Telephonicus domesticus

Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone from 1877 bears about as much similarity to the modern smart phone as an abacus bears to a PC or Mac. There are just about as many leaps in technology in both cases. It’s funny how a major jump in technology happens (like the actual invention of the phone). Then there are some refinements over a few years or decades until it gets to a useful stable form. Then it stays virtually the same for many years with only minor innovations. The telephone was virtually unchanged from sometime before I was born until I was about forty. Push-buttons were replacing the rotary dial, but that was about it. (Isn’t it interesting though that when we call someone, we still call it “dialing?” I have never seen a dial on a cell phone.)

Cell phones were introduced and (once they became cheap enough) they changed the way we phone each other. New advancements followed soon after, texting and then smart phones. Personal computers were also becoming commonplace and were themselves being used for communications. The boundaries between phones and computers became blended. These advances not only changed the way we use phones, they changed the whole idea of communication. But I think the huge conceptual leaps in communications are over for a while now. I think in the foreseeable future we will get small incremental advances.

In my new novel Star Liner which is set in a far future, I put a communication device that everyone uses. They are called arm pads or “pads”. I am a little chagrined to admit the pads in my story are not a terribly great technological leap. Think of a modern tablet miniaturized to fit on your wrist with a holographic projector. Except for the holographic projector part, my pads are not much advanced from what is attainable right now. It is hard to visualize the next big leap in communication technology. Perhaps there will be devices hardwired into your brain where you only have to think about the person you want to talk to and then just think about what you want to say and it will be done. You could carry on two conversations at once . . . or maybe not. It is hard to see that as much of an advantage. Despite protestations to the contrary, humans are not very good at multitasking. Until our brains change, we are destined to remain a mostly single tasking species.

(My novel Star Liner, is now available as an e-book or paperback through Amazon, or the other usual online sources)

Star Liner

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