I know it's a week late, but I did want to say something about the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. I got inspired by this series of photos at The Big Picture.
At the time, I was living with my family in Karachi, Pakistan. We didn't have a television, but I still have vivid memories of huddling around the radio listening to the live broadcasts. A couple of weeks later we got to see films of the landing in school.
I've been thinking about technology then and now, and it seems to me that the technological advances of today are more focused inward, allowing us to go deeper into our own personal worlds.
Technological advances then were outward focused, taking us deeper into the outside world.
Today technology tries to convince us that WE are the center of the universe. iPhone, iPods, social networking (and yes, blogs)– they're all about ME and my world, and making sure that the world knows what I am doing and thinking and feeling.
By contrast, with the Apollo programs, it was crystal clear that we are not the center of the universe.
