Gadgets & Us; Then & Now

My 6-year old sister proudly says, "As soon as I wake up, I move my arm around looking for the nearest mobile phone and start playing on it." Every time she says that, I go back to my childhood and subconsciously compare the kind of childhood I had with the one she described. Those flashback visits have been pretty interesting as well, thinking of the days when we used cassettes instead of CD's, floppy disks instead of USB drives and the internet was.... well, it existed.

There is a page on facebook with a really interesting name that I don't seem to remember. However, it goes something like, "I've been in three decades, two millenia, seen America's first African American President being elected, blah, blah and I'm not even twenty yet!" That got me thinking about how much change my generation has witnessed. Those of us born in the 90's have experienced the soothing pace of life that existed before technology took over and we also grew up just in time to have fun with all that technology in our teens. Kids these days refer to the 90's as "the olden days" and that really gets you wondering if you are old too!

We had a computer at our place when I was 5. I don't even remember what we did on computers back then. But I thought it was really cool that we had a computer when most of my friends didn't. Coming to think of it, I don't even remember ever using it. That shouldn't be surprising since I don't even remember watching t.v. back then. It's weird because the kids these days talk about the first ever shows they watched regularly (which was probably when they were 1 or 2) and the earliest show I remember watching is, Mr. Bean and that too when I was 7 or something! Back then, we'd come back home from school, have a snack and run out to play. We'd go back home with just enough time left to do homework, have dinner and go to bed. The only knowledge I had about the internet was that you could send e-mails from your computer if you were connected to the internet. As I grew up, we got internet connection at home when I was 10. It was so painfully slow that I never wanted to test my patience with it. Today, you can do anything and everything on the internet. In those few moments in a day that I'm not spending on the internet, its pretty amazing to reflect upon that fact. Our internet addiction has reached such sky rocketing heights that I couldnt help but agree with a meme that I came across. It said "Last night, my wifi was not working so I spent some time with my family. They are actually really nice people!"

I remember the very first mobile phone in the house. That was in 2003, I suppose. It was half as long as my palm, had a minuscule black and white screen and could do nothing except making calls, sending texts and playing a couple of games. The only available wall papers were outlines of flowers and the like. It amazed and amused me so much. I mean, who wouldn't be amazed by a phone that you could carry around with you and it was small enough to comfortably fit into your pocket? The coolest thing was that it came with two covers! One was navy blue and the other was rainbow-colored. Later on, as the flip open and slide open phones became popular, they were all the rage. Then smart phones came into existence. The smart phone could do everything and owning a smart phone is as important (possibly even more), as having your limbs. The sad thing is that no matter what companies come up with in their smart phones, we aren't surprised anymore. The standard reaction to any new smart phone functionality is, "It's about time they incorporated this into phones." 

Kids these days are introduced to smart phones and the internet at such a young age. They grow up watching their favorite characters on screen and playing virtual games. A couple of days ago, I saw a one year old, taking selfies on a smart phone (which is one of the most adorable things I've ever seen!) and that one-year old also texts me often from his mom's phone. And I think of myself who was so fascinated by that primitive little mobile. Wow! If so much could change in ten years, I wonder what incredible changes we are yet to witness. However, I'd always feel resentment at the fact that childhood is being defined by different things today, that imaginary friends are being substituted with virtual friends, that games we once played with our family are now being played with a computer. Now that I have also succumbed to the luxuries of technology, my hands are constantly glued to my phone and my eyes forever fixed on the screen. Yet I still can't help wonder when technology took over our lives and at what point we let it do so.