Pondering with a Purpose
This Week's prompt is: Technology
I have seen so many changes in technology in my lifetime. When I was a kid we had no telephone or electricity as the REA hadn't yet put up lines in the valley.I was just a toddler when we got electricity, and in grade school when we got our telephone. We had a party line--our ring was two longs and a short. We were instructed to never listen to others calls. But being kids, you know that occasionally we would pick up the receiver and listen in. We weren't the only ones, for often when we made a call, you would here the click, click, click as others checked out our calls.
I always loved to take pictures. I took after my Mom. She had a Brownie camera and because I was always pestering her to let me take a picture, one year when I was eight or nine, I got my own camera--A Brownie, just like hers. You just pushed the little grey button, and you had your image. Twelve to a roll of film, so you were careful of your shots. Then the next time we went to town, we would drop off the film at the drug store, and the next week or so, we would pick up our photos. I remember the excitement of opening the envelope and seeing how the pictures turned out.We also had no TV--it hadn't been invented yet, but we did have a little radio. Mom would listen to the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday, but during the week she follow the adventures of "Stella Dallas", "Pepper Young's Family" or "The Guiding Light". Saturday night, Daddy listened to the boxing matches.
So just these three examples show how far technology has come since I was a kid. Now we all have cell phones--even smart phones, cameras that have a myriad of auto adjustments, fit in our pockets and are digital, and many have WI-Fi, HDTV, or a flat screen televisions. Our radio's are general tuners--part of a sound system.
I wonder what my great-grandchildren will think when they see what we consider to be the latest high tech advancements. They will probably laugh at how arcacic we were back in 2012.
Marty, I don't think there are many of us left that remember the days of party lines. I have a crank phone hanging in my living room. When kids come in the house, they ask what it is.I also remember when we got our first TV - black and white and we though it was the greatest thing ever.
ReplyDeleteYes, we've certainly come a long way since I was a child too! And yet our self-absorbed society is crumbling around us. Evidently, advancement in technology isn't the answer.
ReplyDeleteI love your photos. BTW, our phone ring was three longs and one short. lol
I think you are absolutely correct 2012 and all it's conveniences are going to pale to what the future has yet to unleash!! xo HHL
ReplyDeleteMarti what a great post and thanks for pondering with me today. There are so many things our children have never heard of or can't imagine living without! Sometimes I just wish we could turn the clock backwards!
ReplyDeleteOur great grandchildren will likely roll their eyes at devices like the ipod, iphone, and home computer. I enjoyed this walk down technology memory lane. My mom still remembers her girlhood phone number which included words : )
ReplyDeleteI think my Mom still has her old Brownie camera... and an assortment of Kodak Instamatics that she can't get film for anymore. I tell my children about the TV that we had to get up and turn the dial to choose between three channels, and the old black rotary dial telephone that used to sit on the kitchen counter. And they complain when it takes more than a second to load a web site. *sigh* I'm not sure if the convenience of technology is worth it... whatever it is.
ReplyDeleteMy granny had a party line and she broke all the rules...she'd listen in on other people's conversations all the time! We always got such a laugh over her stories.
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing relatives talk about the party lines. My mom had a brownie camera too!
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right on what our grandchildren........ I love to tell about my nephew, Kemper. My brother was showing my brother the 12" LP record and he said, Daddy, that's a big CD! lol! We all had a big laugh! He had no idea!
Have a great evening, Marti!
Tammy
Marti - I didn't have all those things myself, but I remember all of them. Amazing weren't they?
ReplyDeleteSandie
I remember those days, out in the country. We had a b/w TV that was on the blink more then it was working.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmothers saw the birth of everything: electricity in the home, phones, cars, and airplanes. Imagine the shock they must have been going through!
This was such an amusing post. I remember party lines. Growing up in rural southern WV this is the way it was until I was almost a teenager. Thank the good Lord party lines are a thing of the past, right?
ReplyDeleteOkay, first I snap into "well duh" mode. Marti, between your writing style and the photo in your blog banner, I thought you and I were about the same age. I think that's a compliment, please take it that way! It explains why, although black and white, I remember TV as a child. Also why you claim to not understand men, but you still have a better idea than me! :)
ReplyDeleteMy nieces are old enough that they know what a record is, but laugh when they look at them and when they looked at my Grandma's dial phone, which she still had in 2009, they wondered how teenagers ever got the reputation for talking s0o much because half the phone call would have been waiting for the dial to finish!