Keeping up with technology

My wife and I are considering updating to Smart Phones. We are both techno-infants when it comes to this sort of thing. It's hard to keep up. In a little over 20 years, we've gone from a brick phone to the smart phone.
I wonder if this was true in the early days of this country or even when things were very primitive, like in caveman days. Do you suppose they had to have the latest type of wheel? Did the Romans have to get the latest style in sandals, perhaps with colored thongs? And can you imagine an aide going to General George Washington during the Revolutionary War and saying, "General Washington, sir, no wonder it's taking you so long to write memos. You need a new Ifeather4."