One of my favorite novels is Virtual Light by William Gibson. In it, a pair of sunglasses is the MacGuffin that helps drive the story forward. But these are more than just ordinary sunglasses. If you put them on and activate them, they project into your eyes a screen, and anything can be displayed. You can overlay and move around in a virtual environment. Or you can access information, watch movies (with accompanying ear buds). You can do virtually anything.
I look forward to the day when I don’t have to carry any obvious technology. No phones, no music players, and certainly no computers. But I want access to EVERYTHING. And I think the Apple is the company that will be the most likely to get us to that glorious state. Forget about ebook readers. The future’s so bright I hafta wear shades.
I don’t ask for much. I only want access to every book ever printed. Every magazine, too. Let’s throw in every movie ever made and every song ever recorded. Let’s just say every work of art ever created. And I want to see them are as if I’m standing there before them, not as tiny pictures in a book or on a screen.
I’m not saying I want it for free, but I’d like to have access to it. And I don’t want to have to be a licensed technician to gain that access to it all.
I’m a writer, so I know the value of tools. I could work on a typewriter or with a pen and a yellow legal pad. But I use my Mac as my main writing tool. In the future I want it to be even more basic, more unobtrusive to my writing process. When I want powerful editing tools, I want them instantly there, but when I’m in the flow and creating, I want NOTHING to disturb or interrupt me. I have a terrific writing setup now, but I can see plenty of room for improvement. And I think this approach applies to virtually every aspect of personal computing.
So if you see me sometime in the future wearing my virtual light sunglasses, sitting beneath a tree in some sunny park, gazing off into the distance, consult your own sunglasses before calling out to me. They’ll let you know if I’m available and would welcome the interruption or if I’m deep into writing the next great American novel. And I bet if you check out that logo at the temple of your pair you’ll find a little silver apple.
Update: link to the entire series.
