to get somewhere, we can just start the engine of our cars and get there five to ten times faster than if we were on foot. It is something we take for granted today, but we should be thankful that we have such convenience.
Grows and improves with society
The first cars were basically built like stagecoaches or buggies with engines inside of them. Fast forward to today we have all sorts of luxuries in our vehicles like internet access, navigation, roadside assistance, and hard drives inside of the front deck that can play all of our music for us that we have saved onto any and all sorts of digital media. Our cars grow as the technology we create grows.
Not only this, but all of our vehicles could be considered time capsules that display the aesthetics and the design technology of the time in which they were built. If you get a car from the 1930s or the 1960s or the 1990s on to today, you will see how both the design and the technology are a reminder of what was available at the time and what matched the design cues of that particular era.
Take your favorite classic sports car and compare the designs throughout the years. You will notice how they match the design of other cars and other brands. They were designed according to the consumer demand for cars in that era.
Keeps families together
Before, I had mentioned that the automobile is great for any person who needs to get somewhere faster than any other method they can use today. This also works for the family. Most of us have very good memories of the road trips we took with our parents and our children as we went to grandma’s house, or an amusement park, or camping. We would either sing songs, or we would look around outside trying to spot different animals or vehicles as we drove past and we would often marvel at how it would be so much faster going home than it was getting to our destination.
Today, we have more technology such as smartphones with music saved to them, or we have televisions attached to the back seats. We can play whatever movie we want to play for our children so they will be distracted while we drive. And a lot of times we can breathe a sigh of relief as we look back in the rearview mirror to see our children sleeping.
