Sunday, August 15, 2010

A Lifetime Of Change.

The world today is a heck of a lot different from the world that I entered 36 years ago, not that I understood how things were at that time. The mid 70's was a time of massive upheaval, both social and technology wise. This era saw the end of the Vietnam War, the rise of feminism, expansion of environmentalism and many advances in science. I was too young at the time to understand what all this meant, but now I am old enough (and wise enough) to appreciate how those important steps affected my future.

Just looking around my living room right now I see changes from that time that I would never have guessed about. Within my reach right now I have my cellphone (an HTC G1 smartphone), two portable game systems (DS and PSP), a 320 gig portable hard drive powered solely by USB and the laptop I'm writing this on. Think about these devices for a second. How would someone from 1975, 1980 or even 1995 perceive these small shiny things? In the 1970's, these devices would have been impossible to imagine. State of the art in that age was the 8-track player, type writers (non-electric), and the rotary phone. In the 80's personal computers gained in popularity and ability, as were laptop computers. Cellphones also were gaining popularity during this time. How many fans of Save By The Bell are out there? Surely you remember the Zack Morris phone?

Time continues to advance and changes are happening every day. I am awed by the world today, and a little apprehensive about where we are going. How will the world look in another 36 years? We can guess, but no one can know for sure.