Wii, Time, and You

You've read all the stories. The Wii is surpassing all expectations and turning the console world on its ear. You've read about it 15 times on CNN.com, 27 times in the New York Times, but most of all you've seen and heard those like you, your countrymen, squawking and dancing to in celebration of what at least is a major UI innovation, and perhaps a historic step into the world of virtual reality.

The Wii isn't just the talk of the town. It's the talk of the world. My little blog, usually just a place for my sisters and roommates, now brings in hundreds of visits a day from people looking for the secrets of the Wii Tennis Power Serve, Wii Tennis Strategy, and all that.

Today, I read the Time POY article (on Reddit). While it was a little bit cheesy, it nonetheless recognized the single most important force of our generation, the global internet. We're living in a new age of reason, where everyone has a voice and access to the knowledge of humanity. At the end of it, we will recognize this as the most important time in human history.

The Time article noted that the internet had allowed humanity to take control of the global media, and here you are, and this is big. This isn't just a new way to find the best articles on the Wii, to quickly and accurately evaluate and discuss new consumer products. This isn't just a mass of coordinated people showing up the MSM.

This is a realization of a dream envisioned only in science fiction, the minds of batty futurists, and an AT&T commercial :). This is a way to harness computation, collective intelligence, and create a global brain that will cause a rapid acceleration in technology and thus productivity and economic prosperity. And also a way to download all the games I used to play on the original Nintendo, back in the 1980s, when 640k ought to be enough for anybody.

I think we are living in dangerous times, but the internet has the chance to bring us back from the brink, and bind us together into a global community of inestimable power and potential. If I were religious, I'd say we are living in a time of prophecy. But instead I marvel at man, technology, the internet, and this sleek little Wii.