What was the best invention of the 2010s?

For me, it’s a tie:


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Rick and Morty

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Young Sheldon

Virtual assistants. They make life easier with voice commands such as turning up or down the temperature or finding out what the age of the Earth is, or going on Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, and what have you.

Example: "Alexa, go on Spotify"


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Alexa: "Okay. Going to Spotify."

This is one of the reasons why I don't take life for granted.

Improved LGBT+ rights
Better awareness of oppressive systems
Fandom and certain other online communities
Certain aspects of 2010s technology

Example: "Alexa, go on Spotify"

Alexa: "Okay. Going to Spotify."

This is one of the reasons why I don't take life for granted.


I don't trust them, I had one, and it must be listening for it is waiting for the keyword to start up, mine would even reply to the television.

I don't trust them, I had one, and it must be listening for it is waiting for the keyword to start up, mine would even reply to the television.


I understand. There are some people who even think that Alexa is a government spy.  ;D

I understand. There are some people who even think that Alexa is a government spy.  ;D
I am one of them!

I understand. There are some people who even think that Alexa is a government spy.  ;D


And she would be listening in to conversations.

The Oreo flavors:

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The Oreo flavors:

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Those are so good.

I am one of them!


I would not be surprised, but as of right now "I have nothing to hide". My Google Home made my life a lot more convenient.

Those are so good.


I liked the Red Velvet cake flavor.

I liked the Red Velvet cake flavor.


Red Velvet flavoured everything around Christmas time is a real treat.

I liked the Red Velvet cake flavor.

I like that flavor of cake in general myself.

Streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc.

It essentially made cable television decline in ratings to this day.

Streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc.

It essentially made cable television decline in ratings to this day.


I like streaming services too, makes watching TV much more faster and convenient.

Streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, Pandora, Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, etc.

It essentially made cable television decline in ratings to this day.
It's threatened to replace stuff we can actually keep though so people without a good source of income can't have anything to enjoy. Maybe compare this with just last decade when someone could listen to music or enjoy a film without a connection and subscription too.

It's threatened to replace stuff we can actually keep though so people without a good source of income can't have anything to enjoy. Maybe compare this with just last decade when someone could listen to music or enjoy a film without a connection and subscription too.

It is having that hard copy of an item, records, tapes, DVDs, etc, it is electronic now, literally nothing to put on a shelf to display.

It's threatened to replace stuff we can actually keep though so people without a good source of income can't have anything to enjoy. Maybe compare this with just last decade when someone could listen to music or enjoy a film without a connection and subscription too.


That's true, but the main positive thing for streaming services is that everything is at your own leisure. You don't have to physically go out and individually buy movie sets or album CDs when you can already pay a monthly subscription to access thousands of TV shows, movies, or songs wherever you want and whenever you want.  :)

That's true, but the main positive thing for streaming services is that everything is at your own leisure. You don't have to physically go out and individually buy movie sets or album CDs when you can already pay a monthly subscription to access thousands of TV shows, movies, or songs wherever you want and whenever you want.  :)


Or you can watch them for free instead.

It is having that hard copy of an item, records, tapes, DVDs, etc, it is electronic now, literally nothing to put on a shelf to display.


That's true, but the main positive thing for streaming services is that everything is at your own leisure. You don't have to physically go out and individually buy movie sets or album CDs when you can already pay a monthly subscription to access thousands of TV shows, movies, or songs wherever you want and whenever you want.  :)


Even if you can download copies of stuff they're all locked under DRM. Basically, they remain playable only in the application. What if a business that provides all your favourite media goes up in flames? So does the collection you paid a monthly fee for to be able to download and enjoy offline, e.g. Microsoft Books, Rdio (which I believe got merged with Pandora or something in the US and fortunately pretty much only had the same sort of stuff as Spotify including a free ad-supported tier, although almost no other music streaming service provides that which hurts competition). This would not have been the case in the past.

Some songs even become unplayable while you pay for the service that provides them. In the past, if you lost your music (damaged or degradation of media, accidental or deliberate deletion etc.) it would have been pretty much only your own fault. Now it's the companies' too.

That's true, but the main positive thing for streaming services is that everything is at your own leisure. You don't have to physically go out and individually buy movie sets or album CDs when you can already pay a monthly subscription to access thousands of TV shows, movies, or songs wherever you want and whenever you want.  :)


But that was the best part. Going to record stores in the 60s and 70s when music truly drove the culture,  especially really cool stores, was a truly magical experience.

As for "access(ing) thousands of TV shows, movies, or songs wherever you want and whenever you want", you just don't know that for sure. It's a false sense of security. The company could fail, go under, be sold, merge, change format, or just plain yank away that music. And even Netflix, Hulu etc only show their content for a certain period before rotating it.  In the "access vs. physical ownership" debate, I fall decidedly on the side of physical ownership.

But that was the best part. Going to record stores in the 60s and 70s when music truly drove the culture,  especially really cool stores, was a truly magical experience.

...and the records can be now worth money in value by collectors.

...and the records can be now worth money in value by collectors.


Fortunately for us old schoolers, thrift stores still carry records from the 20th century.

Even if you can download copies of stuff they're all locked under DRM. Basically, they remain playable only in the application. What if a business that provides all your favourite media goes up in flames? So does the collection you paid a monthly fee for to be able to download and enjoy offline, e.g. Microsoft Books, Rdio (which I believe got merged with Pandora or something in the US and fortunately pretty much only had the same sort of stuff as Spotify including a free ad-supported tier, although almost no other music streaming service provides that which hurts competition). This would not have been the case in the past.

Some songs even become unplayable while you pay for the service that provides them. In the past, if you lost your music (damaged or degradation of media, accidental or deliberate deletion etc.) it would have been pretty much only your own fault. Now it's the companies' too.


I speak anecdotally when I say this, but that has not happened to me on Spotify, Pandora or any other music service. I guess it depends on your internet connection.

If you lost your album CDs (without any receipts), then you're gonna have to buy yet another copy. Not the same situation with streaming services. When you buy a monthly fee, you can play your music with no skipping or any CD scratching.  :)

If you lost your album CDs (without any receipts), then you're gonna have to buy yet another copy. Not the same situation with streaming services. When you buy a monthly fee, you can play your music with no skipping or any CD scratching.  :)


Truth be told though, that's an awfully minor point. In a lifetime of collecting vinyl albums starting in the 1960s, and CDs also, the number of them I have had to replace due to being damaged or "lost" is absolutely minuscule. Granted people get robbed and there are fires, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and other "acts of God" as it were, but again, not a large number compared to people who have been able to hang on to their collections relatively undamaged.

I speak anecdotally when I say this, but that has not happened to me on Spotify, Pandora or any other music service. I guess it depends on your internet connection.

If you lost your album CDs (without any receipts), then you're gonna have to buy yet another copy. Not the same situation with streaming services. When you buy a monthly fee, you can play your music with no skipping or any CD scratching.  :)

Some of my tastes in music are more obscure I reckon. Sometimes they stop being available on sale in DRM-free download sites like Qobuz, Amazon or Google Play Music (mostly because I am too late to purchase them though, a problem that wouldn't have been too dissimilar to physical music stores prior to streaming services).

Some music is less obscure to Western ears like a rap song named Worldwide Choppers with Busta Rhymes and a bunch of other artists  - that got removed from Spotify in my experience.

Riven touched on this, but different viewpoints coming to light. I'm not saying minorities never spoke up in the past, but the 2010s seemed to be a time where people could really get their message out. It makes past decades feel a little one-dimensiol (at least for me). Not bashing the past, since we pass through different phases to reach the present  ;D

What was the best invention of the 2010s?

The video doorbell

A home security product that incorporates outdoor motion-detecting cameras. It hosts an app, for online social sharing of captured footage among users. It provides video footage from its cameras and data from its app to law enforcement agencies on request.

I can understand why people really like music streaming services like Spotify etc... but i just really haven't bought into it. Since I was a kid I was actively searching for music - whether it was rummaging in my parents collection or at friends/relatives houses, recording my faves whilst listening to the charts on cassette tape or then in the early 00s downloading music off Napster and whatever else that followed. I like the search so I never listen to Spotify playlists. I physically buy or download all of my music so i have proper mp3s of everything and back it up all of the time because my collection is pretty extensive.

Anyway - best things to come out of the 2010s for me would be things like Netflix and the abundance of peak TV accessible. So many good TV shows from this past decade from the UK and US especially. Also better awareness of LGBTQ issues and a rise in sexual harassment awareness/#metoo movement and people being brought to justice.

I can understand why people really like music streaming services like Spotify etc... but i just really haven't bought into it. Since I was a kid I was actively searching for music - whether it was rummaging in my parents collection or at friends/relatives houses, recording my faves whilst listening to the charts on cassette tape or then in the early 00s downloading music off Napster and whatever else that followed. I like the search so I never listen to Spotify playlists. I physically buy or download all of my music so i have proper mp3s of everything and back it up all of the time because my collection is pretty extensive.

Anyway - best things to come out of the 2010s for me would be things like Netflix and the abundance of peak TV accessible. So many good TV shows from this past decade from the UK and US especially. Also better awareness of LGBTQ issues and a rise in sexual harassment awareness/#metoo movement and people being brought to justice.

I can relate as someone with a very specific music taste. Even if I find something I like I have to be able to download it in case it gets taken down (Spotify tends to do that for some of the songs I have) or it generally has to be from a specific time. I speak as someone who was initially on board with Spotify.

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I can relate as someone with a very specific music taste. Even if I find something I like I have to be able to download it in case it gets taken down (Spotify tends to do that for some of the songs I have) or it generally has to be from a specific time. I speak as someone who was initially on board with Spotify.


I like Spotify because I can create my own playlist.

I can relate as someone with a very specific music taste. Even if I find something I like I have to be able to download it in case it gets taken down (Spotify tends to do that for some of the songs I have) or it generally has to be from a specific time. I speak as someone who was initially on board with Spotify.


I can understand this for sure. I have quite an eclectic taste but I still prefer to actively scout for new music and listen to all my old stuff.


I like Spotify because I can create my own playlist.


I just really enjoy making my own playlists with with own mp3s on itunes/ Apple music - plus if I don't have wifi I always have my music!

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I think Beats are overrated, to be quite honest with you. Sony and Bose headphones have much better sound quality to them.

I think Beats are overrated, to be quite honest with you. Sony and Bose headphones have much better sound quality to them.


Yeah, I don't touch Beats, especially after Apple bought them 8-P I have a pair of Sennheisers.

I like Spotify because I can create my own playlist.
One doesn't need Spotify to create playlists although I reckon that platform makes it a lot easier. In fact, much easier as of recent than to add to your library leaving your music "collection" fragmented.

I can understand this for sure. I have quite an eclectic taste but I still prefer to actively scout for new music and listen to all my old stuff.

I just really enjoy making my own playlists with with own mp3s on itunes/ Apple music - plus if I don't have wifi I always have my music!


Right now I believe I have about 1,200 songs (and growing)

I just really enjoy making my own playlists with with own mp3s on itunes/ Apple music - plus if I don't have wifi I always have my music!


Yeah, MP3s are also great for offline play. I have dozens on my phone as well.

Right now I believe I have about 1,200 songs (and growing)


I have about 18,000 songs on my Macbook :D


One doesn't need Spotify to create playlists although I reckon that platform makes it a lot easier. In fact, much easier as of recent than to add to your library leaving your music "collection" fragmented.


Exactly. You don't need it but it can be useful. I might get more into now I have a bit more free time to really experiment. I can't see me loving it as much as my itunes collection of playlists, however...

I have about 18,000 songs on my Macbook :D

How long would it take to play/listen to them all?

First season of Stranger Things.

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I have about 18,000 songs on my Macbook :D

Exactly. You don't need it but it can be useful. I might get more into now I have a bit more free time to really experiment. I can't see me loving it as much as my itunes collection of playlists, however...


Do you play them on random?

How long would it take to play/listen to them all?


couple of hours.

couple of hours.
18,000 songs?

One of the few good things that came out of the 2010s was the easy access to social media and different technologies.

Megamind

One of the few good things that came out of the 2010s was the easy access to social media and different technologies.
All giving us the problem of remembering which password is used for which.

Do you play them on random?


Sometimes, yes! Mainly I create genre, or year playlists and pick and choose.


How long would it take to play/listen to them all?


I have no idea - my 'Britpop' playlist alone is approx 4 hours long with only 62 songs in it, whereas my 80s playlist would take me 32 hours to listen to in it's entirety with just under 500 songs.

I have no idea - my 'Britpop' playlist alone is approx 4 hours long with only 62 songs in it, whereas my 80s playlist would take me 32 hours to listen to in it's entirety with just under 500 songs.


PLEASE tell me if you have Song 2 by Blur or  Wonderwall by Oasis on your playlist.  :)

Sometimes, yes! Mainly I create genre, or year playlists and pick and choose.

I have no idea - my 'Britpop' playlist alone is approx 4 hours long with only 62 songs in it, whereas my 80s playlist would take me 32 hours to listen to in it's entirety with just under 500 songs.


Right Now I have about 1200 songs on my random playlist ranging from funk, disco, a bit of rock and pop, Electro disco, Electro funk, 60's, 70's and 80's.

PLEASE tell me if you have Song 2 by Blur or  Wonderwall by Oasis on your playlist.  :)


Of course, along with some other Blur and Oasis tunes :) I limited each artist to 3 songs maximum otherwise it'd would feature certain bands very heavily!

Of course, along with some other Blur and Oasis tunes :) I limited each artist to 3 songs maximum otherwise it'd would feature certain bands very heavily!


That makes sense. You don't want to clutter up too many songs.

That makes sense. You don't want to clutter up too many songs.


Yeh - I still have lots of their other songs, but the playlist is limited ;)

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