My life time has bridged the gap between the computer and non computer worlds (I'm 64). In school I never had a calculator (just a slide rule). I still have the Curta calculator (google it) that my father purchased to help with his work when I was about 12 .. the $400 price was big money those days.

I see my 9 year old grand daughter pick stuff up with amazing ease. Her tablet malfunctioned, and when a replacement arrived, we dropped it off at her house but had no time to configure it. Apparently she did not need our help, got it going on her own. She is getting set to lease her own Minecraft virtual server to manage herself (she's on her own there, I know nothing about Minecraft).

But I'm in a position to see another side too. To many people, technology is seen as an end in itself, and it's not alway terribly useful. Just look at the techno-baubles being promoted in the car ads, or the voice recognition thermostats. Or the rabid urge to update smartphones every 2 years or less. Really folks.

But as always, so many of the 'latest and greatest' will also become next year's laughing stock, while the really useful technology will expand almost invisibly in the fabric of daily life.