Technological Vertigo

Apple Inc. recently announced their latest laptop offering, the MacBook Air.  While the technical features of the ultra-lightweight laptop are impressive, what really struck me was what's missing: an ethernet port.  The connectivity expected from any laptop in today's world is provided entirely through its wireless card.  And it will work.  Something that would have been inconceivable just five years ago is quickly going to become the standard, and before long we'll wonder at the notion of using a wired connection.  Wireless accessibility will be as ubiquitous a few years from now as electrical outlets are today.

World-changing innovations like this are happening at a constantly increasing pace.  Whereas someone born in the 1600s could generally predict the course of his life, I don't even dare to guess what my life will be like twenty years from now.  Innovations in communication, travel, artificial intelligence, human-machine interaction, and a host of other fields will each change our lives such that yesterday's impossible becomes tomorrow's trivial.  It's technological vertigo; we're losing our sense of what's coming.  There's a danger in such a world: a man who has no notion of tomorrow lives only for today, thinks only for today.  There's certainly a danger.  But the possibilities, though dangerous, are also limitless.  We've got an exciting tale ahead of us.