Magic Time Machine

(We're in Houston this week, so not much time to sit and reflect...which means no serious post this time.)

When I was young, I dreamed of inventing a time machine. Much like Marty McFly (talking Back to the Future, for the young readers), I would use my magic time machine to travel throughout history. Unlike Marty (who is kinda short and wears acid-washed jeans), I wouldn't waste my time with Chuck Berry impersonations and high school dances. I probably wouldn't even bother with the DeLorean. I would use it strictly to make money (nevermind that this was also the plot for the forgettable Back to the Future 2). I would travel back in time and invent something cool or buy the rights to something...cool. Then, I'd sell it for a lot of money. I really did spend quite a bit of time as a kid dreaming up of stuff like that.

So, when I read this week that Google bought out Youtube for 1.67 billion dollars (that's about £833 million...or, as we say in my house, a buttload of money), I couldn't help but regret not applying myself just a little bit more as a kid in order to invent a time machine. I'm imagining what it must be like to be those two dudes (Chad Hurley and Steve Chen) who started it all. Few years ago, they were a couple of drones, working at Paypal. They probably complained about the ridiculous rent prices in Silicon Valley and ate instant noodles for dinner. At some point, they ask themselves, "Wouldn't it be cool if there was a website where people could upload clips of exploding mentos, crazy dances, and dorm room renditions of the Backstreet Boys videos by adolescent Chinese kids...and watch them all for free?!?". Then, in 2005, they start this little website called "Youtube" and it becomes one of the fastest growing websites on the web. Now they have lots of money. But as soon as I figure out how to make the flux-capacitor work, I'm taking my time machine back to 2005...