Connecting and Organizing

For as long as I can remember I have marveled at the various methods we employ in an effort to stay in touch with our world. I remember the first time I saw a bible. I was amazed at how many pages were in the compact book that I held in my hands as a child.

I received my first new testament in the third grade from my grandparents. The new testament in Braille consists of four volumes. Each volume is at least three times thicker and four times longer and wider than that first printed bible I was shown. I asked someone to show me how much thickness was taken up by the new testament in the printed bible and was shocked at how few pages were used. That same year when I was in third grade I visited a library which had a Braille Encyclopedia that required five book shelves to hold it and was over a hundred Braille volumes.

When I was growing up vinyl records were the king of storage of music and reel to reel tapes were the most advanced way to store audio books. Fast forward to today and I have a 16GB iPhone in my pocket that holds the entire bible, several audio books, and the equivalent of 25 vinyl records and yet I have only used 20% of the available storage.

I used to dream of having a huge library to hold all the Braille books that I would like to read. Today I can have all the Braille books that I could possibly read in a lifetime stored on an iPhone.
This same iPhone connects to the internet and permits me to pull in and read any of billions of web pages. To think of how quickly we become used to change and new possibilities, before May of this year a blind person could not use the iPhone at all.

What are the ways has this change has impacted and amazed you?