I know it hasn’t occurred to me alone, partly because I have seen the idea expressed by others before, but I think we often overlook the wonderful fact that we live in the future. Remember those old films about the promises of the next century? Well, I look around in the distant future of Twenty-Ten and realize that we got a few of them right.
Sure, we don’t have flying cars. I could care less about that. The first time my gas light came on in the middle of nowhere, I’m pretty sure I’d swear off them permanently anyway. What we do have is the Kindle. Think about it.
Every day, I can wake up and have the newspaper already sitting on my desk in the form of a piece of “paper” that changes on a daily basis or whenever I happen to need it for something. I carry around the better part of a library in my pocket, and when I find I’m lacking something it’s the matter of a few moments while it is beamed to me from far off locales to prevent me the inconvenience of getting up and driving to the store. In moments of curiosity, this wonderful device can get me answers to most any question by accessing one of the largest knowledge bases in existence from nearly anywhere in the world at no charge with no questions asked.
It’s so mundane right now, too. That’s quite possibly the most surreal point of all. We have devices like the Kindle and nook and a dozen others to choose from, the main difference between them often being aesthetics and level of convenience, and nobody even realizes what they mean!
I’m still holding out for an affordable version of the house that wakes me up and cooks me breakfast every morning, but I’m willing to let that one slide. So long as I can sit here with an eReader and enjoy, the future is good.
Old Fashioned Book Purist – I’m Over It
I’m a purist and I fought the idea of a Kindle. I wanted the thick vanilla texture of a traditional book page – the joy of different typesets – the book smell wafting up from each page.
I’m over it. I adore living in the future with my Kindle. I’ve been reading since childhood before I go to sleep. I didn’t realize that with each shared book – or friend’s “gotta read this one” I was unknowingly introducing dust mites into my sleeping environment. I’ve been hacking, coughing and sneezing my way through the night for years. Now, I spray my bedding with a new probiotic product called Chrisal Allergy Free that gets rid of dust mite allergens and settle in for a good read with my Kindle.
I don’t miss the dust mites at all.
Sleeping Quietly in California (sometimes with my Kindle still open – and I never lose my place)
same thing dude