The way in which technology advances in baby steps makes for so much less of a WOW factor when milestones are reached- Think about how much more exciting Call of Duty would have been when it was released if we hadn’t had to sit through all of its predecessors? What if instead of Pong, Space Invaders, or even Mario Brothers, the first time we picked up a handset, it was to play Grand Theft Auto? What if Henry Ford kept working in secret on his answer to Carl Benz’s spindly 3 wheeled invention? How much more exciting it would have been if instead of the underwhelming Model A, he pulled back the curtain on a cherry red Thunderbird? I remember envisioning the video telephone call as an upcoming miracle of the future- Yet by the time we finally got to FaceTime, the excitement had fizzled over years of glitchy variations- Imagine if we went from the rotary dial phone straight to the iPhone 10? Maybe that’s why the government is keeping its lips zipped about reverse engineered alien technology? They want to get it just right and avoid any embarrassment at the big unveiling-

So let’s make things exciting and not baby step our way to the technology a half a century away. This is how I see the day unfold and close for a typical middle-class family of 2075-

The 2 parental units awake in their separate sleep pods at the early morning hour of 10AM- It’s Monday, so is Nova’s day to work- They’ll need more energy that day than their partner Logan, so holds their palm onto the nutrient-injector a couple extra seconds- Logan grumbles about the cost of refilling the unit, but Nova has already left the room and is gliding through the dressing closet- “Purple please,” they instruct- A light purple jumpsuit is ejected with a whoosh from a horizontal slot in the wall- Nova slips into the soft synthetic linen, then pads into the all-purpose main room of the apartment- Their government-mandated only child enters shortly thereafter, rubbing their palm- “Where’s my acadelmet?”- Nova has already started their work day and is on their sofapod with their virtual office headpiece covering the upper half of their face- Logan, over at the floor-to-ceiling window, nude on their exercycle answers, “Frak,  Xander! If you’ve lost another acadelmet,-“ “It’s on the floor behind your pod,” Nova answers from under their headpiece- “And you’d better get going, it’s 10:16-” Xander returns with the scholastic headpiece and flops down onto their own sofapod to start their day- They have no vehicle- They haven’t left the apartment in years- They can visit anyone or anyplace,  virtually- Why travel to an actual city that’s subject to bad weather, and deal with the hassles and expense of getting there and back? The existing physical transports are reserved for military use and the elite anyway- With the majority of the population living virtual lives, the actual tourism destinations are reserved for the ultra-wealthy- Since it’s Logan’s day off, they’re cycling through virtual Amsterdam, circa 1656- They stop at a street vendor for a ladle of mulled wine- The palm grip of his exercycle micro-injects a pseudo-alcohol infusion- It’s just another predictably pleasant day in 2075!