Tomorrowland

Just the other day it hit me. Something odd was happening. I’d noticed the feeling before. It was a growing excitement.

It had all started with my first desktop computer in the mid-1980s. Then, the microwave showed up. The CD player. I remembered seeing it all before.

Then, the cell phone. Laser surgery. The iPhone. Skype. Texting.

The speed of innovation was changing our lives.

The Kodak Instamatic disappeared. Encyclopedias. The landline phone barely ever rang. Televisions changed from small boxes with five or six channels to wall mounted, computerized widescreens with hundreds of channels.

PayPal and Bitcoin emerged. The predictions that paper money would soon be disappearing.

Then the news of driverless cars jolted me.

I remembered.

The 1964 NYC World’s Fair. I was eight years old and captivated by the modern conveniences showcased at the pavilions of General Electric, Bell Systems, Ford, General Motors, and Westinghouse. Wow. Would I ever see those inventions in my lifetime?

I waited decades — and now that promised world is coming into full view.

I’m living in Tomorrowland.

It’s happened. It’s real. It’s exciting. And I feel like I did when I was eight. Eagerly anticipating the next innovation.