I should ask, “Will my kids ever need to drive?”
Technology has been advancing at such a rapid pace that in 10 years instead of getting a driver’s license or having a casual conversation with the Uber or Lyft driver, my boys will probably call an automated car through an AI device installed in everyone’s house.
I know there are many people that haven’t ever driven nor ever will need to. In certain cities, such as New York, it is not a big deal. In other cities, such as Los Angeles, it is necessary to be able to cross town (as the song goes, nobody walks in Los Angeles). By the way, LA is doing a great job of improving our public transportation.
Last summer we spent some time at Mike Heenan’s (SF Dads Group) cabin. We all had different technology with us, and it was fun exchanging and playing with new equipment. Then Mike said something that I find myself thinking about a lot: “Do you remember who was at your sixth birthday party?”
I replied, “No way, that was like forty years ago!”
“Any pictures from any of your birthdays?” he asked.
“A few I suppose.”
He puts his VR goggles on me and said, “This is how our kids are going to remember their birthdays.”
There it was – his six-year-old daughter’s birthday party in full immersive virtual reality.
What is the technology going to be like in another 40 years, 20 … even five?
My kids will have plenty of pictures and videos from their childhood. I wonder what their own kids will say about a history they can actually experience? The sheer difference is mind-boggling. You remember the non-digital age – we would all gather around the slide carousel fidgeting while our grandparents flipped through the pictures from their trip to the Canary Islands that were too dark or out of focus to really see, and anyways the contraption inevitably jammed every fifth slide.
One of the things I dislike most is driving and so I am fascinated by all these new options for getting around. New technology is changing our world, every day, right before our eyes!
But at what point does technology surpass science fiction and imagination, consuming all of our time and focus? Or has that happened already?
Technology is where dreams and/or nightmares can arise from. I am both excited and scared for my kids future. Regardless of what comes, I still believe driving a stick shift is a good life skill so I’ll be imparting my old school ways on them.
I can just hear me now, “In my day …”.
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