INTERNET, I-PHONES, UNIVERSAL CONNECTIBILITY WORLD WIDE.
The transition generation:
unplugged, plugging in, and learning new languages.
We are the last generation who
remembers a world without instant communication; (Seniors, over 65, still alive
and very much kicking), without the
constant tweeting and tweeking; sending words across hemispheres. We had to go home or to a free standing
telephone “box” in the street to make contact. I remember having to actually write
a letter, mail it and wait for a response!
Our home entertainment was a single,
small size television screen. Yes, a BIG
change from radio only. Most stations
were filmed in black and white, and to change stories (or channels) you had to
walk over to the set and twist the knob. But there were only a few channels anyway. Remote? What was that word? Replay? Watch one show
while taping another?
I’ve teased my grandkids when I
tell stories of our limited connectivity.
It gives me a chance to share with them some old letters written to me
by my children (their parents) when they were away at sleep- over camp. One from my daughter reads: “I miss you both so much, sing me to sleep
daddy!”
Today I sit at my laptop (yes, a portable
typewriter, holding the memory of all things I’ve written, or downloaded, or
received by E Mail); an easy to carry means of communication that allows
instant connectability). My personal
cell phone, too, is by my side available for instant contact across the room,
across the street, around the world! We
each have one of course, and often use it for messages to ourselves (don’t
forget to pick up the milk, put out the recyclables’; pay an overdue bill). If
it should go missing, or lose its battery charge, the sense of emptiness, the
confusion reaching for a phone which is temporarily out of order is
powerful.
If I miss my grandkids, I can
schedule time and watch them at play through an “app” (application) called face
time; they can show me the latest toy they got, or an A on a school
paper. (Just now, in fact, a photo of my
youngest (Nick is 6 going on adolescent) and his older sister appeared on my
computer screen; they actually made a long distance visit!)
I can “sync” my calendars on my
phone, computer and I Pad, and get enough “ping” sounding reminders to drive me
to unplug my hearing aids at times. Yet
I use my cell phone to ask the automated voice (My newest friend Siri) to
direct me to my destination, and mostly she does, and I don’t have to check
maps.
And so I’ve adapted; enjoying the
chance to read a book on line; doing crossword puzzles on a screen, catching up
with my friends and family. And then it
happens: the phone fails; I leave my I
pad in the meeting room of our life-long- learning program, the Academy for
seniors at Eckerd College, and face a long weekend without it. I actually had to find a book on my own
bookshelves (a bit dusty, but unread).
Worst of all, earlier this year, all my electronic systems went haywire
in January. For over a week I had only a land line phone and pens and paper to
satisfy my needs to communicate. Prozac
anyone? Got to go now: the cell phone
is ringing, and I’ve got this blog post to proof read, print out a copy, send
it off to friends, and take a shower. No
cell phones allowed.
March 25, 2016
