Where is the point where you are too dependent on technology? In the past few weeks, I've been frustrated (clearly not REALLY) that spell check doesn't pop up as I'm writing, Isaac lamented that you can't treat radio (pandora excepting...) like an ipod and how Sammy finds commercials really novel and gets frustrated when I tell him to fast forward over them.
Technology is such a bizarre thing in our lives. We can watch a show on our tv, pause it, get ready for bed and grab the ipad and unpause whatever it was we were watching. Sammy can maneuver music on his ipod better than...I don't know what. We certainly weren't tech deprived growing up (my mom played a mean atari), but now it's just off the charts. Going cable-less and solely antennae has actually given us MORE to watch. Which is ... well, something.
I'm certainly not wishing it all away. I love being able to read whatever book I'm currently reading while I wait for something and only have my ipod with me. I love not taking a bag to church - every need at the flick of a wrist. But other times...I miss the scratching of pen to paper. The weight of a book. And I wonder what Sammy's world will be like - will he mourn the 'quiet technology void' of his childhood? And how much more tech soaking will it get?
(video killed the radio star, the buggles)
I had a weird tech moment the other day. I was in the fabric store and as I wandered around looking at this and that, I looked up a few times to see that all the other people were on cell phones. There was a very strange sense of disconnect...invisibleness (Spell check doesn't like my made up word there.)
ReplyDeleteIt felt sad.
I agree. We are all in little bubbles sometimes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! My dad refuses to throw away our video (VCR) player, despite everything being on DVD and Blu-ray. Funny to think cassettes and videos are so obsolete now when they where popular not too long ago!
ReplyDeleteI admit the whole technology everywhere kind of creeps me out. As we're waiting for our little guy to come I keep on thinking about what we want to teach him. I honestly want him to know all about records and tapes and hand-writing letters and notes. It seems so easy to take things at the touch of a finger for granted, and well... yeah. The scratchiness of pen and paper. I so very much do not want it to become obsolete. It seems as if we might actually lose some of our humanity if we did that. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteI like what you said and I agree with Lora... I want my kids to write hand-written "Thank You" notes and such...
ReplyDeleteI LOVE technology (but not as much as you... I HAD to throw that in), but I'm also afraid of the old ways dying...
I am holding on fiercely to our VCR and VHS tapes and as of today... I just cannot consider the thought of getting a kindle or nook or whatever. I think they are cool and extremely helpful, but I think I would miss the feel and smell of an actual book in my hands and turning the pages...
It reminds me of the grandpa in "You've Got Mail"... "Mail...it was called mail." My kids already think it's so novel to get a letter in the mailbox.
Aysh - I just got rid of our last remaining tape player. I was a little sad!
ReplyDeleteLora - Total sense. I had a moment in a store where I had to try to explain camera film to Sammy and I was just so sad! I feel remiss in my parenting.
Lacy - I love my Nook. I do. But I do not buy books less. It's funny. I find they each have their place.
My husband discourages me from buying books, CD's or DVD's or building or purchasing any kind of storage for them because he's so set on everything going digital. While I enjoy being able to purchase whatever song I want at the click of a button and shuffle my music and have less clutter around the house I miss purchasing a new CD, flipping through the album cover looking at the art and reading the lyrics while listening to it repeatedly until I had every song memorized in order.
ReplyDeleteI also love the feel of a book and getting mail in the mailbox. An e-book or an e-mail just isn't the same. I wonder sometimes if our grandchildren will even know how to write or if they'll just skip that and go straight to typing or voice-activated stuff.
Besides, I don't completely trust technology. I've had enough frustrating experiences where things have been lost, damaged, inaccessible or stolen. And then I worry about becoming like some of the societies I've ready about in futuristic books like "Farenheit 451" (shudder!). I don't like the thought of that at all.
Technology is great and has its place, but I think we need to make sure we're using it and it's not using us.
I forgot to mention that I LOVED your choice of song!
ReplyDeleteOh,yeah. I don't think I could go completely digital. I'm fine not buying movies (opting for streaming) and my music is fine digital (backed up several places, anyway!) but books I truly love and feel are important, I will still buy. I use my e-reader more for fluff books. I just don't want to be left without books when it all inevitably comes crashing down!
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