By Joseph Price • June 16, 2016
Originally published in the Batesville Daily Guard
Within the last 25 years, we’ve gone from communicating by letters, radio and landlines to instantaneous texts and conversations anywhere (except the valleys and the deserts) via mobile phones.
This has given us a great amount of freedom (not considering service contracts and batteries), which allows us to be able to communicate almost anywhere at any time. No longer do we have to walk to payphones or bang on strangers’ doors when our cars break down in the middle of nowhere nor do we have to wait for the evening news or morning paper to know what happened in the world. Almost everything we need to communicate and receive information is at our fingertips and we’re able to carry it around in a nice, pocket-sized wonder box aka a smartphone.
But, not everyone sees it that way.
There remains a strong current of technophobia and anti-technology sentiment in the world.
We all know at least one person. A person who believes in the “good old days” and how things were better when people entertained themselves by playing with rocks. These people condemn technology and swear to (eventually) live a life free of it. They declare that mankind has gone downhill and become dependent on technology and the next generation is missing what the world really has to offer.
And sure, there are some things to be missed.
For example, when I was younger, and also as an adult, I really liked heavy metal music. Unfortunately, the Ozarks were not the optimal place logistically to be a fan of that genre. Aside from Walmart, which sold almost only Top 40 and pop classics, there wasn’t much of anywhere to get music.
Not to mention you’d never hear any of it on the radio. Even today, it seems that most radio stations are stuck playing the same track list they were playing in 1996.
So this meant learning about new music through magazines and making special trips at least an hour away to just buy music.
It sounds frustrating, for sure. But some of my fondest memories are of those trips, mostly to Hastings in Jonesboro. They were great because we got to spend a day with our friends, socializing with other fans of the same style of music at the store. The music store culture was great.
We also had to take chances with what we bought. We didn’t have YouTube to give us a sample of the music that was on it. Sometimes sampler cassettes would be released locally at Rebel Records, but at less than 20 songs, you were pretty limited.
So most often, you’d have to rely on either reviews or the quality of the previous album to make a decision. A lot of times, you’d just go by the album’s cover art. Sometimes you’d spend $15 on a bomb you’d play once and never listen to again or you sometimes got something that you’re still listening to today.
They were great times and I wouldn’t exchange them for anything.
But, times change and the music culture has changed.
Yes, I am kind of sad that my son will miss out on a lot of the things I enjoyed in my teenage years.
On the bright side, if he wants to hear a new band, he no longer has to spend $5 on a magazine to read a music review or take the risk of losing $15 on a bad CD. Now he can get online and go to any number of sites and listen to a few samples. He doesn’t even have to leave the house to buy the CD. He can order it, receiving it in just a couple of days, or download it, being able to carry it around on his wonder box.
Sure, he may not have the hangout that was the music store, but he’ll have the ability to communicate with millions of people, across the globe. There are countless forums, social media groups and websites that’ll put him in connection with people who share the same interest right away.
It’s that communication ability that has been one of the real boons of this age. Before the advent of the internet, the rest of the world was a far away place for most people. We knew about it, but most of us didn’t interact with it or the people there unless we were willing to make the effort to write a letter every week or pay for long-distance phone calls.
The kids coming up now, many of them are growing up with a world perspective. It’s nothing to them to have local friends that they hang out with at school during the day and then come home and communicate with friends on the other side of the world.
Kids today have a different sense of place than many of us did. We grew up waiting to see the world, the kids today are growing up seeing themselves as citizens of it. Sure, they’re still American and other nationalities, but a new borderless layer has been added to that. They can now link up with people in other countries who have similar beliefs, interests and experiences — bonds that can be tighter than simply being born in a geographical spot.
Of course, there’s many people who believe that’s a bad thing. Go online and you’ll have no trouble finding people who live in fear of a world government, promoting any number of conspiracy theories about people behind the curtain trying to destroy all borders and convert the world to a police state.
There’s a kernel of truth to that sort of talk; that’s why it thrives. But, maybe they should think about our future with technology instead of outright ditching it. I’m sure many people will disagree, though, and they’ll voice their opinion via a post on Facebook.
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