How Times Have Changed: Vatican Edition

This photo comparing the audiences in St. Peter’s Square in 2005 when Pope Benedict XVI was introduced to the world, and Wednesday night when Pope Francis I was introduced has been making the rounds:

smartphones

 

It’s worth noting that the 1st iPhone didn’t come out until 2007. This is just another example of how ubiqutious these devices have become.

H/T Josh Blackman

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. ernieyeball says:

    Yeah. And I have to wonder if the lone flip phone in the bottom right of the older pic wasn’t photoshopped in.

  2. stonetools says:

    Apparently there has been an update to the Decalogue. There’s now an Eleventh Word:

    “Thou shalt have a smartphone and keep it with you always.”

  3. mantis says:

    I’m in the midst of a total website redesign for a large organization, and when people ask me why we are changing the website, the first thing I explain is that when our current site was built and designed*, neither tablet computers or the iPhone even existed. They often seem a bit surprised at how very recent changes to the world now just seem normal.

    *For the geeks, our current site is built in THE WORST CMS IN THE WORLD, which has prevented us from keeping the site evolving with the Web. We are switching to a new CMS, of course.

  4. PJ says:

    @ernieyeball:

    Yeah. And I have to wonder if the lone flip phone in the bottom right of the older pic wasn’t photoshopped in.

    I can see two more phones in that picture.

    What I don’t see is any digital cameras (well, the other two phones might be cameras).
    But unless the people in 2005 photo just decided to visit, some of them ought to have brought cameras with them, and by 2003 digital point and shoot cameras outsold film based point and shoot cameras.

  5. Scott O says:

    My guess, nothing was happening when the 2005 photo was taken or we would be seeing lots of cameras and cell phones.

  6. OzarkHillbilly says:

    The end is nigh.