Depending on your age, you may have seen things that were the sci-fi of your youth become a part of everyday life. A couple come to my mind; 1) Wireless phones- both cordless home phones & cell phones. Who here remembers Maxwell Smart's shoe phone? (In my mind, the very first wireless phone.) 2) home computing- I can recall when computers were room-sizes behemoths that did math. And here I am, typing this on a computer that I can carry in one hand. 3) Video calling- The only place I saw this was the Jetsons. In recent years, I have stayed in touch with my husband when he was deployed to S. Korea, taught English to a girl in Afghanistan and most recently taken ukulele lessons from a man who lives in Spain. All, by video, of course. Which bits of your sci-fi have come true?
And cell phones were once the size of Star Trek communicators. And Google translate comes kind of close to Star Trek universal translator. By the way, I loved Get Smart and the shoe phone.
Dick Tracy had a two-way radio on his wrist. Now many folks wear smart watches. Manual wind watches “beat” at 6 times per second. Quartz crystal watches beat at 32768 times per second and are significantly more accurate. Some are even solar-powered and automatically synchronize to a time standard. I replaced my big wallet stuffed with cards, papers, photos, and money with a smart phone that performs all these functions and more. A trip to the supermarket has now been replaced with an online order and curbside pickup…or better yet…home delivery. On a cross-country trip, my wife used to be my map reader and navigator. Now a gal inside my phone gives me turn-by-turn directions, and she tells me to turn around when I decide to make a pit stop. I used to listen to FM radio and change stations whenever commercials aired. Now I stream my favorite music channel, regardless of where I am located, and it is commercial-free. In the olden days, I used to talk with real people. Now I sit in a corner and tap on my phone. Dang, I’m nearly as old as @Primotenore.
