Travails of the Technologically Challenged

There's a generation out there, maybe two, that's still very uncomfortable with all the technology and gadgets that have invaded their simple lives. Those in their 40s and 50s are somewhere on the edge of two worlds, caught between a simpler lifestyle and trying to understand and master the complexities of technology that makes their lives easier but completely befuddles their minds! And most older people have to be brought kicking and screaming into the present with all its new fangled gizmos and time-saving communication devices.

What's such a person to do in a world where a simple phone call won't do? Where the reassuring ring of an old fashioned telephone has been replaced by a medley of loud tunes emanating from snazzy little cell phones, so small you feel foolish to hold them up to the ear? What's a person used to writing long missives to relatives and friends across the world to do when no one replies because they're too busy logging into email accounts instead? The cruelest blow is when the sturdy, dependable landline phone comes with an SMS feature. No one even wants to talk to them anymore - they have to learn to painstakingly tap out messages to the grocer instead!

As one who held out against owning a cell phone as long as I could, I completely sympathise with the plight of other technophobes. For me a cell phone is for making and receiving calls, and when I'm feeling anti-social, for sending terse, to-the-point messages. Nine times out of ten I forget that my phone comes with a camera, and the only time I'm aware it has many other features is when it falls into the hands of my techno-savvy nephew. For a long time he cringed whenever he saw my very basic cell phone; it's only after I upgraded to a more recent model that I've managed to redeem myself in his eyes.

Friends recently related an incident that highlighted how uncomfortable most people get when faced with someone who remains happily ignorant of the technology that rules the lives of the majority. The couple, who spend most of their time at home, have always maintained that they have no need for a cell phone; the few times they're away from home the answering machine picks up their calls. In no way can they be termed inaccessible. And yet, they have to constantly face complaints from friends who demand to know why they don't have a cell phone yet.

On a recent visit overseas, it was the same story. Well meaning friends clucked in dismay when they discovered the couple hadn't carried a cell phone in their baggage. And before they knew it, they were the proud owners of not one, but two cell phones, presented by two concerned friends! Laughing at their predicament, the couple reveals how they had to sit down with a representative from the cell phone manufacturer for a tutorial on how to use the things. By the time they had it all figured out and the paperwork for the prepaid sim card sorted out, the expiry date for the card was a day away. They hadn't got around to giving anyone their number and had probably made less than five calls on the phone. I don't think they're going to recharge that card in a hurry!

Most of us, born at a time when school projects were written by hand and clunky typewriters were the only alternative to illegible handwriting, are quite content to remain in the 19^th century. Well, ok, make that early 20^th century when an address was still an address, and not some cryptic link to an electronic highway. The excitement of receiving a letter from a pen friend in some far off country far exceeds the dubious pleasure today's kids get out of chatting on the Internet with strangers in obscure chat rooms. I remember how we saved our pocket money for months till we had enough to go and buy a coveted vinyl record from the music shop. When we wanted to hear music we didn't have, we swapped records with a friend. Today's generation will just download it from the Net.

It's far less stressful to treat technology merely as a convenience, and not as a status symbol that reflects your net worth. A car is a means of conveyance, just as a phone is a way to communicate, and a computer can help you get work done faster. It's the music that you hear that's important and not the palm-sized device that's playing it. It's better to be stuck in a time warp than struggle to make sense of current fads and contemporary trends that will only last as long as the next big electronic revolution!