MY JOURNEY INTO THE STRANGE, NEW DIGITAL WORLD

Without giving my age, I will admit that the current state of the media industry is a world away from the days of my youth. Books, magazines and movie rentals, seem to be a thing of the past, as the constantly changing potential of the internet is driving the proverbial final nail into the old media coffin.

Let’s take movies for instance. The VCR was first introduced to the “general” public in the late 1970’s, with the “VHS” format of videotape. No longer did you have to go to the theatre in order to see a movie. VHS eventually made Blockbuster Video the premier entertainment venue, the ultimate alternative to the movie-going experience. Now, internet movie vendors like NetFlix, and neighborhood ATM-style kiosks like Red Box, have made convenience and low prices the new norm in home entertainment. Personally, I’ve enjoyed the “new technology ride”, knowing that I’ve seen the transition of technology from traditional movie going (drive-ins and theatres), to the sofa-and-microwave popcorn movie experience.

Given the fact that there was no internet available to “average Joe’s” like myself until the early 1990’s, traditional print was the only game in town. Now, with the “save a tree” movement and the emergence of eBooks and online news media, the paper version of the “morning paper” is becoming a thing of the nostalgia. I now watch the day’s news stories on my computer.

I will never be as new-technology-challenged as the people who refused to learn how to set the timer on the VCR, but I must admit that some of today’s technological advances are still way to Star Trek for me! Take for instance, cell phones. I’m from the “ol’ school”, where turning a rotary phone dial was the NEW technology! Okay, maybe not THAT ol’ school, but you get the picture! Nowadays, smart phones are already over 5 years old, and I’m yet to own my first. Though I’m content with the basic phone call and the every-now-and-then text message, I must say that seeing my younger classmates scanning credit cards and making bank deposits with their phones makes me a little covetous! Hopefully, there’s nowhere in the bible that says, “Thou shalt not covet thy classmates iPhone”!

Currently, I’m learning how to use Google as a tool to get more people to view my blog site, and in the near future, my website. It must be working because you’re reading this post! Nonetheless, it’s just another scenario of how things have changed over the years. Back when, companies would pay to have an advertisement placed in the newspaper, on billboards or in the Yellow Pages. Now, they use tools like Google that can track your search engine request patterns, and cater online ads according to your patterns! Is Big Brother watching you? Nah! Google is!

And finally, this is for the previously mentioned new-technology-challenged relatives of yours that always tell you to look something up on Google. This site allows you to say “Look it up yourself!” except in a respectful manner. For educational purposes, I started a search for “the number of days in June”, but you can customize it to fit whatever they asked you to search for. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=number+of+days+in+June

God Bless