Remote? Now, what does that word conjure up in your mind when you think about it? What immediately pops into your consciousness? TV Remote? Garage Door Opener? Working at a task so many times that you can do it …by remote? Whatever you think of, or whatever came to your mind first thing, it makes you…. you!
Do you remember what your first experience with a remote was? I sure do. The parents of a well-to-do friend in my childhood days bought a brand-new color TV in the mid-1950s, and of course, all the kids in the neighborhood wanted to see it. Now back then the color quality wasn’t anything near what it is today, but it was incredible to those of us still watching black-and-white TV. The other amazing thing was it had a remote control to change the channels! WOW! Were we impressed by this box about the size of a pack of cigarettes with buttons for up and down and off and on? But that was about it. Again, nothing compared to what we have today. So, for the next few weeks, we all would go to his house after school to watch a cartoon or two on the new TV. At the time, many TV shows were still broadcast in black and white, so the novelty wore off, and soon, we were back outside playing ball or riding our bikes. But I never forgot our reaction to that advanced technology.
The other thought many folks have was their job at the time where many worked on assembly lines doing the same thing over and over all day. While boring at times, these new manufacturing jobs paid pretty well and we were happy to have a paycheck. But these jobs also became routine and we worked on remote.
As we walk through a typical household today, just about anything can be on remote and/or automated. Garage door, house lights, phone, TV, alarm system. Automatic timers on the stove, microwave, coffee pot. Just set the remote and ta-da! It’s ready when you are.
And…. what about the new cars! Keyless entry, remote starters, and you don’t even need a remote switch as the car computer talks to you! A friend had purchased a new car and was picking me up to go to an event. While driving on the freeway he pushed a button on the steering wheel and the next thing I knew he started working and typing on his laptop with no hands on the steering wheel! When I quickly became alarmed, he calmly stated: “oh, it’s a self-driving car”. I was fascinated when the car would speed up or slow down in the traffic and even change lanes if it was advantageous, all by itself……on remote.
So, whether you think technology is a blessing or a curse, it appears as we go through our future experiences, more and more of our daily tasks will be done for us. These new improved changes are a blessing to many that are disabled or handicapped, and some find the talking computers to be annoying. I still take comfort in knowing I can simply turn them off and enjoy some task at my leisure without a machine telling me I’m doing it right or wrong. I still have a wife for that.
By the way, make sure your retirement needs are on remote! If you are not sure that all your plans are complete, call us! We can help.