You're On Your Own

You either know how to research or you don't, you either know how to find the answers or you don't.

My iPhone arrived. And despite a seamless backup from the cloud, in this case iCloud, I've got questions and the only place to find answers is online.

That's why I stay with a Mac, never mind an iPhone. Because if I've got a problem, someone else does too, and I can go online and delve into what they're saying.

Once upon a time computers were like cars, in their infancy that is. At the turn of the last century, car owners were hobbyists, who could lift the hood and fix their automobiles themselves. As were those utilizing computers in the eighties. This is how many learned how to think, how to analyze, how to solve problems. You'd be sitting there flummoxed, trying this or that, working towards a solution. Oftentimes having to go for a walk or to sleep to uncover an answer.

But that does not mean I give up, that I can tear myself away from my devices when I hit a roadblock.

Like last night. Yearning to get on the stationary bike, I went to hook up my Bluetooth headphones to my new iPhone 6 and they were not discoverable. In the sixties, you'd bring your problem to the shop, where some old guy with wisdom or some young guy who was brusque, but competent, would take your device from you and when you returned a week later it would work, it would be fixed. Today not only do these people not exist, almost no one exists, you're on your own, baby.

Which is why the baby boomers missed out on the Napster revolution.

You mean I've got to download a program and...

That's why the iPod and the iTunes Store burgeoned, because it solved the problem of the oldsters, who suddenly testified to the greatness of digital music when the truth is their progeny got there four years before and were excited about iPods, but had no intention of paying for music. Which the oldsters couldn't understand! The CD was so easy! As were the iPod and iTunes Store!

But digital music was easy to the youngster from the get-go. The generation that grew up on videogames without manuals knew that you had to walk into the wilderness alone and figure it out. Baby boomers are still loath to figure it out.

Which is why youngsters always embrace new social media platforms first. Because not only do they hear about them, they figure out how to use them. Oldsters need to be shown. And in today's world if you need to be shown, you're one step behind.

Now cars have improved dramatically in my lifetime. I cannot remember the last time someone canceled because of car trouble.

And OS X eliminated the crash.

But every time you get a new iPhone you have to re-enter your passwords, something doesn't work, you have to hit Google, you have to enter the netherworld of Apple Communities.

And, once again, this is why you should buy an iPhone, because everyone else does. Sure, Android dominates, but in a million different flavors, to the point when you have a problem you're screwed. And if you disagree with this, you're probably a power user who can figure it all out for yourself anyway, so this does not apply.

And the truth is I hate wasting time setting up new devices. The glitches and the roadblocks.

But it keeps my mind sharp. And ready for this new world and its coming changes.

So denigrate the younger generation all you want. Tell them they're coddled and need to be respected as individuals. But the truth is they've earned this status! They've been individuals in the digital sphere nearly from birth. They've had to figure things out for themselves. They know that no one is going to help you in this world, and if you don't help yourself you're going to be left behind.

Devices will get smarter, the transition process will become smoother. But the truth is we've got a double digital divide. Those without devices and those who have them but don't know how to use them.

Sure, a new handset is a status item. But it also gains you membership into modern society. They keep upgrading and adding features, ones the kids will start using right away and the oldsters will grudgingly accept and ultimately testify about a few years later.

The Democrats beat the Republicans in 2012 because they understood the internet, they realized data was king.

In what ways are you being beaten because you too are behind the curve?


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