(no subject)

[myurbandream]

I just had a surreal experience.

I was reading a preview of a book called "Always On" by Brian Chen, a reporter for Wired (here's the link on Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Always-iPhone-Unlocked-Anything-Anytime-Anywhere-Future/dp/0306819600/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2 ). It's about how the iPhone has totally changed not only the world of technology but how we interact with the physical world - how the internet and smartphones and mobile devices have changed every aspect of our lives, from education to business, and how they're affecting economy from multiple directions.

And then I finished that and read an article from Businessweek about the failure of the US Postal Service. (that one's here - http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070.htm ) The article explains how, thanks to the internet, the USPS ships more junk mail ("job security") than regular mail, how the volume of snail mail is falling like a rock, how the USPS is belly-up to its unions and not allowed to lay off employees or close branches that are taking a loss. In fact, the entire postal system is taking a loss. They've been borrowing money from the government to stay afloat, but the prediction is that the USPS will be totally defunct by this time next year, unless they adapt as postal systems in Europe have already done.

The overlap was a bit surprising. Cool stuff, y'all.

Comments

[jen-chan13.livejournal.com]

That is exactly what I'm talking about! There are some older people that I work with - definitely my parents' generation - and some of them have no idea what they're doing on a computer. Others have been really dedicated about keeping up with technology, like you said - but sometimes there's still that half-second delay, that "this is a foreign concept, it doesn't come naturally to me" moment. I am starting to feel that way in comparison to people in my own generation, too - it's one thing to know a program or a piece of technology because you've studied it and played around and gotten to know it over time. It's another thing entirely to just intuitively pick it up and use it, to wonder "can I do this?" and then find the "obvious" solution. My sis-in-law did that to me on my iPad yesterday, and it was kinda depressing.

Here's an anecdote for you: a mom I know was driving her young daughter and daughter's friends to a social thing (I can't remember if it was a Girl Scouts meeting or a sports game, but something like that). I think it was mom and daughter and five other girls, and the mom was telling me how astounded she was at how quiet the girls were in the back of the van for the whole ride - no laughing, no giggling, no singing, no talk of boys or books or anything. And then she looked back and saw every single one of them on their cellphones, texting. They were having entire conversations, not just with girls in other vehicles, but also each other, without saying a word.

It simply boggles my mind.