That was why it had seemed rather odd to me when one day someone who had wanted to reach me at the office got frustrated on being told by my staff "oh, she does not own a hand phone" when she had asked for my number. This exasperated person retorted to the effect of...someone like me should have one, what era was I in?! Well, what she had meant by "someone like me" is the work I do in a special education school. The lady had needed to see me about her child and I happened to be out of the office then.
Today it's rather amusing to recall that incident, but at the time it baffled me because honestly, I didn't get it... I had wondered "Does everyone have to have a hand phone?" Laugh if you must, but that was how I had regarded the "phone in the hand" then. It had happened perhaps close to over 10 years ago. It was at a time before smartphones and tablets and the like came onto the scene and became a huge part of most people's everyday lives. Yes, nowadays, one cannot go any place without bumping into someone holding one of those "gadgets" in their hands. It seems like almost everyone has one now, even young children!
Well... back to phone-less me. One fine day, not long after that incident, I finally gave in when my husband gave me a good ole Nokia phone! I gradually appreciated the practicality of having a communication device I can take with me especially when driving on the road with a young son in the car. That's just being "sensible", isn't it? It finally dawned on me I must be reachable both ways in whatever situations that may occur when we were out. So that, dear friends, was my entry into the world of "mobile tech". I was a late comer...
Not that I wasn't using a desktop computer in my office for some years already back then, but that's all it was, on the desk, it was not a mobile.
Talking about the computer, technologically, we have come a long way and in a very short span of time this last decade or so.
I am of the generation that can still remember using a manual typewriter and later on, an electric one to do our office work. It was not long after, when that also gave way to the bulky desktop computer with its blinking cursor and green fonts on a plain dark screen. I can imagine some of you the reader chuckling at the very thought because I am smiling to myself as I write this. And quite soon after that came the more sophisticated ones enabling us to send emails to overseas friends. Oh, it was so fascinating to be able to do that! I can still remember the feeling... the surreal feeling of being in touch with faraway people at the click of the "send" button. No more need for a letter pad, neither envelopes nor licking and sticking of pretty stamps, nor the need for a trip to the post office, and no more the long anticipated wait for a reply to my letters!
So much has changed... the development, and the speed of it... and it was fascinating then. Nostalgia for the old ways will only come later. But meanwhile for a time, it was novel.
And of course, the computer got smaller and lighter, from the heavy ones with their bulky "back side" to lighter flatter screens to laptops to... where we are now... relying heavily on our smartphones... a hand held multi-functional tool working for us in many ways. It is all at once a device for communication (in more ways than one!), for accessing the internet, for taking pictures, videos, for listening to music, to tell the time and days, a notepad, a diary, an alarm clock... oh my word, how did this happen?!
By now my good ole Nokia, which can only perform a minuscule percentage of the smartphone, has become a treasured relic in my drawer, a reminder of a very recent past and how far and fast we have advanced technologically.
Nowadays, the fascination has gone, the novelty has worn out, instead it is replaced by a deep concern for the way our self-worth and identity, our families and our everyday lives have been sadly affected by all this...
Indeed, so much; too much has changed!
My closing personal thought on this matter is; as in most things, is moderation of use, and to have some sense and sensibility in its use... always remembering that your family and you are important...on this journey we call life.
Talking about the computer, technologically, we have come a long way and in a very short span of time this last decade or so.
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| IBM 5150 PC |
So much has changed... the development, and the speed of it... and it was fascinating then. Nostalgia for the old ways will only come later. But meanwhile for a time, it was novel.
And of course, the computer got smaller and lighter, from the heavy ones with their bulky "back side" to lighter flatter screens to laptops to... where we are now... relying heavily on our smartphones... a hand held multi-functional tool working for us in many ways. It is all at once a device for communication (in more ways than one!), for accessing the internet, for taking pictures, videos, for listening to music, to tell the time and days, a notepad, a diary, an alarm clock... oh my word, how did this happen?!
By now my good ole Nokia, which can only perform a minuscule percentage of the smartphone, has become a treasured relic in my drawer, a reminder of a very recent past and how far and fast we have advanced technologically.
Nowadays, the fascination has gone, the novelty has worn out, instead it is replaced by a deep concern for the way our self-worth and identity, our families and our everyday lives have been sadly affected by all this...
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| ©Eric Pickersgill He removes smartphones from images to show how obsessed we are with them |
My closing personal thought on this matter is; as in most things, is moderation of use, and to have some sense and sensibility in its use... always remembering that your family and you are important...on this journey we call life.
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