I believe that my generation is the last to see the existence of a simpler world before the technological takeover. I’ve often wondered what it will be like in 50 years when my grandchildren will ask me what it was like when I was a kid. Will they even comprehend how different it used to be, or will it be so different that it would be hard for them to imagine?
I remember asking my grandparents the same question when I was younger, and now that I think about it, sure things have changed, but the things that changed seemed more like upgrades. Things were made more efficiently with more options and usefulness.
As for the last decade or so, we’ve seen more than just upgrades. Totally new ideas and innovations have sprouted in the technological field. Things that would have been deemed impossible 50 years ago.
I’m somewhat glad that I was able to experience life without the “now” technology. Going on road trips with friends with no GPS, getting no cell reception with no internet access available, not knowing what’s going on in the world until the evening news, not worrying about risqué pictures that may be uploaded for all to see, actually knowing how to use the Dewey Decimal System in the library for research, I could go on, but you get the picture.
I went to the movies the other night and noticed how there was a certain glow that filled the walls. Almost everyone had a phone out and was checking their facebooks or emails or texting. Ten years ago, there was maybe one or two in the theatre. Back in my day, we actually had conversations with our companions who were seated next to us to kill the time. Man, I sound old.
Now don’t pin me as a Neo-Luddite, I love my technology and the new stuff that they continue to shuffle out. I’m just curious as to how those who are born in this technological revolution are going to turn out. What will their attention spans be like? Will they be in constant need to have a phone in their hands or some portable game device? All I needed was a book or a bear. Man, I do sound old.
Maybe this experience of being born when I did will give me an upper hand to the people dependent on needing technology to breathe. All it takes is some massive catastrophe like a hurricane to knock out all the power and bring everything to a standstill. Even I had problems adapting to going back to pre-tech times. It sure gave me a bunch of time to read, but even my eyes can take only so much. I still remember when there was a giant service outage for a major cell company that affected many Americans. Many of my friends on my facebook with their service were complaining because they “didn’t know what to do!”
Now that we’re here in the now world, there’s no turning back. The times before are a fond nostalgic memory floating around in the backs of our minds. I can only imagine what I would tell my grandchildren in the future what it was like before everything.
