⌚ Indistinguishable from magic: Calling my wife from the lake using my watch
In his third law, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke said: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." I recently experienced that magic.
A couple of hundred meters from our cottage is a lake. It is a crater from a meteorite that hit Earth millions of years ago.
Anyway, as I was swimming there the other day I thought I'd try calling my wife. So I unlocked my Apple Watch and told Siri to "Call Wife."
After a couple of rings she picked up and we chatted about the absurd and wonderful thing that I was calling from the middle of the lake using my watch.
When I got up, the watch had measured what distance I had swum, using GPS satellites in space.
In his third law, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke said:
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Sometimes I like to stop and think of everyday technology through the lens of Clarke's third law.
Again:
- I made a phone call with my watch.
- The watch tracked my swim using satellites in space.
- I was in the water, in a lake.
- I told the AI voice assistant to make the call.
- The call was free.
What a time to be alive!