Thursday, January 10, 2008

Technology: The Superhero of the 21st Century

January 10, 2008

Ring, ring… who could that be calling? No need to answer the phone before finding out, just look at the caller ID. Conveniently located on the base of the charger, the front panel of the handset, or with Time Warner Cable it is also available on the TV screen.

With a wave of technology passing us every year, it seems new and weirder things seem to hit the market. iPod, BlackBerry, MP3 player, Iphone, or any other things that we cannot explain have taken over the lives of the new generations.

When my friend said she just bought a BlackBerry, I asked why she just bought one and not a pint. With a confused look, she had to explain to me that it was a phone, computer, camera, organizer and GPS all in one and not a black fruit that looked like burnt raspberries. While holding her so called phone, and attempting to call someone, I felt as if I was be suffocated by technology. I didn’t know what I was doing with it, and I couldn’t figure out where the number pad was. This was a serious problem to me. I am 22 year old, and yet I feel like I am back in the 50’s with a brand new television and not able to figure it out.

When I figure out one thing, a new and improved (A.K.A. more confusing to operate) version comes on the market, my new contraption I bought becomes “old school.”

We all know of the no cell phone while driving law, and to that I say, "Thank goodness for Bluetooth." I am not talking about a tooth in our mouths that are blue, this has nothing to do with mouths. This new technology attaches to your ear, so that you can talk hands free on your cell phone. It takes awhile to realize someone is talking on their cell phone rather than to you or themselves when you see them doing it, but that is what it is. You can buy it along with your cell phone and use it anywhere.

As I was growing up, we had a TV in the living room and I was aloud one in my bedroom; a 13” my mom bought me for my 10th birthday. Back then, it didn’t seem like a problem to have a TV in my room, everyone else had one. That was reason enough for me. My mom, Debra, on the other hand says, “I bought it so that the Nintendo could be hooked up in the bedroom and the living room could be free for company at all times. But if I could go back, I wouldn’t have gotten a TV for your bedroom.”

Kids and electronics: now days it is a war to get a kid of any age to have “family time” in the living room. In an average home, Lucy is in her room on the cordless phone, David is on the cell phone, dad is on the computer, mom is in the living room watching soaps, and little Sally is in her room watching… who knows what.

Not too many kids are out playing. Maybe it is the way we bring up our children. If they aren’t eating or sleeping, they are in front of the TV watching Dora the Explorer or Blue’s Clues. When is it time to set down the foot and say, “Go play with your friends outside, not the ones on the screen.”

©COPYRIGHT 2008 ASHLEY VINCENT

No comments: