That Was Then…This Is Now

So…where are your pictures?  In your wallet?  (Shhh. I won’t tell anybody!)

Are they on your phone? The average iphone user has over 500 images on their phone!

Have you painstakingly handcrafted and meticulously designed acid paper free albums for every child?

It is hard to believe it has been just over a decade since we started pointing and clicking our lives to digital memories.

But do you miss the old cameras? Actually holding a picture in your hand with the white edge and date stamped?

My friend, Deanna, reminisced, “I miss the cameras with the flash’s that were purchased separately and you had to buy more because it was a one-time use.”

Who didn’t love waiting for the Polaroid to develop right before your eyes!

The idea for this article came from a recent cartoon posted on Facebook. A couple is staring at an older gentleman with his hand in his pocket. The younger man says, “You won’t believe where that old guy keeps his pictures. In his wallet!”

I began to image what my life would be like without technology.

First of all, I would be unemployed… or at least doing something very different than I do today! As a Social Media Coordinator and Community Manager I spend my days on tools my parents didn’t even read about in comics. 78.6 % Of American’s currently use the internet! I am not alone.

I would defiantly have to relearn how to spell and get a calendar to write all of my friends and families birthdays on.

I would need to purchase stamps again to mail my bills – and checks to pay my bills.

Are you one of the people that would need to reinstall a landline to make phone calls? And reestablish your little black book of contact numbers.

My yellow pages would become a tool again instead of the booster seat for my son and my mailbox would have real mail…not e-mail.

If the internet would vanish in 30 seconds…what tool would you miss the most?

I posed the previous question to my facebook page and received the following responses;

“Email. Completely would miss email. From my job to my personal life it would be so much harder to communicate and would take much more time to do so.” Teresa

“I would miss Google search. Being able to find information so quickly is so amazing. On the flip side, I do miss researching encyclopedias and history books.” Diane

“My cell phone no way I could live without…lol it replaced the worry about others cause I couldn’t reach them and vice versa….” Flutter Byes

“I would miss being able to carry so many books so easily on my Kindle…I really have seen my reading prowess “Kindled” by this tool that heavily depends on the Internet.” Chris

“I would miss no longer being able to see the faces and hear the voices of my family on my phone as I travel around the world! What a treat that is for the family.

I would miss being able to communicate so easily to friends and our ministry team around the world…I have had the privilege this week to video conference with people in the Philippines and in Nepal. How fun…how cool!

I would not miss the amount of time it seems to take to sync all the devices to the computers and to have to learn and spend time learning so many new things in order to “save” time.

I would not miss carrying all of the intertwined plethora of cables in my backpack that are needed to charge and sync all the “simple” gadgets.”Chris – Ministry leader for Global Youth Ministry Network

Are We Giving Up Anything With All This New Technology?

In our home we try to honor a “No Technology Sunday”. All toys and tools with internet capability are put away. This helps us recognize how much we appreciate these tools but realize that our lives are not dependent on them. It also gives us the opportunity to learn different ways to communicate, play and problem solve. We don’t “Google –it”, “e-mail it” or “rack up the digital points” on this day.

In the past, my virtual occupation made be available 24X7, 365 days a year. I worked with clients around the world in their time zones, when they needed me. They could e-mail, facebook, link-in, Skype, Facetime or call me. Sunday became my day to unplug in order to recharge.

I have chosen to work more locally now, helping businesses learn how to create a social media plan that create clients, not just likes and encourage transparency not just tweets. I have set business hours and I try to balance my business with my personal joys and responsibilities.

How about you? Do you observe down days? Do you unplug in order to recharge?

My friend Brian admits to being an “analog guy”. “I still listen to records and write with pencils. I use hand chisels and hand saws in the garage. I use computers all day at work so at home I am a very analog guy.” Brian

What do you love that can never be replaced digitally? Planting gardens, riding bikes, singing in a choir or reading that classic book with dog eared pages and lightly musty smell…

While I am adamant some activities should never be made into a phone APP I was in awe of how far we have come. I’m confident the ancient Mayans never imagined the calendar APP and Alexander Graham Bell would have doubted wireless communications.

We are only limited by our own imaginations!

Think Big!

Kym Lamb

Technical Interpreter Integrity Project Management

This article was featured in the Heart of Ohio Magazine, January/February 2013.