Little Things I'm Grateful For

So, we all know that the internet is wonderful and we couldn't live without our smartphones, but I've been thinking about some other modern inventions--little things--that I wonder how I lived without.

Shuffle. Do you remember when you played a tape, LP or CD, and the songs were always in the same
order? After a while you got to anticipate and expect the next song along, and if there was one you didn't like you had to wind it forward, lift the needle or skip it. Well, I love the shuffle feature because now I only have to have songs on my iPod that I actually like, and I never know what's up next.

Cordless phones. Not just mobile phones, but any phone which isn't attached to the wall or its base unit with a curly cord. Any phone which doesn't require you to stand in exactly the same place while you have a conversation, often the hallway or lounge where people can listen to everything you say. I appreciate being able to chat to a friend while searching for a child's shoes, or stirring soup in the kitchen.

Sky Plus / Tivo. Essentially, any system which allows you to record TV and watch it later, ideally without any complicated programming. I can't begin to tell you how much this has revolutionised my life. Remember when someone would invite you to something which was on a Wednesday night and you'd have to say No because Dallas was on? Now I can't remember the last time I watched something live - in fact, I'm not entirely sure when all these programmes are actually shown, they just magically appear in my menu. All our favourite shows are series-linked, and we watch them whenever we like. I just watched the whole of season 1 of Revolution over the course of a couple of weeks. Oh, and with no adverts. I'm so used to winding past them that I don't think I've actually sat through a commercial in a year or more.

What modern inventions are you grateful for?