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Do IT this week: Layering
By Bob Dyer
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Thursday, Nov 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
Like most of the people reading this, I have an incredibly long list of things to be thankful for. Such as the ability to end a sentence with a preposition.
No, actually, the things for which I am most thankful are the old standbys: family, health and a roof over my head.
But one of the items that's way down on my list will probably come as a surprise. It certainly surprised me.
On Thanksgiving of 2009, I find myself being thankful for . . . cell phones.
Seriously.
Yeah, I know all of the evil they have wrought:
• Legions of perpetually distracted drivers.
• The demise of the written word, thanks to text-message shortcuts.
• An inability to ever get away from customers or bosses.
• Transmission towers that are an aesthetic abomination.
On the other hand, there's this:
In no small part because of the cellular telephone, I am much closer to my college-age children than I was to my parents.
When I went to college, way back in the 20th century, everyone on my floor shared a single, wired phone. It was located in a small booth off the hallway. Not only was it constantly in use, but when you finally got an opening to call home, every call was the dreaded long distance. You had to be careful not to talk too much and run up a big bill.
Although my goal was to call home at least once a week, often it was far less frequent. By contrast, my kids are on the horn every couple of days, and often more frequently.
They don't tell me only about the blockbuster events; they keep me up to speed on the little stuff, the things that could almost be classified as trivia, but, when taken together, help me figure out who they are, what they're doing and where they seem to be heading.
My parents might have learned what my girlfriend decided to major in; I learn what score my daughters' boyfriends got on yesterday's quiz.
The impact of this technology hit home while I was reading a story in Monday's paper by the Beacon's master of all things historical, Mark Price.
Sir Mark beamed us back 60 years to when Ohio was building 150-foot-tall concrete-and-steel towers as part of a national chain of microwave relay stations that would enable television networks to send out ''live'' images to viewers.
Cutting edge stuff!
The speed of the cell phone revolution has been astounding. Hard to believe today, but the first commercial cell phones went on sale in 1984. (I had one in the early '90s that was the size of Shaquille O'Neal.)
Today, according to the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, cell phones are used by 85 percent of American adults. And 65 percent of them use text messaging, a 10 percent jump just since 2007.
Enjoy ur day! :)
Bob Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3580 or bdyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Akron, OH
Posted 05:36 AM, 11/26/2009
Bob, just don't begin using "teh" instead of "the" (they do it intentionally). It's nauseating.
Kthnxbai.
clinton, oh
Posted 09:17 AM, 11/26/2009
So now the kids can call or text
SEND money now!
Fast cheaper and frequently
Posted 10:03 AM, 11/26/2009
enjoy yr day. u r talented.
Firestone Park - Akron, OH
Posted 12:09 PM, 11/26/2009
WTF? ok brb
Akron, OH
Posted 12:17 PM, 11/26/2009
Bob Dyer, I always read your article, no matter what it is about, and I enjoy every one of them. I always read Mark Price's too. Thanks.
R M Kraus
akorn, oh
Posted 11:28 AM, 11/28/2009
"Bob, just don't begin using "teh" instead of "the" (they do it intentionally). It's nauseating." I don't. I have dyslexic fingers. ;P
akron, OH
Posted 04:55 PM, 11/30/2009
Golly jeepers, Mr. Kraus, and we always enjoy reading your comments too.
