I have used computers regularly at work and home since the early 80’s. I built my first website in 1999. My earliest computing goes back to punch card days. I use Skype videoconferencing regularly with clients. We share documents back and forth. Karen and I maintain more than six websites for business and personal uses. I build new websites for businesses here in Hudson. All of this is just to indicate that computers are not a novel notion for me.

The other day Karen and I heard the telltale signal that Skype was calling us with some incoming call. Given the time of day, we knew that it was Hong Kong calling. Instead of answering it on my desktop machine I popped open our two week old iPad and answered. There were Jonathan, Nan, Jesse, and Anna in Hong Kong. We were sitting in our breakfast nook and they on the floor in their living room.

The usual family blather was conducted. Jesse showed us his stuffed animal cat and fed it carrots. Anna demonstrated her walking. Then I noticed Jesse wandering off to do something and I was struck by the notion that this videoconference was just part of the furniture of his life. He talks regularly with at ,east two sets of grandparents and probably others. I was sitting there struck at the same moment by the novelty of this event occurring not on a large desktop computer with all of it’s wires, external hard drives and printers cluttering a desk, but on a panel 9.5 x 7.5 inches and a mere .38 inches thick sitting without any dangling attachments.

In fact, as I am writing this, I realize that I have been planning ahead for this to happen. Recently I bought another WiFi router and set it up towards the back of the house. Initially I was just thinking of improving the signal in the breakfast nook. Then we had a day of warm weather and I sat on our deck in the back yard and played on the iPad. Soon we will video conference with the grandchildren from there too.

Still, I am struck by how miraculous this all is.