What Is Modern About...?

Please answer the following questions about the examples below:

Are these examples of modern technology? If so, think of a contrast (i.e., modern as opposed to what? Pre-modern? Traditional? Postmodern?)
Are there differences within the examples, and if so, what are they (e.g., "modern" vs. "some other kind" of city)
What does it mean for technology to be modern? It is simply "new and improved"? "Current"? How could technology fit into a modern way of understanding the world?

The computer

Agribusiness

The steam engine

The book

The microscope

A city

The automobile

The telephone

The cell phone

Virtual reality (simulation)

Gene splicing

Education

For more, see the list located here