Just out of our reach

I have often felt in awe to have grown up and lived within the age that we are all living within. I have not only witnessed the birth and growth of the computer age, but have actively been involved with it since the beginning.

I have learned that a virus can attack a piece of hardware just as fast and deadly as it does the human body.

I have managed to survive within the universe of space aliens, fighter jets, pacman and centipedes. I have fired bursts of energy at so many imaginary gaming creatures that I should receive an honorable mention in a science fiction magazine or have a hobbit named after me in some long lost Tolkien book.

I once stool in France, watching two tractor trailers deliver the computer that was to manage all of NATO, a Sperry Rand Univac which took up an area twice the size of my home. It consisted of lights, wires, tubes, and so many other electronic switches that it required an army of technicians to set it all up. It was programmed by connecting wires on a breadboard and the output was on data punch cards. Today, I am typing this on a Dell with a few million times the speed and power and taking up a small amount of space in front of me.

It boggles my mind to think that my laptop is a few thousands times as powerful as the computer that took men to the moon, safely bringing them back to Earth.

I can stand in line at a Starbucks, ordering my Triple Espresso Latte while I communicate on a cell phone with a cousin in Ireland, yet I recall watching news items once brought into my home courtesy of the first communications' satellite, known as Telstar.

In my childhood I was entertained by Milton Berle acting insane, I knew all the puppets on the Howdy Doody show and laughed till it hurt with The Honeymooners. I watched with tears in my eyes as the events unfolded at the Munich Olympics, stood in awe as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and heard great men of our time speak words that still live today.

Yes, we are living within a Brave New World, our lives managed by microchips, Windows, Linux, and a plethora of software capable of taking care of our every whim and wish. Artificial Intelligence, software thinking for us, suggesting what we should do, say, act, embedded deep within the software engines of many computer games, deciding what the game should do next to counteract our move.

Still, I cannot help wondering, why, with all of the technical achievements, leaps in technology, advances in communications why one small item is still just out of the reach of humanity. It is not that hard to pronounce, does not take up that much space, will not beat us in a game, or even do our work for us. Yet, it can instill feelings within us that no microchip can ever do, while providing a safer existence for our children.

Peace, see, it is not that hard to say or read, yet it is still out of our grasp. Perhaps one day, one day soon.