408328:

You're just a mere child in the grand scheme of things, and as such have ALOT of learning to do before you catch up to a man such as myself [who is nearly three times your age].

I'd also be interested in hearing anyone here [yeah: that's YOU, PACNWGUY] who can verify that people were running around frightened by pilots surpassing the sound barrier... maybe in the back hills someplace where indoor plumbing was still a novelty... but certainly NOT in any metro area. That's just more bullshit propagated by people who never lived in the period they claim to remember. I do clearly remember the mid-1950's and at that point in time Americans were very excited about the prospects of advanced flight [I grew up surrounded by the aviation industry here in Wichita KS] and fear most certainly was not uttered in hushed tones on streetcorners. BTW: science may very well alter EVERYTHING surrounding us in the next 'couple of dozen years'... but, we've got to GET there, first! And, at the moment the prospect doesn't look too encouraging.

At no time did I state I was afraid of ANY technology, but rather suggested a plausible scenario where the future is already taking people such as yourself - who've never had the benefit of seeing a world that had NOT been touched by the computer age. So: let me appraise you of something significant: for every 'advancement' of technology you are SACRIFICING another as a human being. I hope you're supremely tranquil when you are no longer a name, or a face but a barcode... because you're already very close even today. Why do you think so many people of your generation are walking around with non-traditional names? It's not rooted in the mere 'creativity' of their parents. It's because their parents fear without some unique appellation their children will be lost in the techo-shuffle and be reduced prematurely to nothing more than a binary string.

Neither did I challenge that language is constantly evolving... but truncating words and phrases for the mere convenience of tapping them into a tiny little handheld box does NOT constitute any form of communicative evolution - it is merely a form of electronic slang - and, slang always has been and always will be a mere bastardization of genuine spoken and written language.

And: to those who claim that this current technological explosion is the same as the atomic bomb development of my generation... you are dead WRONG! You could easily combine the victims of all the bombs dropped in all the wars since you've been alive and they won't even come close to the number of people's lives that the internet impacts DAILY.

But, keep tapping away at your keyboards -whether on your desk or in your hand- because soon enough we'll find out who is correct in this little sociological debate: you or I.