Friday, 15 December 2017

Four Cotton Reels

There was a time when my purse was full of little slips of paper. If I had a question about anything I’d jot it down and save it until I could get to the library and look up the answer. When I had room I kept a set of Encyclopedia Britannica and a Funk & Wagnalls (no, I’m not kidding) for questions that couldn’t wait for a library trip. Then I bought a desktop and installed Encarta. Suddenly there were answers to my questions at my fingertips – as soon as the computer booted up. How far away is the moon? Which animal has the longest gestational period? What’s the recipe for bouillabaisse? Google just announced this year’s most common searches. Apparently in 2017 people wondered about the latest hurricane, the newest iPhone, the men accused of inappropriate behavior, and the girl engaged to Prince Harry. I didn’t Google any of these. I must be out of touch.

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