Comic Commentary Week: 4

click to see all of it*

Geez, here we are 11 years later... And STILL no rocketpacks and interplanetary travel and...

So, it's like there's been no advances at all...

But, holy cow:

• October 23, 2001 - the iPod launches, changing how we listen to music forever
• 2002 - camera phones are introduced, changing how we take pictures forever.  I read a few months ago about  a 16 megapixel! cameraphone.
• 2003 -  iTunes music store launches, changing how we buy music forever (and changing the recording industry as well), Myspace launches
• 2004 - Google launched a beta test, invite only, of Gmail, Facebook launched and social networking takes off
• 2005 - YouTube is created ** changing forever how we waste time - also Google releases GoogleEarth and their Digital bookshelf project...
• 2006 - Blu Ray titles ship, the first Wii breaks new ground for its wireless controller and we're happily entertained
• 2007 - The iPhone launches and how we use our cell phones is forever changed.  Now they're hand-held computers and entertainment centers...  Ford offers cars with SYNC technology***
• 2008 - The Amazon Kindle launches - not the first e-reader, but it sells like crazy and at a price point that puts it in the general public's hands proving that there's a market... Twitter launches and we demonstrate that we are willing to talk about ANY part of our lives - and willing to read about any part of other people's lives...
• 2009 - saw the release of the blade-less fan, which is pretty cool (heh) and probably has some farther reaching technological applications, also the first consumer friendly 3-d digital camera and 3-d TVs were pretty hot sellers...sort of...
• 2010 -  the iPad.  'nuff said?  No, also the XBox Kinect - controller-less gaming was launched...
• 2011 - Lytro Light-Field Cameras****, Wacom Inkling, Samsung SUR 30 Tabletop - it's a touchscreen computer tabletop - awesome!

Okay - so the list above is REALLY subjective, I get it.  There have been advances in medical science that have been amazing - we're approaching a cure to cancer, or at least very aggressive treatments that increase the span AND quality of life, for example - and advances in space technology (yeah, NASA may be going the way of the buffalo but privatizing space might not be the worst idea - then again, it just might be...) and in practical technology and home tech and, heck, even baby tech (I saw a high tech stroller out there when I was reading through stuff for this).

But, let's be realistic, we don't want rocket packs because they would be practical means of transportation - we want them because they would be cool and fun!  And interplanetary travel?  We don't want to go there to assess the natural resources, we want to vacation on Saturn, baby!  So, yeah, my list is biased...maybe, but our advances are...well, pretty biased too.  They tend to be toward what will keep us alive longer and what will then make that longer life more enjoyable...

Is that all there is?













*I didn't save the date (obviously early 2001 though) - copyright John Kovalic - no infringement intended
** note, I didn't create this...might not be safe for work...


***Not sure I completely trust my car being linked with a Microsoft product, but...


****I barely understand what they do but I want to get my hands on one - once you take the picture, you can manipulate it in previously unheard of ways - moving the focal point from 3.5 inches to infinity? Really?  That's just getting it started... tre cool...