I remember working at the teachers’ union in the late 90s. And we had rented cell phones to use basically as walkie talkies during an event at the Capitol. I was with the press secretary, and our phone rang. But no one had shown us how to answer the phone. So it just rang and rang and then stopped. Heh.
Haha! Reminds me of the first time someone texted me, which was of course on a flip phone, before smartphones. I was at Carnaval in San Francisco, so it was the perfect place to text as it was too loud for phone calls. But I had no idea how to respond to my friend! I think I did finally figure it out.
What had convinced me to get a cell phone in the first place (in 2001) was being in Italy, where everyone had them and our rental in Positano came with one. I was sitting on the beach with it when my purse rang, and it was a friend letting us know she'd be late arriving to Positano because of a train strike. I felt so Italian!
And then there are the haves and the have-nots. While you (and Mary, Lucy, Susan, etc.) were using computers to communicate, just a mile or so away at the public high school, I never touched a computer. So Susan was in Hawaii; you, Mary & Lucy were in Urbana; and I was in England. But I still had no computer access, so we were limited to those lovely blue folding air mail envelopes. I had similar issues a few years ago when some members of my Girl Scout troop were homeless - they often didn't have internet access or even a good phone plan.
For sure, so many inequities involved. Back then, only a few people here and there had access to computers, but now you're really at a disadvantage if you don't.
I do remember those blue folding envelopes fondly and have kept most, if not all, of the letters I ever received. It's kind of sad that we don't have recent ones.
May 9, 2023·edited May 9, 2023Liked by Rosana Francescato
Having been a classmate of Rosanna during our teens, I was thinking we were some kind of "in between" generation. We were in our formative years during the beginning of the internet and mass communication, and now, a few years later, things have changed so much. Our mores, customs, etiquette and thoughts were built around older methods of communicating.
But after I thought about it, everyone is going to be part of an "in between" generation. Technology is only going to keep changing, for better or worse (whatever that means), and people will still have their standards, expectations, their attention spans, and they way they think shaped by the technology they grew up with.
BTW, I've found myself guilty of texting someone asking if I can call them.
I confess, I've done that too! It almost feels like we have to sometimes, these days.
You're right, we're all in between. Of course, I've written about how our generation is in between the Boomers and Gen X, hence the name of my Substack. ;-) (https://flowerchild.substack.com/p/real-generation-x-flower-children) But I guess we're all in between something. I just hope we don't feel behind the times on tech when we're older! Who knows what we'll be dealing with in twenty years.
My sister Anne (Gillies) won't answer her calls but she'll text right back. Go figure - even when she's idle! Apparently it's some sort of aggressive affront these days to call someone out of the blue. It strikes fear into the hearts of many ...
Funny! I don't answer when it's a number I don't recognize, and I do consider that an affront — not friends or family calling, though. But it is indeed getting harder and harder to make calls.
I am someone who's guilty of leaving texts, emails, and sometimes calls dangling. I get pretty overwhelmed by my work email account (and by just life stuff in general) and many days it feels like all I can do to keep up with the other stuff! I really hate feeling like I'm being rude, but I also sometimes long for the days when we didn't feel the constant pressure to "keep up" on communications. It starts to feel like a task instead of a pleasure, which is sad...
First, I remember the early days of computing when I was at the University of Maryland in the early 70s, and the acronyms that were created. You mentioned PLATO, a tortured title to fit a nifty program. For us it was the MAD Primer textbook for Michigan Algorithm Decoder on the IBM mainframe. Certainly a play on Alfred E. Neuman.
I look at Email and Texting as forms of asynchronous and synchronous communication. You do not have to respond to an email immediately, but you are expected to respond as soon as you are able to texts. I also look at Voicemail as asynchronous - if you want a more immediate response, you text rather than leave a Voicemail.
Indeed, although people are starting to respond less to texts. We're getting so many texts that we can't always respond right away, plus we are no longer reserving them for time-sensitive communications. It's all getting jumbled up!
As for acronyms, you should try working in clean energy. ;-) So many acronyms!
“This thing you call... language though - most remarkable. You depend on it, for so very much. But is any one of you really its master?”—Mr. Spock as Kollos, an ‘incorporeal being’ in a Star Trek episode circa 1968.
I remember working at the teachers’ union in the late 90s. And we had rented cell phones to use basically as walkie talkies during an event at the Capitol. I was with the press secretary, and our phone rang. But no one had shown us how to answer the phone. So it just rang and rang and then stopped. Heh.
Haha! Reminds me of the first time someone texted me, which was of course on a flip phone, before smartphones. I was at Carnaval in San Francisco, so it was the perfect place to text as it was too loud for phone calls. But I had no idea how to respond to my friend! I think I did finally figure it out.
What had convinced me to get a cell phone in the first place (in 2001) was being in Italy, where everyone had them and our rental in Positano came with one. I was sitting on the beach with it when my purse rang, and it was a friend letting us know she'd be late arriving to Positano because of a train strike. I felt so Italian!
And then there are the haves and the have-nots. While you (and Mary, Lucy, Susan, etc.) were using computers to communicate, just a mile or so away at the public high school, I never touched a computer. So Susan was in Hawaii; you, Mary & Lucy were in Urbana; and I was in England. But I still had no computer access, so we were limited to those lovely blue folding air mail envelopes. I had similar issues a few years ago when some members of my Girl Scout troop were homeless - they often didn't have internet access or even a good phone plan.
For sure, so many inequities involved. Back then, only a few people here and there had access to computers, but now you're really at a disadvantage if you don't.
I do remember those blue folding envelopes fondly and have kept most, if not all, of the letters I ever received. It's kind of sad that we don't have recent ones.
Having been a classmate of Rosanna during our teens, I was thinking we were some kind of "in between" generation. We were in our formative years during the beginning of the internet and mass communication, and now, a few years later, things have changed so much. Our mores, customs, etiquette and thoughts were built around older methods of communicating.
But after I thought about it, everyone is going to be part of an "in between" generation. Technology is only going to keep changing, for better or worse (whatever that means), and people will still have their standards, expectations, their attention spans, and they way they think shaped by the technology they grew up with.
BTW, I've found myself guilty of texting someone asking if I can call them.
I confess, I've done that too! It almost feels like we have to sometimes, these days.
You're right, we're all in between. Of course, I've written about how our generation is in between the Boomers and Gen X, hence the name of my Substack. ;-) (https://flowerchild.substack.com/p/real-generation-x-flower-children) But I guess we're all in between something. I just hope we don't feel behind the times on tech when we're older! Who knows what we'll be dealing with in twenty years.
My sister Anne (Gillies) won't answer her calls but she'll text right back. Go figure - even when she's idle! Apparently it's some sort of aggressive affront these days to call someone out of the blue. It strikes fear into the hearts of many ...
Funny! I don't answer when it's a number I don't recognize, and I do consider that an affront — not friends or family calling, though. But it is indeed getting harder and harder to make calls.
I am someone who's guilty of leaving texts, emails, and sometimes calls dangling. I get pretty overwhelmed by my work email account (and by just life stuff in general) and many days it feels like all I can do to keep up with the other stuff! I really hate feeling like I'm being rude, but I also sometimes long for the days when we didn't feel the constant pressure to "keep up" on communications. It starts to feel like a task instead of a pleasure, which is sad...
We're all overwhelmed — it's just too much! Clearing out the inbox is a constant job, and not a fun one.
I have a few comments.
First, I remember the early days of computing when I was at the University of Maryland in the early 70s, and the acronyms that were created. You mentioned PLATO, a tortured title to fit a nifty program. For us it was the MAD Primer textbook for Michigan Algorithm Decoder on the IBM mainframe. Certainly a play on Alfred E. Neuman.
I look at Email and Texting as forms of asynchronous and synchronous communication. You do not have to respond to an email immediately, but you are expected to respond as soon as you are able to texts. I also look at Voicemail as asynchronous - if you want a more immediate response, you text rather than leave a Voicemail.
Indeed, although people are starting to respond less to texts. We're getting so many texts that we can't always respond right away, plus we are no longer reserving them for time-sensitive communications. It's all getting jumbled up!
As for acronyms, you should try working in clean energy. ;-) So many acronyms!
“This thing you call... language though - most remarkable. You depend on it, for so very much. But is any one of you really its master?”—Mr. Spock as Kollos, an ‘incorporeal being’ in a Star Trek episode circa 1968.