“I was having dinner with a group of friends, talking about our kids, and one of them told a story about watching a DVD with his four-year-old daughter.  In the middle of the movie, apropos of nothing, she jumped off the couch and ran behind the screen.  My friend thought she wanted to see if the people in the movie were really back there.  But that wasn’t what she was up to.  She started rooting around in the cables behind the screen.  Her dad asked, “What are you doing?”  And she stuck her head out from behind the screen and said, “Looking for the mouse” (Shirky 212).

This story is cute.  I remember a time when I would’ve been trying to figure out if Binya-Binya on Gullah Gullah Island was really in my living room and, if so, why I wasn’t playing with him.

However, it makes me think – once again – of the future generation.  What’s next? What’s coming?  If a four-year-old can’t fathom a screen without a mouse, what will the next set of four-year-olds think they’re missing out on?

At the same time, it speaks to adaptation.  How much do we have to adapt in order to keep up with new technological experiences?  I might only be 22, but I still remember using an Apple II before my school got new computers when I was in first or second grade.  Now we have iPods that have more memory than my family’s first computer.

What’s next?

I saw a TV the other day at the mall that didn’t need a remote.  It had one, but you could activate it with your voice or your motions.  Will that transfer to everything else?  Maybe track pads will become obsolete.  Maybe you won’t even need to touch the screen.  Maybe, like that TV, we can control the technology with our voices and motions.

It’s scary to think about.  We’re obviously not at the level of The Jetsons, but I start to wonder if we’re on our way to that.  Maybe.

Maybe I’ll stop looking for the mouse.  Maybe I’ll start wondering where the lack of a mouse can lead.