Thursday, August 26, 2010

So when did this happen?


A friend and I were talking today and we suddenly realized that something major had changed in our lives. We were no longer mesmerized by hardware stores. This fascination with all things mechanical and gadgets and gizmos that had been with us since boyhood had been usurped. The days when we would wander aimlessly around the hardware store daydreaming about what great project we might attempt if only we had all of these neat devices were gone.

We were now wandering aimlessly around computer stores pretending that we were technically savvy and understood boot sequences and cross platforms. This was now the most pleasant of pastimes. Why would you want to worry about threading pipe, beveling wood or laying tile when there were downloads, uploads, upgrades, updates to be attended to. There were people out there in cyberspace that needed us much more than that cracked paint on the shed or that harmless little drip from the faucet. Did it matter that we didn't even know who they were? Of course not. Without our input, how could their day possibly be complete?

And the software, my God, the software. Little had we realized how deprived our lives had been until now. We could now become experts at things we didn't even know existed before. With a slight move of the wrist we controlled the world of law, medicine, landscaping, geography, publishing and most other facets of life. Trying doing that with a ball pein hammer and a Phillips head screwdriver.

There is so much more about this new world that I could tell you about if only I had the time. However, haven't you heard about that new program that morphs you into an interstellar traveler and takes you back to the time of the Big Bang?

Staples awaits!

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