The talk about oil, better gas mileage and the hope of technology to
get us by in the future got me to thinking.
Technology is our only hope for keeping things running in this modern
world of billions and billions of people. If the technology doesn't
come thru we are all in a big hurt.
I think about the technology that's come about in the last 40 years,
I use 40 years because I can remember that far back.
I remember cheap gas and the 'no gas' signs. I remember when a car
getting 100k miles was a big deal, today I expect 250-300k. I
remember black and white TV with 4 channels and rabbit ears, I
remember going to the grocery store to test vacuum tubes in their
machine, today I use satellite and have more channels than I care to
watch. I remember building a crystal radio and my first transistor
radio. I remember when only Dick Tracy had a personal phone (his was
on his wrist watch), I keep mine in my pocket today. My first
commercial plane trip was in a prop driven plane (I don't remember
it). I remember my first time seeing a hand held calculator that
would not only add-subtract-multiply & divide but would do square
roots at the touch of a button! Today I talk with people all over the
world with the computer in my living room, my wife like to use the
other computer to play backgammon with people all over the world.
I lived thru numerous childhood illnesses with the help of
penicillin. Today my 16 yo daughter is still alive 9 months after
finding out she had leukemia.
Technology is a double edge sword but it's our only real hope for the future.
Rob
becida AT comcast.net
With a '91 Subaru 2.2 in an '87 Vanagon in western Washington.