Sunday, September 14, 2008

c'mon, c'mon

Hi
It's been a while. How ya been? Me? Well, yesterday I went back to the ancestral family home town and celebrated my granny's 100th birthday. It was good to see cousins and 2nd cousins and twiced removed and what have you. I spent the afternoon hopping between the grown-up children's room and the adult room. The first room carried on a lively discussion about smart phones, IT, motion graphics and internet porn. The adults chatted about absent family members and weather and vacations and such.

As the day wound down, I went in to tell my grandmother how wonderful it was to see her looking so fine and staying so strong. She told me that she couldn't believe so many people remembered her. Then she told me that she'd seen technology changing so quickly that she can't follow it, then she looked a little sad. I told her not to feel too bad, and that I get confused all the time.

That brings me to aging and technology. As I sat with a table of friends later that evening, I wondered aloud what was in store for us. My grandmother suffers greatly from the aging process. She is nearly blind and almost completely deaf. Her bones are weak and she is wheelchair bound. Will medical technology advance far enough to spare us that fate? Would an implant, chip or wearable electronic device change our lives? Does exist now in a way that can enhance my grandmother's life with out being too intrusive or intimidating?