Editor’s Note: The following essay was a winner in the Style category of the 2024-2025 First Year Writing Contest. It was nominated by Professor Amy Jo Minett.
On October 10, 2999 A.D., in an era when technology was supreme, society had become deeply divided. The upper class, those with access to the most advanced devices and the knowledge to control them, lived lives of luxury and convenience, while the lower classes, however, were reduced to slaves in the ever-expanding tech industry. To those people, technology was no longer a tool but a master.
The most technologically advanced company in the world--Apple— had innovated the revolutionary product -- the Apple Time Machine. Then the 101st CEO of Apple, Andy, planned to celebrate this groundbreaking achievement by making the first official time travel demonstration during the Apple launch event, traveling back to 1980--the era of Apple's founder, Steve Jobs. Every one of the digital device lovers and the engineers were crazy about it and eager to witness this historic moment.
The Apple launch event was crowded with people who were eager to witness the time travel demonstration. However, before the event began, everyone was absorbed in their digital devices, silently waiting for it. Some of them were playing VR games, some of them were busy with work on the laptop, some of them were just staring at the stage solemnly. Andy walked up to the stage slowly, stood in front of the crowd, cleared his throat, and said,
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm thrilled to be here today to talk to you about the Apple Time Machine. And I’m sure that you are as excited as I am to witness this revolutionary innovation...” The audience’s attention was brought back to the reality immediately. They put down their phones and looked up nervously. Tension filled the air. In the expectant gazes of the crowd, Andy turned around slowly and solemnly and uncovered the cover of the massive device--a capsule-shaped sunlight color seat, featuring smooth lines and an elegant and simple design, equipped with precise computing instruments.
All the attendees craned their necks to get a better view of the time machine. They took out their phones, scrambling to take pictures. The flashes of the camera lit up the stage.
“I will sit in the Time Machine and make the first journey, back to the time of our founder, Steve Jobs, on October 10, 1980, just two months before Apple was floated on the stock market. “
Andy put on the headband which was equipped with the most advanced chip, sat down in the Apple Time Machine, and pressed a few buttons. The machine closed its lid and began to spin, gradually accelerating from slow to fast, then to light speed, with charged particles rubbing against each other, generating immense energy. Golden energy trails enveloped the entire Time Machine. Inside the capsule, Andy felt as if he were being sucked into a massive vortex of time and space. The large screen connected to the headband began to work, and after a while, the screen returned to normal... All the audience held their breath, waiting.
Andy found himself falling onto a street in California, feeling dizzy. As he tried to get up, he stumbled and fell again. At that moment, a hand reached out to help him up. When he looked up, he realized it was Steve Jobs.
“Oh my god!” Andy cried out in surprise, grabbing his hands tightly, “I am Andy, I come from the future, I am the 101st CEO of Apple. That’s definitely true, I promise!”
Jobs scrutinized him up and down with an odd serious look. There was a long silence before he spoke. Suddenly, he burst into laughter and patted Andy’s shoulder, saying, “Hey dude, I trust you.” Andy was confused about that. “Because I’m sure that Apple has a promising future.” He said.
Andy and Jobs went to a diner around the corner together along the street. They talked a lot about the future years.
“So, tell me. What does the future look like?” Jobs asked, with a deep thirst for the unknown.
“In my world, more than 1000 years later, science and technology are highly advanced, and that’s how we make time machines and come back to your era.” Andy explained, “In our community, there is a serious divide between rich and poor. For us, the upper class of the society, we work for the world’s leading technology, and everything in our daily life is connected and digitized. Apple has become the premier technology company on Earth. The world is peaceful and comfortable among us.
But in the lower class, unfortunately, there aren’t enough jobs for them. Because artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, our daily life is more programmed and digitized, so that society can filter out those labor forces who couldn’t make more value than robots. Millions of people are unemployed at home and addicted to the digital world, losing their ability to make progress, which decreases their competitiveness against robots. Most of them are too lazy to think and learn something new. They literally rely on digital devices to help them and become more weak-eyed, slow-thinking, and inefficient, even vestigial. It’s like a Möbius strip—people are stuck in a loop of convenience, unable to escape. They can never move beyond the status quo and this will lead to their suicide.” Jobs listened in silence, absorbing the weight of Andy’s words.
“To some extent, advanced technology is a double-edged sword. It brings us tremendous convenience and benefits, but also stares at us like an abyss. So highly educated people who currently are striving to study diversely and deeply to find out more and more possibilities.” Andy said heavily.
Upon hearing this, Jobs fell into a long silence with a sinking heart. Catching the sight of scene, Andy felt regretful about talking that much and revealing the bad side of the world. Later on, Andy and Jobs arrived at a nearby restaurant, they sat around the table and had a big dinner. After the meal, Jobs suddenly announced the astonishing news-- He decided to postpone Apple's IPO indefinitely in case of future "tragedies" which Andy had experienced!
All of a sudden, there was a huge vibration in both Andy’s world and the Apple Time Machine in the real world. The giant screen in the center of the launch event kept flashing. It was sometimes black, and sometimes stuck. Everyone in the hall was shocked and screamed in all directions.
“Boom!” The lid of the time machine exploded and a wisp of smoke came out. Andy crawled out from the capsule, trembling. At that time, the screen returned to normal and started to flash the following situation of that world at a fast speed: Jobs disbanded the corporation and lived in seclusion, abandoning technology altogether. The screen blinked rapidly, showing the snapshots of this altered world: the bustling digital revolution came to an abrupt halt and the once-vibrant social media and the convenient digital world disappeared. Without Apple's leadership, mobile phones remained clunky prototypes. A few small technology companies tried to struggled to innovate, but the momentum of progress was lost. Society reverted to a simpler existence. Only government officials and very rich people could afford to use computers, ordinary people could only use handwritten letters, landlines and radios. The world became plain and common. The divide between the upper and lower classes remained. Instead, economic inequality deepened as those advanced equipment only belonged to the upper class.
Andy stared at the screen, his heart sinking. People seemed marginally happier and less numb than the original world. But the spark of progress and the drive to push boundaries had gone.
This was not what Andy meant.
He stumbled out of the capsule, coughing as the residual smoke filled his lungs. The crowd was stunned into deadly silence. Everyone was thunderstruck and frozen to the spot. How can it be? Is it impossible for them to survive in a better way?
Andy’s vision blurred as he realized the gravity of his mistake.
“I have to fix this,” he muttered.
Turning back to the smoking remains of the time machine, he ignored the warnings blaring on the screen and started the time machine once again.
When he opened his eyes, the familiar streets of 1980 California greeted him once more.
Across the road, Jobs was walking toward his garage. Andy hurried to him and called out, “ Mr Jobs!”
Jobs turned, raising an eyebrow, “You again? Didn’t we just talk?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t explain myself clearly just now.” Andy took a deep breath, “Technology is a tool, and tools can be misused—but that doesn’t mean we need to abandon progress. If Apple stops, humanity won't just lose convenience; it'll lose hope. Your vision, your products, inspire people to think bigger, to create, to connect. That connection drives change. Yes, some may misuse it, but the majority will thrive because of it."
Jobs leaned against the garage door, listening intently.
Andy continued, his tone more passionate. “The future you’re building gives people opportunities they never dreamed of. Don’t let the fear of misuse overshadow what you’ll bring. Balance can be achieved, but only if you trust in innovation and guide it responsibly.”
Jobs remained silent for a moment, then smiled faintly. “You’ve really a good negotiator, Andy. But how do I know this isn’t just another risk waiting to implode?”
Andy stepped forward. “Because people like you, visionaries, are what keep risks in check. You won’t just create technology; you’ll set the standards for its use. Don’t give up, Steve. The world needs you.”
Jobs exhaled deeply, nodding slowly. “Alright, time traveler. I’ll keep trying.”
Relief washed over Andy, “Thank you,” he said, stepping back. “ I hope this time, it’ll be a nice ending.”
As Andy returned to the street, he felt the familiar pull of the time machine initiating. The world blurred, and the capsule shook greatly. Andy returned back to the real world.
When Andy stepped out, the screen was different. The audience was cheering.
Andy smiled, realizing the timeline had been restored. He glanced at the massive screen behind him, which began displaying Apple's following timeline in a dynamic montage. The launch of the Mac, the unveiling of the iPhone, the expansion into VR, and beyond—it all seemed intact. Besides these, Jobs also announced his expectation that humankind and technology will live in harmonious. At last, the screen displayed a simple but profound message in bold letters: “Technology with Purpose, Humanity Oriented.” In that parallel world, people live a happy life with a humanity oriented purpose.
The crowd erupted into applause, a collective atmosphere of hope and excitement filling the room. Seeing all this, Andy had a new perspective on the real world. He walked onto the stage and grasped the microphone.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “the future is bright, and it’s in our hands to shape it responsibly. Let’s make it extraordinary.”
The event was over, but the impact lingered. Some spontaneously returned home to donate to education in line with the idea of humanity, while others started to do whatever they could to urge people not to immerse themselves in digital devices and do something good for the society. Due to the substantial amount of donations, even some world-renowned universities shifted their focus and began to accept students for free and focused on specialized teaching. Most people were inspired by this. They ended up putting down their phones and started thinking independently and critically, solving problems on their own. They rediscovered the joy of living without constant digital distractions. The society gradually began to become more vibrant.