Our great grandparents would have never thought that at the push of a
protuberance on the wall, a storage area would be filled with water. And the
very thought of spinning a round (sometimes other shapes too) something, the
water would come out of a hollow something-else would have been amusing. The
flow being controlled at will and put to stop when wanted would have made them stand
in bewilderment.
Life is being made easy day by
day. The small plastic-metal combination that are held in our hands was once
upon a time giant massive blocks that could be used only for calls and texting.
Dropping it from a height would create a hole on the ground, the height of the
fall causing an isomorphic depth. The massiveness reduced with time and the
packaging became more and more complex. Calls gave way to video calls, SMS
became via the web. Integrating into them, were cameras, music players and video
players making a person carrying 3 different gadgets for serving these purposes
look like a Stone Age time traveller.
As complexity gave its best to
us, the directions to any place, understanding our voice, reading our
biometrics etc became the need of the hour and found its place on the
phone.
We are being that dependent on
technology where meeting friends is a time where we are 50% involved with them
and remaining with our phone. Texts, Whatsapp, Facebook, and Twitter
are indispensable. Like toilet paper (sorry for the sophistication, mug,
bucket and water), iPad is the most essential tool to aid potty.
We are slaves to technology. Loving
and living the slavery shall be cursed and put on blamed one day.
The future: A phone that would
tap into the minds and be a companion. Who would want a wife or a girlfriend
when there is a pal who has no mood swings irrespective of which part of the
month it is?
But beware, it shall tap in so
much that we shall be nothing more than zombies approaching an apocalypse.
As I was thinking of this,
another crept in to push this to the back of the mind. More room to
proliferate.
The thought of how we came about
the evolution of vehicles.
Remember we used to roll down the
windows to come in contact with fresh air. Remember the struggle to turn the
steering when the car was stay put. Remember how we prayed when we had to push
a sudden brake.
I am sure it is always there as a
fresh memory in the minds of our parents who now drive in the lap of luxury.
Not meaning that everyone drives a Merc or Beemer. Even a normal Maruti Swift
now has all the necessary gadgetry as a part of its standard equipment. A push
and the window goes down. 2 fingers is all what is needed to turn the steering.
ABS, hopefully would take care of the braking.
The yesteryear's driving had a
wisp of fun involved- a feeling that you drive the car by yourself.
Fidgeting with the bunch of keys to find the right one, to open the car, when
rolling down the windows was quite an exercise, driving with all your might on
the steering, gear, accelerator, clutch and brake and then reversing the same
initial exercise to close and get out of the car.
The life has changed when
machines have taken over. Key in your pocket. The smart switch on the door knob
senses it and you open the door and enter. Inside the car, is a myriad of
buttons and screens making you confounded. Push of a button and the vehicle
starts. Key still in the pocket. The rolling down of windows gave way to power
windows which then came with an auto touch up/down feature. Drive the route,
the GPS in the centre console will alert if any wrong route is taken. The AC
adjusts to our wish of temperature. The seats are auto reclining, massaging and
stores who likes what angle of recline in its memory. The car gives its
share of entertainment, movies, music and radio and sets the theme with a mood
lighting. Get down the car and your ride has its own way of saying goodbye with
its follow me home headlamps.
Drat, you forgot to roll up the
windows. The car can take care of her, it automatically rolls it up and hey
presto, and the car is locked and safe.
The future is going to go
somewhere beyond imagination.
But aren't we being shackled
to this dominion of technology? Getting lazy in the course of
action.
As I put you to thought, let me
sign off.
