In conversation with my wife, Nancy, I was reminiscing on the glory days of personal computing, blessed that I got to be a part of it! I worked at the 2nd computer shop in Florida, Microcomputer Systems. Apple was on the verge of taking over, IBM was still dismissing those kids and their pipe dreams of a computer on every desk. S-100 was the bus, the hardware and chips that allowed computers to have expansion capabilities. Gates had created Basic and Woz had a version for the Apple II. To be an Apple dealer took one to go, one to show. All this was so very soon to change. Thrilling it was, the times were a surely a chang’in.

So here we are, almost 45 years later. Not only is there a computer on every desk, there is one in every pocket. A phone is a camera, a music player, a teletype and so much more including a Global Positioning Satellite. So convenient.

Technology was a thrill back in the very early 80’s, now it is fearful. AI is stepping up the game. We call it AI, the tech world calls them Large Language Models-LLMs. It matters not to me if LLMs talk to me, it is hollow and foreboding when they talk to each other. That chills my tech loving heart.
We were following our GPS on the iPhone, it suggested a shortcut to avoid the traffic on 40. We accepted the suggestion as we have learned it often knows better than us. I did not have a Texaco road map for verification. If I did, I would wonder if a dry drunk with the shakes drew the map. The route that my iPhone provided was one of the most harrowing drives. Tennessee has several of them. We found one called the Tail of the Dragon. Though we did not know its name at the time, we were quick to know its essence. INSANE, 318 turns in 11 miles. A redneck rollercoaster of steep inclines, hairpin turns, inclines so steep at the peak all you see is the heavens. A true faith moment as you pop over the top to wind down the mountain only to do it again. Nancy was concerned; I was thrilled. Once we got here, to Pigeon Forge, we learned that we had taken ‘the back way’ and there are much friendly routes to those that have their GPS set to allow highways. Now a good Large Language Model would have considered our age, our driving habits, the length of time we had been driving, the delays and flight changes by Delta, that we had been up since 4:00AM and it was now approaching 7:00PM. A good LLM would have instantly compiled that data and asked, “Do you want to take the pleasant drive on a highway or a dangerous and frightening mountain road?” It did not. Maybe it is an upgrade. If it had though, we would have missed quite a thrill.

The thrill. what is it about the thrill? Will it one day turn to hollow fear? Will driving become so regulated, under the premise of protecting us from ourselves, that we will be driven by Waymo car-bots? No autonomy in the auto for me. Will we all be on a proverbial highway, all tracking at the proper distance, and speed? No thrill, just conformity to uniformity. I liken such a school of thought as being that of the totalitarians that want conformity, sameness, making lemmings of the proletariat. Easy to control, easy to discipline. That is a hollow fear. No, for me, I will take the thrill. Give me the Tail of the Dragon or give me death! I want to be able to choose the thrill. I don’t need a government making sure I fall in-line like all the others. Thus is the core of individualism vs. collectivism is distilled in our cars. Car-bots making us lemmings or grab the wheel and let the tires of freedom squeal. We are in the thrill stages of high-tech personal transportation. The self-driving cars, cars that come when they are called, and, driverless cabs, oh so exciting! We do need to keep watch. What is a thrill to us now may be the hollow darkness unless, at any given time, we grab the wheel, leave the fold and ride out a Dragon’s Tail. Just for the thrill.