Double Generational Technology Gap

One of the many funny struggles I find in properly communicating in my marriage is our difference in technology knowledge. This vast difference is mostly related to our age difference. The 16-years between us can make for a lot of interesting conversations, and one would normally think I, the younger, would be learning from him, but when it comes to technology, our roles switch.

Most people my age deal with this same problem when they are working with their parents, trying to explain how to send a text, or compose an email. Having grown up around a computer and not really having to think twice how to use it, it’s foreign to me to have to teach it to someone I consider my equal. It isn’t until I hear, “honey, how do you send a picture to someone through email?” that I realize the true extent of the difference in our tech-knowledge.

Oh, you might think I’m lucky to not have a husband so engrossed in technology that he wants every new cool item to make his e-life better. Unfortunately, he loves to listen to talk radio and watch G4, so he does want all the new tech gear, even though he would never really need it, nor use it to it’s full advantage.
When I was buying my first iPod, he was using his SONY Mini-disc Walkman. When I got my first Mac laptop, he was buying his XBOX. This past Christmas, my present to him was his own iPod. Did he instantly start downloading music and converting his old CD’s over to it? No. It sat in the box for a few weeks until I finally told him I would load the music he wanted and how him how to do it himself. Six months later, no new songs have made it on to his so desired techno-device and it has probably only been used as many times as I have fingers on one hand.

Does this mean I don’t offer to help him? No. Does it mean I won’t continue to buy him new toys? No.
I will help him learn, even if his ability to retain the knowledge for what seems like a millisecond. And for as much as we can afford, I will let him get the new stuff he wants, but I will try to keep it to the things I am secretly coveting to make my own e-life better.

Once isn't always enough

Honestly, I have been down this road before.

I started to blog before, but I felt like everything I wrote was ordinary. My run-of-the-mill musings didn't do anything for me and absolutely nothing for the internet. I can't expect Joe in Cincinnati to care I am thinking about going for a hair cut and how much I love to color with crayons. Those kinds of mindless thoughts are better left to die their boring deaths on Facebook and Twitter along with the droves of other over-stated information from my "friends".

My previous writing didn't express what had really been going on in my mind. My new goal is real writing.

Speaking with my new co-worker today I realized my need to keep my writing skills polished. We discussed how not using our technical skills on a daily basis leaves us reaching for our "Whatever for Dummies" books.

I have invested too much effort to let it slip away and if I give into the stress of my daily life, I let them win. I also feel I see much of the world around me falling down this path. We fall into the assembly-line of life and lose our dreams, our hopes. Instead of working for the greater good, we let ourselves be overrun with conforming to the norm.

Feel free, readers, to keep me in check. Am I get boring? Am I failing and falling? Post comments for me and I will gladly work towards your suggestions.