Just got back from this new exhibition at the wonderful Victoria and Albert Museum in London, near where I am staying. ” WE ARE ALL CONNECTED, BUT DO WE FEEL LONELY?” This is the first thing I saw and it struck me as apt in the increasingly isolated world we live in. We are helped so much by the developing technology and increasingly isolated by it. And yet we are turning to robots, for companionship, as factory workers ….there are robot pets for old people, babies going to sleep are helped often by new technology. This is the subject of my new short film About Andy….technology and isolation and how to solve some of the ensuing loneliness. Hope to show it to you soon, but Festivals first and then I plan to develop it into a feature film. Wish me luck!!!
My father Bill Merrow
This V&A exhibition is full of excitement, interest and innovation and thoughts for our future. My father, William Merrow, despite the sadness of being a refugee from Germany, was always very positive and interested in the future……he would have loved it. He was one of he most forward thinking people I have ever know. He often wrote to the government asking when they would support the technology for flying cars, which might help the congested roads! Of course he never got a reply.
Also picture above is another idea from the exhibition….an autonomous ship Protei that cleans up oil spills….it is powered by the wind , it is low- cost and open source with a flexible hull which enables it to sail upwind, intercepting oil spills from their source.
With all this technology however I have no proper WiFi connection at present, where I am currently staying, so writing these blogs is minor torture, especially adding pictures…BT Open Zone doesn’t cut it!!
One last little story. I went to see a terrific play at the weekend Pressure by writer/ actor David Haig about the wonderful Scottish meteorologist, who went head to head with Eisenhower when he was given the horrendous task of predicting the weather for the D Day landings, causing its postponement by one day. But that postponement saved thousands of lives. Another clever innovator!
And here is that other little friendly gadget …the household robot!!!!
An interesting topic and fascinating to hear how your father was trying to push the message of technology. My own father had an engineering background and he too would have been fascinated by the ease of communication in 2018. Sadly he passed away in the days of the postal system and before the era of the mobile phone. As a child I was fascinated by typewriters and deeply envious when my sister received a Christmas gift of an Olivetti portable typewriter. At the time I consoled myself with the thought that I would never need to learn how to type. Ha!
Regarding the rise of robots, am I the only one who watched the animated Pixar film “Wall-E” and worried in case it turned out to be prophetic?
Keep up the good work Jane!
best wishes as always
Mike x
Oh I think the robots are here to stay..thanks for commenting!
Best
Jane
Oh yes….Dad had a lot of great ideas for the future…especially flying cars! Stephen Hawking thought we may have created an AI monster that may end up destroying the human race!!
Great posting, Jane. I share your concern about loneliness caused by today’s technology (as well as lack of empathy) but, like everything else, it has advantages and disadvantages, one of the advantages being that a regular person like me gets to communicate with people he’s always dreamed of meeting – like yourself! It reminds me of the line in INHERIT THE WIND (and I may be paraphrasing): “Yes, sir, you can have a telephone but now you lose the comfort of distance. Yes, miss, you can vote but you lose the ability to hide behind your fan. Yes, sir, you can fly but now the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will be smelling of gasoline.” As a history geek, the play sounds intriguing to me. I think General Eisenhower also deserves a lot of credit not only because was able to juggle all the egos of his generals but to keep his own ego in check and listen to the meteorologists. Your dad looks a little like Nicole Williamson to me. And good luck with the movie!
Thanks ….Vincent for your good words. Love the quote from INHERIT THE WIND…..wonderful play/film. Agree about General Eisenhower, that’s why he was running the show!
Jane
My pleasure, Jane.
Thank you Vincent… short film done and now writing the feature!
I think you might like this lady Jane.
https://mycustardpie.com/
Looks good !!