Not Enough Words

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness …” ~~ Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Three of my sons and I were together a couple of times this past week. It’s been a long time. The oldest lives in São Paulo Brazil, while another is in Los Angeles, and my youngest in Provo, Utah. All are leading busy lives. Going to school, working jobs, building empires.

During my last visit with just my son Matt, before he returned to São Paulo on Saturday, we talked about how people believe we live in the worse of times. Blame it on the media we agreed. With modern technology, news stories, photos and videos from any part of the world comes to us in an instant and on devices we carry in our pockets.

It’s not like it was when I was growing up. In those days, there was but a single daily newscast from the television networks, then just ABC, CBS or NBC. Local broadcast news was just as sparse and none of them more than half-an-hour. Radio was a bit more in-depth, but there were no pictures! That was it for broadcasting, no smartphones, no alerts, no nothing! Add the daily newspapers, where it was believed the most informed would get their fill of current events. The Washington Post, The Evening Star were thick dailies and hugely powerful companies. That was then, this is now.

What we knew about the world was limited and not very timely.  The world seemed a much larger place and we were insulated from its harsh realities, while now we have become desensitized to the same. No one could have imagined what lay ahead. Certainly our grandparents lived in simpler times, but in reality we aren’t living in the worse of them. However, with the dissemination of what goes on around, us so readily available and graphic, we often think otherwise.

Say Hello to My Little Friend!

My iPhone is a constant companion that I use throughout all my waking hours. It’s literally the first thing I grab in the morning and the last thing I relinquish at night. Really, it is! When I dreamed of owning one I knew I would have many uses for it, but I never imagined how much it would become an integral part of my everyday life. How it would become… my best little friend.

I’ve often said that if I lost my laptop computer, it would be like cutting off my right arm. With my iPhone and its instant ease of use and portability it’s far worse! (The same said arm and a leg of your choice below the knee). And the funny thing is… I rarely use it to make phone calls! Maybe they should name it something else. iPhone no longer does it justice!

Steve Jobs, 1955 – 2011

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share.
~~ Steve Jobs ~~

I had planned to post something different in the morning, but just over an hour ago I saw the news on the Internet of the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs. The fear I wrote of, just a little more than a month ago, that his time might be short, has sadly been realized.

In June of 2005 Jobs left a touching and timely commencement message with the graduating students of Stanford University. From his unique perspective and very personal experiences he urged those graduates to pursue their dreams and to look to the various setbacks of life for the opportunities that present themselves, including death itself.

I’m not sure why I am as saddened about Jobs’ death as I am. I guess it has something to do with his young age and all that he had to offer the world, now cut short in the prime of his life. The world won’t be the same without Steve.

Smartphones Making Us Smarter?

Subtitled – Facing Off With Facebook or Tweeting My Life Away

Nowadays in this high-tech world of ours every Tom, Jane, Bob and Mary has a smartphone.  These handy little gadgets have effectively become the center of the technology industry.  The computer world as we once knew it is being reshaped and will affect how we use these various devices.  These handheld attachments to the wired world, and their built-in cameras, allow their owners to update their friends and family on every little facet of their existence.  Complete with illustrative photos it happens almost instantly through social media like Facebook and Twitter.

But alas, do we really need to know that Susie just checked in at Joe’s Pool Emporium with friend Margie, accompanied by a photo of the two sitting at one of Joe’s booths with smiling faces and beers in-hand?  Do we really need to know about the wonderful evening/weekend/afternoon/day Sally just had with her bff? Do we really need to see a photo of that yummy salad bar plate one is enjoying at this very minute at the local pizza joint?  Ding ding notifies my smartphone, this just in!  Please!  Is this what our society in this modern age has come to?  Do we really need to know this stuff and right-up-to-the-second?