Feb 17 2012

The Most Underappreciated technology We Use Everyday

Everyday those of us privileged to live in the world today spend a good deal of our time doing two very modern things: browsing the internet and using our cellphones. In the first world just about everybody over the age of 12 has a cellphone and children are capable of using the internet before they can even read. Mobile Phones 50 years ago would have amazed and frightened our predecessors, verging on the edge of witchcraft, and the idea of having all the worlds’ knowledge just a click away on some magical invisible conglomerate called the internet would have given the most imaginative scientists and scholars such a tremendous Geekgasm I shudder to think of their reaction to their first google search, or text, Facebook post, or tweet, or YouTube video, or Skype call, or Meme. In a way we’re lucky that technology has developed incrementally, otherwise the intensity of our tech wizardry would hypnotize and scatter our brains beyond the point of no return. Maybe for some it already has….

Besides the awesomeness of these technologies, and all the time consuming applications available for them, your average person wouldn’t give a second thought about the enabling technology that makes all of this possible, Communications Satellites. Sure, everybody knows that every phone call, text, IM, and internet session gets wirelessly relayed to a Satellite and then redirected to a receiver, but most people just don’t think about it. It’s taken for granted. And it’s a shame because, once you really get into it, Communication Satellites, or ComSat’s are really freaking interesting.

The Idea was first put forth by a science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke of 2001: Space Odyssey fame. Although he was a fiction writer he was also an accomplished scientist and practically invented ComSat’s. By the time he had fully formulated the idea many satellites had been launched both by Russia and the United States, but spaceflight and satellite operation was still in its infancy, and the potential uses of outer space were poorly understood. When the first ComSat’s became operational new concepts and uses for the technology were made up just about every day. At first InterContinental communication was the main objective, and saved humanity and the Earth from having enormous phone and power lines spanning the oceans either above or below. But then businessmen had the brilliant idea of broadcasting cable television with these satellites and privileged parts of the world suddenly had hundreds more ways to entertain themselves, waste time, raise their children, and provide “background noise”.

Meanwhile, nerds everywhere were striving to make Star Trek a reality, one step at a time, and the first mobile cellular phone was invented. They have progressively been getting smaller, more advanced, and capable with each new generation. They have made our lives so convenient, and made communication so instantaneous, that even just a few years ago our impatience and bizarre need for instantaneous gratification would have seemed extreme.
And then Al Gore invented the internet and our lives have never been the same.

But none of this would be possible if not for the space age, without rockets, scientists, writers, science fiction, and imagination communication satellites would never have been invented, and all the uses we have come up for them wouldn’t exist. I don’t even want to think about what the world would be like without the internet or cellphones. Even though we may get over-saturated at times, the internet and instant communication have definitely improved our lives. So the next time you send a text, or a friend request, or post a picture, comment, or video be grateful for the magical beams of energy that are sent and received by a fleet of spacecraft flying above our heads. These Celestial Birds have allowed the inhabitants of Earth to learn anything or contact anyone at a moment’s notice. Through the eyes of someone even 50 years ago, it would seem indistinguishable from magic. And it’s only going to get more intense and magical with each new innovation.

By epicfuturespace
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