OUR GROUNDED FUTURE

Why did I want flying cars so badly? I'm pretty sure everyone was certain we would have them by now, but why? Is flying a car really a symbol of advancing society? I guess some people reading this could care less about a flying car, but I was always looking forward to it. The concept seemed like fun in Back to the Future II. I have noticed that this laptop is cooler than I could have dreamed any flying car to be, and my model is a dinosaur already; an Apple G4 Powerbook circa 2004! It pretty much does what I need it to do and has suffered the need for only a few repairs including a new (and upgraded) hard drive, an upgrade of memory, and an occasional hammering out of dents. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Though as old as this laptop is, I don't think the reality of the technology it possesses has sunk in yet. When I stop and think about how easily I can find information by passing my hands over this machine, it's almost frightening. During my blind anticipation of the flying car, and in the waning of that interest, I don't think I saw this one coming.

The information age is upon us! Sure, I was warned about it in those early bizarre 'information superhighway' commercials 16 years ago. I never took it seriously I guess. Even when dial up became available in our home, it seemed like a passing trend. I remember being so excited to jump online when my dad was done working from home. I anxiously waited for web pages of my favorite bands to load at a snail's pace... waiting nervously as if the internet was going to 'go away' before I had a chance to get the exclusive information I needed.

Here it all is! Everything I could have wanted and more. Sometimes too much information is available. How do my cells even keep up? I don't remember installing any new software in my body, so how have I been able to adapt? It's very possible that I'm not adapting too well at all. Something so commonplace as switching on a light when entering a room has evolved into including the sights and sounds that millions of people have conjured and, like creating light with the light switch, the majority of us barely understand it beyond assuming it's some sort of magic. No questions asked or else I might ruin the trick. I suppose I might actually still be more comfortable with the flying car bit. I still kind of like the clunker of a concept that has some old fashioned character and will get me where I need to go at speeds far below that of light. Or maybe I just need to get out more.