There have been many wonderful advances in the realm of technology. Some better than others. Some greatly enhance our lives.
The advent of the ball point pen in 1889. Can I even imagine using a fountain pen today? Hardly.
Modern ammunition. The kind we are all used to using today in our firearms. Fantastic! Wouldn’t dream of using a flint lock musket except to just have fun. Imagine our law enforcement using a flint lock or cap n ball today… Full capacity, modern, and reliable. That’s where we are today.
The telegraph. The mother of all modern communications. Oh how the world changed. Send a short message across the country. Wow. This invention brought us many more great advances. The wind up telephone in house. Who would have dreamed that?
The cordless phone? Cool beans. Everyone had to have one of those. Just remember to put it back “just right” on the charger.
The cordless phone brought about the wireless cellular telephone. Remember those gigantic brief case sized cell phones from the late ’80’s early ’90’s? Cool, expensive, used mainly for emergencies ’cause “minutes” were expensive.
GPS? How many can honestly say they could go back to using a fold up paper map to navigate their way across the country side? I could. But I won’t.
Google. Myspace. Facebook. Twitter. Online newspapers. Smartphones. The BlackBerry & the IPhone.
Wonderful advances in technology. These are all intended to make our lives easier. But, do they really? Yes, in many ways these things do make our lives just a little bit easier. In many respects these “must have’s” complicate our lives. Always “in contact” rather than truly “in touch.”
My Grandmother would probably have had fun using today’s modern technology. She always had a pen and paper close at hand. Always jotting down her thoughts about everything. Might have been quite handy if she could have had a BlackBerry. A phone to call her grandkids. A mobile pen and paper ready for her to write down her thoughts before they escaped to who knows where.
I guess I will put up with the constant “connection” to the world. If I’m able to ignore that flashing red LED and the chirping and write something. Anything. Even if its just a short text message to my Dear Wife. Or make a quick post on FaceBook.
Technology… Its a thing of beauty. We “can’t live without it” or so “they” say.
—@QBall45
5/19/10
