Notes to Our Newborn on Her Future Life With Technology
On Monday, March 21 2016 at 9:19 p.m. our 2nd daughter, Juliet, was born.
So far, being a parent for a second time seems easier in some ways. I’ve travelled this road before, so I’m not as scared when I see a big hill ahead or a rain cloud coming. I know that around every corner there are amazing things to discover and there will be plenty of emotional payoff for the hours it costs to get there. I know what it feels like to hear a little voice say “I love you daddy,” and that it makes me instantly forget the lost sleep.
I took a moment to think about Juliet’s future and how my advice to her will be different than what my parents taught me. Her generation will adapt, create and be wary of so many new devices and ideas. Here are my predictions and advice on her Future Life with Technology. . .
Life is broadcasted and data is like air
Juliet’s social profile will be more public and her data footprint more robust than any other generation. We recorded her first signs of entry into the world via FullTerm and will track every meal and movement via Babyconnect. iCloud documents it all and her dad posted an article about it. She will have an awareness of her digital profiles and that the world is tracking her. She will learn that data is like air, everywhere and necessary for life, but if used incorrectly, polluted and dangerous. I hope she holds her nose and closes her mouth when things don’t seem right.
Don’t talk to strangers will become a very nuanced concept, as she will need to decipher unsavory strangers from friends she just hasn’t met yet.
Video is an extension of vision
Her concept of screens will be very different than mine. What she views on a screen will be an extension of the world, versus a highly produced representation of it. The concept of “watching video” evolves from looking at a small number of celebrities on a big screen (my generation) to engaging with a larger number of regular-looking creators on small screens (today via YouTube/Snapchat), to Juliet’s future where video replaces phone calls, text and photos as the dominant communication format. She will know how to edit herself for distribution, seamlessly jump in and out of video experiences, and sit in a virtual reality pod when she really wants to be immersed in something.
Don’t sit so close to the TV will be virtually impossible to enforce in a virtual reality world and as screens become ubiquitous, the rules will change to “At least two hours NOT looking at a screen today!”
The internet of everything
Analog devices that don’t connect to the internet will be on their way to extinction by the time Juliet reaches double digit age. She will never know terms like “mobile” or “internet of things” -- these are just stepping stones. The major inventions of her day will center around the amazing things that happen when devices speak to each other in the service of humans. She will spend the majority of her life never turning a light on and off, touching a water faucet, or typing on a keyboard.
Make sure you say please and thank you (and other etiquette) will evolve as Juliet learns to differentiate her language when communicating with humans who have feelings and machines that don’t.
You can invent anything and change the world
Juliet will learn about great inventors named Mark, Larry and Sergey who came up with brilliant ideas that changed the world when they were young. She will see images of them in their early 20’s, dressed in jeans and hoodies, and this idea of invention will seem far more accessible than the images of Einstein, Edison and Ford that I looked at as a kid. The inventors of today are close to our children and our kids will embody that faster than generations before. Juliet’s pathway to executing on an idea will be also be more readily accessible and achievable.
You can do anything if you put your mind to it evolves into a tangible concept involving funding, founders and figuring out gaps in the market.
The universe is small and you have a rocket to ride
Juliet will never think about the concept of “long distance calls." In fact, she will know exactly how to get a message to travel across the world for free with a few taps of her finger. She will never wonder if her ideas can make a difference. She will have unprecedented access to travel globally. If Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are successful, she may have an actual shot of traveling to space (and so I will continue to pay for Amazon Prime and maybe justify buying a Tesla as an investment in her future!)
Don’t be afraid to speak your mind will be a wildly powerful concept for Juliet who will grow up with the ability to instantly broadcast what’s on her mind to the entire world.
But I hope some things never change
I hope Juliet finds love in many ways in her life. I hope she smiles at sunrises and relaxes at sunsets, makes human, in-person friends, is inspired by belief and learns to weather sadness. I hope she enjoys the sweet of chocolate and sour of pickles, the cold of Christmas and the warmth of summer vacation. I hope every time Juliet connects to a device, consumes the connected world and collaborates with millions of her closest friends, she does it with purpose, passion and happiness. I hope those benefits of life only get better and never get lost. I hope I can help her succeed in so many ways.
Do you have great predictions or advice on our children's future with technology? Please share them in the comments below.
Photo courtesy of Nadja von Massow Flickr/AFP Photo Joe Klamar; License