Oh, Technology...

Last summer when I worked at Gulfstream I was in the loads & dynamics group. There were about 15 of us in that group, 5 of us under the age of 30 and the rest older than that. Those of us who were under the age of 30 did all of our computer programming using the “new” computing package MATLAB, while the older folks used the “ancient” FORTRAN. All the “young” guys used the sleek, black Dell computers, but some of the “old” guys used those big, clunky 1990 computers.

Where am I headed with this? Well, yesterday I read an interesting article about technology and how rapidly it is changing…and how it is changing our lives. Some people are apparently predicting that the use of a physical keyboard and mouse is going to become a thing of the past as the current youth of the nation use touchscreens instead on things like the iPad.

I like to think of myself as someone who embraces technology. I think the capabilities we have already are simply amazing, and I’m looking forward to see what is developed in the future. BUT what about the human factor? How much does technology affect your life? Well, if you’re reading this, then you can’t say that you’re totally technologically incompetent and unaffected by technology. And if you’re around my age, then you’re probably even more techo-savvy/literate/dependent (???) than most people.

What concerns me is how this infiltration of technology will affect the youth of tomorrow (and future parents who raise them). Pretend, for example, that I have a 5 year-old son who wants to play a game. I have just gotten home from work and am tired. Will I go out and play catch with him in the front yard or will I just tell him to play Wii baseball? Or pretend that your young daughter wants to paint a picture. You know that painting means paint is going to get all over the kitchen table. Wouldn’t you rather have her just paint on her iPad instead? It’s much easier and takes no supervision or clean-up. There’s also no need for bookshelves for bedtime stories when you can just pick from the many stories on your Kindle instead…

Are you starting to see the challenge that we face? Technology does make our lives easier (sometimes). And I really do love it! But I feel it is becoming increasingly more important to limit its reach in our lives.

I could tell my son to play the Wii instead. Which is showing love to my son: spending TIME with him or letting him entertain himself? Which is showing love to your daughter: spending TIME with her or letting her entertain herself? We must not allow technology to come in between us and what is most important in our lives—real, meaningful relationships. Relationships take time and effort. We CANNOT depend on technology to build and develop these relationships.

Maybe one day I will be the old engineer using a computer with a non-touchscreen keyboard…