Technology

What a well timed video. I was just thinking about how, if Bill Gates owned a time machine in 1985 and was able to visit me here in 2011, he'd be blown away with tech-envy. My computer is faster than anything he'd ever have seen, my cell phone smaller and with more features, and I'd be all in-your-face about getting crushed ice and filtered water from the door of my refrigerator.

This video rightly points out that it is the first adopters who pay for the development of new technology, but refinements and improvements are paid for by the mass sales that are possible once the price comes down. Capitalism works. And it works up and down the income scale. Everyone is better off because computers help in the search for new drugs. Everyone benefits from more efficient engines, and safer cars. Capitalism makes progress possible. (yes, real progressives are Capitalists)

One caution though: Should you ever be visited by a time traveling Bill Gates, don't let him travel back to 1985 with any of your Apple products. An iPad existing in 1985 could set up paradoxes and time-quakes. We'd all wake up tomorrow with personal robots and jet packs, but we'd be married to the wrong people and the Orioles would have a shot at winning the World Series.

(watch the Orioles, if they rise above 5th in the AL East, you'll know that someone's been tampering with time)

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