Subject to Change

My dad got me thinking the other day.

He called me to brag about his new scanner/copier/printer. He only paid a few bucks for it, but what he really wanted
to brag about was that he installed it himself. He’d managed to hook it up and scan a few documents. Then, he figured out how to change his default printer back to his HP, because he didn’t want to print from the scanner.

He’s got every right to be proud of himself. Scanners have been around for over a decade, yet in spite of all the plug and play features of Windows XP they’re still a pain to operate. Even if you know what you’re doing a scanner can drive you nuts. I told my dad, “congratulations. If you manage to make any use of the thing, you’re way ahead of the average idiot.”

My parents are probably exceptionally tech-savvy for their generation, which is what made me think about me and my son. Will I have as much trouble understanding his toys in twenty years? What technology could possibly come along that would leave me baffled? I watch plenty of Sci-Fi movies and I was raised by a computer (just kidding, Dad). It’s hard to believe that much could take me by surprise, except for maybe a cell phone/internet browser/MP3 player/movie player/microwave/laser-operated sanitary device thing.