I don&#x27;t think that the author understands just how computers have changed everything.<p>&gt;The big differences are cell phones (which they will understand to be a sort of telephone, albeit with no cord and capable of sending telegram-like communications, but still figuring that it works via radio waves rather than magic), computers (which they will see as interactive televisions),<p>sure, someone from the &#x27;50s would see games systems as interactive televisions and probably not be too shocked; games systems aren&#x27;t a world-changing thing (vs. tv) - the same is true if you use cellphones as, you know, mobile telephones.<p>Think about the information we all have in our pockets now.<p>Like how to fix things... if you don&#x27;t repair your own stuff... you should try it one weekend, just for fun.  I&#x27;ve used youtube to figure out everything from how to assemble a crazy-complex sony vaio to replacing a bad fan in a fridge, to replacing shocks on my motorcycle.<p>and the textual information that is available to you is also absolutely huge.    We&#x27;re all carting around a really bad interface to a library that is more vast than the library of congress... in our pockets.<p>What I think is interesting here is the huge availability of what would have been out of print books in the &#x27;50s... books who&#x27;s copyright has expired;   those are available at the snap of the fingers.   Even more modern stuff is also available, of course, it&#x27;s just not as available as the out of copyright stuff.<p>Actually, I think this is the interesting thing going forward... who can access information, and at what cost.   But I think there is sufficient focus on that.