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I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days, that all these memories come flooding back to me.

Technology

Have you ever switched on your computer and found yourself staring at the screen just wondering what to do next? Here you are with the latest state-of-the-art technology that is capable of doing just about anything you would want it to do, and you're just sitting there, bored!

When you consider that you could talk live in real time to anyone else that has this latest Skye telephone conversation software, or send them an email or talk to them using MSN messenger no matter where they are in the world, yet still there you are just sitting there staring at the screen. Computers have been with us for some years now and are still developing something new all the time, making communication between us easier every day. That distant cousin who lives on the other side of the world, the one you just used to send a birthday or Christmas card to, can now be seen while talking to you on your web cam video phone linked through your computer. You can stay in contact with anyone else who owns a computer; you can even send them photographs across the globe in the blink of an eye.

Yet only a few years ago, when I was younger, we used to read about such things in futuristic comics and people were excited about receiving colour television. It seems we have come a long way since those days. I am only too pleased to have seen all this happen and even more pleased to be able to participate in it. With the invention of the mobile phone and the developments in computer design making them become more portable in the form of smaller lap tops, it will not be long before the two combine and we will all be walking around with miniature computers in our pockets1. Gone will be these bulky desk top computers that we have now; you will be able to carry out all the functions that we do today sitting in your arm chair.

I remember watching a television programme called Tomorrows World back in the seventies where they showed the possibility of video phone links between countries. They went on to say how much this could change our whole idea of communication as we knew it then.
Little did we know it then that all this would happen in such a short time. Here we are today walking around with hand held video telephones capable of doing much more than just talking and seeing each other.

So there you are sitting staring at a blank screen wondering just what to do next. The internet is such a powerful thing capable of giving you so much information with just a simple click of the mouse the implications are limitless. In fact, when you come to think about it all, it can be frightening. For myself I am just so happy to be able to use all this modern technology. I know that there is a lot more that I have to learn, but the fact that I can at least access and understand some of it, keeps me content.

Every day something new comes out, another bit of technology to learn, so you are never really able to say that you know it all. I sometimes think back and wonder what we did before computers and mobile phones were invented. It is comforting to watch old movies or television programmes where you do not see any of these things at all - a reminder to us older ones just what we did do in the old days. Those were the days of carbon paper, type writers and telex machines, all of which would be alien to present day office staff. If you watch all the most recent films and television shows, it would appear that you need all this modern stuff in order to catch the bad guys!

So I still take comfort in those old films every now and then and it is nice to see cars that are actually shaped like cars along with office desks without large bulky computer monitors on them. So the next time you find yourself just sitting there wondering what to do next, it might be an idea to go and watch an old movie.

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1Already happening Smudger - h2g2 mobile being a case in point... ed

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