Changes in My Lifetime - Words

New words/terms

• 1947: Transistor
• 1951: Core Memory
• 1953: DNA
• 1957: Sputnik
• 1958: Beatnik
• 1958: Integrated Circuit (IC)
• 1960: Laser
• 1965: FFT
• 1967: CAT Scan
• 1968: Ziploc
• 1975: TLA (Three Letter Acronym)
• 1975: Ethernet
• 1977: MRI
• 197x: POSSLQ
• 1981: AIDS
• 1982: CD
• 1983: Backronym
• 1995: GPS
• 1997: HDTV
• 2003: Streisand effect

• Venture Capital, Startup, IPO

Words/usage that changed

• 1960s: Negro => Black => Afro-American
  When I was young, Negro was polite and Nigger was a slur.
  In 1965, when Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, he used Negro.

• Homosexual => Gay

• 1970s: Stewardess => Flight Attendant

• Secretary => Administrative Assistant
  1952: National Secretaries Week
  1998: International Association of Administrative Professionals

Military

• A-Bomb, H-Bomb
• ICBM, SLBM, MIRV
• MAD: Mutual Assured Destruction
• Stealth
• UAV

Computers

• PC, Laptop
• CPU, Microprocessor
• RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM
• Hardware, Software, Firmware, Microcode, Script
• Subroutine, Macro
• Assembler, Compiler, Interpreter
• Network, LAN, FTP, E-Mail, Web, Google
• TCP/IP, UDP
• WiFi, IrDA
• Spam, Phish, Virus, Zombie, Botnet
• Emoticons, Smileys
• JPEG, MPEG, MP3
• Windows, Unix, Linux
• Open Source, GNU, Free Software Foundation
• Microsoft, Apple, Intel, HP, SUN, DEC, Compaq, Dell, Cisco
• Spreadsheet
• ARPA, IMP, Router, Gateway, Proxy, Internet
• PDA, Cell Phone
• Chip, TTL, CMOS, LSI, VLSI
• DSP

Cartoons

• Herbivore
• Habitat