Generation X : How Automation Changed My Life
I wrote this hub for a weekly topic inspiration. I couldn't help but reminisce about the good old days -- at least about the time when I was growing up. We didn't quite enjoy the technology that the young generation of today enjoy, misuse and abuse. Life was simpler then, or was it?
Take the case of banking. I remembered that there were a few times when I had to accompany Mom to the bank as she hurried to get there to do her transactions before it closed for the day. They didn't have ATMs (automated teller machines) then. I remembered that when the banks first launched ATMs, we were amazed and thought they were cool. And today, we can even pay our bills online. Amazing!
When I was a kid, our television didn't have a remote control. We didn't spend all our time watching TV anyway. The adults had the say on what to watch. Most times we found other things to do like read a book or do art works. We missed a lot of TV time, but got to develop our other skills. Children of today learned to operate a remote control from as young as age 2. Most even spend all their time in front of the boob tube.
Social networking in the old days meant we went to play with the neighbor's kids. It was mostly within the neighborhood, preferably near our houses. We didn't dare go far so our parents wouldn't worry where we were. We didn't have mobile phones to call Mom or Dad. I even remember what our old telephone looked like.
Studying in the old days meant having to read a lot and do research at the library. We didn't have the luxury of the Internet and the deluge of information available to the young generation today. After we have done the research, we'd submit neatly typewritten reports. I bet some kids of today don't even have any idea what typewriters looked like. Somehow, in this day and age, it's quite inconceivable what it would be like without a computer, a mobile phone, or the Internet. I probably wouldn't be working on this hub now and writing it from another part of the world.
But what I mostly miss about the good old days is good old-fashioned home cooked meals. True, our microwave ovens have saved us lots of time in food preparation. Still, nothing beats Mom's cooking.
On a final note, modern technology has made tasks easier to accomplish. We should make good use of it so we can have lots of time on our hands to enjoy life just like in the good old days.