Mark42
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- Oct 8, 2003
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I work in the computer biz. I design software to work on those big monster main frame machines that handle all the transactions that those little servers can't run fast enough to handle. No joke, just fact.
I am writing this post just to air my observation of the changes in technology in my family's past and present generations.
My Great Grandma Dentz died at 104 year of age in the 1980's. She grew up in Sandwich Massachusets. She married a Captian of a sailing ship that traveled from US to Europe and back. A heavy drinking, womanizing man, he left her with three children and was never hear of again. Grandma never married again, but ended up owning a number of houses on the circle in Sandwich (I don't know how or why). They had no phone, no sewer, and water and septic was local. Mail was sporatic. Electric was later and sporatic.
Great Grandma Dentz had a son, Chester Dentz, who became a Captian who operated many ocean vesels in the NY harbor, up the Hudson river, and various other local waters. I see he had DOZENS of licenses to operate vessels of various tonnages in various waters in and about the NY harbor.
What does this have to do with technology in our generation, you may ask. OK, this is why:
When I was in my teens and twenties, I would call my Great Grandma Dentz on a telephone with a corded handset from the late 1960's. Even in the 1980's I didn't get a cordless phone until 1988 or so. Great Grandma still had a corded phone. She was getting seriously deaf, but still lived in her own house and still pushed one of those manual reel mower to cut a 1/2 acre yard. Her daughters took away her drivers lisence when she T-boned some unsuspecting guy driving past her driveway. Lucky Grandma survived. She was 102.
Up to the 1980's we still had vinyl records in the music stores. I was still shopping for the best stylus(sp?) for my belt drive Acustic brand record player. My phone was still corded. My speakers had 22" woofers with magnets that would suck a Honda 600 off the street as it drove buy. They would handle 800 watts each.
In the 1980's Grandpa Dentz died, and none one would tell Great Grandma Dentz for a few days because they were all worried that she would have a heart attack or something. She didn't. But she still got the info over a corded phone. I remember mailing a letter with pictures of me and my brother and sisters to her with a simpathy note. No email yet. I hopped the pictures developed at the drug store(as they were for the last 60 years) would make her happy. They did.
So from the late 1880's (remember Great Grandma Dentz? ) until the 1980's, communications were very limited, IE you had to be home to answer the phone. You had to go to the store to buy the record (or 8track or compact cassete) to listen to your favorite music. Not a big change from no phone to a phone. From no music to buy music at a store. This was a big technology change, but people were not impacted by it that much. Everything was much slower. Much , much slower. In the 1990's I bought a new cordless phone that included a answering machine. They weren't for Doctors offices anymore. I put a cordless phone in every room. Still had to run a phone wire to each room.
Great Grandma Dentz dies at 104. She saw life go from Outhouses and Ice Delivery and chickens in the back yard to refridgerators and freezer sections in the local Shop Rite. Still talked to my Great Aunts by phone, still watched regular 17" color TV. But none of those changes made her life run faster or made for big stress.
I grew up in a house with a corded phone, ANTENNA on the TV, and a Reel to Reel Tape deck was a State of the Art machine. This was 1970's. I drove a 1969 Caprice in 1976 and had to do major rust restoration. With addition of 4 barrel carb, cam and dual exhaust that 3800 lbs car would beat the hottest local Chevel. Still no Cable or cell phones.
In 1986 I was married (a mistake I later fixed) and bought a cordless phone and got cable television. Still no cell phone, still no ipod, still no instant messaging still no internet. Communication was by corded phone, or cordless phone. No PC's no internet (unless you worked for a big company, and then it was for technical info only, no shopping networks crap).
In 1994 I built my first PC, rated at an amazing 200Mhz. By 1998 cell phones were common place. By 2003 kids had them. Cable was everywhere, Satelite was becoming common.
So from the 1990's to 2007, we went from most no one having PC's to EVERYONE having PC's. From a few people having Cell pnones, to Everyone having cell phones, with photos, video, and hi def. From cable to Hi Def cable. From Dial up Pc to High speed PC.
From 1980 to 2005, life went from "wait for a call back or leave a message" to instant messages, cell phone availability, and no privacy.
I try to impress on my kids the importance of privacy and having TIME to think about something before they need to respond. This is a life of instant messages, instant cell phone calls, and instant internet access.
My question is this: How will the next generation handle the rapid increase in technology that puts you on the spot all the time, every time? There will be no "Leave a message, I'm not available to take your call right now". So what are they going to do for some privacy.
I'm going to teach my kids the value of privacy.
I am writing this post just to air my observation of the changes in technology in my family's past and present generations.
My Great Grandma Dentz died at 104 year of age in the 1980's. She grew up in Sandwich Massachusets. She married a Captian of a sailing ship that traveled from US to Europe and back. A heavy drinking, womanizing man, he left her with three children and was never hear of again. Grandma never married again, but ended up owning a number of houses on the circle in Sandwich (I don't know how or why). They had no phone, no sewer, and water and septic was local. Mail was sporatic. Electric was later and sporatic.
Great Grandma Dentz had a son, Chester Dentz, who became a Captian who operated many ocean vesels in the NY harbor, up the Hudson river, and various other local waters. I see he had DOZENS of licenses to operate vessels of various tonnages in various waters in and about the NY harbor.
What does this have to do with technology in our generation, you may ask. OK, this is why:
When I was in my teens and twenties, I would call my Great Grandma Dentz on a telephone with a corded handset from the late 1960's. Even in the 1980's I didn't get a cordless phone until 1988 or so. Great Grandma still had a corded phone. She was getting seriously deaf, but still lived in her own house and still pushed one of those manual reel mower to cut a 1/2 acre yard. Her daughters took away her drivers lisence when she T-boned some unsuspecting guy driving past her driveway. Lucky Grandma survived. She was 102.
Up to the 1980's we still had vinyl records in the music stores. I was still shopping for the best stylus(sp?) for my belt drive Acustic brand record player. My phone was still corded. My speakers had 22" woofers with magnets that would suck a Honda 600 off the street as it drove buy. They would handle 800 watts each.
In the 1980's Grandpa Dentz died, and none one would tell Great Grandma Dentz for a few days because they were all worried that she would have a heart attack or something. She didn't. But she still got the info over a corded phone. I remember mailing a letter with pictures of me and my brother and sisters to her with a simpathy note. No email yet. I hopped the pictures developed at the drug store(as they were for the last 60 years) would make her happy. They did.
So from the late 1880's (remember Great Grandma Dentz? ) until the 1980's, communications were very limited, IE you had to be home to answer the phone. You had to go to the store to buy the record (or 8track or compact cassete) to listen to your favorite music. Not a big change from no phone to a phone. From no music to buy music at a store. This was a big technology change, but people were not impacted by it that much. Everything was much slower. Much , much slower. In the 1990's I bought a new cordless phone that included a answering machine. They weren't for Doctors offices anymore. I put a cordless phone in every room. Still had to run a phone wire to each room.
Great Grandma Dentz dies at 104. She saw life go from Outhouses and Ice Delivery and chickens in the back yard to refridgerators and freezer sections in the local Shop Rite. Still talked to my Great Aunts by phone, still watched regular 17" color TV. But none of those changes made her life run faster or made for big stress.
I grew up in a house with a corded phone, ANTENNA on the TV, and a Reel to Reel Tape deck was a State of the Art machine. This was 1970's. I drove a 1969 Caprice in 1976 and had to do major rust restoration. With addition of 4 barrel carb, cam and dual exhaust that 3800 lbs car would beat the hottest local Chevel. Still no Cable or cell phones.
In 1986 I was married (a mistake I later fixed) and bought a cordless phone and got cable television. Still no cell phone, still no ipod, still no instant messaging still no internet. Communication was by corded phone, or cordless phone. No PC's no internet (unless you worked for a big company, and then it was for technical info only, no shopping networks crap).
In 1994 I built my first PC, rated at an amazing 200Mhz. By 1998 cell phones were common place. By 2003 kids had them. Cable was everywhere, Satelite was becoming common.
So from the 1990's to 2007, we went from most no one having PC's to EVERYONE having PC's. From a few people having Cell pnones, to Everyone having cell phones, with photos, video, and hi def. From cable to Hi Def cable. From Dial up Pc to High speed PC.
From 1980 to 2005, life went from "wait for a call back or leave a message" to instant messages, cell phone availability, and no privacy.
I try to impress on my kids the importance of privacy and having TIME to think about something before they need to respond. This is a life of instant messages, instant cell phone calls, and instant internet access.
My question is this: How will the next generation handle the rapid increase in technology that puts you on the spot all the time, every time? There will be no "Leave a message, I'm not available to take your call right now". So what are they going to do for some privacy.
I'm going to teach my kids the value of privacy.
