In this 13-minute interview, I talk to my mother about the changes she has experienced in her life. When asked what she thought the greatest change in her lifetime has been, she replied without much hesitation, “technology.”

My mom grew up in Nebraska in the 1930s and 1940s on a farm. She and her two brothers and one sister spent a good deal of their day working: pulling weeds in the fields, helping out in the kitchen and around the house, and tending to the many responsibilities that come with farm life. They relied mostly on their hands and not much else to accomplish this work.

Today my mom marvels at how things have changed so much. She uses a cell phone, enjoys finding recipes on the Internet, uses her DVR to record programs she enjoys watching, and she spends one-third of the time doing laundry as she did when she was growing up.

Whether all of this has made for a better world she isn’t sure . . .

-- Mr. Davis