Part 1

Growing up we used to rally around this big brown radio and listen to Amos and Andy or Feeber McGee and Molly. Back then we didn’t have a television — The telephone had rotary dials and there were only electric fans for those hot days to keep the house cool.

But as technology progressed that big brown radio became a transistor radio and faded into the background of progress for combo cassette tape players and radios, then the next best thing became boomboxes and now the radio changed to have clocks, and we can connect devices to it, and play music or take phone calls. In our search, the next best thing became televisions which were then developed with all sorts of tubes inside them. Then the next best thing went from black and white tv to color. Now we have smart TVs that you can voice command. Through time those electric fans became window air conditioning units which became the next best thing—the central ac we have today.

And that rotary phone that I mentioned earlier became a push-button phone. The next best thing became a cordless phone that looked like a walkie-talkie. During its evolution, the next best thing became the cellphone which has now morphed into nothing short of a miniature handheld computer that is so small and thin you can almost put them anywhere. This technological advancement has made telephone booths and telephone books almost obsolete.

In retrospect when watching The Jetsons I would imagine all of the technology for the future when George came home in his flying car that easily converted into a briefcase coming home from work not walking, but standing on a moving sidewalk or as we call them today moving walkways. Jane would talk to her mother on a video phone that today is known as everything from video calls to Zoom.

We then sought the progression of the next best thing from human computers to…

We then sought the progression of the next best thing from human computers to the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Then the next best thing became a personal home computer that is now reduced in size but enlarged in terms of the capacity for which they function. Now we have everything from desktops to tablets. From faxes and inter-office memos to encrypted emails on the Worldwide Web.

To improve production on the automotive production line Unimate was invented. We further went in search for the next best thing which was IBM’s Deep Blue and now man has developed Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Yes, in the last century, the world has made tremendous technological strides. Which is not altogether a bad thing. Yet amidst all of these technological advancements—what have we lost from a moral perspective concerning the human condition?

May the Blessings of the LORD be with you today and always. Thank you for your continued readership and support. Until the conclusion next Sunday…Blessings and Peace!

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