We live in the future

A couple of weeks ago I flew to the US west coast for a business trip.  Mid-flight I tweeted the following:

[quote]I’m at 38,000 feet, playing Words with Friends, listening to NFL Sunday Countdown and drinking a screwdriver. THE FUTURE, I AM IN YOU![/quote]

I had my iPad in hand and was connected to the WiFi in the plane.  I was streaming a football game in the background, checking Twitter and Facebook and playing Words with Friends.  It really struck me how insanely cool that is.

As a kid, I would have never envisioned the internet, tablet computing, online real-time multi-player gaming or streaming audio.  Much less while mid-flight.  Oh and that tablet device houses thousands of songs, dozens of books, comic books, magazines, and several feature films, all in the palm of my hand.

I landed later in San Francisco, then drove to Petaluma, California to watch one of my favorite podcasts record live, This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte.  Think how unusual podcasting is? When I grew up we had a couple local radio stations and you had to listen to what was on, and only what was locally available.  Now anyone can record a show (in high definition nonetheless)  and make it available for download to people the world over.  Folks like Leo can make careers in podcasting and have fans anywhere.

Then driving back to San Francisco, I drove through a mountain tunnel, and then over the Golden Gate Bridge.  What amazing feats of engineering.  Humans continually amaze me, and it’s insane how far technology has come in my lifetime.  I can only imagine how things will be 10, 20, and 30 years from now…

The future, I am in you, and you feel awesome.