In
a few more years there will be few people able to recall life without the
tsunami of technology to which we’ve all grown accustomed.
I
remember being forced to sit for hours in the parking lot of Marcus Kiley
Junior High with a fleet of other hapless parents when my daughter’s field trip
to the Bronx Zoo experienced issues with their bus. All we could do was wait and hope that they’d
arrive soon. There were no cell phones; we had no way of knowing there was a
delay.
Teenage
girls used to spend hours sitting in the family’s hall closet, the long
stretchy phone cord extending from its home in the kitchen wall. Short of
getting on your bike and pedaling to someone’s house, it was the only way to
thrash out that day’s events at school in the endless detail necessary.
Years
before cell phones were even a glimmer in someone’s eye, my husband packed up
our six-year-old son for a walk to the park in the middle of a blinding
snowstorm. A few years later they were off on another escapade, this time a
canoe trip to the end of a lake. Ten minutes after they left a thunderstorm of
epic proportions swept through. Both
times I was left pacing helplessly in front of the window until they returned
with smiles on their faces and adventure in their eyes. Short of setting the
house on fire, I had no way of contacting them.
I
even remember when the answering machine was a major breakthrough. Incredibly, now when we dialed, our call would no longer evaporate into unheard rings in an
empty house.
There
are downsides, though. A few nights ago at my fiction writer’s group, we were
bemoaning the negative impact of technology on a good murder. Now an author has
to remember that unless the story’s settings are riddled with dead zones or
downed transmission towers, everyone can reach everyone else. There’s no more,
“Oh no! I have to reach Zelda before the machete-wielding psychopath gets to
her kayak!” In today’s world, Zelda is probably on the other character’s speed
dial.
This
does produce an argument for writing historical fiction. If I only could
embrace spending every waking moment researching the first use of the corset,
or how many nails were generally used in an Iron Maiden, I might consider
dropping back a few centuries. 
Good Lord, in that last picture that woman looks like she's almost cut in half. I agree it must be difficult to write anything historical. :-)
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen all the articles describing what those corsets did to a woman's internal organs? They didn't call those sofas "fainting couches" for nothing.
DeleteI think of that when I watch reruns of old sitcoms. So often the plot depends on misunderstandings that involve people not able to get in touch with each other. I find myself thinking, "Why not send a text message?"
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand... I never take my phone all that much, and when I do, half the time the battery is empty. I'm prime murder material, it seems...
ReplyDeleteYou know, in the last book I read by Jean Hess, the main character was exactly like that. The author must have used that to get around this whole constant connectivity problem.
DeleteInteresting. I'm very ambivalent about some aspects of modern , especially the improvements I don't want or need but end up paying for on a new car etc.
ReplyDeleteNot all progress is progress. :-)
DeleteOh, Marty, I looked again at those mountains on my recent trip to North Carolina and thought of women in long skirts, baby at breast, walking up the mountains to spare the horses. Probably walked down, too.
ReplyDeleteGood grief, you're right.
DeleteWe sure are wusses nowadays, aren't we?
I remember black and white tv that we were only allowed to watch a short amount of time. I remember the old phones on a party line where you had to count the rings to see if it was for you or the other person sharing a line.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I would miss phone or tv but indoor plumbing is the greatest thing!
I remember how annoying it was reading fiction after caller ID and cell phones came along. For some reason it took many authors a long time to incorporate these things into the story. I love technology and everything it brings to us.
ReplyDeleteYes, but it's hard on authors who need a victim!
DeleteI go through that when I watch a not all that old of a movie and realize, they couldn't just pull the phone out of their pocket and save the day. I still only use a cell for emergencies mainly because there is no service here but I would hate to go back once more to before Google.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, yes.
DeleteBack to encyclopedias!
I like the stretchy phone cord image.
ReplyDeleteIn the house where my kids grew up, I had an avocado (way cool!) kitchen wall phone
Deletewith a cord that could reach to the front door. And I used it to get there!
Now I have plot ideas that feature losing, forgetting to carry, or forgetting to recharge the batteries on cell phones. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI remember when answering machines were new, people got very inventive with their outgoing messages.
I also remember living with no phone at all until I was about 25. We walked to the public phone box over on the next block and deposited our coins to speak to someone in the next state. I was amazed to learn that a neighbour across the road used her home phone to call her friend who lived three houses away.
We only have a foggy idea of what future technology developments could take place. This will seem like nothing. Yes, I wish it was a few decades ago when we had to work to communicate.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in college, my dorm room was right next to the hall phone, and I spent a lot of time with the cord stretched into my room and the door closed! I always wonder now whether my dormmates were crouched on the other side of the door listening to me?
ReplyDeleteRe. the plot, you could always have one of the characters forget their cell phone, or have their battery die. God knows that happens enough in real life now.