God! Where would I have been if virtual reality had been invented instead of real props and sets when I started? Pushing stuff around studios at age sixteen was my first paying job.

I suppose I shouldn't put it all in the past tense because somewhere in this odd business something like it must still be happening. And if it isn't just like I saw it maybe it will feel this way to someone who is living it right now when he or she looks back from a safe distance.

But when my generation of broadcasters has finally faded to black I think some part of our experiences must live on for a long time. It must be that way because in spite of the amazing technological advances that have made some of our ways obsolete or unimaginable or laughable, what we did during our turn became a part of the foundation. Tomorrow's broadcasters - if that even will be the correct term for what they will do - are building on the techniques and attitudes that came before whether they know it or not.

Maybe it will be like ancient Rome where in today's metropolis you barely notice the layers upon layers of rubble under the pavement, but the streets and buildings could not be where they are now if not for what lies below. And once in a while, during a construction project, someone stumbles onto an old catacomb or a piece of an ordinary citizen's backyard from five or ten or twenty centuries back. Interviews with the people who study the diggings always marvel at how like themselves the ancients seemed to have been.

Of course, if they turn out anything like mine, that might be better for everyone involved.