Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage . . . They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
~Psalm 84:5

Monday, March 24, 2008

Technology soapbox

As a kid who grew up with a non-wireless VCR remote control (that had 4 buttons on it), I have to ask this question. Now that technology has more than exploded and we seemed to have fine-tuned the information superhighway of the internet, what's with all this recent mass migration? In terms of keeping in touch with friends, the metaphorical watering hole keeps moving around at a mind-boggling rate.

First, email was the thing, so I learned how to reply and mass-forward. Then IM was in, so I learned how to LOL and ROFL, BTW. :"> :D 8-) Then this thing called blogs came along, so people flocked to Blogger, but only until they discovered myspace. Either way, I've blogged and waited for Comments and gotten random messages from people -- some very nice and others not so nice.

Now the tumbleweeds seem to be blowing through myspace and I discover that it's because the herd has migrated to Facebook -- which, quite frankly, is very nice because I see even more friends there whose real faces I haven't seen in ages.

Yet I still use my myspace and Blogger blogs, sometimes log in to IM, and have 4 email addresses. But there are usually trickles of communication at these spots, I'm guessing because they aren't the latest thing anymore.

It is nice, however, to have as many options as possible to keep in touch with people. But must we only utilize just one all the time?

I have a DVD player and a few DVDs (even though I've heard that's not the latest home entertainment thing anymore), but most of my favorite movies are on VHS tapes, so I usually just watch those. And I've got lots of CDs but even more audio tapes, and yes (because there's a tape player in my car), I usually listen to music this way because, well, I enjoy setting my driving to music. But I'm not going to buy a CD changer for my car just so I can keep up with the latest thing, and I'm not gonna toss my dozens of videotapes out my apartment window. In general, as long as the tapes play movies and music without any problems, I am content with what I've got.

But sometimes life just gets so noisy, and I like to either read a book in the evening or sing out loud while I'm driving alone. Either way, I'm content and entertained (without adding to my electric bill or depleting my car battery).

My point is that I think the purpose of technology is to provide us with a range of options to get things done efficiently, whether it's talking to a friend or enjoying a movie. So, this weary web traveler has one request: can we please just settle down in one spot? :) whether on Blogger, myspace, or Facebook?

In the meantime, there are a couple of friends that I'd like to sit down and write to -- and send it via good, old-fashioned snail mail. :D LOL!

4 comments:

Debs said...

Well tell me where you decide to stick, and i'll come visit you there! (And I never really got the hang of myspace, so make it blogger or facebook!)
Hope you're doing ok. I wrote a reply to your message on facebook, but it wa playing up and wouldn't let me send it.
I'm still not feeling great and want to be better already! I couldn't make an appointment to see the doc today, but I can ring at 8.30am tomorrow and they may be able to fit me into one of their 'emergency' allocate on the day slots.

Debs said...

Ok, so that comment was totally meant for Debbie. No wonder I was slightly confused.
I'd forgotten that this was a joint authorship blog.
Hi! I'm Debs. I got to know Debbie over on One Weigh or Another, and got to meet her while I was staying in Texas. I can't wait for her to come over here to the UK.
Nice to 'meet' you.
D x

Debbie said...

Too funny, Debs!
I wondered if people would get confused.

I understand your frustration, Tirzah! I think Facebook is WAY cooler than Myspace and makes it easier to keep up w/ old friends and share what's going on. I don't group Facebook and Blogger together, though. IMO, Blogger is strictly a blog - a place to document and voice yourself - whereas Facebook is a place to play w/ your friends.

Also, Facebook is more private, even though it's viewable to more people (the ones who are friends w/ u). Blogger, esp this blog, is more public but not read as much as Facebook. It's a paradox, actually. Does that even make sense???

Tirzah said...

yes, that makes sense. i think, unfortunately, that lots of people nowadays would rather play than engage in a thrilling discussion. *rolls eyes*

hiya, debs, nice to meet you, too! uh, if anyone wants to say Hi, i've still got all my logins to facebook, myspace, blogger, etc....

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