"Better Than Sliced Bread"

How can a one and a half by one and a half gadget give me so much pleasure?  My first thought is that it must be magic.  To think that my face is transported close to 1,000 miles away is like something out of a science fiction story.  The small square sitting on top of my laptop opens its tiny green eye and I can hear a voice asking, "Are you there?"  Are you there?"  Suddenly, my granddaughter's face appears on the screen.  I can see myself in another small square in the corner of my computer screen.  Even though I am in Colorado and she is in California we can talk and see each other. 

With my granddaughter's help, I have entered the world of Skyping!  Sometimes, her whole family will be on the screen but usually it is just me and my granddaughter. On Christmas Eve my granddaughter said, "I am putting you in the best seat in the house so you can see us open our gifts!"  She placed her laptop so that I could observe everything going on in their living room. I watched as they opened their gifts, heard comments, made my own comments, laughed and chatted with my far away family.  I felt as if I was physically present in their living room.

I don't understand the technology that went into inventing such a clever device or how it works but I do know I enjoy the time we spend together when we Skype.  It is fun, entertaining and informative to be able to chat with my California family.  My granddaughter, since their laptop has a web cam built into their computer, can take me to their backyard, to the front of the house, to see what their pets are doing, model new clothes or show me photographs.  As she moves around carrying her computer, all I can see is her head bobbling around and I teasingly call her a "walking head."

When my Colorado family visits, we all get in front of the web cam and talk with the California people via the magical air waves or however we are transported! The feeling of being connected is amazing and makes me feel as if we are near to each other.  Now, if I could get the East Coast family to get a web cam, I would have all my family as close as a click on my computer!

The ad for a web cam explains that experiences can be shared, people can stay connected with loved ones and all one has to do is plug and play. I agree that such a simple function will bring many hours of joy.

Sometimes I wonder if the computer is actually thinking. Many times it seems to know more than I do...lots more! Then, I remember seeing a quote by an Edsger W. Dijstra. "The question of whether computers can think is just like the question of whether submarines can swim!"