On Remarkable Advances in Technology

I’ve always considered myself a slightly “ahead of the curve” guy at understanding new electronic gadgets and toys. Still, I’m amazed at the technological advances of the last 30 years and the sci-fi nature of some products on the market today.

 

To provide a reference point, when I was about 10-years old in the mid 1970s, my mother used to visit the bank every Saturday morning to withdraw cash for the week, chatting up the friendly tellers. The bank closed at noon, and if she was late, we’d be cashless until the bank reopened Monday. One late Saturday afternoon, Mom said she was going to the swing by the bank to make a withdrawal. “But the bank is closed by now,” I told her. “I know,” Mom said, “but I can get cash from the machine there.”

 

Say what?

 

Yes, she explained, the bank had installed an automatic teller. Just insert your card, punch in your secret password and presto, the machine WOULD GIVE YOU MONEY! I couldn’t believe it. Today, ATMs are an afterthought, but 30 years ago they were a startling invention (at least to me). How did the machine know it was really you and not some crook asking for your money? And how did the machine know the bills weren’t sticking together as it dispensed them? I was amazed.

  

Ten years later, as a college junior, I saw a commercial – I think for Microsoft – that showed three scenes in quick succession. First, a car zipped through a toll booth as a disembodied voice asked “Have you ever paid a toll without stopping?…” The next scene showed a man relaxing at the beach with a laptop computer as the narrator asked “….Or checked your messages at the beach?….” The last scene showed a team of surgeons in an operating room speaking with other doctors via teleconference, as the narrator asked “…Or been operated on by doctors half a world away?” The final scene showed a simple logo as the narrator stated “You will!”

 

I was skeptical. Checking messages by portable computer at the beach? Doctors operating on me while standing in a different room? Come on!

  

But the commercial was accurate. Electronic toll collection, wireless email and telesurgery are now commonplace. Still, it wasn’t long ago they were science fiction to the average person.

 

Today, my daughter in Florida makes video calls to her grandparents in Puerto Rico through our home computer, seeing and speaking with them in real time using about $50 in plug-and-play technology. Meanwhile, I’ve just read that scientists have learned how to teleport atoms across small distances, and it occurs to me that I regularly surf the Internet and check email on my Blackberry (yes, at the beach).

  

This was all science fiction to me 30 years ago. It’s all fact today.

   

I can’t wait to see the next generation of technological surprises.

On Being “Too” Connected

I appreciate new technology, but sometimes people appear “too” connected.

  

I find the way people use Bluetooth headsets and Blackberries to be particularly over-the-top.

  

Other than for hands-free driving (which is certainly a good use of the technology), do people really need a Bluetooth attached to their ear all the time? People walk around shopping malls and grocery stores with them – not talking, but waiting for a call, I guess. It strikes me as over-doing it a tad.

  

Again, I understand that some people need to stay connected  – a brain surgeon or a firefighter, for example – and there are times when everybody waits on a vitally important call (from the cable installer, for example!). I wonder though, if some people are addicted to nonstop connectivity.

  

Blackberries are particularly baleful in this regard. They are called “Crackberries” for a reason: it appears that people get addicted to checking their screen every two minutes like a crack addict getting another fix. Ever sit in a meeting with someone who can’t put down their Blackberry? They talk for two minutes, then check their Blackberry; talk for two minutes, check the Blackberry. This will go on for the entire meeting. They have no focus on the looming project deadline, but they never miss a spam email.

  

Again, I’m not against new technology. I love my new Garmin GPS: I’ll never ask for directions again. And Bluetooh and Blackberry technologies are wonderful. It’s the way some people use technology that’s a little baffling. Not long ago, nobody had a cell phone, and we all lived just fine. Soon, we’ll have I-phones implanted in our skulls. Ah well, I suppose there’s always room for spam……