original by John Gruber
On the final day of a trip to Disney World with my family last month, I saw something remarkable: a boy, 4 or 5 years old, with two artificial legs, running around Mickeys Toontown Fair in the Magic Kingdom. Running. If he had been wearing pants instead of shorts, youd have simply thought he had a bit of a limp.
He was born without legs, but yet there he was, galloping across the playground on a warm, sunny December morning, every bit as happy, excited, and carefree as every little kid in the world ought to be.
His legs sleek, lightweight, and impressively dextrous were inspiring and beautiful. And they were made using technology that simply did not exist when I was his age, one generation ago. Focus solely on current events and its all too easy to despair at the state of the world. But science and progress march ever forward, and the world is a better place today than it used to be.