I clearly have one foot in the 21st century, and one foot securely in the stone age! I am a self-described technophobe. I love technology but I hate it! And so I am constantly in conflict with the driving force of innovation for our world! What am I to do when I cannot keep pace with technology because I never really have an ease about it, a clear foothold in it, and an ever-present reticence towards it?! I have an older phone, which isn’t smart. I have a simple computer network, with simple programs. I have learned what I know by using what I have but I haven’t kept up with the growth spurts of technology. I’m never in line waiting for the newest phone. I’m not interested in having a watch which does more than keep time. I like using an actual camera, even though I have the ability to take pictures on my old-school phone. And I’m content with basics when it comes to electronics because it usually means I can at least attempt to handle issues when they arise. I guess that’s the key, I have only ridden the technological wave so far without any motivation to find its leading edge!  

One time several years ago I recall hearing my siblings discussing their current technology for a few minutes, I presume it was about their smartphones or tablets. To me, listening within earshot, it sounded as if they were speaking in a foreign language! I couldn’t keep up with their discussion, as I didn’t know the meaning or reference of many of the words they were using! It really sounded like jibberish to my untrained ears. I am sure they were making salient and valid points, but they might as well been speaking in a foreign language. And I try not to enviously observe children these days, who clearly have an advanced ability and understanding about technology, years and generations ahead of mine!   

When I was more active on social media than I have been of late, I would often read posts about someone’s challenges with their present level of technology and wonder to what they were referring! I’m not a simpleton, I am highly educated and consider myself a quick study. But with technology, the terminology is so specific that unless you have a point of reference in which to tether yourself, you can easily be left behind! And unless you have a job or some motivation to have the latest, newest, or most advanced, you can easily be left behind! Since I am self-employed, I don’t rely on a company influencing my usage on the job. Because I am not particularly materialistic, I cannot foresee a time when I will stand in line a day or two in advance of some new gizmo’s release. I suppose I am comfortable with what I have even though I might be assuring my place in the prehistoric technological community! At least I’m not such a technophobe that I am anti-technology or paranoid about the rapid course of technological advancement in our society! I’m definitely a “live and let live” technophobe, even as I watch the ever-advancing wave of technology leave me in its wake!