A Pain in the Whatchamacallit
By Tiny Ruisch
I’ve been thinking about how there is a huge electronic generation gap. On my recent trip visiting relatives and old friends in Yankee land, there was plenty of tech in the vehicle. There were three tablets, one laptop and three internet capable smart phones. Surprisingly, I was the only one using Bluetooth headphones. Prior to the trip, I had purchased a 10,000 MAh battery pack. It turned out to be a good investment as there was something that always needed an electrical boost. Auto makers obviously need to install more outlets.
During the trip, I noticed that most of the older people used either a flip phone or one with a slide out keyboard. The younger folks mostly had some type of “smart” phone with easy to use text capabilities and photographing. I was kind of surprised that many users didn’t know about some common, useful apps. There are some new users of Gas Buddy, What’s Ahead, MX Player and Easy Battery Saver.
Over the years, I’ve made this trip several times. It’s a fairly simple route: 171 North from Lake Charles, 71 North to Kansas City and then I-29 North to the state of Iowa (not that town to the East). My grandson and son-in-law did the driving. They had a Garmin GPS on the windshield. About every half hour or so, one of them would pull get out their phone and check the navigation app to make sure we were still on the correct road. I was also amused when someone would make a weather announcement. I would usually just look out the window and say, “You’re right!”
One of the most amusing parts of the trip was when one of the navigators decided to take a shortcut. One of the many mapping apps showed a shortcut. We got off the main road and did save ten miles or so of driving. Unfortunately, it was on a narrow, gravel road through the hills. A typical shortcut that took twice as long to drive . What made me really laugh was when, about two hours later, they did it again.
While watching the hometown parade, walking in the park, sitting at the pool and during other photo opportunities, most of us older people were using some kind of camera. Most of the younger ones utilized their phone camera. A few people were holding up a tablet and just looked silly. I think we are on are way to a time when taking photographs will be like tuning up your car. The equipment will only be manufactured and sold to professionals and serious hobbyists.
One of the scariest things on the trip for me was just looking out the window. In at least half of the vehicles we passed, the drivers were either talking or sending texts on their phones. Almost without exception, they were not driving in a very straight line. The worst one was a gal that had her phone up to the ear. Her other hand was holding a book and steering the car. She was not only distracted, but dangerously so.
Now that I think about it, I may have been wrong about the generation gap. She looked to be about 70 years old.
Thanks for reading.