I was recently asked how I would explain a modern cellphone to a person from the 1960's.
My response... "Why would I need an explanation, I already know what it is"
After a bewildered look in the eyes of the person who asked the question I explained "I was born in the 1960's, so I'm a person from the 60's, and I know exactly what a cellphone is. I use it everyday!"
That's not what they meant
After the brief pause I was told. That's not what I mean. If you went back in time and talked to someone in the 1960's and had to explain to them what a cellular phone was how would you do it?
My response: "Easy. It's a phone that doesn't have a wire. Sort of like if a walkie-talkie and a telephone had a kid"
Again a bewildered look on the questioners face. NO, no no.... You need to explain what a Smartphone is not just a cellular phone. I chuckled and said "Are you sure aren't meaning a Smartass like myself 😉"
Now the real answer
"No, not a smartass...even people in the 1960's knew what those were. A Smartphone".
Of course I replied "People already knew what a smartphone was even in the 1960's they just had a different name for them"
The questioner again looked at me a little strangely. "Smartphones weren't released until the 1990's. How could a person from the 1960's possibly know about them??"
Now the real answer explained
I looked at the questioner again and felt sorry for their growing frustration. This time I was inclined to actually give them a better answer.
"Look people in the 1960's didn't have smartphones, computers or anything like that. They likely had read either the Brothers Grimm fairy tales (written in1812--see the title of the article) or watched Snow White".
which led to...
"All you have to tell a person from the 1960's is that in the year 2023 Magic Mirror's are real, they are called Smartphones, and that almost everyone has one"
Of course the person may not actually believe that they actually exist because, well, magic isn't real. Some sample questions from a 1960's person.
"So your telling me everyone is looking at a mirror and saying 'Magic mirror on the wall' "
- Nope. People look in their hand and say "OK Google" or "Hello Siri"
(Or possibly they look in their toilet and say...well, I won't use those words with someone from the 1960's)
"So you can look at your phone and ask 'Whose the fairest of them all?' "
- No. But it will let you know that you aren't it and give you a lot of possible contenders.
So what can it do?
- It can track your movements. Listen to you while you sleep. Report everything your talking about with your friends. Access your banking information. Unlock your front door. Control the heat and electricity in your house plus lots of other things. It can steal time away from your family and children. Keep you working even after hours and on weekends. Oh..and let advertisers hit you with ad's everywhere you go anywhere on the planet.
Geez! Sounds like something from the novel 1984! Why would anyone want one of those???
Well, you can watch porn anywhere you want.
Ahhhhh....Hmm... The future sounds interesting
My thanks to the leaders of Hive Learners for making this the weekly contest topic. Sorry if I didn't take it too seriously but honestly how am I supposed to make 500 words out of "It's a magic mirror"?
Thanks for reading.