children of Спутник

"The Sputnik launch changed everything."

here's how, according to Ivan Semeniuk, last month at the New Scientist:

http://space.newscientist.com/channel/space-tech/sputnik-legacy/mg19526201.200-how-sputnik-changed-the-world.html

"...we were children of Sputnik. Although we weren't yet born when the Soviet satellite made its startling debut on 4 October 1957, we were of the generation that grew up in its considerable wake. ...Fast forward to today, and the results seem disappointing. Space travel - the technology we had seen as the emblem of our future - has so far turned out to be more emblematic of our past." (my ellipses)

later, he says:

"Access to space has not, on the face of it, transformed society in the same way as the car, air travel or the internet, for example.

Or has it? Could it be that human society has been so thoroughly altered by the emergence of space flight 50 years ago that we are no longer able to recognise the change?" (my ellipses)

ultimately, Mr Semeniuk proves to be an optimist:

"[Sputnik's] impact on day-to-day life in 1957 was essentially nil, but its influence is immeasurable. Through the huge investment in higher education it generated, Sputnik was the most important catalyst for human development there has ever been. This is the hidden dividend of the space programme, and we are just beginning to feel the full impact.

"For my childhood friend and I, the space age was about what was going on "up there". Five decades after Sputnik, that view seems too literal. ...it will take many more decades to discover where the changes triggered by Sputnik are leading us. In a society driven by scientific discovery, the possibilities are virtually endless.

"Perhaps, somewhere down the road, we may even get a vacation to the moon
out of it."

meanwhile, NASA explains our status as 'children of Sputnik' by reiterating the definition of modern man as Homo consumerus:

http://www.sti.nasa.gov/tto/

and while Burmese powers refuse to let the perspective of the rest of the world and the Word of Mass Media influence their rule:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7018285.stm

Filipinos--all too conscious of 'Mass Media'--find themselves indignant over the thoughtless comments of a fictional television character:

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/10/03/desperate-housewives-insults-filipinos/

(update: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7027551.stm)

the Space Age at 50, ladies and gents. how would you define your reality?