In 30 Years Time...

Technology fascinates me, maybe its because I've grown up with it but I've always felt affectionately towards it. In some ways it fascinates me more than life itself, what is a few billion years of evolution compared with with the technological advances of the last 30-50-100 years? Sure evolution is pretty dam clever but the technological revolution which allows me to type this and instantly have potentially millions (or, more realistically, about 30 - I can dream...) of readers is simply staggering.

Can you possibly imagine what the next 30-40-50 years hold in terms of technology...what about beyond that? Where are the limits? I'm sure some of my older readers can remember a time when there were no computers, no Internet, no CD players, no mobile phones. Of course now my mobile phone does all of that and a whole lot more. With my mobile phone which is smaller than a pack of cards I can calculate my exact position on the Earth using GPS, find out where my nearest book shop is and navigate my way there. When I get there and I've forgotten the name of the book I'm looking for I can use the Internet on my mobile phone to check, then, if they don't have it in store, I can order it over the Internet there and then and have it delivered to my door. I can do all that whilst listening to my entire CD collection and taking pictures of myself at the same time! Why I would want to do any of that when I could have ordered the same book online at home without any of that hassle is beside the point - I do it because I can! Oh and I suppose I could mention I can use my mobile phone to make phone calls too! I remember when my dad got his first mobile, he was quite an early adopter for business reasons, you can buy cars smaller than the phone he had back then and all it could do was make calls, sometimes. Nevertheless I was fascinated and of course I instantly knew everything about it before well before he did. Now, almost every person over the age of about 10 (although many younger people have them too) has a mobile phone which makes everyone almost instantly contactable. The pros and cons of this are another post in itself but as technological feats go its gigantic (the instant contact breaks down a bit when people have their phones tucked in the glove compartment for emergencies only *cough* older generation *cough*). It is almost impossible to imagine going back to a time pre-mobile phone, young people today cannot possibly imagine a life without it how would they possible communicate 150,000,000 sms messages worth of information per day! That is just in the UK, an average of nearly 3 messages per person every single day! Extraordinary.

The mobile phone is just one example of the technological revolution but what is the most important? In my opinion it is the Internet, not only the Internet itself but much advancement has been brought about because of the Internet. I know, that right now, I can find out almost anything I want or would ever need in about 10 seconds using Google. I can buy almost anything, I can download and listen to almost any song ever made, I can chat to people on the other side of the world.

I'd never imagined a life without technology before our Summer trip to the Solomon Islands but even there, in one of the most remote places on Earth technology is slowly creeping in. Its a long way behind and the people of Lata are a long way off plasma screen TVs and mobile phones which access the Internet, in fact, these things may never make it there - perhaps they don't need to. I couldn't live like that knowing what I do now about the world so if I ever do emigrate to the jungle I'll be taking the biggest possible satellite dish a mountain of toys. Technology is what I missed most about the developed world.

I can spend hours reading about technology, studying my favourite magazine T3 is one of my favourite things and the first blog I usually check is Engadget. If I could muster the same enthusiasm for studying, I'd never have any motivational issues. The kick of adrenaline I get when researching a new gadget purchase is only super seeded by that of opening the box and reading the instructions. Many would call it sad, I'm sure, but to me its a hobby, apart from missbliss, technology is what I live for. I love it.

Metaphorically, technology runs through in my blood, it probably won't be long before that metaphor becomes literal as nanobots sweep through my veins zapping cancer cells as they form. I know it sounds like science fiction now, but what about all that we've got now? That was the science fiction of 50 years ago. I can't wait to see what happens during my lifetime I don't think any of us can imagine some of the changes to come in the next 30 years never mind the next 100 or 200.



N.B. I recently bought myself a TomTom 520 GPS Sat Nav system for adventures ahead in new places. Whether this was the inspiration for my declaration of love to technology I don't know.