Technology has taken a giant leap in the past 50 years. Every day I am amazed at all of the new electronic devices that are being introduced. Much of it has left me in the dust as far as being able to comprehend it all. When I was young, Tinker Toys were high-tech and Lincoln Logs were on the cutting edge. These days, iPods and Nintendo Wii Systems have captured the hearts and minds of young and old alike. I often wonder what cell phones will do next. I can recall when a telephone was mainly used for calling Grandma on Sunday afternoons or for emergency situations.
If seniors don't attempt to keep up with advancing technology, it's likely we will have difficulty understanding and communicating with our children and grandchildren. Challenging as it seems, it can be done. It may take us a little longer to learn, but with patience and perseverance we can prevail. Last Christmas our grandkids got a Wii from their mom and dad. I wondered if the parents might have wanted it just as much as the kids did. Well, Grandma and I had a ball playing all the games on it. In fact, Grandma wanted to buy one. I tried to talk her out of it on the way home, and I think I convinced her that she could get her Wii "fix" anytime we visited the grandchildren. I hope my logic worked, but why is she still checking those ads?
Actually, all this technology is good for young people. They need to keep up with our changing world and realize that technology affects us in many aspects of our daily lives including how we make a living. The old days of standing on an assembly line are quickly disappearing. My only problem with all this is that we have to keep technology, and the gadgets that go along with it, in perspective. Computers and cell phones are tools. They are things to make our lives easier, not more complicated. Daily, we are bombarded with commercials about the latest new features in cell phones and are reminded that we need to "stay in touch." Let's remember that it's mainly a telephone, and sometimes it's nice not to reachable. Likewise, not everyone in the family needs one. It's called marketing, I believe.
We sometimes miss the past when things seemed much simpler, but I'm guessing that our parents and grandparents probably felt the same way about radio and television when they were first introduced.
Let's enjoy the new technology and try to keep up, but also keep it in check. Over the Christmas vacation, take the kids sledding, to a movie or help them build a snowman. Give them the gift of your time to go along with the material things. They will remember your gift of memory-making long after the gadgets are obsolete and forgotten.
Ed Hungness and his wife owned their cottage on Fife Lake for six years before moving there after his retirement in 2005. His writing draws from life experiences and a love for the outdoors and northern Michigan. He can be reached at edhungness@yahoo.com or care of the Record-Eagle.
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