What innovation do you find most useful

[mustard-tree]

For me, it is online banking.

I can do all my banking in the comfort of my own home

Check balance at any time day or night

Nearest branch is a 15 minute drive away, so very convenient

[duck_a_lorange]

The internet in general, I think, and email in particular.

Online banking too - especially now I've discovered I can make a list of companies I pay in my bank account and just click on them to pay them - no faffing about "managing my account" with the gas people or whatever. (Don't do direct debit unless I have to).

[5129frederick]

I have three banks and all three bank managers rave their sides out that I refuse point blank to blank online.  It.s just too easy to carry out computer fraud.  Right now I'm sitting on a couple of items somebody's bought but can't pay for yet because they've fallen victim of card theft etc.She was most apologetic.  The annoying thing is I'm waiting on that money, but what can you do - my word is my bond.  I told her I'd wait.  You can get your car taxed on line - I point blank refuse to do that too..  People generally are becoming too dependant on their computer.  

[ed_blackadder_1]

On the other hand Fred, if you are housebound or live miles out in the country the internet can be a lifeline.

I do most of my shopping and banking on line, even my groceries, that leaves me with time to do more enjoyable things in life.  I am very carefull with which sites I go on and who gets my details, we have good security and we only use one card, so if anything were to go wrong it would be on that and nothing else. Touch wood nothing has yet.........

[ilove2patch]

As Ed says you just have to be careful & have good security. It makes life so much easier to do things on line. I am of your generation Fred and have embraced technology with open arms. I bank on line, shop on line, buy & sell on line, use facebook,,,,,it's a big world out there.

[mustard-tree]

I am the same a patch, bank online and shop online.

Being disabled, it is far better for me to have everything delivered.

I also tax the cars online, and recently we insured a newly acquired car. All was done online, and additional documentation insurers required was scanned and sent by email.  A lot easier and quicker than relying on royal mail.

But Fred, each to their own.

In the words attributed to Voltaire in his biography

"I may disagree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it"

[leoleoleo123]

my mobile phone and internet ...

i do almost everything online now.. saves waste, is convenient, fast reliable (most of the time) and instant(most of the time)!

[5129frederick]

Obviously in your case it would be more convenient, especially on the food side, and taxing the car online saves time at the post office.  I sell stuff on eBay, but I'm an old stick-in-the-mud who doesn't go much for change.  It was a long time  before I saw the benefits of a digital camers.  It was a Pentax and quite a but of money but my wife insisted I spend money on a good one if this eBay thing wasn't going to be a nine day wonder.  I got my money back on the second sale!  The rest is history.  Each to their own.  I'm just a bit wary of people getting into my system.  My password is a classic example.  Three weeks after having changed it it refused me access to my Paypal account, so I tried yping in my old password which shouldn't have worked - it opened it up instantly which makes online security rubbish.

[rose2008-2008]

Internet and Internet shopping of all kinds!!!!!. Its brilliant when i dont feel like trawling round the shops or lugging shopping home as i dont drive and have no one to take me 9 not that i would expect anyone to). Its fun online and the things you can do via it!!!!

[mustard-tree]

I think it depends on which bank you are with.

I have to enter a user number, pin number and password to get into mine.

If anyone did happen to get into it, they couldn`t do much with it, other than see how much I had in the bank and what my direct debits were.

They certainly would not be able to transfer money from my account into theirs.

To do that, they would need my physical debit card and a reader.

Even when I use my debit card online, my bank pops up wanting some digits from my password before allowing the transaction.

I sometimes moan about all this faffing about, but then remind myself that they are just trying to be more secure.

[mustard-tree]

"Three weeks after having changed it it refused me access to my Paypal account, so I tried yping in my old password which shouldn't have worked"

Are you sure that you didn`t just change the ebay password.

If so, your paypal password would stay the same, unless you changed that as well separately

[chickengrandma-2008]

We didn't change our PP password, just the ebay one.

I too think the computer and all it offers is the best invention.  (Of course, things like electricity had to be invented first)

I can't walk far so do my supermarket shopping online. We do our banking online and yes,there are soooo many security devices to go through to get in there.

I love it and don't know what I did without it.

(apart from more cooking, more cleaning, more gardening, more knitting, etc.  )

[mouse4702]

Much as I adore the Internet, my vote goes for modern medicine.  I'm taking a cocktail of drugs, but without them I'd be either dead, a raving lunatic or crippled.  As it is, on a good day I'd pass for normal, lol.  Oh, and a tiny device the size of a matchstick which means I was spared the ordeal of a hysterectomy.  Three cheers for medical advances!!

[dr-whos-assistant]

Again the internet is marvellous, but I do still love the microwave couldn't manage without one for warming things up.