By Laughs by Teresa
Alright, everyone, buckle up! I’m about to take you on a trip down memory lane so dusty, you’ll need a digital antihistamine. I’m talking about the
ancient
times, the era before TikTok dances and when “going viral” meant you actually had the flu. Yes, I’m from the generation that wrestled with technology
so primitive, it probably communicated via smoke signals when we weren’t looking.
Lotus 1-2-3: The Slash Command Saga
Remember Lotus 1-2-3? No? Well, picture this: you’re staring at a blank, unforgiving blue screen, and the only way to make it do anything remotely
useful was to type in what felt like secret codes… I mean, type slash commands. /WREC anyone? No? Don’t worry, it just meant “Worksheet Range Erase
Column,” and if you got one letter wrong, the computer would just blink at you like a deer in headlights. Function keys were our best friends, each
assigned a cryptic task. F1 for Help? More like F1 for mild existential dread as you realized the “help” was just another page of equally baffling
commands.
WordPerfect: The Keyboard Shortcut Society
And let’s not forget WordPerfect! Oh, the sheer
joy
of memorizing keyboard shortcuts just to indent (F7, a true hero) or center text (Shift + F7, a slightly more ambitious hero). Inserting the date and
time? That was a whole
Ctrl + F5
adventure! It felt less like using software and more like performing a digital secret handshake. Imagine explaining that to a Gen Z kid. They’d
probably think we were all part of some elaborate keyboard society.
The Floppy Disk Chronicles
Then came the storage wars! We didn’t have your fancy cloud with its infinite space. Oh no. We had the glorious 3.5-inch floppy disk. Remember those
flimsy squares of hope (and frequent data corruption)? You’d carefully insert it into the drive, listen to the whirring and clicking symphony, and pray
to the digital gods that your term paper hadn’t experienced a catastrophic data failure. And heaven forbid you needed to transfer a large file – it
was a multi-disk saga that could rival “The Lord of the Rings” in length and drama.
The Beige Brick Phone Era
And the phones! Oh, the
simplicity!
A beige brick tethered to the kitchen wall. Privacy was a myth thanks to the party line – you never knew who might be eavesdropping on your teenage
worries. Calling a friend meant actually
talking
to their parents first! The horror! Now, our phones are pocket-sized supercomputers that can order us pizza, translate ancient languages, and even tell
us if that rash is something to worry about (spoiler alert: it probably is).
The Emoji Hieroglyphics
Speaking of communication, what even
are
we saying anymore? We’ve devolved into a hieroglyphic language of acronyms and emojis. LOL? SMH? AFK? BRB? TBH? OMG? It’s like we’re all in a secret
society with a constantly evolving dictionary. I sometimes feel like I need a Rosetta Stone just to decipher a casual text from my niece. And don’t
even get me started on the vast emotional landscape conveyed by a single emoji. Was that a sarcastic wink 😉 or a genuine expression of playful
mischief? The ambiguity is enough to send a pre-emoji generation mind into a tailspin.
Robot Novelists and AI Prose
And now, the robots are writing! I saw an article the other day about AI generating literary pieces. Will our future be filled with robot novelists
churning out bestsellers while we struggle to understand their grammatically perfect but emotionally vacant prose? Will they start communicating in a
binary code so advanced that “LOL” will seem like eloquent Shakespearean English?
Social Media: The New Cryptic Frontier
Honestly, it’s all a bit much. And speaking of the “much,” I’m now facing a whole new technological beast: social media. You see, while I was busy
mastering the art of the slash command and praying to the floppy disk gods, the world apparently moved on and built entire empires on platforms I didn’t
even know existed. So, here I am, proudly launching my witty and insightful blog (you’re reading it, right?), only to realize my social media presence
is… well, let’s just say it’s currently residing somewhere between
non-existent
and
still finding its footing.
I’ve recently taken the plunge and created accounts, and let me tell you, navigating this world of hashtags, stories, and reels feels about as intuitive
as trying to program a VCR in the dark. It’s a whole new set of cryptic commands and unspoken rules, and frankly, my brain, still slightly traumatized
by Lotus 1-2-3, is staging a full-blown rebellion.
people (two of whom are my siblings who feel obligated) to see my brilliant prose. Wish me luck, folks. I have a feeling I’m going to need more than
just F1 for help this time. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to Google what a “TikTok challenge” is. SMH my increasingly bewildered digital head.
The Fun Doesn’t Stop Here!
Your daily dose of digital delight continues below!
Want more tech-related chaos? Check out my post on my inbox’s wild assumptions about my age!
Struggling with budgeting? Check out my post on my dog’s chaotic influence on my finances!
Thanks so much for your comment! I totally get what you mean – trying to keep up with how fast tech is changing can feel really overwhelming sometimes. And you're right, that gap between digital natives and boomers can feel huge, making it tough to even see things the same way. 😉 I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts, and I hope you'll take a look at some of my other posts too.
Coping with this rapid tech evolution could be daunting. The gap between these digital natives and the boomers is so wide we couldn't even see eye to eye.
Thought that digital antihistamine could be of good use afterall😋