Technology from an old head's perspective

I interviewed my mom, my dad and my high school basketball coach. My parents grew up in similar eras and households, but had very different experiences with technology. My high school coach is a little younger, so had very different experiences than my parents.
When my dad was young he was very into new technologies. He told me a story about how he was first in the neighborhood to have a color television. He said his whole neighborhood would come over and watch it, which made his house the social gathering spot. I thought it was interesting how technology was not always considered a divider. Similar to the telephone, most technology is created with the idea of promoting social behaviors. Limiting such is usually an adverse consequence. This is evidenced with the television being a social gathering place in its infancy. Now it has become an invention that typically draws people away from social interaction.
Currently, the idea of “digital natives” lacking certain social skills or willingness to socialize is the common conception of the masses. “Maybe your daughter never comes down for dinner on time because she’s always busy online, chatting with her friends. And when she does come down to dinner, she won’t stop texting those same friends under the table” (Gasser 2). This is an example of the impression that older folks get of technology’s detrimental effect on the youth.
However, my mother has a very different perspective. She feels our family has been brought closer by technology. She said when she was in college she rarely ever spoke to her parents. Now with texting, e-Mail, and Facebook, despite my refusal to friend my mom, we can stay in constant contact. On the other hand, my dad does get upset when I am in the car with him and listening to my iPod instead of talking to him. He also hates video games. He always says, “When I was a kid we didn’t play sports on a computer, we would play sports with each other.”
My high school coach and I text all the time. He loves technology and thinks it’s a great way to keep up with his former players, like me. He said he was able to keep up with my basketball career when I went to college because of the team Web site and statistics online. He would not be able to follow every game otherwise.