Technology is great! But confusing (Blog #4)

For the interview I decided to interview my Dad (67) and my Grandmother (77) and my grandfather (82). They all were very excited to help me with this blog post.

My Dad is a business owner. He has his own business that works with the government on proposals and software. He works on computers everyday and has built many of his own using spare parts. He said that when he was growing up he didn't have computers or cell phones. "Now looking back, we missed out on so much with technology but I'm glad that we have it now or else my business wouldn't exist." When asked about what he thinks about the rapid growth in technology he said,

"As a business owner - It's going too fast. I buy a computer and then in 18 months it's replaced by something better. It's so much money for a small business to have to keep paying for new technology all the time. But as a consumer, it's really great! I'm very happy that its progressing as well as it has been."

My grandmother:

"We didn't have computers. It was more personal growing up and we got to know people better through face-to-face encounters instead of on the phone conversations. Technology is a lot to learn. Many people my age won't go on the computer or get a cellphone like your smart phone. Or they don't want to learn it because it's too complicated. Relationships were different, it was easier to get to know someone and there was more family communications because if you wanted to talk to a relative you would go and visit them instead of calling them on the phone. I can't keep up with technology. It's wonderful to have it but it's too confusing. I see the benefits of having it in our lives and we should keep exploring it but it's hard for people my age to keep up with it."

My Grandfather:

"You were able to see them physically instead of electronically. But now you can call people from any distance away so you can keep in touch with long distance relatives. When I was growing up, there was less people you could talk to easily without technology of now. I think technology is great, and kids like you and your mother are keeping up with it really well. But people my age, have a hard time keeping up with it and it's too complicated and hard to keep up with. Once you understand something, it changes on you. It's great technology, just more for you younger generation."

I looked at all of their responses and saw one thing in common, it's changing too fast to keep up with. They all love that technology is growing and it's amazing what it can do, however it's just growing too rapidly for people to really get the hang of something so new and high tech. The generation that grew up without technology like this, this is more of a sensory overload. Having all this new technology coming out almost every couple of months is too hard to get a handle on.

My grandparents got a computer so they could email people for keeping in touch, and to keep in touch with technology. It took him almost seven years to get a real handle on the computer and how to use it. He is glad he has it, but my grandparents get very frustrated with it sometimes because they don't understand it fully yet. It's not that they are dumb people, they are very intelligent people, it's all just moving too fast for them.