Old Technology

Alex Ropbern

“And outside critics say NASA is forced to use aging
Shuttles and old technology to fly better, faster, cheaper.”

In addition to the two computers on my desk, I've got five antique computers dreaming numbers in my garage. Perfectly functional, they're nevertheless worthless. Though I tried to give them away to schools and non-profit groups, nobody wanted them. It's old technology, people told me: the new models are better, faster and cheaper.

The other day I drove to a store that sells second-hand sports equipment, where I found a huge room full of treadmills, rowing machines, stair-step machines, stationary bicycles and weight benches. "People buy this stuff and then realize they don't really have time to exercise," the salesman told me.

Sometimes my son sleeps with the phone next to him in bed. Across the room his computer carries on a conversation with a distant twin, as one machine feeds information into the brain of the other via the internet.

A century and a half ago Thoreau argued that by the time he worked long enough to save the money to buy a train ticket, he could have already walked wherever it was he wanted to go.

A couple days alone in the High Sierra wilderness confirms my suspicions. My heart still beats at the same rate. I still enjoy eating and making love. I'm growing steadily older. The stars are no closer than before.