In the year 2048, computers will cause the downfall of the civilized world. We will have become so dependent on them that when they revolt and make martyrs of themselves to teach us a lesson, everything will collapse. This will happen. I have decreed it.
In the meantime we should take a look at how computers already run our lives. I just missed a class because the company I worked for was in dire need of computer help. Without going into the technical terms, we were on the verge of losing Internet access. Only five years ago, this same company did not even have a PC in the office. Now if the Internet doesn't work for an hour, everyone begins to run around like chickens with their heads chopped off. Everything is done with the aid of a computer.
Nearly every business is like this. If the network goes out, companies lose thousands, even millions of dollars every hour it's down. This is why IBM and Dell have so much incentive to advertise their server level software and hardware to the masses even though less than one percent of the population actually knows what they're talking about. Having the network go down and having the power go out equally cripple businesses these days.
Even the average person relies on computers, whether he or she realizes it or not. The obvious is what you do every day: typing papers, sending messages to others and researching/wasting time on the Internet. The not so obvious is the rest of the world. How does that supermarket get stocked? How does the bank complete transactions? Computer systems link everything together, letting your local Wegmans receive fresher produce and allowing HSBC to transfer funds instantaneously.
So how will computers bring about our ruin? Simple. As we become lazier and rely on our computers more and more, we become weaker and less able to adapt to the real world. If the Internet went down, travel would become more important. The post office would come back into play. But we would have generations of people not accustomed to using anything but their computers to accomplish their daily tasks.
If trends continue, computers will be doing everything from making your morning coffee and driving you to work to having dinner ready when you come home and preparing your nightly television programming. If the computer that cooks dinner crashes, will anyone be able to cook? Sure, there will be restaurants, but how many of them will rely on computers? If the computer in your car fails, will you be able to drive it? These seem like silly questions, but to people of the future who may never have done any of these things, they will be impossible tasks.
I look at inventions like the Segway and cringe. Now you don't have to walk anywhere! No longer do you need to strain yourself walking to the corner store, you can now ride in style! We don't need inventions like these. We need to rely on ourselves more. People should be walking when it's feasible. I don't think we need to walk 30 blocks, but when someone needs to take a cab for a two block trip or hop on their Segway to go get a loaf of bread, there are some major problems.
Our nation is becoming more and more lazy. Relying on computers is the beginning. The Segway and other inventions that work for us are the next step. We're headed down a road towards certain ruin, but we can't see past that nifty coffee maker that starts brewing when you wake up. Currently you can sit at home in your underwear and do pretty much every activity that is needed. But is that a good thing? Do we really want an entire generation of people who would rather stay at home in their pjs than go out and experience life?
We are looking at life through the filter of a cathode tube or an LCD screen. Everything is available to us and done for us these days. Life can't be experienced if you never get past your front door. Computers are great tools, but they must stay that way. When they begin to dominate our lives, we have to reevaluate our world. 2048 is rapidly approaching. It's time to do a few things for your self.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
