The poem's title is, of course, a quotation from novelist E M Forster.
In the late1950s, we were told that things
Had never been much better -
To ignore rationing of clothes and of food,
Eschewing 'Make-Do and Mend';
To concentrate on enjoyment and
Buying the brightest consumer goods -
Thus keeping up with our friends.
Along came smart new gadgets galore -
Like colourful, vibrant phones
With streamlined bodies, perspex dials
And soothing, warbling tones...
They used the latest technology
And were said to be 'built to last' -
We knew things could never be better.
Bring on the furure! Fast!
But years sped by, and once-bright phones
Looked shabby and out of date,
To be supplanted by hefty mobile models,
More useful - and 'easier to operate'.
Today, with apps and gismos,
Smartphones do great things. Yet they, too, become obsolete at
An ever faster rate.
True, they perform many useful tasks -
But can they still help us communicate?
The pace of technology keeps rolling (remember the fax?) but the need to communicate is eternal