Sometimes, I think we need to hit pause, take a breath and appreciate the wonder of today’s technology.
It is too easy to take it for granted.
About 20 years ago, my daughter was studying overseas. We used what was then some relatively new software-based VoIP to keep in touch. I remember her complaining with a solid “What the hell” when a call dropped mid-sentence. I reminded her that she was travelling 100 km/hour on a train while I was in a car in stop and go traffic on a Toronto highway, with nearly 9500 kilometres between us. “Can we pause for just a moment, appreciate the wonder as we think about what it takes for this conversation to be taking place at all, let alone for free?”
I was thinking about that conversation as I conducted video chats over satellite connections this week with my west coast and overseas grandkids while cruising in the north Atlantic. The ship is delivering a perfectly respectable high speed internet service to thousands of users at sea.
I looked – there isn’t a giant spool of fibre trailing behind us.
Over the weekend, I read a post on social media from someone who wrote “Dear friends older than 42: You don’t have to put 2 spaces after the period anymore. That was for the typewriter era. You’re free”.
I couldn’t leave it alone, so I responded:
Dear youngin’s: some of us 60-somethings created word processing and that internet thing that set you free.
You’re welcome. Don’t patronize us.
I have been privileged in my career to have had the opportunity to work with some of the pioneers who developed some great network applications and technologies. I don’t expect people to take a peek behind the curtain to see how connectivity is delivered. But, even after 45 years in the telecom business, I am not one who takes technology – any type of technology – for granted.
I don’t mind the extra space after the period. Indeed, we might ask why the software doesn’t adjust for users (old and young) who insert an extra space. But above all, every once in a while, pause and appreciate the wonder of it all.