The New World

Are machines really taking over??

Our day and age is expanding. They knew it as George Orwell was writing 1984. They knew it as Hanna-Barbera began producing the first cartoon to depict a family living in the future including robots, The Jetsons. We see it all around us as we watch cartoons online instead of on our new-age plasma screen TVs. Was War of the Worlds really too far off? Will we ever know?

Ultimately, we stop to look around. What is this new world we have created? It seems that everything that is done in our lives today is linked to some sort of Internet activity. Think about it. As we buy a Pizza from Papa Murphy's Take 'N Bake Pizza, we may first visit their website to download coupons and find their nearest location. Then we call-in our order. They take our order on their paper tickets, which were ordered online, and proceed to create the Pizza. Where do the ingredients come from? Well the order may or may not be submitted electronically to the warehouse company, but when that company sends out the order to be picked up and sent, it is sent through an electronic form through the Internet. In fact, all warehouses are being created and merged onto an entirely online format including automated messages on earpieces sent to the workers giving instruction. How cool is that?? Anyways, back to Pizza... The ingredients are previously delivered to the particular Papa Murphy's store (and by the way, the mushrooms, zucchini, onions, etc are chopped fresh every morning as well as the dough and salads!!!) and your order is made with them. At the end of the day, the cash is counted, numbers of pizzas are recorded, and stock of ingredients is taken. The cash report and pizza reports are all posted online and linked to a particular owner in order to keep track of all of the regions sales.

The Point Is that our lives are becoming increasingly electronic, linked to the Internet, and advanced! What do you think was going through my mind as I watched an episode of Numb3rs the other night without any televisions channels? How? I looked up the episode on the website, hooked my laptop to the TV, and there you have our modern idea of "TV." This virtual world, if you will, should be embraced. It is our future, and only through an attempt to understand this wave of technology can you ride it in to the shore. Otherwise, you may get washed away like many stubborn people/companies. In fact, in continuation of this rather annoying extended metaphor, the tide is coming in, and it is really a matter of sink or swim as the future of our world is very deep in the wave of technology. Don't get me wrong, it is not through an isolation, or submersion (OK, ill stop with the references to H2O), of ourselves into the technological future. It is through a key integration of the technology and our current way of life creating a new, more efficient, more enjoyable way of life!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets give the virtual world a great big hug and embrace it to be our roommates, spouses, and companions! Now, lets do it!