The future of plastics looked even brighter to me after pondering my 13-year-old daughter, Stephanie's, new computer. Perched amidst the latest CDs and the other icons of the late 90s (including a long-neglected Furby) is Apple Computers saving grace, the iMac. Sure, it's fast and user-friendly. But, more importantly, the iMac, according to Stephanie, "looks cool."

It looks cool because of the way its translucent blue polycarbonate housing adds style to an otherwise uninspiring component of life at the turn of the century. Available in six colors, the iMac is a far cry from the clinical beige personal computers I cut my teeth on in the mid-80s. And just as Apple has challenged consumers to "Think different," other computer hardware makers are working feverishly to reinvent their traditional-looking offerings (with plastics, of course).

Now, let's take a look in the garage of the Urban household. There, hanging from the rafters and sitting pretty on the floor are my two mid-life crisis big boy's toys: a Wenonah canoe and a 1987 Corvette.

Need I say anything more about the Corvette, the pioneer of the idea that plastic makes the perfect material for automotive body panels? There has been no stopping plastics as it makes its way into virtually every element of the automobile.

And how about my Wenonah canoe? Its made of Royalex and has already proven its worth by withstanding rough water, boulders, and the rigors of traveling at 70 miles per hour strapped to the top of the family car. And at 60 pounds it is light as a feather compared to the 90 pound aluminum monster I used in the 70s as my friends and I pretended to be Lewis and Clark in Ontario's Quetico Provincial Park.

The personal plastics experiences above speak more about the non-essential applications of plastics. But in medical applications, for example, lives have been saved or changed for the better with such routine regularity that we take plastics for granted.

The nascent secondary plastics industry will play a more vital role in the overall future of plastics. Whether machining critical angioplasty components or forming stylish acrylic P.O.P. displays, Plastics Machining & Fabricating diverse readers can essentially ride the wave of possibilities. In all its current applications or in the thousands of other applications yet to be discovered, plastics stands ready to enter the 21st century as mankind's greatest gift to itself.

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