Welcome to the Future: How Things Have Changed

People often say that the modern world is changing at an ever faster pace and the world we see today is unrecognisable from the one we had twenty or thirty years ago. I remember the days when the most advanced games console you could play at home was just a shooting gun you plugged straight into the TV and it had just one game with a hand full of levels. That and a few simple games on the PC which had the most basic 2D graphics. Actually, does anyone remember the old dial up internet which meant that whenever you were on the internet, no on in the house could use the phone and you were charged by the minute and it took a good five minutes just for it to connect to the phone line. None of this unlimited internet on multiple computers or wireless internet connection and certainly no internet on your phones.

          Personally, I miss hearing that old beeping sound you would hear on the house phone whenever someone was on the computer. Sometimes I think we should bring some of those old things back, just for a day, to make people appreciated the advances we have made since then, especially for those who can't remember or didn't experience those "dark backward" days. People only using their mobiles to make phone calls, people keeping their time on the internet to a minimum to save money and to give other people use of the house phone. I don't think people (both children and adults) would be able to cope. God forbid people having to actually interact with each other in person or talk verbally over the phone or even using the encyclopaedia to help you with your homework rather than the internet. Oh, those were the days (does saying that make me officially "old").

          But saying all of that, the advances over recent years certainly have changed the dynamics of the world in which we live. The world certainly has become alot more fluid. Without the likes of Facebook or Twitter, there would not have been an Arab uprising. At least not for a few more years and certainly not as wide spread or as organised. Even in the west, the internet has allowed for the exchange of ideas and opinions on an unprecedented and truly global level. The fact that you are reading this now is testament to that and you could be reading it at them same time as someone half way across the globe.

          So yes, these advances have their drawbacks, but they also have their benefits. We ourselves as people just have to get that balance right between interacting within the virtual sphere and socialising with those right on our very door step. And before parents use that as an excuse to throw their children outside to "play", your just as bad if not worse. These children were brought up with the internet around them, you weren't, so you should know better. So take advantage of these advances by all means, but take a step outside every now and then, take a time out from technology, be it mobiles, IPad’s or laptops, all of it. Read a book, play a game, get some exercise, whatever. You'll feel much better for it and for me, that's when I'm most relaxed and when I do my best thinking.

          Well anyway, thanks for reading. Now go read a book or something.

Jason Cates