Landlines

Having now watched the James Bond trailer several dozen times, I note something very interesting. there are no killer spy satellites to be seen.

No remote control cars. No omnipotent touch pads.

Just guns, cars and explosions. Back to basics, as it were. And Bond is not alone. I've noticed a trend recently in movies and in television, subtle visual cues, a return to basics of sorts.

Our modern everyday world has found itself filled with Blackberries, Palm Pilots, notebook computers, iPods, iPhones, Bluetooth and all other manner of digital debris. Our cheep electronic do-dads and gadgets accumulate and clutter, and in the end, look merely cheap and disposable.

Visually, this image is magnified on screen. High tech gizmos date a character, cementing the story to a very specific time and place. Your fancy futuristic cell phone looks great, in 1992, but looks like a brick with a stick in 2008.

The era of ubiquitous Bluetooth ear pieces being worn in public like a permanent Borg implant is waning. It has moved quickly from the vanguard of tekkie trends to the domain of Hindu 7-11 operators and over-weight sweat-stained mechanical engineers.

Movie and television producers seem to be catching on. Finally. And in an effort to perhaps preserve their story for other eras, or perhaps for the pure aesthetic pleasure, I am noticing a trend away from displaying the gizmos.

Phones, frequently these days, have cords, and are attached to things, like walls for instance. Notes are taken down on paper. Paper, it seems, is the new "high tech." Everything gets written down on paper, and nobody sends, receives, forwards or even mentions email.

And so, for James Bond, Q is dead and his department is gone. Big stunts are back, and nobody is fighting in outer space.

For space fights, you need to watch Battlestar Galactica. Of course, they write everything down on neat bits of paper with the corners trimmed off. Oh, and, their phones have cords.