Girl Singer is no more. I just got this tape a few days ago-for 50 cents- at one of my local second hand stores. I played side one. Perfect. And then I played side two-or tried to. My tape player had other ideas.
Which forces me to admit something. Maybe I do love technology after all. If Girl Singer had been in the form of a digital download, I could be listening to it right now.
I have a love hate relationship with technology. I know it can be a good thing-but I’m not always comfortable using it. Case in point-I will take one of those awkward accordion type folding maps over GPS any day. Even if I can’t always read the map-or fold it up again. I just like the paper map better. The same can be said for cell phones. I realize they are convenient-and even life savers in some situations-and yes, we have one- but how can they compare to the sleek stylish lines of a heavy old black rotary phone? I could go on and on-my list of old versus new is endless…
I know that what is new technology today will be old technology tomorrow. It’s really all relative. The Girl Singer cassette tape is proof of that. I remember years ago trying to show my grandmother how to operate her new cassette player, and having her tell me that she didn’t like these new fangled devices. Devices which are now almost ancient history.
So yes. I admit it. I’m ready to become as much of a technology junkie as the next guy. (I know you couldn't possibly read this post if I’d typed it on my old Remington Rand.) While it may be curtains for Girl Singer-I guess it’s not too late for me.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a telephone call to make. Just as soon as I do locate the cell phone.
My grandmother, who is in her mid-80s, has embraced technology. She has a computer and Internet. She's on Facebook, she emails me, and she has even learned how to scan in photos on her printer/scanner and print them out. I am just in awe of her.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if, in the future, when technology will surely grow even more integral to our lives, how I will embrace the changes. I can only hope to do so well as my grandmother!
That is so neat about your grandmother! She sounds like a very amazing woman-and an inspiration to me. I don't know what my problem is-because I think the old ways and the new ways can co-exist in the modern world. Sometimes I worry that people become too dependent on things like cell phones when they claim they couldn't live without them-and that is sad-since others like your grandma had to "do without" in other times during their lives:)
ReplyDeleteNow if I could just find another copy of Girl Singers. I liked side one a lot!
ReplyDeleteI recently downgraded my phone and went back to a paper planner. I think I am moving backwards. *Gulp*
ReplyDeleteThere's so much about technology I love. Probably as a writer, the first would be the way we write with computers now, versus the typewriter days. Changes are so easy to incorporate into a manuscript, without having to retype the whole thing. But I still don't download music, preferring to buy cd's and have that concrete item in my hand. I guess it's the same way some people feel about ebooks, they prefer the hardcovers instead.
ReplyDeleteTina-I feel like I've been backwards most of my life:) I have an old black rotary phone that I really do love using! What you need to find now is a really elegant pen:)
ReplyDeleteAnd like you Joanne-I prefer actual books, cd's and dvd's. I've had people tell me it would be more space efficient to have only digital copies-but I also like having the concrete item in my hand. But for writing-it is hard to beat the computer.
I wonder sometimes how good all this technology is for us. Last night on the news they said we Canadians are in trouble as far as our health because we spend too much time on the computer/cell and not enough getting exercise. I find it funny that 15 years ago I never needed a cell phone but these days I wouldn't dream of leaving the house without one. What's changed? I think the big companies make us think we need all the is technology. And for what? So it can end up in a landfill. Okay I'll stop.
ReplyDeleteI feel sad every time I see people together-but disconnected from each other because they are all on their separate phones, or laptops or whatever-and it's especially sad when I see a parent ignoring their kids in this way.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the big companies make us believe it is all very necessary...no matter what the cost is in terms of time, health, or money.