Connections Archive

Dr Bruce Manners
Senior minister, Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church

The computer industry is planning to give us back some time--the time it takes to boot up your computer. The New York Times reports that companies such as Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell are planning machines that will give basic functions such as e-mail and web browsing within 30 seconds.

Microsoft, the company often blamed for sluggish start times because of the time it takes to load Windows, is on record saying it aims to have the next version of its operating system boot up in less than 15 seconds.

This is being brought to you courtesy of an Apple Mac, and Macs tend to boot up more quickly. But even Mac users--me, for example--wonder why it can't happen more quickly.

Within the industry, they reckon there's a battle looming for boot-up bragging rights. HP is planning for machines that boot up in 30 to 45 seconds--in 18 months they want boot up in 20 to 30 seconds. And I'm wondering at what point in history did life become so frantic that there was no time to wait.

Is this simply another illustration of time ruling life?

My father was a commercial fisherman. He worked long hours. But it was a life with waiting time--waiting for the tide to turn, waiting for the sun to rise, waiting for a break in the weather.

Time for thinking. Time for reflection. Reflective thinking, now there's a thought.

The danger of living life constantly at speed, driven by the clock, is that we will fuss over lost seconds. Time will begin to control us. And people--and God--will become part of our calendar rather than part of our life. They'll be fitted in when there's time or, worse, if there is time.

How sad.

If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go smell some roses.