And a Public Library in your pocket

IF you have a smartphone that is what you have potentially if you know how to use it and have enough cellular data or a good enough wifi wherever you are on earth.

Growing up in the 1950s as a child 7 to 12 years old starting in 1955  if I wanted to know something I had to ask my parents (who had not been to college) even though my father was valedictorian of his 1934 High School Class and if they didn't know the answer I had to go to the library and hopefully it was in an Encyclopedia or newspaper if it was a current event. So, this trek to a library or after we bought a copy of the People's Encyclopedia from a traveling door to door salesman I could often research things for reports at school on subjects over the past before this encyclopedia was printed. So, thinking about today would truly be science fiction where a child in Africa anywhere in almost any language could have more knowledge and power potentially than Bill Clinton did as president of the United States.

So, knowledge, (or fake news) or both, is growing by leaps and bounds all over the world right now in the hands of any adult or child with a smartphone who knows how to use it and has cellular data or wifi with enough reception to pull in Google Search or another search engine.

For example, today I wanted to know better what the word "Salacious" meant because I heard it on the news. After I read the definition I found I was still not clear about it in some respects. I suppose it is in how the word is used by different people.

Often I look at a movie or a TV program new or old and wonder what the actor producer or writers names were. So, often just looking up the name of the movie or program there is a button named "Cast" where I can find out at the very least the actors names very easily.

Today my wife said, "As I child I had my first Crush on Guy (I'm not sure what his last name was) so I looked up the man's name from Zorro in the 1950s. The actor was Guy Williams by the way who was also later in Lost in Space which was another very popular TV series.

So, I can do this just on my smartphone with either cellular data or wifi anywhere I am that has either service. And so can you about any question you might have too. Because almost any answer to most questions you can find the answer (if it's public enough) anywhere on earth.

And if it is important or interesting enough and the timing is right I share much of this knowledge with you here at this site when I'm home or in a Hotel room or flying on an airline that has wifi and when I have a laptop with me along the way.