Jayne Dowle: Catch your breath because we live in interesting times

This 21st-century "Domesday Book" identifies a staggering drop in the number of hospitals, libraries, police stations and social clubs, and an intriguing rise in lap-dancing joints, bookmakers, casinos and superstores. All of this affects life in modern Britain, but it misses how our lives have really changed.

I think technology has made the most significant impact. As many a Premiership footballer has found to his cost, mobile phones have revolutionised the way we behave. When I upgraded my phone recently, the customer adviser – don't forget the growth of call centres – pointed out that I send and receive as many texts as a typical teenager. Let me hastily explain that these are usually on the most mundane of matters; "picking up kids 3.30", or, "don't forget we need cat-food". But I often wonder how I would manage to run my life without that little beeping box.

My mobile is closely followed by the internet. The first thing I do in the morning is switch on my laptop to scan news headlines and check emails. On the (deeply annoying) occasions when my broadband connection goes down, I feel like I've lost my right hand. I do everything online, from banking to buying shoes. I am, however, still resisting Facebook. But the idea that technology can hook you up with pretty much anyone is intoxicating. The success of Friends Reunited and all those internet dating sites is proof.

So here we have the modern family at home, mum surfing for shoes in one room, dad doing his emails in another. And the children? Well, they might be playing on the Wii/ Playstation/ Nintendo, or listening to their iPods. None of these were around in 1997. Perhaps mum will wander in and have a go on Wii Fit. Dad might try to persuade his teenage son that U2 really is a worthy addition to his iPod playlist.

If the past decade or so has given us anything, it is the blurring of lines between children and adults. It has given us fortysomething parents paying a fortune for tickets to see Lady Gaga, and pretending that they are only doing it for their children. It has seen the rise of the ubiquitous hoodie, worn by everyone from babies to grandmothers. It has presented us with the X-Factor factor, television shows which bring together several generations on one sofa, and give them something to talk about. And while all this has been going on, families have stopped sitting down and eating together. When one person wants a takeaway, another is on a detox, and the children just fancy chicken nuggets and chips. Choice, as Tony Blair once said, is the mantra.

Children call the shots. Well, the lucky ones do. Our offspring have never been so indulged or prized. In 1997, were there designer boots for four-year-olds, play-barns and special menus in restaurants featuring tiny cappuccinos? But then, never before have we seen so many twentysomethings still living at home with their parents, unprepared, or unable, to leave.

A lot of them can't go because they can't find a job, or afford to buy their own home. We have endured seismic shifts in the global economy, which have seen the decline of traditional industries and huge changes in the way we work. Then there are seemingly irreversible social trends such as the fall in marriages, and in many Western countries, a

plummeting birth-rate.

I reckon we have lost the idealism we had back in 1997. We question things, ask ourselves if we are making the right choice, and seek out information to help us reach decisions – another way the internet has empowered us. We don't trust authority, or believe most of what politicians tell us.

The world has certainly become a more worried place. But I'm not sure it is as nasty as the doomsayers would have us believe. For all our fear of crime, high levels of debt and uncertainty, most of us are better off than we were in 1997. Not necessarily in material terms, but

certainly in the way that we communicate, share ideas, and break down barriers. And the point is, change is happening faster and faster. It took our ancestors millennia to invent the wheel.

Yet, within 13 short years, we have learnt how to send messages across the world in seconds. Catch your breath while you can, and consider how lucky we all are to live in such interesting times.