One of the most realistic aspects of Boyhood was the rise of ubiquitous mobile technology in the period that the narrative encompassed. It is common for many skeptics of technological innovation to suggest that the future just isn’t what it was chalked to be. We don’t live in glass encased arcologies connected by sky-bridges. Rather, the future has been more about the less visually striking spread of an invisible web of information which has infused all aspects of our lives. For example, recently I was running with a friend who wondered about the origins of a particular brewery. I had my phone on my person since it was tracking our running, so I pulled it out and asked the question verbally. The phone thought for a little while and spit back the appropriate answer (the brewery was located in Orange county, but the trail it was named after is in northern California). We take this for granted now, but even 10 years ago this would have seemed amazing. My friend Michael Vassar told me in 2008 that he agreed with Peter Thiel’s skepticism of the nature of modern technological innovation, pointing out that of late only the iPhone has been notable. But at that time I don’t think we grasped how transformative the iPhone was. Ultimately I suspect it will usher in the age of ubiquitous personal computing in all aspects of our lives, not just when we sit down at a desk and boot up a notebook or tower.
And it’s not just smartphones. As I mentioned I’m going to visit New York City for the first time in ~4 years, and to prep I downloaded some helpful apps, and constructed a Google calendar with places and times nailed down precisely. I didn’t do this the previous instances. What changed? First, I’ve become habituated to putting everything into calendars, and squeezing as much ‘productivity’ out of every unit of time as possible. Second, an integrated ecosystem of applications now exists to enable this sort of planning without much hassle. I have access to my calendar on my phone and any computer I have access to. Instead of an analog world where one has a qualitative sense of progression through time, things are becoming digitized, discrete instances perfectly separated. “Just-in-time” gratification services such as Uber obviously are perfectly suited to the mentality of someone like me, for whom the phone has become an avenue by which I extend my influence to and operate upon the world. Whether you think this is good or bad, it is of great consequence. And though there is some commentary on the changes that are occurring, I don’t think it is commensurate to the silent social revolution.
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