The Eye Phone

At long last, my friend got rid of his legacy iPhone. They were amazed at Best Buy that it still worked. It was wheezing for sure, he always sounded like he was on the moon. Now he got a new Galaxy III and it knows when he blinks. It has eyeball tracking. The screen won't go dark if you don't touch the screen and you are looking at it. That's some cool action.

The progression in mobile entertainment started with Alexander Graham Bell. He was Steve Jobs minus the turtleneck. Mr. Bell had no idea how far the world would run with his invention.

Here's how things have changed.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell invents the phone

1900's - The Candlestick phone is on everyone's desk.

1940's - The Western Electric 302 rotary phone was king. Vaudeville was YouTube.

1950's - Phones were on the wall or desk. TV was just gaining popularity.

1960's - Princess and Trimline phones replaced square shapes. TV was huge. We listened to albums.

1970's - Break up of AT&T. Television is big, movies are bigger. 8 track tapes were the new portable method for music.

1980's - Cordless phones & answering machines. Cable TV available. Video rental stores flourished. Cassette tapes were smaller and in most cars.

1990's - Car phones became the rage. Pep Boys sold fake cellphones and antennas. DVD's replaced tape.

2000's - Nokia Smartphones dominate the market, streaming content limited. Music is digital, iTunes dominates

2010's - iPhones rule, iPads introduced, Android catching steam

2012's - Tablets dominate the market. TV and movies available on all devices

That's some amazing progress. Everything we are doing today is a derivative of ideas baked in science fiction and comic books. The world laughed at Captain Kirk's faser, Maxwell Smart's shoe phone, Dick Tracy's wristwatch and Batman's utility belt. The best gift a kid got in the 60's was a walkie talkie. If you listen to a typical conversation on an iPhone it is the The Smartphone has also radically changed the way we listen to music. Napster had a short lived popularity until Apple honed in iTunes and Pandora showed up. Paying late fees at Blockbuster is a comical distant memory now that we can watch Hulu anywhere for $7 bucks a month.

Let's not forget the camera part of a Smartphone. It takes pictures and records movies. What was a backpack of gadgets just a decade ago is now a pocket sized machine that knows when you blink. Still when I get in my car and say, "Siri, call home", she says, "call Rome?... home or office?" I don't know anyone in Rome but nice try.

Next thing you know we'll be landing on Mars and flying in space suits at the speed of sound.

Yeah sure.