Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Being plugged in

Not me, but it could have been
Smart Guy sent me this picture a while back, with a reminder that I am not the only plugged-in person in the world. He found it on Reddit, so I'm not sure where it actually came from, but I couldn't resist using it anyway. She's obviously an Apple person, too, but my hair hasn't been that color in decades. After I put the picture on my last post of two-year-old Lexie playing with her mom's laptop, I began thinking about how different a world it will be for her. She's grown up with no fear of electronic gadgets; they are part of her normal environment. Her mom Allison would quiet her with a Mickey Mouse cartoon on an iPod when she was very small.
March 2011, Lexie staring at an iPod, cousin Annabelle looking on
Most seniors my age are intimidated by technology, since it's not something we grew up with. In fact, I remember when we got our first TV set, complete with lots of snow and incredibly bad reception. Telephones were something that were connected to the wall. I was well into my fifties when I got my first cellphone, and it seemed like magic. Now it's just a part of my regular existence.

Last night I watched "Upstairs Downstairs" (PBS Masterpiece Theater) on my iPad while Smart Guy watched the debate on TV. I got on line to read the spin afterwards. It's hard to make myself sit through 90 minutes of that kind of stuff when I can get the best parts in a few minutes. When I go out this morning, I will take my cellphone with me as usual, because without it I don't feel quite right.

Tomorrow is looking to be quite wet, so I'm not sure what pictures I might be able to capture on a soggy hike. Life is back to normal in the Pacific Northwest! Last Thursday was warm and sunny in the High Country, but yesterday the road to Artist Point was closed for the season. It's hard for me to believe that there is snow up there already! See you tomorrow...
:-)

29 comments:

  1. Cute pictures! My kids (now in their 30s) have all kinds of electronic gadgets, which are foreign to me. For example, I haven't even TOUCHED an iPod, much less operated one. Don't even mention iPads and iPhones! What's next?

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  2. i'll never be as wired in as some folks, but i do carry my cell everywhere with me, now. :)

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  3. Amazing to see how attached we've become to our techie devices.
    I saw a cartoon this morning on FB that showed a Mommy sitting on a sofa reading a book (a REAL book!) and saying to her child sitting beside her, "It's an iPad made of trees, Dear." I had to smile at that.

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  4. My five-year-old granddaughter taught me how to take pictures with my new iphone. It is a new world. We old folks are interlopers trying our best but will never be masters of the new universe.

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  5. I think the new technology is great, and I like having a cell phone with me. However, it is a phone, and that is about all I do with it. I can't justify the cost of the bells and whistles of smart phones. I think it shows the great divide in the country that there is an assumption by some that everyone has them and can just conduct their lives by showing barcodes on their smart phone. A great segment of the population can't afford even a cell phone or a computer. I get impatient with the assumptions that we are all plugged in. A privileged percent might live paperless, but most of us don't. I'm not against technology--it's great for those who can afford it. Pity there aren't more of us who can. It is a season of opinions, and that's mine.

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  6. it is pretty cool how tech savy this next generation is...i have students that can do some amazing things on my computer that i only dream of...and fix it...wow....

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  7. This is my topic these days. My son tells me he's reading a child these days should be learning the tech world from birth, that it is as important as learning to talk, read, or do math. Looks like Lexie is well on her way.

    Now about that woman on the couch. That could indeed be me. I have an iPhone and use it constantly for everything except making phone calls. I seldom make a call and never receive one. I gladly pay the fees for using it because I can use it anywhere and don't have to root around for WiFi.

    I also have an iPad and a Nexus. Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to keep the iPad or the Nexus. When I decide I will give the other gadget to my son's family I suppose, but then again I may just keep both. I love reading books on the Nexus, and it has a few apps I like that Apple doesn't offer. Decisions, decisions.

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  8. I too love my iphone... and I'm not a techy person. But I use it for everything (esp. keeping info that my head won't remember & looking up what and where things are as needed). My kids and grandkids constantly send me texts and pics. We probably don't actually 'talk' on it that much. And even though I still buy and read books, I do have a Nook... but probably read from my iphone more than my Nook.

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  9. I am still staying away from the phone..regular or cellphone..they both drive me nuts.

    I do like my computer and my Kindle..
    I debate was horrid..those boys should have been sent to their rooms..I thought Candy should have been armed wit a squirt gun or a spit ball gun..some thing that would have gotten their attention. They tried to strut their stuff..and stopped just short of peeing on trees like male dogs do to mark their territory.
    I don't want to vote for either of them after that debate. Sad isn't it??:(

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  10. I hear ya...13 years ago I'd never heard of the internet or a cell phone. Now I'm never without either!

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  11. I don't know what I would do if I weren't plugged in. I do love living in this internet age. I love having a phone in my pocket. I love using that phone to make notes, take pictures, check my email, and occasionally, I actually use it to talk on. Being plugged in is my reality these days.

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  12. The rapid growth of technology can be intimidating, especially for those of us over 50. I must say that I have gotten much better with it over the past few years. Trial and error I guess, LOL!!
    I often think of the children of Lexie's generation and beyond. Will they even use books?
    Love Di ♥

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  13. Oh I just read Jackie's comment! Cute!! Hey Jackie!!
    Love Di ♥

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  14. Technology has changed the way all of us live, but my daughter's generation takes it for granted. She has never lived in a world where cell phones didn't exist.

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  15. I still like books that have pages made of paper and continue to resist buying a Kindle. But, I love my cell phone. It is not an Iphone, just a Smart phone with basic capability. Just today I was out shopping and sent my daughter several pictures of items I was considering purchasing for her. It's so much better than having to make returns!

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  16. It's good to be reminded from time to time what it was like when we were young. we tend to forget when there's so much technology around.

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  17. I wrote about technology today too. I love being "plugged in"!
    We have a soccer match at the stadium tonight, and that might just be the last of the dry weather. I'm looking forward to one more match without rain gear. It has been great while it lasted.

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  18. You are so right! My granddaughter seems to be able to figure out stuff on the computer faster than I can and she's in kindergarten, for goodness sake.

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  19. I am only barely wired. My mobile (cell) spends most of its days not turned on. It takes and makes calls and text but does not have a camera or any internet connectivity (which is a word I dislike). My books are paper.
    Dinosaur? Perhaps, but being frugal has a part to play as well. I don't need all of the bells and whistles and would find it hard to justify them.

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  20. PS: Forgive me, but regardless of the hair colour I don't know when you would find TIME to lie on the couch. Skydiving, hiking, swimming, gym, blog meets, farmers markets, gardening, movies... And the list goes on.

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  21. Where I live a cellphone is necessary, but the service is unreliable. Husband goes out for a walk, we make sure we each have our cellphones handy. He has a fancy one, I have the most basic and antique kind.
    I'm really not sociable enough to need anything else.

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  22. I totally get this. My littles love when I put on a short Youtube for them as entertainment in certain situations....usually when I need to get them to calm down in public places! Works like a charm!

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  23. It might surprise you but being closer to 40 everyday I too am intimidated by technology... but I try to keep up the best I can.

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  24. It's increadible how quickly technology has become such an essential part of our lives too! Seems like just a short while ago my mom was saying "NEVER!" to cell phones and now she just bought a new one... (ditto my best friend). I remember life before the internet and "my own" computer, but not sure I'd want to back to that time!

    Have you seen the new series "Revolution"? It's got me wondering how we'd do if all this technology we've become so dependent on got suddenly taken away...

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  25. Dear DJan, I'm not at all comfortable with technology. I use a cell phone only for an emergency. (And thank heavens I've had only one of those.) And I still don't know how to get my digital photographs to my computer. I've thought about an I-Pad and/or a Kindle but I suspect that the former has so many things it can do that I'd be intimidated by it. This isn't a sign of age. I've always been somewhat taken aback by new technology. I don't know why. I suppose that grist for a posting! Peace.

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  26. Lovely piccies of the children. Always so photogenic, aren't they. I'm slowing down on the techy devices. I've had enough of new technology, I feel.

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  27. Funny picture because two years ago i was doing just that. I wanted to learn how things were interconnected and useful. Now the have apps that do it automatically.
    With my Apple TV I can now mirror my apple screens on my TV screen. No special keyboard needed.

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  28. I remember we had a TV before we moved to Fridley when I was five...but the miracle of color TV--wow! My son remembers when PacMan came out and they used to have video game places in the mall. The kids these days grow up with all these miraculous things being quite ordinary. But then, our elders said the same things. My grandmother remembered the first grocery stores and department stores...telephones...indoor plumbing...which I took completely for granted. Makes you wonder what it will be like another 20-30 years from now! ;)

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  29. Too funny! That photo could have been me a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting in front of the PC with my feet propped up on the desk, laptop in my lap and dictating a text message to a friend on my Android.

    Even though my very first computer was a Macintosh SE I I'm a PC now (at least until it's possible to build a Mac). I love anything techie and think it's never too young, or old, to learn.

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