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iRobot
“One day they’ll have secrets…one day they’ll have dreams.”
–Dr. Alfred Lanning: I, Robot (set in 2035)
Who are they?
In the mid to late 20th century, people had dreams, ideas and expectations for what they envisioned the 21st century would look like. The phrase ‘turn of the century’ this time around had sensationally high hopes and aspirations. If you recall a scene from “That 70s Show” when Red imagines his family’s future in which his daughter Laurie has married her dimwitted yet charming boyfriend of the moment Michael Kelso. It takes place far off in the year 1997. By Red’s account, all the surroundings are white and complemented with transparent black plastic tables and chairs. Everyone wears clothes with sparkles, the butlers and dogs are robots and food comes in pill shapes of varying sizes and colors.
Once he gets predictably upset at Kelso and Laurie for wanting to sponge more money off of him, he jets off on, well, literally a personal jet-pack into the sky. The setting of the room was peaceful and simplistic, which was definitely a contrast to the bright and oddly matched color splashes of the 1970s.
Perhaps one of the most famous predictions and portrayals of the future was a little movie that is prefaced with the tagline, “Roads…where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” This of course is a reference to the cult classic, “Back to the Future: Part II.” Truly one of the best B-movies of all time. In 2015 all the cars fly, the skateboards have advanced to hover-boards, a 3-D holographic Jaws leaping out at the public is in, jackets dry within ten seconds with the press of a button and Nike shoes are fully equipped with power laces. Dust busters are an antique, breaking news is published within seconds (huh, seems familiar), there are scanners galore, the Cubs are World Series champions and so on and so forth.
One scene that strikes home is when the McFly family congregates around the dinner table. Father Marty McFly sports his corresponding two ties and his kids show off their phone glasses while Marty’s mom bites open what looks like a Pizza Hut bite-sized snack wrapped in a Pop-Tart-like plastic. She slides it onto an over-sized (so we thought) circular pan and then into a Black and Decker Hydrator (patent pending). Two seconds later, a perfectly pre-sliced steaming hot pizza (1/2 pepperoni, 1/2 veggies) is immediately ready to satisfy the family’s anxious hunger. I’m assuming Pizza Hut is still “Makin’ it Great!”
In a matter of seconds, a family dinner was prepared and served. Apparently, long gone are the days of slaving over a hot stove for hours and keeping up with the necessary and stressful synchronization of ingredients to the main course and complementary side dishes. To a mother, this seems like a small slice of nirvana. However, take a closer look at that scene. Notice anything off?
In this scene, a family pizza night was homemade in literally a couple seconds. But let’s examine the mood. The mother seems annoyed and stressed out as she is gently hassled to hydrate the family’s pizza. The kids’ glasses ring and the corrupting Needles successfully interrupts and takes Marty away to the family room where he accepts a fire-worthy scam (so much for no phones at the table). Each kid appears, like any teenager really, to be annoyed by their parents and off into their own world. The point is that even with the effortless routine of preparing a family dinner by Pizza Hut, with a fully loaded fruit overhang at one’s disposal upon a simple vocal demand, more convenience did not equal more smiles or friendlier family conversation.
One of the primary goals of technology through history is to make something, whether it be traveling, building or downloading a slamming ringtone, easier. These eases on the human race should free time for us to engage more together and interact in ways that bring us more joy to the things that matter above all else in life: our personal relationships with people we care about.
It’s the summer of 2012. In most places around the country, and world for that matter, one does not have to look hard or far to find someone who is doing the ever-famous ‘smartphone look down’ pose. We all know or have seen someone who has done it, if not ourselves from time to time. Captivated by what our iPhone or Blackberry or iPad or any mobile device is able to show us, basic human interactions seem to be gradually going by the wayside. Making eye contact to a passerby is increasingly becoming a foreign concept. Far too many people are so engrossed in the technology at their fingertips that they are missing life as it passes them by, literally. Where has basic interaction gone? Is this all a geeky fad or are we at a point of no return?
Fortunately, there is one family that drew together the pieces for living life with state-of-the-art technology: The Jetsons. They perfectly demonstrated how a family of the future should live and interact with one another in a world filled with things and people whizzing by. While Orbit City in 2062 was drastically different to the world of the viewer, how they lived their lives, both personally and professionally, remained the comforting constant. Who doesn’t smile at Elroy’s childish hijinks, Judy’s high school ways, Jane’s motherly instincts or George’s comedic struggles at the office and at home? “Jetson!”
A great cartoon aside, when we see people sitting or walking today, they are ultimately isolated with their technological device. We usually see a serious, business-like stare down at their gadget’s face. It’s non-emotional…like a machine.
Who are they? That certainly is the question.
Going ‘Old School’
The feel of a warm yet cool breeze…the sound of water splashing, kids laughing and the smell of barbeque on the grill. All of these things have come to be synonymous with summer. Insert the Fourth of July scene from “The Sandlot” or just about any scene from “The Wonder Years” and fully escape to that happy place of past, present and hopefully future. Good food, drinks, company and the sight of colorful fireworks painting the night sky. This is how it’s done. But sadly, this is not always the reality in the world we live in today. Speed is the name of the game, which is odd, because when I was a kid, I wanted summer to last forever.
In a world of constant movement, work, stress and obligation, remembering those days of yesteryear can be downright therapeutic. There is not even one single day of the week that can be pointed to universally as the busiest. In other words, Mondays are not always definitively the ‘worst’ day anymore. Don’t worry though, they still inhale profusely. We all know that great sounding phrase, ‘So, I see you got a case of the Mondays.’ This is usually when you are tempted to respond with something that would alert human resources that is followed by sitting in a cold and lonely chair for hours, listening to a Toby Flenderson read from a binder full of rules and workplace expectations in a thrilling monotone voice…on a Tuesday…that now feels like a Monday. Great, Monday came twice this week.
What is the remedy for the case of the ‘this just sucks’? There are three months every year, and maybe an extra one depending on how well your Spring blooms, that can bring a smile to even the grumpiest of people. Who is that girl I see over there? Is that the one and only ‘Barbara Ann’? In the words of Yello, “Ohhh, Yeahhhh.”
The sunny lining from this is that you get the traditional American summer complete with countless opportunities for fun in the sun. No longer the threat of a flu-inducing cold front or being snowed in Buffalo, New York-style. At long last, there is a warm and inviting light at the end of the tunnel known as the American work week. Fortunately, much like college, Friday afternoons have in part become an extension of the weekend. For sane individuals, not too much work or meetings are planned in the late afternoon on a Friday (except if you’re a certain company located in southern California…they gave me the rarely experienced ‘case of the Fridays.’ Not cool).
Returning back to the sunny disposition, Friday afternoons have become connected to the weekend. Add in the utopian-like conditions and what could possibly stop us from a stress-free 2 1/2 days’ weekend of relaxation?
Question: Who is in charge of weekend plans/getaways? If you answered Mom or Dad, I’m sorry, but that’s not what we were looking for. Survey says: Electrical Outlets for 500!
Particularly thanks to the genius of Steve Jobs, millions of people of all ages from around the world have or at least have access to a technological device that starts with the letter “i.” There is the iPod, iPhone, iPad, iMac and, given enough time, iVacation. As we have come to realize, “there’s an app for that.” We have become so addicted to these various devices that we are constantly wide-eyed for an outlet, whether in the privacy of our homes or in public (which is always a breeze). Exactly like the commercial with the children staring at the adults sitting on the floor of an airport securely protecting “their” outlet, it’s time to ask ourselves, “How did we get here?”
While recently boating around Buckeye Lake on a Saturday afternoon, I saw some great sights before getting on the boat. Three teenage girls were walking on the boardwalk and talking to each other. No txtg was gng on. In the other direction was a family wearing life preservers dripping wet who were joyfully sharing stories before stepping back onto their boat. What year was it? Did I step onto a time traveling dock?
While eating the famous All-American Bacon Double Cheeseburger pizza at the lake’s hot spot Papa Boo’s that evening, vague sights of nostalgia appeared before my eyes. There was just something about the feeling of relaxing in a crowded food joint with a live band playing, people conversing legendary tales of the past and enjoying the view of beautiful, scantily clad young ladies dancing their hearts out. As I jokingly mentioned to the person next to me, “This would be a fun place to get into a little bit of trouble.”
One of the best parts about that evening was the apparent ‘no ties’ rule. The only business allowed was having a good time by escaping the daily grind of the work week. Plus, there was a bachelorette party, but I have to refrain from disclosing those details.
From a Fourth of July neighborhood party that involved kids (with the supervision of adults) lighting fireworks in the street that to a faraway onlooker easily could have been confused for a community’s patriotic display to having a water fight with my nephew to Papa Boo’s, it was starting to feel like a little bit like we were being watched. It was almost as if we were all on a movie or television set, acting out how summer and the Fourth of July are supposed to be spent: running around, having fun and as the Mom in “The Sandlot” professed to her homebody son one night, “I want you to get out in the fresh air and make friends. Run around and scrape your knees. Get dirty. Climb trees and hop fences. Get in trouble for crying out loud…Not too much, but some. You have my permission. Now how many mothers do you think say that to their sons?”
To be clear, Apple products are great. They are incredible as a matter of fact. As an owner, they are helpful, easy to use and very cool. However, what is commonly perceived as a glitch or negative feature about these mobile computers and media players is actually a blessing in disguise. Many fault Apple for not making the battery life long enough. The pain of having to charge every night to more than once a day to constantly being plugged in for heavy users causes stress. Nobody wants to see the red sliver in the battery canister in the top right corner. However, a limited battery charge is actually a good thing because it is a subtle hint of when to put it down, leave it alone and exit the web, cloud, movie, presentation, etc. Isn’t it odd that when you are connected you are actually disconnected?
Even if Apple one day offers iFreshAir, it will never beat playing hooky on a beautiful day in downtown Chicago.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 