Nobody saw it coming, not even Gene Roddenberry
You know how stuff that was featured in sci-fi movies and TV shows often ended up becoming part of everyday life - like how mobile phones looked a bit like the communicators on the original Star Trek? And we now have computers and gadgets which talk to us in dulcet but slightly malevolent tones? And how in the Next Generation you could say to the onboard computer “Computer, bring up all information on current Romulan ambassadors…”, kind of like searching the internet today? Actually I think Star Trek is credited with being uncannily accurate with its depiction of some future technologies. Still waiting on the dilithium crystals, though….but once we’ve got ‘em, warp speed should be no problem.
Well of all the sci-fi I’ve watched (and I’m not an aficionado but I don’t mind it) there is one thing that I have never seen depicted* that has become central to our technology dense lives - PASSWORDS.
Sure there was the occasional security code that needed to be broken in order to save the universe but I don’t recall ever seeing Captain Janeway sit down at her desk, turn on her computer and say “What? Change password AGAIN!”.
I understand its for security and who isn’t for that? However, like many people, I have acquired so many different passwords for various websites and applications I have had to write them down. There are currently 15 variations on the same few words which would be impossible to remember, hence the list, but that can’t be very secure. There are a few more really important ones that I wouldn’t risk writing down anywhere, and they are committed to memory.
In fact, I have this vision of the future, in nursing homes all over the developed world, filled with elderly residents with failing memories and dementia, and the one thing they will remember perfectly is their passwords.
Yours futuristically...
* if this ever has been depicted, please let me know although I’m willing to bet it was on Red Dwarf or similar…
Well of all the sci-fi I’ve watched (and I’m not an aficionado but I don’t mind it) there is one thing that I have never seen depicted* that has become central to our technology dense lives - PASSWORDS.
Sure there was the occasional security code that needed to be broken in order to save the universe but I don’t recall ever seeing Captain Janeway sit down at her desk, turn on her computer and say “What? Change password AGAIN!”.
I understand its for security and who isn’t for that? However, like many people, I have acquired so many different passwords for various websites and applications I have had to write them down. There are currently 15 variations on the same few words which would be impossible to remember, hence the list, but that can’t be very secure. There are a few more really important ones that I wouldn’t risk writing down anywhere, and they are committed to memory.
In fact, I have this vision of the future, in nursing homes all over the developed world, filled with elderly residents with failing memories and dementia, and the one thing they will remember perfectly is their passwords.
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Yours futuristically...
* if this ever has been depicted, please let me know although I’m willing to bet it was on Red Dwarf or similar…
thank you. i always loved your password theory. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Melanie
ReplyDelete