Change. Interrupting The Rockford Files to do podcast 338. The sameness of news coverage lately provokes discussion on change. How it occurs, when it occurs and how do we notice when things are changing? Think back to different times, and how you noticed things were changing. What caught your attention? A TV Show, Fashion, a song, or something in the news? What resonates with you to indicate things are changing. Usually major change requires some kind of catalyst. The stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression, the assassination of President Kennedy was the beginning of the tumultuous 1960’s and early 70’s, and of course in our time frame, September 11th brought huge changes in our society and the world. Is there a point where you look up and say, “Things are different now”? Are we on the cusp of major changes in the world and in the United States? What are the cues, the waypoints, the clues of a major change in era? When we watch our favorite old TV shows we can see how things have changed. Its nostalgic but also instructive to watch shows with good writing. like ‘The Rockford Files’, or ‘Friends’, or ‘Miami Vice’; shows that aired for many seasons, starting in one era, and ending in another. Certainly this podcast does not suggest that we can tell what’s going on by watching old TV shows on Netflix. What it suggests is things are changing again, and this time maybe significantly. What things that are present now will be the building blocks of the future, and what things will be swept away. As Moore’s law continues its exponential impact on technology and society, suddenly there is more coverage of robotics and artificial intelligence, suddenly IT systems that were up to date seem old and ‘kludgy’, and we’re seeing signs of the future everywhere; Uber outnumbers yellow cab in New York, autonomous check out machines, new business models, an iPhone that was brand new a second ago seems suddenly obsolete. Media is changing too; MSNBC is dying, broadcast television viewing is plummeting, Netflix is getting competitors including the networks, HBO and Apple, and the new cars don’t even come with AM radio anymore. As things change one thing is for sure. People attuned to politics should hold on loosely, because it may be true that in the near future  many things we consider constants will change. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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