Article Contributed on: 7/24/2007 10:54:21 PM
It goes without saying that my kids will grow up taking for granted certain technologies that were absolutely amazing to me when they were first introduced. That's why I've made such an effort to not say it.
But something got me thinking about the whole thing recently; will they be able to understand that the average cell phone today has more computing power than the entire Apollo program did? Do they understand how amazing satellite imaging is? Are they able to appreciate the power of email and the Internet?
I know the answer to that last question: absolutely not. I have a page, (I think it's 8 pages, actually), of pictures of our kids that we've shared with friends and family. When I update we generally share them with the kids and "M" seems to think it's pretty cool that there's a collection of pics of them on our computer.
And when she learns that Grandma or Cousin Claire - from the east coast - has seen those same pics?
Meh.
I tell ya' - Skynet has become self-aware and these kids can't be bothered to notice...
However, what struck me is that in reviewing the disclosure notice for our home's listing I saw the question, "abandoned phone jacks?" and that I'd answered yes. I was thinking about the second line that once inhabited the lower level when I filled it out, but for a year now each and every phone jack in our home as been abandoned. We'd transferred the home number to my cell when we signed the new contract, so we have absolutely no use of phone jacks!
Is this how my kids would know their world? Would the idea of a land line be a foreign concept to them as they grew? And if so, would it keep them quiet once they saw me flip open my phone?
The answer to THAT is an obvious NO. There's something about a parent talking on the phone that has forever charged children into making vast amounts of noise and trying to attract attention. In fact, I'm convinced that Alexander Graham Bell's first sentence spoken over a working telephone was actually, "Watson - come here - I need to see you about this small child that just burst into the room shouting at the top of his lungs."
It's a guess, but it's an educated one...
Chris Stone is a slightly different - hopefully better - Father and man than he was yesterday...