I was watching a show called “Ancient Aliens” and it was about how in 100 years our society will have transitioned from horse drawn carriages to moon walking. What an amazing show. I guess I’m late to the party because I just discovered the crazy guy with the hairspray on who is hosting the party. If you haven’t checked it out yet, go do it.
Even ancient astronaut theorists agree that this is impressive, and the lightning-fast technological revolution in an age when horses go to the moon is mind-blowing.
Our progress hasn’t slowed down since the moon was created, and amazing inventions have popped up every few years since the summer of 1969. Who would have thought, as a child in the 1980s, that I’d grow up to have a device in my pocket that was a VCR, Jambox, Walkman, art studio, computer, phone, arcade, calendar and bank all in one?
My younger self would have been surprised to know that I could watch Airwolf or Mork and Mindy on my phone, then switch to the Atari Pitfall game and go back. The world is literally at your fingertips. As my friend Mork used to say, nanu nanu, times 10.
I sat next to a gentleman at a lunch event a few years ago and the conversation has stayed with me ever since. He was a speaker at the event and his talk was about being wrongly accused of a crime. He had just been released after serving a 20-year sentence and one thing he told me over lunch was that he just couldn’t wrap his head around new technology.
Watch movies, send texts (what does that even mean?), check the weather, send emails, post to social media, listen to music, look up sports information, and more on your small device. , I didn’t understand that it was possible to have remote meetings. When someone explained social media and Twitter to him, he was surprised: “What? Why do we need to do that?” It is certainly so.
Just getting to the bathroom with a touchless faucet was difficult. he couldn’t understand them. He had to wait and watch the others. He said he cried tears of nostalgia for the technological revolution, and now he’s trying to make a comeback.
We live today in a constant state of technological revolution. As the song goes… You say you want a revolution, but you know we all want to change the world.
In recent years, we have seen the simultaneous development of the cybersecurity revolution, the Internet of Things, the cloud revolution, the mobile revolution, and now the artificial intelligence revolution. As the movie Spaceballs says, here in 2024, we are witnessing incredible speed.
The man I mentioned earlier was left far behind. Does he ever feel left out by some technology? Am I wrong? For example, I think my mom still records Fox News shows on her VHS tapes.
I’m not immune either. The first time I pulled into a parking space using a smart meter, it was a ‘what the heck’ moment. I think I circled the meter like Clark Griswold in a roundabout before I finally figured it out (a bit of “European Vacation” humor).
Now it’s normal, and I’m past the point where I felt ageism through technology. I guess I’ve just invented another undesirable euphemism for technology discrimination, but hey, we’ve all felt it in some form. For example, a family friend who doesn’t have a smartphone once quietly asked me how to call an Uber. Prison, aging, attention deficit, this can happen to anyone, and it’s real.
Revolutions and technological ageism aside, it’s time to get your mind moving.
What would you think if I told you that we are on the brink of greatness as a civilization? How would you feel if a technological renaissance was just around the corner? How would you feel if the political bickering we see in our country is coming to an end? How would you feel if we were approaching a new golden age?
Small steps have already begun. Things like the International Space Station are great examples of our capabilities. For the first time in history, we have humanity’s collective knowledge in our pockets. The question is what we do with it. Play another game of River Raid or work together to make the world a better place. The choice is yours.
Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Business Technologies, host of the Biz & Tech Podcast, and author of the pandemic diary “Professionally Distanced.” He can be reached at dowlingb@aegisbiztech.com.
