“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
[…] Photo-Challenges. Last week Amy asked for what “travel has thought me” and this week John is asking for “Change”. I was extremely busy last weekend and over the week I’m […]
great, John. But, to be honest, the horses are much more beautiful than the machines. You can find my “change” here: https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/2022/02/05/lapc-change/
sorry, here: https://solaner.wordpress.com/2022/02/05/lens-artists-photo-challenge-184-what-travel-has-taught-me-and-lapc-185-change/
Indeed, those horses are beautiful animals, and they are well manicured and dressed to the nines.
Yep 😊
Great theme, GREAT photos. I love the tractor comparison, and who doesn’t love a Clydesdale (or a beer)! Excellent.
Thank you. Those new tractors are truly amazing, and the old ones were marvels in their own time.
Interesting theme and wonderful images.
Thank you!
Those classic antique tractors are awesome
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.
[…] Johnbo leads. Check his post for REAL change! […]
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.
Indeed, old tractors and threshing machines sit on the North Dakota prairie rusting away. It is a shame.
I like how you presented your theme and included with it your aviation interest!
Of course, I had to include aviation. That goes without saying. >grin<
Thanks.
Great use of the slider and absolutely love Draft Horses 🙂
Thanks. I plan to use the Compare slider more often. It can really be useful sometimes. 🙂
Thanks for a great theme. I really enjoyed your changes in technology. Love the Clydesdales and your aviation photos.
Thank you! I like to sneak in some aviation photos whenever I can. 🙂
Farm machinery is big tech. 😉 Thanks for the great theme and your lovely photos, John. That computer set up is so retro. Change keeps accelerating.
Indeed, change is truly accellerating.
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
Thank you, Donna, for the compliment on my writing.
Those Clydesdales were a real treat to watch as they were unloaded, dressed, and hitched. It was almost as if the actual pulling of the wagon was an anti-climax (except for the dalmation, anyway. ) 🙂
Always a pleasure to see your posts. I will put something together for change , this week. Lots to think about.
Thank you. I will be looking for your version of the challenge!
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Trains and planes! Thank you.
So beautifully you have brought out the evolution and that change is inevitable.
Love your detailed description.
Beautiful clicks!
Thank you for your kind words.
Welcome John
[…] Posted as part of Lens-Artists: Change […]
A good challenge for me, considering that I don’t like changes.
Great post!!!
Thanks! I have already stopped by your challenge response post. Your photos are so well selected to the poetry in your text.
My post… https://anvicaphotos.wordpress.com/2022/02/06/changes-everything-changes/
[…] Posted for John’s Lens-Artists Challenge […]
I love post, John, always a different approach, so unique. I’m finding the reactions to the Clydesdales interesting: they are originally not far from here and they are indeed lovely, massive animals.
Here is mine:
Thank you, Sofia. I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s response to this challenge as I think it is a bit more challenging.
[…] RDP WatchedLens-Artists Photo Challenge – Change […]
[…] Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #185: Change […]
Beautiful photographs and thank you so much for hosting this lovely challenge John, change is such a great subject to capture! My contribution captures the changing seasons in one day: https://tranature.com/2022/02/06/silent-sunday-viburnum-in-the-snow/
Yours is a wonderful series of photographs that fit the topic so well, Xenia.
Thank you kindly dear John 😊
[…] * Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: change. […]
[…] day, something changes–whether we want it to or not. In his challenge John asks us to think about change: “Maybe it’s the changes in your family over the years, the […]
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[…] John shows us the changes of technology, including farm technology, PC, and aircraft sports. He also provides us with some ideas. Click here to learn more and join us. […]
[…] This week, on Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #185, host John from Journey with Johnbo has assigned the versatile topic of Change. […]
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[…] 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. […]
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.
They certainly are beautiful animals. They are so well cared for and it shows in their demeanor when you are in their presence. Amazingly, they let me stand within six feet of them to take photos while they were being dressed and hitched.
🤗💕
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
Thank you, Tina. Truth is, it took me awhile to come up with my original premise. I challenged myself. >grin<
[…] is my response to this week’s Lens-artists challenge with the theme Change. When I searched my archives for last week’s challenge, I “rediscovered” some […]
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.
Indeed, change is inevitable, and you are so right that older folk marvel of new tech while young people embrace the changes.
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
[…] This weeks challenge #185 is ‘change’. An old town with new technology. And most of all: signs. […]
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[…] this? A clear lesson that we do not deal well with change. It is entirely predictable that some things will outlive their use. Why can’t we possibly […]
Interesting post (and challenge). Amazing that both the planes seem to have a dashboard which is more complicated than of the Gemini spacecraft that I saw in a museum 🙂
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.
[…] week, we’re delighted to welcome John Steiner as a new member of our Lens-Artists team. For his topic, he asks us an intriguing question: What […]
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.
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.
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?
Indeed, I spend way too many hours in front of a computer screen, but I truly enjoy it, so I guess it’s OK. >grin<
[…] Lens-Artists Photo Challenge (LAPC) #185 – Change […]
Great challenge John! Things and people are changing everyday!
Indeed. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
You’re welcome
Fabulous horses and a treat of a challenge, John. Very easy for you as a tech person too!
Thanks, Ann-Christine, I generally take change in stride, but these days, I feel like that old man who sits on the front porch yelling, “Get off my lawn!”
😁
[…] Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge #185: Change […]
Hello again John, Eivor and Pearl’s contribution for this week’s lovely challenge is here: https://whippetwisdom.com/2022/02/07/haibun-lines-of-vulnerability/
Thanks for joining in on the challenge this week. I’ve already checked out the post and found it quite moving, and a reminder of the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.
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[…] week, we’re delighted to welcome John Steiner as a new member of our Lens-Artists team. For his topic, he asks us an interesting question: What […]
You have certainly seen a lot of changes in your lifetime, as I imagine, have I
When one has been around for seven decades or so… one tends to see lots of things change.
I’m sure you are far younger than I, so I’ll just stop right here. >grin<
🙂