Inventions

I remember having a conversation with my dad when I was a little girl and I was asking him what sorts of things had been invented in his lifetime. He told me about things like microwaves and personal computers. Then I asked him if anything had been invented in my lifetime. (I was probably around 10 at that time, so that would've been 1994.) He couldn't think of any inventions, but he said that technology was evolving and progressing all the time.

For some reason this conversation popped into my head the other day. Now I can think of lots of things that have been invented in my lifetime, like iPods, iPads, digital cameras, MP3 files and other things like this. Computers, cameras and cell phones were around when I was born, but the computers, cameras and cell phones of 1984 are basically obsolete these days. We can do things on computers today that wouldn't have been possible five years ago, let alone 27 years ago.

Who would've ever thought that a TV would go from being a square box to a flat rectangle? And who would've thought that a cellular phone wouldn't just be a phone, but a technological mega-device that is a telephone, radio, camera and computer all wrapped up in one tiny, portable device that you can use to watch movies and listen to music?

The concept of the internet has also been created in my lifetime. We're able to use the "World Wide Web" to communicate with people all over the world via e-mails, instant messages and video calls. Blogs are another invention of the 21st century. There've been lots of inventions like these which aren't something tangible you can hold, but they are inventions nonetheless.

It's funny when you're watching old movies or TV shows and the technology is noticeably dated. I remember watching the 1995 movie The Net with my dad. It's basically a thriller where the main character is an expert computer programmer and one of her colleagues send her a disc. He is murdered shortly thereafter and then Sandra Bullock's character's life is in jeopardy as she tries to get help while being chased by bad guys. The reason I'm bringing this movie up is because I think it would be entertaining to watch now, 16 years later, since the technology in that movie is extremely outdated.

I think of my nieces and nephews and I wonder what sorts of technological advancements there will be and what sorts of things will be invented in their lifetimes. Sometimes it seems like everything that can be invented has already been invented, but just wait a decade and things that you could never fathom will be a part of our daily lives, or things you would've never dreamed possible will be possible.