Tuesday, November 17, 2009

On keeping up with modern technology

On keeping up with modern technology

A couple of years ago, I went round the house of some relatives, to see them sitting at the dining room table with his'n'hers laptops doing their Christmas shopping.

I laughed.

I told some other people, they laughed, and I felt a bit guilty.

Wind forward a couple of years, and our family life is thus:

- Kids told dinner is ready via Instant Messenger ("Wot is it? LOL" - "Spgtti Blgnse")

- Meals going cold while Farm Town harvesting is finished ("But I've got PINEAPPLES!")

- An outright ban on leaving posts on the Facebook wall of any family member ("News for you, Dad - you're not cool")

- Online conversations with people IN THE SAME ROOM ("Turn the telly up LOL", "It's loud enough FFS")

- Threats of actual non-duck flavoured weblogs

- Sitting at the dining room table with his'n'hers laptops doing the Christmas shopping. On Ebay. ("A++++++++++ present, will unwrap again")

I now realise our rels were not weird-cakes. They were early-adopters, years ahead of their time. And if their home is still a living lab of the future, I look forward to my Techno Sofa, just in time for the Olympics.

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