Living in the future

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

Are you getting or gifting any high-tech gadgets this Christmas? As a kid, there was always some new electronic something or other that I just had to have. I got an Atari 2600 when I was 7 or 8. And one year I got this hand-held thing called “Computron” that you could play very simple games like Tic-Tac-Toe or Memory Match on that seemed like something off of “Star Trek” at the time. An iPhone would have certainly seemed like magic or alien tech in nineteen-eighty-something.

I happened to catch the end of “Back to the Future” the other night while waiting on whatever was coming on next (pro wrestling, I think) and it got me to thinking about the future… which is a little strange, since the “future” they talk about in the movie set in the distant unimaginable year of… 2015.

Yes, folks, that’s how old we are — movies set in the future are now in our past. I remember a lot of movies from my childhood set in the (at the time) far-flung days of 1999. Now here we are on the cusp of 2024, and I’ve got to say we may have overestimated outselves — not a flying car or hoverboard to be seen.

A while back, I saw a tweet someone had shared that said, “I just asked my girlfriend if I could unplug her book from the

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charger so I could charge my cigarette… The future is weird.” Yet, here we are, living in a world where all of the world’s information is on a device smaller than a ham sandwich, where cars can park themselves and I have to prove I’m not a robot to reset my email password.

I turned 50 this year, so I’ve grown up right alongside the technology. In the 6th grade, I was one of a handful of students chosen to be a part of the first ever “Computer” class at Marion.

About 20 of us were assigned to sit in front of Apple II-E consoles (black screen with green type) and explore such amazing programs as “virtual lemonade stand” and “typing wizard” and my favorite, a text-only adventure game called “Zork.” Some of you might remember having to type “Kill the troll with the sword” to keep from being eaten alive. It sounds weird, I know, but imagine in 50 years our kids trying to explain to their grandchildren what a “TikTok” is.

Another movie I re-watched a while back was “Cast Away,” the one where Tom Hanks is stranded on a deserted island. He has to basically live like a smart caveman to survive. I wonder how I’d fare these days without any technology outside my human brain?

Probably not to well, honestly.

Which is why I’m thankful for all the multi-tools and personal fans and UVblocking sunglasses I’ve gotten as Christmas gifts over the years. I’ve got a little robot that sweeps the floor. Even my refrigerator sends me a message if someone left the door open.

The future is, indeed, weird.