by Kevin Burton
Technology is a problem solver. Technology is a problem.
Am I right or wrong?
“Tech-savvy” is a hyphenated adjective that shouldn’t be used to modify certain nouns, such as, for example, “Kevin Burton”
Like it or not we all live in a sea of technology. It’s sink or swim out there, or maybe tread water. I think of myself as a tech water treader, but who am I kidding? New technology gives me that sinking feeling, most of the time.
So I drew inspiration recently from an e-mail I got from my friend Tracy. Under the headline “Fairy Tale Technology” someone (the e-mail didn’t say who) has listed ways in which some of our favorite fictional friends might have solved their thorniest dilemmas.
“If you think technology has changed the work world, just take a look at what’s happening in never-never land,” the piece reads. “A recent update reports that today:”
Little Bo Peep never loses sheep because of their embedded silicon identity chips.
Cinderella searches for her prince on Match.com and leases her pumpkin-colored SUV at Avis.com.
Hansel and Gretel use the GPS rather than breadcrumbs but have reported problems stuffing the wicked witch into her microwave oven.
To avoid travel stress, Alice now plans her Wonderland vacation with travelocity.com.
A reformed Ebenezer Scrooge sends Bob Cratchett to update his certification
for Excel and Quiken.
Jack’s making a fortune on his beanstalk bioengineering breakthrough.
Old McDonald uses voice recognition to make ordering easy at his agricultural auction site eieio.com.
Romeo and Juliet avoid tragic problems by keeping in touch through their cell phones.
With her early Web capabilities, Charlotte is now a motivational speaker at tech conferences around the world.
The Pied Piper switched career fields after his tunes were bootlegged online.
King Arthur has replaced that expensive round table with satellite videoconferencing.
Gulliver is on sabbatical using up all his frequent flyer miles.
Jack and Jill order their Evian on peapod.com.
I love these notes, which brightened my tech attitude considerably. I got curious whether there really is an eieio.com, but thought better of typing it into my browser, afraid I might find something not suitable for children. So I gave up on that.
But before we leave this topic, let’s take a look at The Jetsons, a fun futuristic cartoon which made some predictions about what life and technology might look like for the average American in the future.
“The futuristic family cartoon The Jetsons premiered in 1962. It was set 100 years in the future in the year 2062,” reads a story on emergingedtech.com. “We’re over half way there now, but surprisingly, many of the technologies they predicted in the cartoon are already a reality, while others are maturing quickly.”
Some of what the article mentions:
George and Jane Jetson chatted by video call, a technology that has been commonplace for years. They had a robotic vacuum, also common now. Even Rosie, the Jetsons’ robot maid, has been replicated and models are now for sale in a growing number of styles.
“Elroy can be seen flying a drone-like toy in at least one episode. Of course, Drones have been a reality for several years now,” the article reads.
The family had a flatscreen TV. That was a wonder in 1962, but old hat in 2023.
How about 3D printed food?
On the show, the Jetsons are seen sitting down and selecting which foods will be magically “printed” via their futuristic food making machine. Seems like 3D printing to me,” the article reads. “Well, in a very Jetsons-like development, NASA Astronauts Can Now 3D-Print Pizzas in Space.”
Jetson-esque flying cars are not common, but they are here, as are jetpacks like the one Elroy used.
The show featured smart watches and holograms. A gadget Jane uses looks an awful lot like a tablet computing device.
“Holy iPad Elroy,” the article reads.
“Considering how we’ve already managed to achieve much of what was foreseen back in 1962 is an interesting lesson about the pace of change of digital technologies. Since we know that this pace is only quickening, imagine how far we will have advanced when 2062 finally rolls around,” the article reads.
If you read that, and your picture of future tech is all shiny-glittery, please don’t forget the scene shown (I believe) on every Jetsons episode.
George is walking with the family pet Astro on the family’s high-tech dog walking device. He doesn’t get far before the contraption captures him, forcing him to run in an endless loop above then below its surface. You hear him crying out “Help, help…Jane, stop this crazy thing… help!….”
So even futureman Jetson has his problems with technology. I suspect we always will.
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