Let's go back to 1982. I was 10 years old. I was considered the family dishwasher and the remote control. "Gina, can you get up and change the channel?" We got reception on 8 TV channels on a good day, and most of them were in color. Our telephone was corded and had a rotary dial. Answering machines were new. There were tv ads for fancy recordings like the new rap-inspired, "Wait for the beep, You gotta leave your name, You gotta leave your number, Just wait for the beep..." , but most of my friends didn't own one. My parents warned me to always have a dime on hand so, in case of an emergency, I could make a phone call from a pay phone. VCRs were available for rent for a hefty fee and I got to play this new game called Nintendo at my friend Laurie's house.
Now I'm not recalling this as a "woe is me", but just to illustrate how much technology has changed since I was a kid. In high school, we would see the first cell phones on movies about high-powered stock brokers and I do recall taking a computer-programming class. We had to use words like "Rem", "Dos", and "Log". I think I used my program to add two numbers together and get the correct sum (Couldn't we use a calculator for that?). By college, we needed to hand in our assignments "printed out" using a computer in the computer lab and voice mail was a part of daily life.
8 years ago, when I left my teaching career to care for my daughter, I felt up to speed. I had taken technology courses so I could do a PowerPoint presentation, use Word and the internet. I was ahead of the curve because I used a software program to calculate my grades and created a PowerPoint presentation for Parent Night.
These days, I don't go long without logging into Facebook or checking my email and I ALWAYS have my cellphone (in case of an emergency). I frequently use my computer for research, to make purchases, to buy and sell on Ebay and Etsy, but somehow I feel out of touch. Like, for the first time, I'm really getting old.
For the most part, our parents' generation is either nearing retirement or has "underlings" to do the tech-stuff for them, but we Gen-Xers must grow and change or be left in the dust of the 20-somethings, unable to compete. As an entrepreneur, I am forced to become comfortable with Blogging, Twitter, Flickr, and My Space or become as obsolete as typewriters (yes, we used to use those, too).
My 24-year-old sister's i-phone is a permanent appendage and she is fearless with her "Tweets" and posts. I, alas, find myself reading up on 'how-to' instead of diving in. This marketing of oneself is somewhat overwhelming. I read this past week that you should own your name on the web, like "JaneDoe.com" so you can be the master of your "online image". Online image??? See, and I was brought up to believe a firm handshake and good eye contact were what made a good impression. Is "Tweeting" the handshake of this generation and Flickr the eye contact? I don't know. And, is it authentic to do these things or just shameless self-promotion? I don't know the answer to that either.
But, here I am, blogging, of all things---so maybe this Gen-Xer has a few tales yet to tell. I may be a little behind, but I think slow and steady still wins the race, right???
