SO Can you imagine living in a chapter of "Black Mirror" in which without planning, you are predicting the future technological and therefore, social? The mini series has made us rethink the way we use technology and how much it affects us.
In most chapters the end is as encouraging as knowing that you will fall to a precipice. Looking at the simplicity of life thanks to the use of electronic devices is a point to consider. We might think that we will have more free time and variety of activities that would keep us busy; However, it is proven that the more access to technology we have, the more sedentary and "slaves" we become.
A smartphone offers us a lot of possibilities to make everyday activities a bit more bearable, avoiding fatigue and of course, we can do them comfortably from anywhere. But at the same time it is counterproductive to have us so immersed in such a small device. Our life depends on how often the phone rings announcing new notifications or how many applications we can save even if some are useful. Life goes hand in hand with technology.
As if an episode of "Black Mirror" was about, in 1926, Nikola Tesla talked about the technological future that awaited us, predicting the popularity and boom of the smartphone. On January 30 of that year, journalist John B. Kennedy interviewed him for a radio show. While talking about an uncertain future, the inventor maintained an optimistic vision of what technology would bring to society. Surprisingly he made a detailed description of the progress we are witnessing today:
"When we can seamlessly apply wireless technology, the whole Earth will become a huge brain ... We will be able to communicate with each other instantly, regardless of distance. Not only that: through television and telephony we will be able to see each other and listen to each other as perfectly as if it were face to face, even if intervening a distance of thousands of kilometers. And the instruments through which we can do this will be incredibly simple compared to our current phone. A man may carry one in his vest pocket "
The connection, although not yet "all terrain", works in certain areas and indeed we can communicate with people from all over the world in real time. The video calls that Tesla predicted over the phone or television are also a reality that is in the process of being improved and of course, the size of the device is what most came close to its definition of technological advancement.
With more than 80 years of space between the interview and the real smartphone, the result is surprising. Tesla was the man who predicted the 20th and 21st centuries without the need for a crystal ball or magic cards. It was enough with his intellect and the accumulation of knowledge he possessed on electromagnetism, but especially thanks to his faith in humanity and imagination as the engine of science that managed to look towards what awaited in the future.