Techno-shock...

So, here we are at the 21st century.  Been here a while, actually.  So where is all the super tech, the fantastic, beyond realistic super science that we see in the movies, that the older generations have been told for 30 years would be here, 12 years ago?  Come on, Paul Moller, where's my flying car?!

Seriously, I've been thinking about this a lot over the past few days, and I really have to say that the answer is that we're never getting it.  It's not going to happen, at least the way the stories always talk about.  Think about it.

Let's make up a term, Techno-shock.  No, this isn't what happens when you take a bath with your laptop, let's say this is what happens at that pure moment of epiphany, not creating an invention, but seeing it.  When you step back and say "Wow, we finally actually have.. that.."  Everyone who's involved in the technology field has Techno-shock happen now and again, but not as much as the non technical, and we'll get into that in a bit.

Let's take a standard Techno-shock example from science fiction.  Time traveler from the future goes back in time to collect a delicate little knick knack that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Dwayne Johnson is the 75th generation descendant of Napoleon's college roommate.  Well he goes back, grabs the letter opener, and doesn't notice the curious kid who jumps into his time machine as he's headed home.  Now, heavens above what is this?  A child who knows only horses for travel sees cars, busses, and even flying cars zooming past.  He's only seen the rich in weather-survivng homes, but now every house he sees looks like a mansion to him, and everyone has one.

Of course he'll be amazed, his entire world is different.  But that time traveler, while he might in a textbook sense understand why what he has now is better than what his culture had before, nothing he's seeing is all that special.  The advancements that happened during his life were incremental, managed, and in their own sense nothing shockingly new.  Sure, the time travel car is safer now, maybe it can go back 15% farther in time, but that's improvement, not innovation.

Look at modern times.  How amazing is a car?  We can get into a vehicle, pour some minerals into it, and it will take us easily 3 times the average speed of a horse (which is, give or take, about 15 mph at a canter, or jog).  That horse's gallop is I believe around 35 mph, and a car now can easily double that, and sustain that speed for.. 3, 4, 6 hours?  That's just amazing, but to us, it's normal.  As a society, we know that we had horses, then horseless wagon, then Ford's Model T, and so on and so on.  I'm not a car aficionado, so I'm sure I likely disordered that, but you get the idea.  Yes, that first day when someone said "that's amazing, a carriage with no horse!" yes, they had Techno-shock, but the rest was unimpressive.

To me, I experience Techno-shock when I realize I'm already using science fiction toys.  Let me explain.  Remember Star Trek:The Next Generation?  Do you remember how amazing the computer was?  You touch a screen on the Enterprise wall, and say "Where's Sick Bay" and it guides you there.  Or ask "Computer, where is Mr. SoAndSo" and hey, there you go.  Isn't that just wow?

Who, reading this article, has heard of Siri, or sVoice from Samsung, and I'm sure there's many more out there.  Congratulations, all we need to do is get Majel Barrett's voice and a lapel pin instead of a cellphone button and congratulations, you've got the super computer of the Enterprise.  Right now, today, in your pocket!

This leads to why I say people more into the technology of today are less likely to get Techno-shock.  You see the increments.  You don't wonder how we got from A to B.  Yeah, sure, it's impressive, but so is the weight of the world's largest lint-ball.  It's not magic, just a lot of time and effort.

I was so jaded by my technology, that when I saw Moller's flying car prototype, and he talked about how it was taking technology similar to a helicopter's and putting it into a lighter built car, for a split second I said wow, and almost immediately after I was wondering why someone hadn't combined those two things sooner.  I mean we've had cars for over 50 years, and helicopters just as long, so why didn't someone put a bunch of tiny helicopters on a car and make it fly.  I logic'ed myself right out of my Techno-shock without even realizing it.  (yeah, I used logic as a verb, I like it)

I ask all you Techy people out there to step back just every now and then, and really think about how we got where we are.  Programming languages, server hardware, laptops, anything.  I mean really, my cellphone, you know, in my pocket, has a CPU over 80 times faster, and over 160 times more storage than my first desktop computer!   How is that not amazing?  But today we just grab our phones, and most of us don't even think about how far we came.

Give yourself some self-inspired Techno-shock.  Enjoy just for a few minutes where we are now, compared to where we were 5 years ago, 10 years ago, or 20..  And just think,  we've only seen 12% of what this 21st century has to show us.  Don't forget how amazing the destination is, because the road to get there was so long..