Hardly the technological revolution of our time. But today I realized I was seated really far from the order status board at Starbucks. My eyes are quite good with glasses (1), but not that good. So I took a pic of it with my very midrange Pixel 8a, zoomed in, and read my name.

I remember posting a few years ago that I was looking forward to this, but cell phones were still inferior to the naked eye most of the time.

Of course, everybody could have carried opera glasses starting a century ago. But one's daily carry has limits.

I like to note these small milestones because I tend to miss how much has changed in our lifetimes. Despite how dystopian technology can be, I feel a bit cheated that we haven't gone from the Wright Brothers to the Moon. But some seriously crazy shit is going down, and cool little stuff too.

(1) People without glasses, particularly people who had vision surgery more than ten years ago, are often surprised that I can see stuff they can't. Look, I definitely remember my own "oh I don't need glasses" phase. But cheap glasses are nowhere near as dorky as they were THIRTY YEARS AGO 👻. Just grab an eye exam, under insurance if you're lucky. Make sure they write down your IPD (Intrapupillary Distance). And then just hop on Zenni. Don't be a boomer and get suckered into vision store prices.

Also there's contacts if you're vain. I get it. I'm totally vain.