“The Jetsons” may have debuted in 1962 and been set a century later, in 2062, but somehow even the futuristic world seemed all too familiar. George still commuted to the office-albeit via a flying space car that he could fold up and slide into his briefcase-and housework still abounded, but was done by a wry robot named Rosie.
That world of personal technology-and how quickly those sleek, sophisticated gadgets of “the future” can become part of daily life-is what we explore with this week’s Magazine issue, “The tech life.”
Trendwatchers are fascinated by the new, but appropriately cautious about the hype. “I’ve gotten used to the breathless anticipation and hyperbole that is seldom fulfilled by performance,” says technology writer Jon Van. “For most of us, my counsel is patience. It never hurts to wait until the second or third generation of some product becomes available. All you really miss is the aggravation.”
After 12 years of covering technology, Jim Coates is fairly jaded about “the next new new thing,” but admits even he is impressed by the way technology has been integrated into the everyday. “A century ago a factory had a single water-powered motor and ran dozens of machines by strapping belts to it,” says Jim. “Today we have motors in our toothbrushes, car doors and cocktail mixers. Motors became ubiquitous. That’s the future of computer technology as well.”
There are those of us, though, who fear that these advances separate human beings from one another and damage relationships. So caught up are we in our iPods, cell phones and individually programmed radio and television programs that human contact is abbreviated: Technology is allowing us to retreat into our own cocoons.
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But Eric Gwinn, who writes the Tribune’s “Gadget Adviser” feature, argues against that view. “Just as it draws us apart, technology also pulls us together,” he says. “We don’t have to endure the same tired tales of our old friends; we can make smart, new, exciting friends in Web forums. It all depends on how you look at it.”
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