Giving It To You Straight: Life With Technology

As I watch my eight-year-old daughter, Jade, playing games on her Nintendo DS, singing along to her iPod or sitting at her computer answering emails, I’m amazed at how life has changed since I was Jade’s age. I often pause to reflect on past decades when we didn’t have the extraordinary conveniences developed by advanced technology.

How did we ever get anything done? We communicated via telephone and the U.S. postal service. I remember writing letters to long-distance friends, waiting at least a week for a reply. Now with the Internet, we can transmit and receive information, around the world, almost instantaneously. A document that takes a few seconds to attach and send by email took several days by regular mail.

And shopping—what a difference 40 years can make! Shopping was usually a day long, family outing. We would visit local stores, and if they didn’t have what we wanted, we purchased the closest thing. Now, we shop from the comfort of our homes, using our computers to not only find exactly what we want, but at the best price.

Remember going to the public library during business hours to get information from reference books, encyclopedias and reference librarians? With computer search engines and the click of a mouse, we can find the same facts and a lot more, from the comfort of our home and at any time we choose.

In the interconnected world of cyberspace, it’s unthinkable to imagine life without the Internet. I spend several hours a day online; doing business or research, writing articles, surfing, shopping, or corresponding through email about countless topics.

Sometimes, however, I can’t help but reminisce about the time I was growing up without the emergence of modern technology. Were letters and conversations more meaningful and intimate back then? Did we pay more attention to our communications, and did we truly enjoy the anticipation we felt while waiting to receive an answer to a well thought out letter?

Yes, life with the Internet is easier, but not necessarily better. Often, it appears we can no longer be bothered to chat on the telephone, never mind face to face. We communicate with abbreviated language and minimal purpose, jumping at the chance to use instant or text messaging. Life has become more impersonal and fast paced, allowing us to hide behind who we really are.

So… as I sit at my computer, listening to music and emailing my friends, I may be feeling a bit nostalgic, but not enough to wish for the days when I was growing up. Maybe Jade is missing out on something special. However, she is growing up in a phenomenal time that as a child, I never dreamed could exist.

Lisa Martin owns Martin-McLean Literary Associates LLC. She represents established authors as well as new writers.