When I was a boy: you heated food in a saucepan on the stove; you actually dialed the phone; you had to watch a television program when it actually aired; you had to look up common facts in encyclopedias; home movies were taken, the film developed, and shown on large (often malfunctioning projectors) about once every 3 years. My mother would ask me if I thought she had a "shoe phone" whenever I'd ask to contact my father in a shopping center.
This evening, I've created some dvd's, emailed several friends, am copying my digital video to my computer to edit and make laser encoded digital copies the likes of which Spock on Star Trek could only have dreamed. My wife has been video conferencing with her sister in halifax and transmitting photos (taken today) of a new bedroom set we're considering purchasing.
I know that in my field of work I'm not supposed to be suprised at these things... but sometimes you just think of these things, and be amazed.
Perhaps the greatest change in the past five years is that these technologies are starting to actually work. Digital photography, broadband speeds, and the internet have really just started to become a common, and quite reliable part of our everyday lives.
Now, if only I could dial my cell phone without going through 5 sets of menus.
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