Thursday, December 16, 2010

the world, it is a-changing

When Brandon and I have talked about parenting, he has been quick to say that his kids would not have cell phones until they are 16 and that there was no way we would ever allow kids to watch DVDs in the car.

I think he is crazy. The world is changing and technology is changing. I don't think we can make statements about how we will use technology years from now. Imagine just how much has changed since we were raised. Our parents could never have imagined how technology was going to change and shape our lives.

I can't remember exactly what year it was that Al Gore invented the internet, but I know that I didn't use it until high school. When my mom got dial-up at our house I felt like we were on the technological forefront. I remember Yahoo chatrooms and when it took 5 minutes for dial-up to connect. The first months of my relationship with Brandon were conducted nearly entirely on AIM.

Now I am addicted to technology. I check my iPhone religiously. I forget that photography existed before it went digital. I cannot imagine that people still handwrite contracts or that we still need filing cabinets when we could store things digitally. Yet, there are a few parts of technology that I still resist. And it all has to do with video. I HATE VIDEO.

I don't watch videos online or on my phone. I hate the time it takes to buffer.

Video chat weirds me out. I enjoy the freedom to talk to someone while I multitask-- let me play on the internet, wash dishes or, if I really like you, pee while we are on the phone. You can't do that on video chat.

Although I don't like video, I applaud the way it has continued to connect people. Technology has made the world smaller and I love the way it can keep us close to one another.

And while I may personally reject things like video for my own life, I cannot help but wonder which forms of technology will shape the lives of my daughters. I hope that technology will continue to excite us, challenge us, and connect us to the people we love.

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