"No better than when I grew up..."

It seems that Generation Xers are having a hard time letting the “good ole days” go. Of the relatives I talked to, none of which are especially tech-savvy, they all seem to think that even though technology makes things easier and quicker to do nowadays, life today is no better than when they were growing up.

However, they do understand that there are advantages to such easy access to technology. A few of my older relatives have a decent ability to navigate their cell phones and computers and are even on Facebook. Today’s technologies make communicating with others much more leisurely because you no longer have to make time for a phone call on your landline, but can answer messages on Facebook or your cell phone on your own time. My mom tells me the only reason she uses Facebook is to get in touch with old friends. And I know that the only reason she even uses the computer is to get on Facebook or play Solitaire.

While she seemed to think that we could do without so much frivolous technology, my aunt, who is five years older than my mom, is much more up-to-date with today’s technologies and uses them everyday while working.  For her and many companies today, technology has made it much easier to access information on the Internet and contact clients through more ways than over the phone (1). She does point out that technology has made everyday life more impersonal. While waiting in line at the store, if you don’t decide to order offline, customers are constantly doing something on their phones, whether it is texting, talking, playing games, or checking Facebook. Instead of making conversation with other people in line, we can now keep ourselves from real social reaction by playing with our cell phones.

I agree with some of the points my relatives made, but I think today’s technologies have, for the most part, had a positive effect on society. However, I know that twenty or thirty years from now I will be reminiscing on the days that I grew up and make my children roll their eyes.

1. Caprile, Maria, and Amparo Serrano Pascual. 2011. "The Move Towards the Knowledge-   based Society: a Gender Approach." Gender, Work & Organization 18, no. 1: 48-72. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 1, 2012).