Dawn, without any doubt my most favorite time of the day
, and now, in the twilight of summers demise and winters coming, it is even more so. As I gently slide out the door at 7 in the morning, those few seconds outside capture my senses and leave their frosty footprint to thaw out in my imagination. The world, pregnant with the silence of a sleeping city, stirs gently beneath a steel blue sky resting on the amber fire of the dawning sun. The last clouds slither their way through the eastern sky as stars dwindle out and make room for the light of day. Gentle wisps of frost and fog cover the fields, in wait of Winters first coming. As the crisp morning prickles my nose, the first swirl of fog evaporates from my mouth into nothingness. The car door slams shut and the muffled sounds of the morning routine herald the beginning of another commute to work. 60 minutes of solitude amids the dance of the steel stallions, riding towards the horizon on the blackened asphalt paths. The Satnav comes online, mapping out my position, direction and time and tells me the miles and minutes before I have to enter the working world. My cellphone beeps discreetly as it hands over the hands free control for safe driving. My Ipod gets hooked up and uploads its playlist to the satnav, with lots of new podcasts standing by to be played. The bleu light on the MM50 speakers blinks ready for playback and the car stereo sighs as it will be make obsolete for yet another day.
As I select the podcast or music track I want to listen to the silence of the cabin is filled with familiar voices and revels with entertainment or the opportunity to learn. After the engine revs up to the right temperature the automatic air conditioning kicks in and brings the ambient temperature to 22.5 degrees Celsius. My daily cup of double cappuccino has by now cooled down sufficiently for its first sip.. All in all .. i’m off to work.
As the Satnav pauses the playing podcast for a second or two to inform me that I’m coming up on a speedcamera, the lights of the car turn on automatically and my windshieldwiper, as by magic, takes care of a few stray drops on my windshield. I suppress the urge to say "thank you" to the satnavs ‘C3PO" voice, because that would be a little strange.
But all in all, this IS technology working for "me" right ? From the alarm clock waking me, to the imac booting up automatically, downloading podcasts, syncing an disconnecting the ipod even before I have set foot out of bed. Right up to the moment where park the car at work .. technology is working FOR me .. instead of the other way around. And all of that so I have the time and the luxury of enjoying a beautiful dawn.