The era of “Beam Me Up Scotty” is upon us.
While our physical bodies are not yet being zapped from place to place, all sorts of other things are!
Photos, Stories, Bank Statements, Registration Forms…., books from Amazon…., shoes from Zappos.
Zip. Zap. And Alakazam.
Way back when mass communication got its start… things were all hooked together by the very physical presence of wires, and plugs and switches.
We owe the big and wonderful BEGINNING of this to Mr. Alexander Graham “Can You Hear Me NOW” Bell. This, just happens to be his birthday… March 3, 1847.
But back to “Star Trekish-ness”…
There are sound waves, microwaves, radio waves, particles, signals, digital transmissions, and on and on.
Around the planet, exists a swirling mass of digital soup… thick in the air.
Like whirled peas. Oh… HOW I long for whirled peas.
Some people hope for baby cheeses. Me? It is simply peas.
ANYWAY… back to the digital chowder.
These signals are moving around us, through us… in and out… up an down.
Why…just yesterday… I swear there were voices in my head. But alas… I think I was just tuning in on someones text message from Boise, Idaho to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Holy Cow… it is no wonder I am tired all the time. I’ve got this deluge of digital goo infiltrating my blood system at a molecular level. My blood type is something like….
…. like … O+ 2.5 MgHz.
In a few years, we won’t have cell phones, or iPads…. laptops, or even TVs. Nope. We’ll all just get a chip. They will put the chip in our heads. That’s how we will send and receive calls… watch TV… and news reports…. play games… send messages. Yep.
It will save millions on production costs. It will save many planetary resources. It will be cleaner and more efficient.
It scares the heck out of me and creeps me out. To no end. They will know where we are, and what we are thinking…. before we do. They’ll know if we are late, early, or in between. You won’t know if you ar talking to the person standing in front of you… or if they are on a phone call to Little Rock, Arkansas. People will get hacked. It’s going to be a crappy mess.
First… there was the end of the gosh darn Twinkie. (The Mayan Calendar “Called” that ONE… I might add!)
But yes… first “No More Twinkies” and the next thing you know… the end of free thought.
Happy Birthday Alexander. Whatever have you done Alex? Whatever have you done?
“It’s not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring” – Spanish Proverb
You are a wonder, my friend. I love what you write. I went to a book called The Traveling Curmudgeon compiled and edited by Jon Winokur, written 10 years ago. It is prefaced by: “Irreverent notes, quotes, and anecdotes on dismal destinations, excess baggage, the full upright position, and other reasons not to go there. I checked and he wrote nothing about Ohio, except mentioned Cleveland (the mistake by the lake) and Dave Barry said of Lake Erie,(contains some actual water). I might add, the curmudgeon has 14 other books.