We Want a Robot

New technology is entirely underwhelming. Everything new that comes along is simply inevitable. I remember my utter joy at receiving my first walkman; it was incredible. I could listen to my music, but not bother my parents at the same time. I could walk down the road immersed in my own little dream world, just me and my music, my ultimate escape. In truth, it was awful. It ate batteries, the music went wonky when the cassette moved, the headphones snapped after a month. The inconvenience of turning the tape over, of having to carry lots of different albums with you, no special features to speak of...it was useless. But at the time it was the most incredible, convenient and beautiful invention known to man. Now consider the iPod. Or rather the mp3 player in general. Its marvellous! Hundreds upon hundreds of tracks, all available at one time in a tiny little package, packed full of features and special tricks. Battery life that can last all day. No skipping! It is an absolute mammoth of a product. And while it was much hyped, and well received by the general public, there was nowhere near the amount of revolutionary praise you would expect. The same applies to everything. Mobile phones, HD TV, computers, games consoles...technology is coming along in leaps and bounds. So why are we so apathetic about it all?

MrA raised a good point last night. According to cartoons and Tomorrows World, we should all be flying to the moon for the weekly shop now, zooming about with jet-packs and getting the family robot to do odd jobs around the house. None of this is true. There are no rocket ships, no teleporters and, worst of all, no robots. For a generation of people who were promised this unique fantasy world, we are now severely disheartened. It's no wonder we can't get past the past. It was much more intriguing than the future.