Incredible Blessings

 As I often do when at home, I decided this afternoon to go for a walk in the park that is right behind our home.  I hadn't been out of the house much today and wanted to get out into the air.  The weather was a little crisp, but little wind, and it was sunny.  A good day for a walk.

As I began my walk, I thought it would be good to hear some music as I walked, so I put Pandora on my phone and started listening.  I have, of course, a Pandora account, and have selected several genres of music that I like, and furthermore have put Pandora on shuffle.  And the really cool thing about it all is my phone plays into my hearing aids via bluetooth, providing me a private concert as I'm walking.

I got a little way into the walk, and began thinking about the technology I was using.  My phone seamlessly transferred itself from my home wi-fi to the phone carrier's data link as I got out of range of my wi-fi.  My phone then transferred the audio to my hearing aids via bluetooth.  I could even open the hearing aid app on the phone and adjust the bass, treble, etc. to my preferred settings.  If I had wanted to do so, I could have looked at the phone screen to see who was performing, what the lyrics of the song were, and other information about what was playing at the time.

OK, all you who are 50 or older...think about this.  Sixty, fifty, even twenty five years ago, this wouldn't have been happening.  The technology just wasn't there.  The Internet.  Wi-fi.  Cellular systems with Internet data.  Cell phones.  Hearing aids with bluetooth.  Pandora.

Just how magical and wondrous is it that I can wander in the woods and hear great music of my preference sent just to me for no charge (I still endure the ads on Pandora) wirelessly through a network that literally encompasses the earth.  This same network also enables me to send text, crisp photos, audio, movies, and who knows what else literally to any place on earth almost instantly.  And that network is connected to an electronic device I carry with me that has more computing power than most PC's of just a few short years ago and brings the world to me, and me to the world.

I can ask any question, and ask that question in spoken language by the way, and get a spoken response that most of the time is pertinent.  I can immediately access unabridged dictionaries, encyclopedias, governmental information, the weather any place on the globe, breaking news, movies, literally billions of videos, grand fine arts performances of all kinds, travel information, and directions.  I can play games, watch sporting events, find out my elevation above sea level, learn sunset and sunrise times for today (or any day) anywhere in the world, and know where I am anywhere on earth to within about a 6 foot radius.  I can get the exact time to within a tenth of a second. 

I can order pizza, buy opera tickets, book a flight, buy a car, check the inventory at Wal Mart for an item I want, have virtually anything delivered to me, call for transportation to somewhere, get medical advice, pay bills, refill my prescription, check my bank account and deposit, withdraw, or transfer funds, check on my electric utility service usage for the month, day, or year, take photos and movies, unlock my car remotely, turn the thermostat in my home up or down, and accomplish hundreds of other things by using this electronic device we call a phone...all without actually talking to anyone...which was the original purpose of the phone.

Yes, the Internet, the Cell Phone, and wireless technology have enabled the once impossible at ANY...yes ANY...price to be as ubiquitous as night and day and well within the budgets of billions of people world wide.  If you were alive thirty, forty, or sixty years ago, just think of the changes in technology and marvel at what has been done.  Fifty years ago when I was working in Western Kansas for the 3M Company, I would have given my right arm to have a working telephone in my car instead of having to pull up to a pay telephone in some small Western Kansas town and calling collect or with a phone credit card.

Yes, I know the world is still a messed-up place.  We are still at war with each other.  We still don't love our neighbor as we should.  We have polarized ourselves into various camps.  We spend entirely too much money on things we shouldn't.  The Internet is a mixed blessing, bringing pornography and other societal ills to the world as well as the good things we’ve celebrated in this post.  We still lie, steal, cheat and kill.  I get it.  I have, and will continue to speak of society's good and bad sides in other posts.  This post, however, is about technology and the advances in that field in just a few years-time.

The human race isn't all bad.  God has created it all to be, as he says, “Very good.”  We humans have messed it up, but there's still a lot of the creation that displays that “Very Good,” aspect.  Look for the good.  Don't let the bad put you into despair and depression.  Celebrate those people who love their neighbor, exude kindness, extend compassion, and treat others as they wish to be treated.

And take advantage, as much as you can, and in good and noble ways, of the wonderful and incredible inventions that have come about over the past half century or so.

 

Blessings,