The Information Super-Backroad

This piece first appeared in June 25th, 2009 edition of the Pioneer Tribune, a weekly newspaper from Manistique, Michigan. Please visit their website: http://www.pioneertribune.com/

While the rest of the world was hitting the on-ramp of the information superhighway, I was enjoying my stroll down the information back roads. I have always maintained a loose embrace of modern technology, but it usually takes me a while to warm up to it. I like to watch and see if others will fall off of the technology bandwagon as quickly as they jumped on before I’m willing to go along for the ride.

I had a boss who insisted that DAT (digital audio tape) was going to change the way we listened to music. Yeah right, and Beta was going to change the way we watched video, too.

A good 10 years had passed from the time that compact discs were introduced until I purchased my first CD player. It took almost that long for the price of players and discs to drop to reasonable levels and for there to be enough music available in that format to make it worthwhile.

I am content with waiting for new technology to become old technology.

Actually, I really enjoy old technology. I can appreciate the way things used to be done. I believe that understanding how it used to be can be a very helpful thing indeed. When new technology fails, and it frequently does, old technologies or methods step in to save the day, and while they may not be as fast or efficient as new technology, they usually get the job done.

My favorite and perhaps simplest example of this happens daily at check-out lanes all over the globe. The cashier, who has become so dependent on technology, will swipe an item over the scanner 15 or 20,000 times before letting out an exasperated sigh, give up and start punching in the price or the UPC manually. The old way.

I have a great appreciation for old hand tools. I have a lot of respect for my grandfather and the way he did things while he was alive. My grandfather built several houses before the days of power tools. The boards were all cut by hand and every nail and screw was hand driven. I have a lot of respect for that, and while I have a small mountain of power tools, I own and know how to use old hand tools.

The technological breakthroughs that have happened in a stretch of time that has taken us from Yankee screwdrivers and hammers to cordless drills and Paslode nailers are mind-boggling. It’s no wonder my grandfather was easily confused by even the simplest forms of technology. In his lifetime he went from delivering milk with a horse-drawn wagon in his youth to flying across country in a handful of hours during his retirement years. That’s a big change in technology.

Computers have brought the world to our fingertips, and I really enjoy access to near instantaneous information. But even in this e-world I sit back and wait before I jump on board the latest thing to come cruising down the e-pike.

I have relatively recently, and somewhat reluctantly, discovered Facebook, and yes, I know, Facebook is old news in the world of online communities (I’m not quite ready to become a Twit yet). At first I was hugely skeptical and annoyed by the whole idea of Facebook, especially its name. I had played around with Myspace a few years back, and it never really impressed me, so I cancelled my account (sorry Tom). I thought that Facebook would just be more of the same.

My not-much-younger-than-me sister told me that I should really look into Facebook and that she was surprised at how many people we went to school with had signed up. I took the plunge, and so far I’m glad that I did. It has been great for easily staying in touch with friends and family, and it has been fun reconnecting with old friends.

Yes, technology is all around us, and I’m not telling you something that you didn’t know by saying that. It has been said that technology breeds technology, and I believe that to be very true. It makes me wonder “what’s next,” and when whatever is next comes along, I’m usually not all that surprised by it.

What I am surprised by is the fact that old technology is capable of surprising me more than the new stuff. Things like Facebook and e-mail have changed the way we interact with each other. It is quick and easy, and I am very glad these things are at my disposal, but I am not surprised to receive e-mail.

The other day I received an actual handwritten letter in the mail. Yeah, delivered by a mail carrier – that knocked me out of my chair. In this day and age of texting and instant messaging, someone out there took the time to actually sit down and put pen to paper, and then mail it to me. That really surprised and impressed me. Old tech.