Science fiction : What is smart?

 

Science fiction : What is smart?

“It is certainly not me!”

Argued a young lad, who looked like someone from downtown, with an accent and outward appearance that attested for it so conspicuously. He scuffled and then punched me. Even though I was easily older than him by 10 years.

He kept insisting again and again, “it is not me, you should believe me when I say this.”

“No, how can I! I saw you doing it and when you realised I had seen you, you left the book there and you ran away. You surely cannot fool me. But I am surprised, and still wondering why did you try to steal it from the shop? Why?”

Was my quick reaction!

The young lad, who now realised that I had indeed seen him when he was trying to steal the book from the shop, thought it might be a better idea to confess his crime and bear the mild consequences or else keep arguing and then face the dire consequences. It was a tough choice to make for a lad, hardly 15 years old. So he decided to confess and face the legal procedure, or whatever might follow. 

“Even worse, if that is how it is meant to be, so be it then!” , I guess thought the boy.

And in his downtown accent he assured me that he would speak the truth and make an honest confession before me. And this is his confession,

“You see, I have been working on improvising smart phone technology, because the one people are using nowadays is so boring and common. Everyone uses it. It is a great tool that offers many conveniences, but the smartphones are too boring for me. They all look the same, they do the same thing, their applications are almost the same, they follow the same protocol of communication networks. There is nothing new. It is like old Nokia phone that experienced evolution, at the hands of the great and late Mr. Steve Jobs, but after his premature death, the smart phone technology has remained stagnant and every phone manufacturing company only focuses on improving the RAM, Processor and App based interactions of the phone. Once done they launch it as a new version of the old series. 

There is nothing new you see. I am sure, if great and late Mr. Steve Jobs were here, he would hold his forehead in his hands and shout, “what the hell! Everything is the same and smartphones have not gotten any smarter since I left. Just by means of improving its processor and RAM and making it work on 5G networks does not mean it has progressed. Oh no, you could not get so stuck!”

So I am surreptitiously working on a smartphone that will be revolutionary and will be a next leap in smartphone technology. Using 5G networks on the current breed of smartphones, even if you added 20 GB RAM and you improved the processor by more than 100 times, would be almost like fitting a tuk tuk with a rocket engine. That is insulting and shameful! For both the tuk tuk and for the rocket.

And in order to understand a few circuits and processors of smartphones, I needed the book that you caught me stealing. It had the information that I needed, but, unfortunately its price was too steep for me to be able to pay. And I am poor with the art of swindling, so I opted for stealing instead, though my idea was to gather the information I needed and then place it back discreetly after I had read it in detail, or if I had the money by then, confess it to the shopkeeper and pay him the money. Now does this sound incendiary to you sir?”

I looked at him and without answering his question, I asked him a question instead.

“So how will your smartphone be different from the existing ones?”

And the lad looking at my face with  the innocence of 1000 angels replied, “Sir, it will be a lot different. The leading smartphone companies today are very busy either copying one another or in order to generate new sales they just add new smart features and change the outer design, and they launch the smartphone as the latest series of the popular smartphone.

I want to change all this and cause a major disruption in this sector, and redefine the phrase “smartphone” forever. Imagine a phone that can never get stolen, that can never fall, that is always with you, that can never be unlocked by anyone else except its owner, and most important of all, the communication networks that transfer voice or video in the form of bits, will travel in the form of QR code specific to each call. It will be so every time a call is made from the same phone. Security that nobody can breach. That is unless I stop improvising in every new model. And each model will be eco-friendly as far as its production line is concerned, because it will be based on a technology that will be ahead by 200 years easily.

But in order to do so, I needed to know how Processors and RAM work in smartphones along with the circuit board. With that information, I wanted to start working on the smartphone of the future. Well you see, I cannot tell you everything, just because you have caught me red handed and you threaten me with legal action. Which in the current circumstances  is not ignoble at all, but that does not make me obliged to share every secret of this futuristic smartphone with you. But let me add to the excitement a bit. And you definitely are not an incurious person, so I will share it with you because I want to. 

Imagine a smartphone that is everything proof, yet extremely sleek in design and you will have to upgrade the phone every 2 years, but online. Via a few secret steps that I do not wish to share at this moment. And your phone will become as good as new and it will not be like the current generation of smartphones, only new in terms of design, whereas the fundamental design and the core components of the phone that make it smart are the same. I will change all this, and this phone, though it will use communication networks provided by the telecom service providers, but when you call, it will render that call exclusive because it will travel via a private network within the public network that the user is paying for. 

You see, it will be like a rose and its scent. You can hold the rose petals, but can you hold its scent? Na, na, you cannot, nobody can. And humans have been working on networks that are like rose petals. I want to work on a new network that comes as an inbuilt feature with this new breed of smartphone, that converts this public, rose petal like network into a scent like network. It is possible sir, and I have tried it. Was I too ostentatious, well that is because of my marketing gene, but believe me, everything I said is true and doable. 

A great businessman, always thinks different and also knows one important aspect of business, how to keep competitors busy by fooling them into believing that the company is working on something like this, but when the real product comes into the market, it is like they were thinking of the Moon but it turned out to be the Sun. That is the thrill of great business and then when you promote it with the flair of a marketing prodigy. You will sell and sell like hot cakes.

However, if the final product does not live upto its promise, then the business is bound to be doomed. So, one has to think of many aspects while working on grand ideas focused at creating a major disruption in the market. That is exciting and quite enthusing. At least I think so sir. Maybe that is why I did not hesitate to steal the book. But trust me, I would either have returned it or paid for it later. Yes, yes, I know it would still be a crime and I admit I committed it sir. 

That much will be enough sir. I cannot share any more details. 

Now, please let me know what to do and I shall oblige sir!”

I looked at him, still amazed and wondering how he could think of something this complex with so much ease. But I was convinced he would do it because he had the passion in him and he had the fire of the technological disruptor. So I let go of his collar. 

I realised I had been holding it for almost 25 minutes now. The strain of the tightened collar had formed a red line half way across his neck, so the moment I released my grip on it, he breathed a little better, and his eyes that were bulging out a bit, instantly got sucked in again. And with a smile he kept staring at me. And I did not want to disappoint him. So I said, “You are free to go and work on your idea and work on disruptive technologies that promise more security, more convenience and do not alter the social and psychological makeup of human beings at individual and social level. If that is what your goal is, get up and walk a free man. But first let us go to the shopkeeper and I will pay for the book on your behalf.”

It was way back in 2023, when I met this young energetic boy. His energy was wild, relentless and yet so sensitive. That is why I liked the boy. And after 10 years, on a lazy afternoon when I was sitting beside the fireplace, the bell rang. When I opened the door, there was a postman, carrying a parcel for me.

I opened it and there was a small note that read, “a smart phone of the future that will stay smart for not less than 100 years. For the smartest and kindest man that I ever met. I hope you remember me sir!”

Ah, it was the boy, the same boy, who had finally developed his smart phone and I was the first one to receive it; because that night he launched it and we all saw it on the TV and internet. It surely was disruptive and I am still using it now, in 2075.

There was something about this young boy, something very exuberant and irresistible, and it was this energy that inspired me at this age to write the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075.

It has nothing to do with the boy, it has nothing to do with me, but it has everything to do with you and your future generations ( your children and grandchildren ) who will be facing and dealing with the realities of 2075. What realities? For that, please explore the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. Be amazed and cultivate the sense of responsibility that we all owe to our children and grandchildren.

Well, I must go now, I think the same boy, whose collar I held, is calling me. He calls me sometimes. You see, he did not feel the need to remember how I almost strangled him with his own collar, but he considers it to be his responsibility to remember that I paid for his book. And this he has not forgotten. 

So, good bye for now and do not forget to read the science fiction novel, They Loved in 2075. As for the boy’s smartphone, wait for him to call you. And he will call you, that is my promise!