THE EARLY COMPUTERS:
I remember the day I saw my very first computer. It was about 45 years ago. One of my school teachers took our class on a field trip. We went to visit the headquarters of a major bank.
They took us into this large room that was filled with a huge computer. It took up most of the room. I'm not sure exactly what the function of the computer was as far as the banking buiness went, but to impressionable teens, it was simply amazing. Especially when they punched some buttons and the computer typed out a message. As the keys hit the paper, it formed the tune of a song as it typed. I remember.....it was the song that went like this........"From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli." I think it is the U.S. Marine song. I know that was the song, because that moment has stuck in my mind over the years. It had such an impact because it was so remarkable at the time that a machine could be capaple of performing like that one did.
LOOK HOW FAR WE HAVE COME:
As I sit at my computer now(a very nuts and bolts everyday simple computer), I realize that it is probably 10,000 times more sophisticated than that first computer I saw. My computer sits on a small desk and the bank computer I saw almost filled an entire room. It is just incredible how technology has evolved in such a short time.
As I stood in that room some 45 years ago, how could I possibly have imagined the technological advancements that the future would bring. How could I imagine what computers would one day be capable of. Things that we take for granted now were simply inconceivable then. Not just to a group of wide-eyed teenage visitors, but probably even to the ones who programed that early computer.
It used to be a thrill to talk by long distance telephone to someone several hundred miles away. Now with a click of a mouse we can be chatting with a friend on the other side of the world. A satellite can beam down a signal to unlock a car door. A cell phone can access our home computer. We can trade millions of dollars in stocks, pay our bills, or find a new mate all from our small, everyday computer.
It really can be overwhelming and downright scary, because it does leave a very big unanswered question......
WHAT WILL THE FUTURE BRING?
Fifty years from now, the technology we are so proud of will be antiquated. Changes are coming faster and faster. It only takes a few years for a computer to be outdated. There is always something just around the corner that is faster, clearer or more compact.
In the future people will not have to drive their cars. A computer will do it for them. Impossible you say! That is just the reaction you would have gotten 50 years ago if you told someone that one day a computer in their car would tell them when to turn left to get to Uncle Joes house.
One day people will be at the office and with a click of a mouse will be able to signal their house to get busy. A few hours later when they come home, the roast will be in the oven cooking, the fresh brewed coffee will be ready, lights will be on, as will the background music. Who knows, a hot bath might even be drawn.
It will be a cashless society. As a matter of fact we are almost there now. Credit cards and Debit cards really have not been around all that long, but look how they have taken over. We work and our pay check goes right into our bank account. We pay our bills by phone or computer. When is the last time you went into a store and paid $300 cash for anything?
THE VERY REAL DANGER:
One thing is becoming very clear. Computers have such an important role in todays society, that it is complete and utter chaos when they fail.
Just being in a department store or super market when the computers go down causes major grid-lock. Just imagine an entire computer system in an airport failing. Or if a major bank were to somehow lose all its banking records. Or all the computers in a hospital went down.
Worse yet is the effect computers have on the entire generation that has been growing up with them. Every single advancement in technology is at the fingertips of todays young generation. Somehow in this age of computer frenzy, a whole generation is not learning the rudimentary skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. Why worry? A computer does all that for them.
As long as they work.
One day I went into a cell phone store to buy a phone card. The young, well dressed male clerk looked slightly dismayed when I paid cash. Apparently something was wrong with their computerized cash register and it wasn't registering the 'change due' amount. This meant he had to do the math in his head. The first attempt he made at making change was out by almost $2. When I mentioned it to him he tried again. He did better but still gave me 59 cents too much change.
There were other people in line behind me. At risk of embarrasing the clerk by having him take a third try, I just kept the change and left the store in frustration. Its just a small example, but it speaks volumes about how totally dependant most of the world is becoming on computer technology.
Its great when the system works, but when they fail, the results can be catastrophic.
