The past and the unknown future

Times change and technology develops so fast that one can only wonder what the world looks like in ten, let alone fifty years. Back when I was young (God, I feel old saying this) most children spent their free time playing football, board games (Ludo and the Star of Africa being among the favorites) or just bicycling around the neighborhood. The Internet was unknown to most people and in the 80s it wasn’t really all that exciting either, as it had a very limited user base and the only thing you could really do on the Net was to transfer files or participate in different fora such as Usenet. Some individuals were ahead of others, though, and these people, these übergeeks, were already fiddling around with their Commodore 64s in the mid-80s. Other children, like yours truly, were busy convincing their parents to invest in a Nintendo in the late 80s. Others were more loyal and remained affectionate and faithful towards their board games. Me and a bunch of others, however, began spending considerably less time playing Ludo and considerably more time playing games such as Mega Man and Super Mario. Yes, I was a gaming slut, and I suspect this is when I first planted the nerd seed inside me, one that would grow bigger and bigger over the coming years.




The 90s came, technology evolved greatly, people died (well, at least King Olav V of Norway did) and as it became more and more popular to pay with bank cards in stores, people realized they no longer had to carry money with them. As a result of this, a great many people were dumbstruck and found it surreal that instead of using hard cash, one could actually use a plastic card to pay for groceries at the store. What kind of devilish magic facilitated such things? Yes, those were truly revolutionary times. Most gaming fanatics, however, were more excited by the next Nintendo console, cleverly named Super Nintendo. And not without reason; the graphics looked better and games such as Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario Kart provided heaps of fun. It was difficult to imagine that anything cooler would show up, but they always do and people quickly abandoned their Super Nintendos when Sony released their Playstation console in the mid 90s. Around the same time the Internet had grown immensely and some lucky individuals set out to surf the unknown spaces of the Net already then.


Of course technology didn't stop evolving with the release of the Playstation, and the world changed more and more every year. At least it felt like it. We got our first PC around 1997, but back then we did not have an internet connection. Just having a PC gained you some respect, so I was still one of the cool kids in the neighborhood. In fact, I don’t believe we got an Internet connection until 1998 or so. And back then terms such as ADSL and 3G were unheard of, so we had to settle for a crappy ass modem, with a speed similar to that of a snail. Oh yes, the Net might not have been very grand back then, but still graphic enough for our little modem having to struggle hard to download a simple page. It’s funny to think of the fact that I actually bothered using a computer without an Internet connection. The thought of having a computer without an Internet connection just appears repulsive now. What fun is a computer if you don’t have the ability to waste hours on Facebook and Youtube? Not to mention the fact that an Internet connection allows you to play games with people from all over the world. Who would have known that things would change so fast? I’m currently sitting on a 100/100 Mbit connection, which means that the Net is my bitch!




This is mainly a personal reflection about how quickly things, especially technology, can change, and I often find myself wondering about what the future will look like. It is indeed an enigma, but a fascinating one at that. Will our world look like the one portrayed in movies such as I, Robot, Star Trek or Surrogates? Will it be the kind of world we want to live in, or a nightmare where we are controlled by our own creation – technology? Who knows? Only one thing is for sure – we’re going to be residents of that futuristic world before we know it.

The power of scents

I am sure you have experienced how the scent of something or someone can take you back in time. It is funny how something so seemingly simple can trigger powerful emotions in us; the smell of your girlfriend or boyfriend’s perfume can bring to mind memories of pleasant evenings spent with him or her, whereas the scent of summer or spring can produce feelings of happiness and joy. Speaking of summer, whenever I apply sunscreen on my skin, my mind immediately sets out on a journey to previous summers, and my mind becomes overwhelmed with images and sounds of days gone by.


It is a special kind of magic, and while I do enjoy travelling back in time through scents, it often leaves me with a feeling of nostalgia. I often find myself wanting to go back in time and relive those happy moments spent with good friends, but for obvious reasons I cannot. While one may not always appreciate those moments as much as one should when they actually occur, our minds seem to be smart enough to store them for us. So if you do not wear sunscreen: apply some next summer and experience the sunscreen time machine effect! It works.