Something wasn’t right.
I was sitting at home a few nights ago, skimming through an endless list of movies on Netflix when I first realized it. Sure, I had the requisite bowl of buttery popcorn, glass of soda pop and was reclined for optimal viewing enjoyment, but something was off. It wasn’t until 15 minutes into an episode of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” when it dawned on me. I hadn’t left my house that whole day.
At one point, not too long ago, something like this was a Jetsons-inspired fever dream. The image of George Jetson, sitting in his floating space chair, watching a show on his wall-sized television was an image of Sci-Fi fantasy. We may not have flying cars, floating space chairs or, thankfully, food capsules, but a lot of the technology envisioned by the writers at the Hanna-Barbera is either spot on or woefully outdated when compared to what’s available today.
Video calls are a great example. Phone calls in the Jetsons utilized cameras and video screens to allow characters to see each other while the talk. Not too different from what FaceTime and similar apps allow people to do. I can FaceTime my parents through my iPhone to their iPad without any trouble at all. However, computers were impossibly large in the Jetsons’ future, something that seems almost hilarious when compared to modern technology. In fact, that iPhone I carry around is much more powerful than the first computer my parents bought in 1997. That goes for internet speeds too. Fifteen years ago, I was struggling to pirate lo-fi music off of Napster with a 56k modem and now I can listen to whatever I want, practically uninterrupted, through Spotify or YouTube on my phone.
This brave new world rapidly developing before our eyes is one where physical interaction increasingly becomes unnecessary. Don’t want to go to the grocery store? You don’t have to. It’s not difficult to set up recurring shipments of food through Amazon. With Amazon’s recent purchase of Whole Foods, it’s likely that kind of service will improve and expand. Beyond that, through Amazon and other services like it, almost anything imaginable is available for purchase and shipped directly to the customer.
A neighbor of mine once boasted about buying a jackhammer online because the asking price was nearly the same as the cost of renting one for his project. Imagine that! A jackhammer shipping directly to his house.
What’s been lost however, is something more intrinsic to the human experience. People, with very few exceptions, are social beings. Even the most introverted and closed off of people need interaction from time to time. That seemingly meaningless chat you have with the grocery store cashier while checking out has its place, even if it’s a half-hearted chat about how hot it is outside. If there’s a great shift away from physical retail, it won’t be without losses. Sure, efficiency will be king, but how soulless will it all be?
Being a Rock Springs native, I miss the days of going to Warehouse Video and looking at rows and rows of video cassette and video game boxes stacked high on display shelves. I miss that weird smell of buttered popcorn and dustiness that seemed to fill the air. I even miss seeing the old cat that would lounge around on the floor.
Most of all, I miss being able to talk to someone about a new movie or video game and learn something I didn’t know otherwise. There’s a lot to be said about a simple chat about something, much more than a star-rating or user review can ever convey.
More than that, my concern is this shiny new world will make us all shut-ins, enjoying the fruits of our labor in our homes and far away from anyone or anything that could potentially upset or disturb us.
We would truly be the kings and queens of our own little castles.
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