It's The Irony

So, what invention am I thinking of?

First of all, technology can probably be traced all the way back to any improvement created to provide greater efficiency to an existing item or system.

The first guy to sharpen a piece of stone then tie it to the end of his arrow may have been appreciated as a clever and masterful hunter, or they may have just rolled their eyes at him while whispering about his eccentric approach to archery.

But sometime in the 1400s, there was an invention that propelled us significantly into the information age. The printing press came to life… and we have never been the same.

All of a sudden, several things changed. Now, everyone could receive identical information at the same time. Additionally, the printed page became an equalizer (at least among the literate) – the written word was no longer only available to the elite (consider the Reformation). Also, there was now the opportunity to build upon previous information, since it could be universally accessible.

How long do I cook a turkey? Did Matt Damon ever win an Oscar? When was the War of 1812? Who can I get to fix my leaking roof? Where can I find a petroglyph?

When we want information, where do we turn? Most of us go right to the internet. But that’s a relatively recent solution. Prior to the convenience of having a personal computer, it was necessary to access information from the printed page at a central location of printed materials. These are commonly called libraries. And, in this particular sense, personal computers are really just a modern extension of these printed storehouses. And this is the irony – the invention that propelled us into the information age is the printing press, and the printed page is rapidly becoming obsolete. Documents are now created, edited, sent and stored electronically. After all, aren’t you reading this blog?

So, what is my point?

Technology is not new… only new technology is new.

What I really want to explore is the reaction of Christianity to technology. I have seen Christians for many years cast a suspicious eye toward new technology - and sometimes toward anything new; i.e. music, fashion. Is this legitimate? Are we spiritually justified in rejecting new technology?

These answers may not come as easily as the answers to my earlier questions.

I Love Technology

Meet George Jetson

The other night, I was up much later than I should have been and the TV was on. An old silent movie came on and I watched it for a few minutes. It made me think about how amazing it must have been for people to go to the first “talkies”, where sound was introduced to the moving images

When I was a kid, I used to watch a TV cartoon titled “The Jetsons”. It was about a space age family living in outer space. They zipped around in personal spaceships to go to the grocery store or to work. Rosie, their robot maid took care of all the housekeeping duties. One of their household devices was a TV phone. It worked like a regular telephone, except you could see the person you were talking with on a live TV screen. Sometimes, they would wear masks to improve the way they looked to the other caller; especially if they just got out of bed.

I can’t help but think of the Jetsons when I use the webcam to skype a video call, as I did with Jamie a few days ago.

And what about those Star Trek communicators? How much more could they be like a Nextel cell phone? They even flip open.

So, fantasy eventually became reality. We knew how we wanted technology to serves us before we knew how to do it.

I’m pretty sure that keyboards will be obsolete before too long. They are already on their way out with phones. And as far as computer screens go – at some point people will look back at these flat 2 dimensional screens and shake their heads the way we now do at typewriters. What we want are the holographic interactive projections like you see in the IRONMAN movie.

Then I started to think backwards to when technology first started to impact us. And by “us”, I mean humans.

In my opinion, the advanced technology as we know it can be traced back to a single invention. There is an irony to its pivotal position in history.

Do you think you know what it is? It’s not the computer, by the way. Come on, give me a break.

Anyway, I’ll give you my answer in the next post.

Well, not my next post...but the one after