I caught an article that someone shared on Facebook that indicated that people born after 1985 don't really know life before the Internet. They may have some recollection of it, before they were in high school, but their formidable years are concretely in the Internet age. I can't really explain the concept of broadcast TV to my six-year-old. As far as he knows, video just magically appears, on demand, on his computer, his iPad, our phones and on the tiny little FireTV connected to our TV. (For the record, the computer and iPad are borderline ancient... he's not an entitled little douche with the latest gear.)
I was thinking about this a little around lunch time. Since I work from home, I've made my office as comfortable as possible. I fired up the latest John Oliver video on YouTube, full-screen on the 27" monitor on my desk, while I sat on the couch and checked the news feeds via Feedly my tablet, while nom'ing on some buffalo chicken strips I whipped up. Casting aside my culinary endeavors for a moment, think about that... I was watching a bit of high definition video, when I felt like it, in my office.
And it doesn't end there. I can capture video of my kid, doing whatever silly shit that kids do, with my phone, in high definition, and then share it with the world on any number of social platforms. For better or worse, I'm able to keep in touch with people I haven't seen in 20 years. Photos of my vacations flash on my TV via Amazon as a screensaver. I can play video games with friends in Chicago. Last time I was on a cruise, I sent photos from the deck of the ship while I was in the middle of the Alaskan inner passage to share with the world, from my "phone." (Seriously, we keep calling them phones, when it's at best the tertiary thing we use them as.) I work from home and people on the other side of the country can see what I'm doing and talk with me as if they're in the same room.
It kind of frustrates me that people don't really appreciate how fantastic this is. This is a world we could barely imagine even 10 years ago. It also frustrates me that with the ability to have a super computer in your pocket connected to all of the world's knowledge, people are often not interested in seeking truth over hyperbole and their echo chamber.
These are amazing times. Don't take them for granted.
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