“On My Way”

How many of you are familiar with the 1930’s cartoon detective Dick Tracy? I may not think of him every time I pick up my cell phone or use my wristwatch’s phone feature, but it does happen quite often. What made him unique from other crime fighters of that period of time was his two-way wrist radio. While other crime fighters of that era received messages from dispatch over their car radio or a brick-sized handheld device, Tracy simply lifted his arm and listened to the voice being transmitted via his watch. When the dispatcher finished his message, the detective would usually reply with his classic line, “On my way.”

When I was growing up, one of the questions I’d ask my parents was, “Do the police really have wrist radios?” They would chuckle at my naivety and tell me that the stuff in cartoons is just science fiction make-believe and will never be real. Growing up during the Great Depression and World War II must have limited their expectations for what the future might hold.

In today’s world, most people find it odd to see someone using a pay phone, if one can even be found, or a landline for that matter. Video and Zoom calls are common ways of conducting business, and instead of receiving a picture of the grandkids in the mail, you can get one via text. Speaking of pictures, how many of you own an actual camera? There once were small stand-alone kiosks located in parking lots called Fotomats. People would drop their film, yes, I said film, from a camera to be developed. My daughter worked part-time at one while she was in high school. Cell phones killed that business also.

These oddly powerful gadgets, although an integral part of everyday life, still exude a feeling of science fiction mysticism. How can something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, free of cables or wires, with no visible antenna, connect with a person on the other side of the planet by simply punching in or reciting a series of numbers? This tiny device is strong enough to transmit a signal over and around buildings, trees, mountains, and valleys to towers that forward this pulse of energy to a satellite in space. All this is happening in the blink of an eye.

Almost every year, cell phone manufacturers introduce a new and improved version of the phone you already own, which appears to be working just fine. They advertise it as the latest “Must Have” item on your shopping list. The new camera takes sharper pictures from a greater distance. Its location feature offers pinpoint accuracy to within a foot of where you want to go. This new phone has double the memory of the previous model. When it comes to creating a subconscious need for a new phone, the only thing these advertisers haven’t tried is Brave New World’s Soma. How would we survive if there was no new phone to buy?

Looking at the evolution of the telephone, it could be considered a journey through science fiction. It’s transformed from a box with an earpiece, mouthpiece, and crank, to rotary dials, coil cords, and party lines, to the omnipresent cell phone. Where will our need to communicate take us in the future? Will today’s science fiction stories become the reality of the next generation? On the day we’re born, will our brains be implanted with a communications chip that links all humanity? Maybe people will become so tired of being linked that everyone will turn off all linking devices and we’ll revert to isolationism. No matter how things work out, we’re on our way.