When I Was Your Age

             Technology changes nearly as fast as we realize there has been change at all.  Over the course of the last ten years the amount of growth in the technological world is mind boggling.  I can remember when the first iPod came out.  My mom won a 1st generation iPod while her and my dad were on a trip sponsored by his work.  Remembering that 1st generation iPod and comparing it to the current iPods, the current iPhones now make me laugh because it is a behemoth, but at the time it was the hottest trend.  Trends are funny because we are encouraged to immerse ourselves in the popular culture and to become integrated with the newest technologies.  However, as quickly as we adapt to the new technology, another trend comes to the forefront of the popular culture.
              I find all of this particularly interesting because as Professor Jones noted in his lecture, age plays a huge part in the level of integration of people in technology.  That said, when older people have children and grandchildren who are immersed in the newest technologies, they tend to find ways to adapt to the constantly changing technologies.  Looking at this idea, I can find truth in it.  My dad's mom is that way.  She is 84 years old, yet she uses a computer everyday, whether it be to check the news, email, Facebook, or to Skype her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  My grandma does not understand everything about the technological age because she thinks that everything was perfectly fine the way it was in the 20th century, but her effort to become a part of the rapidly changing Digital Age for the sake of maintaining relationships with her family means a lot to me and my cousins.
               Since I was very little, I have had a computer in my household.  My parents, particularly my dad, has been very conscious of keeping up with the technological times.  Because of my dad's consciousness to expose me and my siblings to the latest technologies, I remember the majority of the technological advancements over the course of the last 10 or 15 years.  Many people, even people in my generation, do not understand the immense amounts of change that have developed throughout our childhoods and into our teenage and young adult years.  Now we, a majority of my generation, take for granted the availability of jump drives and external hard drives and the compact size of our technological devices.  Buying something, whether it be an SD card, a micro SD card, a jump drive or an external hard drive with more than 1 GB of available space is not an expensive task.  Our millennial generation does not depend on cassette tapes, floppy disks, or CD-ROMs for music or other files.  We have started to accept "cloud" sharing and online hard drives for our files as readily as we accept that it is strange to know someone without a cell phone.
             The rate of change technology imposes on society is unbelievable.  To keep up with the Digital Age, each individual in society as well as societal structures must be ready to adapt to rapid changes. It seems that technology advances in complexity near instantaneously.  The challenges technological innovation faces and will continue to face are those mostly of fear and unfamiliarity.  This unfamiliarity will slowly fade, as it has with every other progressive idea and age of history.  The possibilities of technology are endless, and convergence will continue to make technology both more interesting and more complex as we progress further into the Digital Age.
              Our interactions and our modes of collaboration have changed noticeably throughout, particularly, the last 12 years -- since the dawning of the 2000s.  Both of these things will continue to change, and will continue to sophisticate as technology furthers.  Much of this we still struggle to fully adjust to and deal with, even within our own generation.  Communication has changed so much.  We never know if anyone is really paying attention to us, or if what we are saying or trying to convey is truly important.  The integration of cell phones into our everyday lives has made texting a constant distraction to nearly everything we do.  It is difficult for our millennial generation to separate ourselves from our technologies.  We tend to enjoy our constant contact with our friends or family on Facebook, or texting from our phones.  Companies have struggled to adapt their company rules and regulations to the rapid changes of the Digital Age.  No one really knows if it is right or wrong to be texting at work, but right now, texting in front of others, especially when you are trying to convey a positive image of yourself to people we do not know is rude.  However, we also tend to be insulted when someone tells us not to text during another conversation.  All of these changes and complexities will further themselves and will also correct themselves in the coming years.  Professor Jones reminds us that dealing and interacting with technological content is still a challenge to us.  There are still many kinks to work out in functional technology.
           Unless we are the ones who create new technology, all we have to do is decide whether or not to use it when it becomes available to us.  No one forces us to use technology, but in my opinion, it is counterproductive not to use it.  We become outlets for the advancement of technology rather than pioneers.
              The old saying "when I was your age..." will have a different meaning as the years progress in the Digital Age.   Witnessing the rate of technological change in the next 5 to 7 years will likely mirror the advancements of the whole of the 20th century.  I am excited to see where technology goes and to remember from where it came.