What invention has changed the way we live for the better?

Mobile phones and the internet have delivered greater connectivity, yet I’m not convinced this makes us feel happier and more secure than we did a generation ago.

There is no doubt that digital transformationacross everyday life has changed the way we live, work and play.

Some years ago I asked my mother (then aged 95) what invention she thought best impacted modern life. I expected her to say the mobile phone or the internet. She said the electric blanket!

This got me thinking: what invention and/or development has changed the way we live for the better over the past 30 years?

Mobiles and the internet have delivered greater connectivity, yet I’m not convinced this makes us feel happier and more secure than we did a generation ago. The recent changes that have been most profound, I think, relate not to any invention but to system changes. By this I mean things like ticketing, banking and streaming, which rely on the internet and access to smartphones.

There was a time when airlines issued paper tickets that were verified by staff before boarding. Today tickets are bought online, baggage is checked in by the passenger and boarding passes comprise a barcode that’s scanned before boarding. I wonder if someone is working on a system that will remove human workers entirely from the flying experience? And yet for all these incremental efficiencies I don’t think the flight time between Melbourne and Sydney has noticeably shortened since the ’90s. Frustratingly, efficiencies gained by these digital processes have been most likely offset by the escalating need for security checks.

The same logic applies to banking systems. There have been momentous changes in the way money is stored and payments made over the past 30 years. It’s now generally done by the internet or phone, at home, at work or on the go. Even the concept of money is being challenged by cryptocurrencies. And yet for all these efficiencies, it is not immediately clear what the benefits are. I am sure the banking industry would say they need these efficiencies to survive, to be relevant to modern customers.

When it comes to streaming services I can see where the efficiencies have gone. Netflix, for example, is a Silicon Valley based streaming service that acquires and produces content for global distribution. It’s hard, I would imagine, for an Australian production company to compete on this scale in, say, drama. Australian-interest sport (eg AFL) is possibly a final bastion for local production.

There is no doubt that digital transformation across everyday life has changed the way we live, work and play. However, the question I keep coming back to is whether all of the cost savings are being passed back to the consumer. Or (and this is more likely I think) are there other costs clogging the system, including an ever-increasing need for security? In the past 30 years there have been cost increases associated with responding to an ever-expanding list of compliance and risk matters. Efficiencies that would normally deliver vast productivity gains can be swallowed whole by such things.

The point is that, sadly, happiness is no longer as simple as having access to an electric blanket. In 2025 we live in a more demanding, less secure and, frankly, far riskier environmentthan the Australians of 30 years ago. In years to come we might well say the greatest invention hasn’t been a single consumer good, but rather the idea of an assured peace in our region and an enduring (and frankly an endearing) Australian culture of trust and goodwill.