k

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I need to listen to my kids, and just do what they tell me, at least where technology is concerned. I resist and resist, and then I give in, and they're always, always right.

For years I refused to learn to text. Now I love it. None of that hi-how-are-you banter with texting. Just get to the point and be done with it. And even in the chattiest of text volleys, it always winds down quickly from semi-complete sentences to a one-word response. She who uses the smallest word wins. When I say "OK", and the other person says "K", it's clear we're done. Of course getting a new phone helped in all this. I didn't go for the iPhone my kids have because I'm happy with Verizon, but I did get a touch screen model with a sliding keyboard that makes texting a breeze. I had my last phone for over five years. No more of that. I will keep up!

I also didn't want an iPod, but my kids knew better and eventually gave up trying to talk sense to me and just gave me one. Oh, how I love my iPod. It keeps me company in the studio (which is a tent, if you're new here), and I don't need to blast the entire park with Florence and the Mechanic or Joshua Bell, or weird retro Talking Heads. The iPod is all about me. What's not to love about that?

The funniest thing was how hard I fought to keep the internet out of our house. Back in Seattle, in the mid-90's, all things internet were really busting loose. But as so often happens with things new and unknown, I was afraid of it, thinking it was some kind of Big Brother monster, peering back at me through the computer screen. My kids knew better. I don't know how they wore me down, but of course I gave in and we connected to Earthlink. They needed it for school, and I didn't know it yet, but I needed it for my business. Soon I was sending email with the best of them, and then bought a funky, cutting edge at the time, Sony Mavica digital camera so I could load pictures of my beads on my first-ever website. It was terrible, but at least I had opened the door a crack, and look at me now...

My entire business is run online. Without the internet, I don't think I could make a living anymore. And shopping! I do almost all of my shopping online, with no fear of stolen identity or credit cards. I have a blog. I'm on Facebook. I have not only a website, but a separate shopping cart site, and I manage both of them. I have an email service dedicated to just my business email newsletter. I know how to buy a domain name and how to connect it my web page of choice. I even have friends ask me to help them with all these things because they think I know so much more than they do. This really is amusing to me. But I guess I have learned a few things. Mostly though, I've learned the importance of keeping up with a world that's changing so quickly. I don't need to lead the way for anyone, but I sure do hate to be left behind.

This morning my daughter called while we were eating breakfast, so I put her on speaker phone and we all chatted for a few minutes. After we hung up, I said to Rick, I love speaker phone, which I never would have said even a month ago. My kids have had me on their speakers for years, and I always felt so exposed to the world that way. I never want to be tricked into talking to a room full of people. But when I need to have my hands free, for things like eating my hot, cheesy omelet, I think it's perfectly OK to say, Hi Honey. You're on speaker. Rick's here too... And on we go.

What will be next? I don't know. But from now on, when my kids latch onto some new technical wonder, I'm going to take a closer look, sooner rather than later. They're smart, these young ones. They're worth listening to.

Got it?
OK?
K...

Comments

  1. williamsburg beaderMarch 9, 2010 at 9:43 AM

    I would love someone to drag me into the 21st century. Alas, I will have to save my own pennies and get an iPhone.

    ReplyDelete

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