The Future is Now...

It sounds cliche, but it is hard to believe another year has come and gone. One thing to know is that time stops for no one, the river continues to flow downstream. What I find more incredible is that we are coming up on 2011, a year once pictured in our minds as the distant future, full of possibilities. The future is now the present and we continue to move forward in this 21st century. I tried to think of things that really are futuristic in terms of where we were 10 or 20 years ago, and though it may not all be holograms and robots, there are plenty of things that we may take for granted that 20 years ago would have been thought improbable or even impossible.

First, we have the complete saturation of mobile and 'smart' phones. Do you even remember early cell phones? They were the size of bricks and only did what a phone is supposed to: make calls. Now, we have credit card sized devices, capable of a multitude of communications, as well as functionality and entertainment. I mean, you can stream live TV on your little 4" portable screen now. Similarly, can you remember life pre-cell phones? We are so connected and in touch now that I feel many people would just be plain lost without their means of hand-held communique. Our lives are fully dependent on 4 cubic inches of technology.

Next we have the new wave of home entertainment: Wi-Fi internet access, fiber optic cable, DVRs, 3D TVs and cloud based TV services. The ability to download and stream television programming has revolutionized how we view our media. No longer must we gather round the TV at 8 pm sharp or set our VCR to record a scratchy copy of a show. Now shows are on your own schedule, available when you have the time for it. Everything is fast and connected. You used to be the cool house if you had any TV larger than 40". Now you'll need a 100" projector. Also, remember how much those old TVs used to weigh? You needed two other people just to move the set off the stand. Now we have flat panels that hang above your fireplace that can run your 'fireplace' screen app while you talk over Skype to your relative on the other side of the world.

What connects all of this is the proliferation of that series of tubes that connects us all: the internet. Just 10 years ago, we were still dialing up and eagerly anticipating hearing that little .wav file saying 'you've got mail'. Some were already moving on to Netscape and IE, but it really has been in the last few years that everyone young and old, tech and not-so-tech really considered internet access as essential to living in today's world. This technology has connected the everyone, everywhere. We are no longer limited to our state or country for information. We now have the entire globe to work, shop, visit and share with. And all of this is done in the blink of an eye with a click of a mouse. Unfortunately, this instantaneous access has also decreased our patience and tolerances. Productivity is king and we are down to measuring wasted seconds. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly different than it was 10 years ago.

There have also been many advances in science and medicine which are great for humanity, but nothing to visible in terms of being 'futuristic'. We do have a lot more wind turbines and solar panels around the world as we look for alternate energy sources. Total mechanical prostheses aren't here yet, but they are getting close.

I think it easy to lose track of all the progress we have made in the past 20 years since we have become so in tuned with what is right now. The sheer amount of data we are presented with on a day to day basis seems to outweigh years of information gathered before. Now, I am not calling for a need of nostalgia (go watch VH1 for that), but just to keep things in perspective when looking at the past. As technology advances exponentially, I feel it is still important to look at where we were not so long ago and reevaluate what our priorities really are, keeping in mind that we'll be doing it all again soon in just a few years.


On a side note, I think I am going to start a new blog page that hosts my daily links I post on IM. I will post a link when it is up and running.

Albert Haynesworth is a Douchebag

I repeat, Albert Haynesworth is a douchebag. This clown signed a 7-year, $100 Million dollar deal with the Washington Redskins in 2009 and now, one and half seasons later, is suspended for the remaining games due to 'conduct detrimental to the team'. Basically, he was just a jerk to everyone and wanted to do things his way instead of being coached. There are all kind of excuses for Fat Albert, such as the 'Skins defensive scheme didn't work with Al's play style or Coach Shanahan's is too hard-nosed to listen, but what it all boils down to is this player's total lack of respect for football in general.

Let me make something clear to everyone. The fans pay the player's salaries. Yes, the actual check comes from the owners of the teams, but where does he get that money? Tickets, merchandise and sponsorships. Even the sponsorships are fan based, as it requires fans to pay attention to the sponsors and advertisements to make them pay off. The fans are the money source. Even investors of a franchise can be considered fans, giving support to a team they like. What all this means is that there is a certain level of respect and responsibility that the players (as well as all team staff) owe the fans.

You may now ask, well what does Al's conflict with the team have to do with owing the fans? Well, if you listen to any amount of sports talk radio or tv programming, you would have an idea. The happenings of the team are no longer held behind closed doors. The media is now an ever-present entity and every aspect of the team is covered. Conversely, the players are coaches are aware of the fans' opinions and attitudes. In all normal situations, this does not create a problem. If a team loses, there can be a quasi-discussion between all involved about what to improve upon. Same goes for a win, a discussion happens about what went right. However, when there are personal quabbles and non-game related issues, there creates this extra rift in the overall relationship and you can bet that the media will be covering it.

After all the continuous media coverage, we can understand if these personal spats happen now again over the course of the season, but they should be easily and quickly resolved. They should not last for 2 years. At this point, it becomes apparent that there is something else going on behind the scenes that is causing a problem. In this case, it is the horrible attitude of an overplayed player. Fat Albert would often give quotes saying he wants to be the greatest defensive player of all time and he just wants to play football. Well, no matter how good of an individual player you are, you still have to play as part of a team. Football is a team sport. Winning teams may have great individual players, but those players know how to be part of a team as well. Haynesworthless only knew how to be part of team Haynesworth.

So, when a player is signed for $100M, fans should be able to expect that player to do whatever it takes to earn that money. Instead, the up-front paycheck allowed a selfish player to make his own demands and pout and complain when the reality differed from the expectation. Media coverage did make a bigger deal about the whole drama, but in this case it was almost warranted. As far as I can tell, no effort was made to ensure the fans that their investment was going to turn out ok. Sure, you can also blame the owners and paycheck writers who created the situation, but it all really comes down to a player who is more concerned with himself than what everyone else cares about - the team.

This should really be a lesson to all professional athletes and can even be related to any large business or service group - remember where the money is coming from. Remember that you are part of a bigger whole that represents a lot more than yourself. Remember that the people indirectly paying your salary deserve a certain amount of responsibility and respect. If that is non-present, then you should expect that respect to not be reciprocated.