'What's that?' As technology evolves, old ways are forgotten

What happened to the technology I grew up with? At age 31, I can see it slowly drifting away, like ripples in the water. A great deal of the technology I once knew is now obsolete. Technology enhances everyday. What I saw as new is now ancient.

As I grow older in life, my kids are just starting their journey. They have no idea the struggle I went through to play a game, watch movies, or record my favorite show. They don’t understand the length of the time it took to wait for my favorite video to play on MTV, or my favorite song to play on the radio. It used to take me all day to find the video I was looking for. Unfortunately when I did find it, I would have to go to the bathroom and end up missing half of it. There was no rewinding, pausing, or recording live TV on the DVR. If I missed something, I would have to wait until it came on again 12 hours later. To record something on TV back then, you would need a VCR and a blank VHS tape.

My son is 3 years old and can fully operate my smartphone. He can swipe it on, navigate through YouTube, Netflix, and games. He can change movies and games with no problem. He also can search, find, and play his favorite games or movies. One night in his room I connected a VCR to his TV so he can watch a movie before he went to sleep. When the movie was over I turned the TV off. Without realizing, I left the VCR on and walked out of the room. About 10 minutes later with a very disturbed look on his face, he came out and asked me to come to his room. He walked toward his TV and pointed at the VCR. His little concerned eyes looked up at me in curiosity. He asked “Daddy, “what’s that?” It was dark and he was almost asleep. He heard the sound of the tape rewinding after it stopped and it scared him. His question blew my mind in sudden realization that he has never heard a VHS tape rewind before. He is used to smartphones and DVD players. With smartphones, all he has to do is swipe and tap. With DVD players, it is buttons on a remote. Neither of those devices make a sound when you rewind a movie.

I am used to removing a Nintendo game cartridge from its base, then blowing on them to get the game to work, actually having to sit through commercials while watching TV, and having to wait to rewind VHS and cassette tapes. My son is used to flat screens, smartphones, and DVRs.

Technology has advanced so far that devices like VCRs, VHS tapes, and CDs will never be seen by my grandchildren. Except in museums of course. Technology is different now than what it was 25 years ago. Now a days you don’t even need to go outside, to be in public. Social networking has changed that. It amazes me what the generations of kids now experience, and what they are used to. If they only knew what we had to go through, they would appreciate technology a lot more.

Robbie Rowe works as an account executive at the Columbia Basin Herald.