#116 What Good Can I Accomplish Today? MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE that the Information Age began in 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. To me, the information age was well on its way in 1995 when I first connected to the global information highway. In fact, by that time the "information" age was already yielding to the "Knowledge" age. Every day I ask what good can we do with this! ___ In 1973 I was involved in the design, scripting and production of animated TV specials for public broadcasting. Our animation was the primitive, using a series of clear, cells stacked over an illustrated background. My mission was to produce 72 sets of 2-cell art for each second of finished animation. My partner, Mr. Cliff Dixon, and I spent many, many long hours, late at night shooting those twelve minutes onto 16mm film. Click, advance the background, change cels, click, and on and on. A lot of toil resulting in a little bit of information. Too bad the Macintosh hadn't been invented yet. ___ This drudgery gave us lots of time to chat about all sorts of things. Cliff's day job was the media productions director for the Presbyterian SYNOD of Virginia, through which he purchased a new 'video tape recorder' for future presentation production. Although this 70-pound 'toy' measured roughly 24 by 24, by 16 inches, it was called portable. Its sole purpose was to record video for TV, but for us, it opened a whole new world of speculation, and hours of discussion about the future. The advent of video offered the power to capture and process unimaginable amounts of information in very little time, or effort. Man, what wonderful things we could do with this new machine! No more 16mm film for me. What good can we do with this? ___ One idea we speculated about was developing a whole collection of movies on this new video tape. (Mr. Dixon said that some day, rather than reels, tape would probably come in an easy-to-carry cartridge like audio tape! Imagine that!) We waxed hours on end, about how we would get rich marketing these tapes for sale (or rent?) through a nation-wide chain of stores where people could get movies to view at home. Ha! Where do these crazy ideas come from? ___ Alan Kay, one of the visionary minds at Xerox Parc in the late ‘70s said: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." I wonder if Mr. Einstein would still believe that our way of thinking has not changed. While Mr. Dixon and I didn't invent the idea of renting videos, we took the time to ask it -- to ponder what good can we do with this new invention. ___ As I close the millennium with our 116th edition of 60-Second Windows, I invite you to enjoy a piece of wisdom from Benjamin Franklin. Each morning he would arise and ask himself: "What good will I do today." Then each evening, before retiring for the night, he would ask himself: "What good did I accomplish today?" and he would record that in his journal. Even if we can invent the future -- even if our way of thinking has or has not changed, you can control the course of your own future. Take just a few moments each morning to relax and ask yourself: "What good can I accomplish today." ___ From myself, and all those involved with 60-Second Windows and The Design & Publishing Center, best regards and wishes for health to everyone for 2000 See you in the next millennium... Fred Showker