Technology Still Amazes 

Every now and again, I'm mesmerized by the age we live in. I'm old enough to remember using a 9600 baud modem to connect to a BBS to play Legend of the Red Dragon. I would tie up our family phone line (or, eventually, our second phone line) connecting to many of these BBSes or, later, to AOL, eventually spending a bunch of time on USENET.

It's a big reason I'm an "internet professional" today.

I've spent a bunch of time on the internet, learning technology, and playing with computers.

So, it's fair to say, I'm somewhat jaded by technology these days. I see the newest XBox 360 or PS3 game and realize it's the same crappy game with new graphics. It's why I still gravitate towards some of the old school games (I'm a big fan of the Nintendo Virtual Console) over buying every new first person shooter with great graphics.

But, every now and again, technology still amazes me. On Friday, as the Celtics game finished up (after beating the Hawks), the Kansas/Michigan game was heading into its final couple of minutes of regulation. Thanks to the magic of the internet/iPhone/March Madness app, I was able to watch the game while walking down the stairs of the Boston Garden.

Walking down the stairs after watching an NBA game, I was watching the television broadcast of an NCAA game on my phone.

5 years ago, I would be watching the equivalent of an animated gif.
10 years ago, I would have been trying to refresh an infrequently updated, poorly formatted webpage on my feature phone.
15 years ago, I would have been rushing out to find a bar showing the game. If that game happened to be showing in your area.

I think about people today, even co-workers, who may have never experienced the world without the internet. Now I can watch a basketball game live on my phone while at another basketball game.