Early electrical and lighting systems were comparable to our more recent computer, software, and communications industries:
- The first electrical systems offered relatively little power and ran house- and streetlights. The first desktop computers had almost no memory, slow speed, and small hard drives.
- Innovation came fast and furious among very competitive companies and individuals.
- Our demand for more bandwidth, cable, and phone availability is a repeat of our increasing demands for more electricity since the turn of the 20th century.
- All of these industries have improved our standard of living, despite criticisms to the contrary from technophobes.
A typical 30-amp home service has increased to 200 amps in the past 100 years. We’ve gone from one light per room to multiple lights, multiple receptacles, every appliance imaginable, and entertainment systems all demanding their share of electricity. This has required building and rebuilding an entire infrastructure of dams, generators, long-distance power lines, transformers, and miles and miles of utility poles.
The entire undertaking has been enormous and is entirely taken for granted today. Historical hubris lets us believe that our time is the most innovative and influential to date, but we wouldn’t have gotten very far without electrification. Try running your laptop on some of Volta’s original batteries or even some of Edison’s. You might get enough power to read “Starting Windows 98” on your screen before it shuts off, with your battery drained of any direct current.
The basics of electricity and its delivery systems are pretty well established. Equipment might improve and become more efficient, but until someone rewrites the laws of physics, electricity will continue to be delivered by wires or other conductors from a generating force. You’ll still get billed once a month or so for its usage. Nobody said all those electrons would be free, but it remains quite the bargain based on all it provides for us.
The entire undertaking has been enormous and is entirely taken for granted today. Historical hubris lets us believe that our time is the most innovative and influential to date, but we wouldn’t have gotten very far without electrification. Try running your laptop on some of Volta’s original batteries or even some of Edison’s. You might get enough power to read “Starting Windows 98” on your screen before it shuts off, with your battery drained of any direct current.
The basics of electricity and its delivery systems are pretty well established. Equipment might improve and become more efficient, but until someone rewrites the laws of physics, electricity will continue to be delivered by wires or other conductors from a generating force. You’ll still get billed once a month or so for its usage. Nobody said all those electrons would be free, but it remains quite the bargain based on all it provides for us.
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