| I often find myself thinking about the ways in which my | | | | have imagined that Pong would evolve into a myriad |
| everyday life has changed over the past twenty | | | | of video games that my family could play on the |
| years. Usually, I take a step back and wonder how my | | | | PlayStation, Xbox, and GameCube. Yes, I had a VCR, |
| mother - who passed away seventeen years ago - | | | | but I never would have conceived that the VCR would |
| would view today's world. Aside from the geopolitical | | | | make room for the DVD player, and that my TV |
| changes that have taken place in the past twenty | | | | screen would grow to such large proportions. Nor |
| years, and the ways in which the landscape of our city | | | | could I have imagined that my TV would host such a |
| has changed with explosive growth and development, | | | | myriad of systems: PlayStation, Xbox, DVD player, |
| there are the wondrous developments in electronics | | | | and DVR recorder. |
| that have changed the ways we do business and the | | | | And then, of course, there's the digital revolution in |
| ways we spend our leisure time. | | | | cameras. Not only can I take photos and share them |
| Twenty years ago, I started using my first PC at work. | | | | via the Internet, but I can also run slide shows on that |
| I recall having to put in a floppy disk every time I | | | | same TV. I can take my digital camcorder, burn home |
| wanted to do any word processing. It would be | | | | movies onto discs and send them to relatives half a |
| another six years before a friend told me about what | | | | world away. |
| he thought would be the next big thing - something | | | | What's even more amazing to me is that virtually all of |
| called the World Wide Web. Today, of course, it's | | | | the electronics consumer goods that I own have been |
| crippling when my DSL goes on the blink; my work | | | | given to me as gifts. I've been fortunate enough to |
| grinds to a halt and I marvel at just how dependent I | | | | enjoy the bounty of an electronics revolution that I |
| am on the Internet. | | | | couldn't have imagined twenty years ago. Which, of |
| I look around my house and see all kinds of electronics | | | | course, leads me to wonder what the next twenty |
| that I couldn't have dreamed of twenty years ago. | | | | years might bring in the wondrous world of electronics. |
| Sure, I had an Atari way back when, but I never would | | | | |