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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge # 185- Change

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who will best manage change.” – Charles Darwin.

I am a fan of technology of all types. Sometimes frustrating, sometimes amazing, technology change is always interesting to me. Coming from a state steeped in agriculture, I’ve always been interested in farm technology of all sorts. In the compare image above, that Avery steam tractor was probably manufactured in the late 1890s or early 1900s. The model was captured while taking on water at the Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion at Rollag, Minnesota.

Contrast that with the diesel-powered John Deere Model 9560R on the right. Manufactured in the early 21st century, it’s equipped with electronic displays, GPS navigation, auto-steering, and other features. Expect to lay out a cool $200,000-plus for a 2013 or 2014 model.

Before tractors became the “workhorse” of choice, the largest horses, oxen, or mules were hitched up to pull a wagon full of goods. The image on the left is of two draft horses on their way to pick up a wagonload of freshly threshed grain at the Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion.

Those animals don’t have to work nearly as hard these days. Tractors like the John Deer model in the opening sequence do most of the work in this country. In the image on the right, draft animals like the Budweiser Clydesdales are driven around the country, four to a semitrailer.

When they get to an event, the eight horses are meticulously dressed in the finest of tack and connected by an eight-horse hitch to a mostly empty wagon to drive around a parking lot or on a parade route. Well played, Mr. Horse, well played.

In the 1970s, I got interested in the burgeoning industry of personal computers. I started my avocation of writing by authoring monthly columns on personal computing for a couple of different computer-oriented publications. I started with a Radio Shack Color Computer (CoCo for short). I had a tape drive and a TV for a monitor similar to this setup I saw at a trade show some years later.

These days, I find myself in front of a laptop computer tied to a High Definition monitor for editing my photographs, as you might note in this selfie captured with my cell phone/camera/computer that fits in the palm of my hand.

In 1903, after experimenting with gliders and following in the footsteps of balloon and gliding aviators, Orville and Wilbur Wright set about to fly the first aircraft that could take-off and land using an engine-driven propeller. The aviators flew the one-person aircraft by laying on their stomachs in a cradle. In addition to using hand controls, pilots had to shift their weight in the cradle to initiate a turn. The image above shows a view of a simulator built to emulate the flight characteristics of this first powered aircraft.

The person flying this aircraft took off and landed safely at least once in the simulator, a feat that I was never able to accomplish. I guess I don’t have the “Wright Stuff.”

By 1947, planes like this Piper Cub were popular and relatively common. This aircraft sports a handful of round gauges to provide me with the information I need to safely land and take off from the airport on land, or when equipped with floats, on the nearest Minnesota lakes.

These days I often fly in later model Cessna C182 aircraft that have dual computer screens, GPS control, autopilot, and many other modern features. This particular model is over 15 years old, and even newer technology has been added to the latest model Cessna aircraft I fly.

Given that change is inevitable, for this week’s challenge consider change as it applies to you. Maybe it’s the changes in your family over the years, the change of seasons in your favorite park, or even the change in the technology of your camera equipment. In short, what does “change” mean to you?

Thanks to Amy for her Travels Have Taught Me challenge. Next week, I’ll be looking forward to Sofia’s challenge topic.

John Steiner

131 comments

    • I love going to see those antique tractor shows, and the best one of all, in my opinion, is the Western Minnesota Steam Thresher’s Reunion each Labor Day weekend in Rollag, Minnesota.

      Reply

  7. Awesome post on something that’s always inevitable. I saw the Budweiser Clydesdales in person. We watched them prepared by their groomers and watched as they paraded around the parking lot in Fairfield. Also when we go to photograph on farms, we see old tractors that are not used any longer and left to rust. What a shame.

    Reply

  11. I love the history. Great reminders of how far we have come in such a short time.

    Clydesdales have always been intriguing to me, and it’s always a treat to seem them in person. They are massive, and know what they are meant to do…work.

    Beautiful flow to your words and the photos to bring them to life.Donna

    Reply

  29. […] This weeks challenge #185 is ‘change’. The only thing in life we know for sure is that we die. But another certainty is that change will always be around, in lots of shapes and forms. Either self chosen, or adapting to a new situation someone decided for us. One tool used a lot in sessions about change is a post it, mostly used to ask feedback or input on any subject, eg workprocesses. […]

    Reply

  30. The horses look fabulous, John! I’m a very low tech person and just this afternoon we passed a field with several horses and a donkey. It was a quiet country lane but we kept being passed by cars and trailers, and I couldn’t help but think how times had changed in a place like this.

    Reply

  31. Terrific challenge John, Must admit it took me a while to decide on my response! As one who started in the computer business in its infancy (yes I AM that old!) I can relate to the changes in that world. Today we use a phone or a watch to do what it took a huge roomful of computers to accomplish back then. (remember Dick Tracy?!) So too the changes in the availability of faster and faster transportation options. Your images, wonderful as always, tell the story beautifully. Especially LOVE the Clydesdales!!! Magnificent animals

    Reply

  33. You’ve given us a lot to think about, John. Change is one of the basic truths of life and it can be fun and exciting. My grandfather used to talk about how amazing it was to fly. Born in 1900 before the advent of the car, he marveled at what we took for granted. We do the same things today now that social media is old hat, computers, cell phones, all means communication are relatively new in the last 20 – 40 years. Your post challenges me to find pictures of change.

    Reply

      • Weird to be in the marvel stage of life. 🙂 I’m so glad I got to embrace the computer stage. My dad would have loved to see where they went. He was right on the cusp before he died. He told me that my new 20 GB hard drive would not be powerful enough for me for very long. I couldn’t imagine why not at the time. It was such a move up from my Commodore 64. LOL

    • That got me to thinking. I’ve seen the Gemini capsule, but I don’t remember at all what it looked like inside. I’m wondering if it wasn’t opened for viewing.
      Interesting comparison noting that the astronauts then were more passengers than pilots.
      Fortunately for the crews of the Apollo missions, especially Apollo 13, those spacecraft were much better equipped for pilotage.

      Reply

  40. I love your challenge and your focus on technology. Your workstation before and after is a wonderful example of the incredible pace of change in our lifetime. Your perspective adds a wonderful dimension to our challenges.

    I focused on change on a personal, seasonal, and global level… It was a lot of fun to show the passage of time.

    Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #185: Change

    Reply

    • Thanks for your compliment. That old workstation allowed me to write three books back in the 1980s. I thought it was really useful, but it was truly primitive compared to what we do these days.

      Reply

      • I got my first computer in 1985 when I was teaching. It seems so primitive now! That huge machine and small screen! And the very limited memory. But it evolved….where would we be now without them?

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