Dick Tracy Technology

We have come along way since Dick Tracy had the only wrist watch with the ability to communicate.  It not only allowed him to talk, but it was a miniature television. Pretty neat.  Dick Tracy's technology was ahead of its time.  I often thought about how I could use one of those gadgets.  My friends and I could talk to each other without ever tying up the eight party line telephone we had in our house.

Eight families shared a telephone line.  This was an excellent source of frustration.  I'm sure that the other seven families felt the same way we did when we wanted to call our friends.  Someone was always on the line.  Of course when we first got a telephone, I really didn't have anyone to call because I was so young, but it was nice to think I did.

Teenagers and party lines can be interesting.  We knew everyones' business and they knew ours.  We knew who was dating whom and who had just had their hearts broken.  Our parents did not approve of our nosy intrusions into the private lives of other members, so we did limit our gossip gathering to other teens on the line.

Even with our gossip gathering intrusions into other teens' business, we really didn't argue with each other about it.  It was sort of expected--a coming of age if you will.  The network provided better news than the radio or television in our world.

I watched my granddaughters type faster on a small telephone than many adults do on a computer keyboard.  The small items can do most anything.  Last night I watched them transmit good-night wishes and view each other as they said it.  It doesn't matter where one goes, the internet is available on those tiny units.  Information of all kinds at the finger tips, Dick Tracy could have solved his police cases in record time.

Progress.  Progress that many of us were reluctant to embrace and now unable to live without.  Yes, I can't leave home without my cellular phone.  Yes, I have pictures of my grandchildren on my little phone.  Yes, I depend on this little device to make me feel safer on the roads as I travel to work and home again.  It has taken me over 50 years to have the Dick Tracy technology which was only a dream to own.  My, where did the time go?

It is me again, Lord, thanking you for progress.

A little Georgia Wisdom:  Remember that even on the telephones of today, nothing you say or text  is private.