But Who’s Counting?

My son was born Christmas Day, 1988. In 33 years, he’s seen a tidal wave of technological change.

In 1988, we didn’t have the World Wide Web, Google, or GPS, cell phones or cellphone cameras, MP3 players or streaming video and music.

There were no digital cameras or DVD players, no croc shoes or e-bay, no email or Youtube.

In 1988 there were no hybrid cars or electric cars, no texting or disposable contact lenses, no Amazon or Paypal, no Wifi or Netflix, no podcasts or online books.

There was no Wikipedia or online bill-pay, no online banking or AirBnb, no bluetooth or iPads, no Lyft or Uber, no Chrome or Safari browsers, no Venmo or NextDoor.

In 1988 there was no Skype or Zoom, no Zillow or Reddit, no iPods or Photoshop, no Blogger or flash drives, no Facebook or Twitter, no drones or artificial intelligence.

In 1988, the population of the world was 5.1 billion.

Today, it’s 7.9 billion — a 55 percent increase.

In 1988, the population of the US was 244.5 million.

Today, it’s 330 million — an increase of over 85 million, or more than the COMBINED populations of:

1. OHIO (11.8 million)
2. GEORGIA (10.7 million)
3. ARIZONA (7.1 million)
4. MICHIGAN (10 million)
5. COLORADO (5.8 million)
6. IOWA (3.2 million)
7. OREGON (4.2 million)
8. NEW MEXICO (2.2 million)
9. New York City, NY (8.6 million)
10. Los Angeles, CA 4.1 million)
11. Chicago, IL (2.7 million)
12. Houston, TX (2.4 million)
13. Philadelphia, PA (1.6 million)
14. San Antonio, TX (1.6 million)
15. San Diego, CA (1.5 million)
16. Dallas, TX (1.4 million)
17. San Jose, CA (1 million)
18. Miami, FL (455,000)
19. Seattle, WA (776,000)
20. Washington, DC (715,000)
21. Las Vegas (668,000)
22. Honolulu, HI (350,000)
23. Lexington, KY (325,000)
24. Baltimore, MD (576,000)