I have finally taken the first steps to start blogging. I am not quite sure why I am doing this, other than to satisfy my enjoyment of writing. And to see where this takes me. The world has changed so dramatically over the last 20 years. Now with the explosion of the internet, the world is no longer how we knew it. Information is at our fingertips and our lives are strewn all over cyberspace.
I remember life before PCs. At my first job, we were still drafting letters and documents by hand, or with a small dictaphone. You sent the documents off to the WANG operators who promptly returned them to you all typed up and ready to go. For more complex computer analysis, you filled out a sheet with all of your parameters, and off it went to the mainframe guys. It might take a day or two before you got that back.
Then came the first generation of PC's. They were not too distant from what we still have today for desktops. But I also had one of the first "portable" computers...a clunky and heavy Compaq with a tiny little screen with green letters. That portable computer served me for quite a while and it was my first connection to the dial-up internet, when there were few things to do besides play games. E-mail wasn't an option yet.
So, here we are today with multiple e-mail addresses, smart phones, Facebook, and blogs. But I sometimes I question whether this is a better world. Like many others, I find that there is no time to just relax anymore. And I blame much of this on the computer. It may have improved our productivity, but it has robbed us of some other things. In this hurry-up, stay-connected 24/7 world, when do you find the time to just be "present"...can you take a walk anymore and soak up what's going on around you? Or are you tethered to your phone, texting or talking as the world goes on around you? Have you ever almost been run over as you crossed the street because someone in their car is too busy talking on their phone to notice you? Or are you one of those people who just steps off the curb (while talking on your phone) and is not paying attention to the car about to run you over?
Today's children have the world at their fingertips. The computer great for learning and playing games. But when we wonder why there is such an obesity epidemic, it makes you wonder if those kids should be outside running around, playing baseball or tennis or biking. If so, maybe they wouldn't be so fat. And what does it do to their social skills? Their spelling? Their ability to interact with people in person instead of via e-mal or text? I cringe when my friends with children talk about letting their kids play computer games at the table when they are out having dinner. It's a way to keep the peace. So, I wonder who those kids will ever learn how to have a dinner out, participating in and enjoying the conversation and the food. Does anyone teach them proper table manners any more? They might get invited to the White House for dinner one day. I wonder if they would know which fork to use, how to daintily place their napkin in their lap, and make small talk with the person next to or across from them. I guess you could learn some of this from using a computer, but not all.
I worry that the art of letter-writing will go away. What will happen to the stamp collectors that treasure those cancelled stamps and envelopes with exotic foreign stamps? I fear that all of this will go away in my lifetime. Gone will be the beautiful script that you learned in 3rd grade. I have stopped sending Valentine's Day Cards or Easter Cards. It's easier to send an e-card, if I send one at all. I still keep formal writing stationery for the occasional letter. But my list of friends who enjoy getting my letters and reading them is growing smaller and smaller. Is my blog going to take the place of this?
So this is a major step for me to become more modern, to embrace technology, to experiment with putting my thoughts out there and seeing if anyone really cares what I think. I guess that's what blogging is all about. I have vowed not to become too personal. I still need to keep a piece of me for myself, not for everyone in the universe to see. But I hope anyone who happens to read me enjoys my future musings.
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