Today I was attending a meeting of NYU’s Research Technology Faculty Advisor Board (FAB) when a slide came up with a quote on it. The quote looked vaguely familiar.
Soon I learned why. The person presenting the slide explained that it was a quote of something I had said in an earlier FAB meeting.
The exact quote was: “The high speed research network is the Brick and Mortar of the 21st century.” Apparently I had asserted this during one of our meetings some months earlier, in a moment of gung-ho techno-enthusiasm.
I only vaguely remembered having said it, but I certainly agree with it. So I’m glad somebody had thought to write it down.
That said, my thoughts these days tend toward more fundamental shifts in societal focus. Young people today seem less interested in physical constructions than in mental constructions.
When you look at it that way, the new Brick and Mortar is Rick and Morty.