Levers of Light

Light and movement becomes action.

A brush of the finger. A swivel of the thumb. A key elevated descends and rises again.

A signal! Electrons flow to the mechanical beast. An interruption most welcome.

From flesh to hardware to software.

Movement becomes action. Which action? Well, that’s the product.

Entertained? I’ll take your time. Information? I’ll have some of your month. The moon moves, the bank fills, rising like the tide. And out it goes, nesting crabs grabbing a little piece of what goes by.

The user doesn’t notice, they are in the product.

The product sings and dances for the user’s ears and eyes and heart. It’s a live performance, each one not quite like the last. Consistency is desired and each product proudly differs in consistency.

An invisible crew whirrs away. One requests information from abroad hoping a response comes soon. Props are erected and demolished. Another one goes on the heap. The collectors of garbage eye from the dark waiting for their turn. An actor falls over yet it’s not exceptional but is named as so.

Frame! the director yells.

A picture is taken to be delivered as light to the user. It goes out fast and the show goes on.

The user sees and decides their next action. Some cause action in the real world. A tap could be profound, a moment in history. Most are not.

A driver arrives, a container is loaded, a sentence is printed, a forest is felled, a phrase is banned, an attention is grabbed, a law is passed, an ad is heard, a career is finished, a thought is made and a thought is broken.

Light and electricity are the ultimate levers. Press here and the entire world may move. Cut the light running under our oceans or bounced through space and the lever may snap.

We all have these levers. The humans that is, I’m not sure the animals feel left out.

From flesh to hardware to software and back to flesh.

Who has the largest levers? Who has the greatest abilities to bust levers? Who and what stops us from changing our levers? Who is trying to get me to use my lever for their benefit?

These levers feel so light yet can lift so much. It’s probably a good thing the cats can’t use them.