What world and life changing inventions will she see by the time she is a Senior Citizen?

I have been working with a client to develop a talk and presentation explaining the basics and choices in HDTV. 

He will be giving the first edition of his talk tomorrow to an audience made up mostly of Senior Citizens.  Working on this presentation got me thinking about the changes these Seniors have seen in their lives and the changes I have seen in mine. 

I clearly remember being at my Grandparents when I was about 12 and thinking that there could not possibly be as big of changes during my lifetime as there had been in theirs.  After all, they saw the invention of Television and the Automobile, plus they saw telephones come into common usage not to mention answering machines! By the time my grandfather passed away at 93 in 1985 he had also seen the birth of the home computer and even the first Mac.

I hate to think that I was unimaginative but with cars, televisions, and telephones I just couldn't imagine what else could possibly come down the pike in my lifetime that could compare?

Enter the Internet, Email, the Genome project, PET scans and other medical and research wonders, the incredible new understanding we are getting in regards to brain function and healing, CDs, DVDs, MP3s, Web, Web 2.0, Cell Phones, and the list goes on and on and on.

I am sure that some people reading this are adding in many horrors and concerns like pollution, global warming, etc.  It is not that I am ignoring that, it is that I mainly have been thinking about the inventions and how they have changed our very basic relationship to each other, to community, communication, and life itself. 

We are evolving!  I remain hopeful that we will figure a way out of the problems we humans have caused.  Or we will evolve to deal with the results of human folly, I hope.

Meanwhile, I will remain amazed at what I have seen so far and wonder what is coming next.  I hope I live to 93 being able to think as clearly as my grandfather did.  What changes will I see?

Comments

[Leif Hansen]

Hi Viv,
Great post and good questions. It was these kinds of questions that folks recently gathered on Orcas island for my "Humanity 2.0" workshop and will be gathering for 'soul-tech' (though the emphasis is a little less abstract for this one) in January in Seattle. I'm glad more people are starting to wonder about these kinds of Qs -looking at both the wonders and unexpected consequences of our technological society.
Warmly,
Leif
www.SparkNW.com