The new phone has got me thinking about how visions of the technology of the future go through a strange pattern of appearing to be wild and outlandish, and then suddenly somewhat quaint and of their own time.
I've never really been much of a science fiction fan (for those of you who are not aware, it's not a pre-requisite of a career in IT), but as a child was particularly inspired by the late Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The combination of Adams' incredibly funny writing, the sarcastic outlook on (then contemporary) life, and the performances of particularly Peter (actor, not Dragon or Department Store) Jones as The Book particularly inspired this 11 year old. Maybe I was also hooked because, whilst growing up in Watford, Adams' wrote about the meaning of life being discovered in a cafe in Rickmansworth.
Modern, touch screen, internet-connected smart phones, however have suddenly made The Book feel a bit dated. Whilst the Web is rarely as intentionally entertaining as the few dozen hhgttg articles penned by Adams, and Apple resolutely refuses to print Don't Panic on the cases of the iPhone, The Book now seems to be a bit of a dated vision of what the future would look like from the late 1970s.
That was no mean feat. Having just watched the BBC 4 Electric Dreams series, that era was a very different (untechnological) country. However, The Book is starting to feel akin to HG Wells' copper-pipe clad visions of space ships.
Having said all of that, and picking up a meme from Tim Lovejoy on Sunday morning TV, it's only six years until Marty McFly promised us hoverboards…
mmitII 