Welcome to the digital desert. The information ice age. The great throwback. For all our advances and conveniences, we’re losing a bit of what makes us human. More so, we’re losing touch with an era we still reference, but which most of those under 30 have no clue about.
For example, consider the term clockwise. What is that? A digital clock spins in no partiular direction. Last time I checked, they still had analog clocks in the schools. Perhaps that’s a good think; let’s resist any trend the Schools might have converting to digital.
How about dialing a phone? I collect dial phones. I have one plugged in just for kicks. It works, but it’s a pain. Still, think of the irony of “dialing” a cell phone. Worse, how does one “hang up” a cell phone? Yet the terms persist.
Another one: rolling a car window up or down. Yeah, junior’s first car may not have automatic windows. There will be a little crank there, which he has to twist to make the window go up or down. Even so, today when I’m out driving and I tell the kids to “roll up” their windows, they do know what to do. They just aren’t aware of how the term came about.
Still, maybe things aren’t so bad, after all. Everyone uses oddball terms from centuries past: crossing the threashold comes to mind as does a carbon copy in e-mail. The spot above a car’s tire is called a fender, though it’s really not a fender any more. And the keys on your computer keyboard are staggered in the same pattern that allowed for a typewriter’s leavers not to jam.
Oh Noes Dept. The British school system is being told by its owners not to upgrade to Windows Vista or Office 2007 or both! No way! Don’t do it! What a great advertisement that is. For me, any time the government says not to do something then, by golly, I want to do it! And the decision is silly, too: it means the schools will, once again, lag behind the technology curve. Oh no!
Banned for Life Dept. Beware the bloggers! Or so the saying went during last week’s Comsumer Electronics Show. Actually, the show’s vendors called them bloggies, but that didn’t help a so-called blogger from the website Gizmodo. Using an aptly-named device called TV-B-Gone, the bloggie had some fun turning off a wall of LCD televisions. Ha-ha. But the jokes on the bloggie as he’s been banned for life from future CES expositions.
