#28: I am thankful for technology.

Today is "Cyber-Monday" and -- while I am not (I repeat not; let me say it louder NOT) shopping online today (but have been known to do so), I am grateful for the opportunity if I so desire (did I mention that I have been known to shop online?) -- I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude for our cybernetic overlords.

I think technology is great, and I think you should think it, too. In the 500 years we have moved from walking (or at least riding animals or in animal-drawn vehicles) to iron horses, horseless carriages, and even to multi-horse powered cars. We looked to the skies and began to fly, audaciously walking on the moon, and in space and exploring strange new worlds in search of new civilizations.

We've advanced from two cans and a string, to operator-manipulated connections, to rotary, then pulse, then digitally dialed telephones (see that discussion here). These phones which once kept us tied to the kitchen wall or den desk became cordless, then wireless, and finally cell driven. Communication became easier.

We've (in the last 100 years) moved from radio waves to transistors and on to satellite radio. We learned to make movies, add sound to them, then give them color. We've learned to combine these radio and movie industries to create television which changes from year to year. Small distorted black & white pictures have given way to high definition ultra-detail color pictures on screens that are larger than life.

In the last fifty years we have seen the birth, re-birth, re-birth, and re-purposing of electronic computers. Information that once took entire rooms--no, buildings--to contain can be housed on a tiny chip small enough to rest on the tip of your finger. Business computers gave birth to personal computers which in turn gave birth to laptop and notebook computers. These opened the way for pocket-sized electronics which can carry applications as varied as gaming to calculating the appropriate tip at a restaurant. Technology has become the tool of choice that helps us communicate with one another, express ourselves, and do our jobs--you're reading this today because both you and I have access to modern (if not the very latest) technology. So. . . .

for this I am thankful.