Have you noticed that there are absolutely no comfort levels in the digital world? A couple of decades ago, a veteran of the old world of telephones said to me “Boy I wish the information highway had an off ramp once in a while.” A month later she took early retirement and moved into a cave for all I know.
I still don’t use a smartphone, but I love the world of Netflix and I would be totally lost without my PVR. I do a weekly podcast on skype, with a co-host who is more than 2,000 miles away. As a semi-retired freelancer I live on the desktop computer in my home office. Fortunately I have a precious son-in-law who helps me over the major speed bumps that appear on the highway.
He helped install Windows 7 when the mighty Microsoft was pushing #8, and threatening to stop supporting dear old Windows X-P. It turned out #8 was about as popular as a lead balloon, and now they’re rolling out Windows 10! Was there a #9 and what happened to the supergeeks who designed it? We’re not really sure, but chances are they’re no longer working at Microsoft.
The company that Bill Gates started, and used to run before he and wife Melinda turned their attention to giving their huge fortune away in an effort to save the world, has not been doing all that well lately. They were very late into the world of mobile devices, and it doesn’t appear they will catch up anytime soon.
The classic phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” simply doesn’t apply in the digital world. Instead, it’s “release new and smarter products, or perish!” It’s a totally disposable society when it comes to technology, and it will always be difficult for Baby Boomers to make some of the never-ending changes.
Hey, I still miss Netscape , and talking on the telephone, rather than dodging robo-calls.
I’m Roger Currie
Hi Roger – thanks for the piece! I am tempted to say “sad but true” because I feel the same way as you. I am reminded, though, about a conversation I had with my fifteen year old daughter twenty years ago. At the time, I was lamenting what seemed to me like rapid change and how it might effect her future. She shut me down by simply saying, “But Mom, we (youth) like change.”
Around that time, CBC’s Cross Country Check-up was asking this question: Do you use the Internet Highway? I didn’t phone in, but I marvelled at all the people who did. One after another said they loved the Internet Highway, and loved technology. I shook my head and thought to myself that it takes all kinds.
I have accepted the philosophy “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” The Internet Highway (doesn’t that sound quaint) is not going away. I tell myself it is good for my brain to learn new things. Keeps me in the game, more or less.
The only danger for our type, Roger, and somewhat sad but true, may be this fact: neither you nor I should try to predict the future. That’s for those other types, you know, the techies. We will mold the present to suit ourselves. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. And of course, you have the ideal solution – the life-line to your son-in-law. You have figured it out splendidly! Way to go.