Tomorrow's models will be better, cheaper, smaller, faster. And they will demand that we adapt, even if we don't want to. E ndless upset has indeed resulted from this techno-flux as industry, our economy, society and culture struggle with each new round of change wrought by the automobile, television, computing. And we may be forgiven for thinking that, with the technology cat so obviously out of the bag, it will always be this way. After all, this was the case for thousands of years of pre-history, and we have more recent examples.
C onsider the humble fork.
Since its Medieval arrival, the fork has gone from two tines to three, then four, etc. It has been tried in different materials, made collapsible, bent this way and that. Perhaps, along the way, someone attempted to introduce the steam-powered, electric or atomic fork, but, if so, it didn't catch on. The fork represents mature technology. T he Mauser 1898 bolt-action rifle is another, more modern example.