Kim Landrum

Last night my barely 4-year-old son disappeared from the bathtub. I found him in our office – naked and soapy – at the computer. When I asked him what he was doing he said he wanted to "get online and look for mermaids." Surprised by his response I asked if he knew what "online" meant. "Yes. It's when you go get on the computer and look for stuff."

I haven't fully processed the enormity of his actions. I don't mean that in a my-kid-is-the-next-Steve-Jobs sort of way...I mean it in a times-have-really-changed kind of way. He sees photos and watches movies of himself on Flickr and Vimeo. For all he knows he's as famous as J-Lo. I'll take his picture or make a movie and he immediately wants to see it. There's no waiting to shoot the entire roll then forgetting about it until 6 months later when you finally get around to processing the film. Life is very immediate for him. He and his friends won't grow up with any real understanding of delayed gratification. It's not bad, just different.

I was a junior in college when I first got my hands on a computer in AutoCAD class. The following year I typed my senior thesis on a Mac Classic and saved it to a 2.25" floppy disc. Design basics were taught with a pencil and straight edge. That was then. Now I go days without writing anything. I pay my bills online because writing a check is too time consuming.

I dare to imagine the kind of world my son will know. It might be filled with things I don't care to think about but it will be surely be filled with magic and invention as well. How will technology evolve in 20 years? How will he get around? How will he communicate with us and with his friends? It is beyond my capacity to envision but I'm glad to be a part of such an ever changing world. Here's to keeping up!