Have you ever thought about the things we used to use?? The things that we used that were hardwired or in a certain location?? The things that you now carry with you but in a different form??
Once upon a time, to call friends and whānau, you lined up either outside a phone box (I know, I can hear everyone of a certain age asking, “What’s a phone box?”) or waited at home for the landline to become free as your older sibling spent forever just sitting on the telephone seat twirling the cable that was attached!! The party line was always a little controversial, with the neighbours being involved in your ‘private’ conversation! Today however, there are no cables, no party lines and no screaming for someone to get off the phone as you were waiting for a very important phone call! You will also never know the pain of needing to wait for the sound of the dial-up internet. We now have instant communication with the use of the thing that we carry around in our back pocket or at the bottom of the handbag – the ever-increasingly-smart smartphone!
It is amazing to think of all the things we used to use that are now contained in that one little black box that beeps every minute of the day – notifying you of the world!
When you think of what it does and what we used to have it is quite scary – calculator, camera, maps and even the humble ruler are now replaced. NO need for a pen and paper to create a shopping list – just use your phone!
News is instant now with these machines! We have newspapers and social magazines that have been replaced by social media that informs us of global or national events in real time!! No need to sit and watch the television at 6pm or listen to the wireless every hour – it’s now in your pocket travelling everywhere with you.
I mean really these intuitive little machines will remind us of our next appointment, make a loud sound when we need to wake up and even alert us if there is a disaster coming! Diary, calendar – nope – not required anymore. Just enter it in and it walks with you.
Don’t get me started on the travelling maps! Remember a time when you used to stop at the local gas station and pick up your summer road trip map and plot out your stops with a pen. Nope not anymore, just enter your destination and a lady (often with a funny accent and pronunciation!?) will tell you where to go even down to left or right. I miss those arguments really …. “No, don’t turn there”, “Don’t turn the map around”, “You missed the turnoff!”. Ahh, those were the days!!
So next time you get your phone out of your pocket and use it – think about what piece of technology it is now replacing and how much our life has changed because of it. In a good or bad way?? I am not sure, just different!
Over the summer, pop into the Museum and check out our new exhibition aptly titled “What’s in your pocket?” It is sure to take you on a nostalgic trip of a time when we relied on multiple things to get our daily tasks done!
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