I have this ongoing fear of being technologically stupid. Don't get me wrong I love everything technology and future tech related. Age is a huge factor that compounds my fear. As we get older and technology gets more and more advanced I feel like I'm being left in the dust, I don't have enough time to learn the old before the new comes in.
All these cell phones coming out, every year, all with new upgrades, bells and whistles. Financially its hard to keep up, but not only that, there is nothing wrong with my current phone for me to warrant an upgrade. My fear now is, that when I do upgrade I'm going to have to relearn how to use it.
I'm finally comfortable with the old model phone I own, I know how to use it, I know how long the battery lasts, what its capable of, how to turn certain features on and off. The same thing is true with my desktop computer, I know what I'm doing on it and I'm still constantly learning new techniques and program tweaks.
Then I look at my father, who would rather have a rotary phone, a car with a carburetor, and a world without internet. He looks at a tablet and has no clue how to even turn it on, let alone use it, to him it's a completely alien device with an alien language that he has absolutely no need for. I do not want to end up like that, but it's coming, I can sense it.
Currently I force myself to keep myself updated with the newest technology but it's a much slower process than it was in my youth, and I think it's because when you are younger you aren't stuck on what you have already learned and the old doesn't conflict with the new. You are a clean slate when you are young and it's easier to paint on a clean canvas than dirty one.
I am currently in the process of learning a program called unity, where you learn to create games. I think I spent 2 hours on it and learned almost nothing. I am afraid to go back in because its a lot for my brain to take. I will when I have a lot of time to spare.
So my advice to those of you out there that don't even realize that becoming technologically stupid is a thing that could happen to us all. Try the new things, toys, phones, and don't give up right away, take some time to know just a few things, you don't have to be a professional.
Don't be.....
Technologically Obsolete
Scott Goerz
