..........the good 'ole days of 1977.

This is kind of a follow-up on some thinking that my good friends over at "What's Crackalacky?" stated in a recent post about all the advancements made in our lives. The past thirty years were mentioned - I can't believe that I've been out of high school for thirty years! Advancements in technology are the most noticeable. Would we have ever believed in the 1977 that almost everyone would have a wireless phone at their fingertips, or that the internet would make information and communication so fast and easy? I can't even imagine what will happen in the next thirty years - I hope I'm around to write another post about it.

It's great to be positive about all our advancements, and I wish that I could do just that; but, "advancements" bring negative to us as well. I felt much safer in 1977 than I do now. I didn't worry about my identity being stolen and being thrust into financial ruin by computer hackers. Internet sex preditors were not an issue. Protecting your child from preditors meant making sure they didn't get into a car with strangers. The press was more believeable and, I think, more respectful (even though Bob Woodward started a reign of political issue terror that the US is still suffering from today).

Are we smarter now? With all this information and communication at our fingertips; shouldn't we be smarter and more wise? I think in many respects we are, but we have lost some of our innocence. We are so very cautious about our every move, and technology has made us that way. Protect your pin number to the debit card at all costs!! Do you remember the Sinfeld episode where George wouldn't give his pin number? There is always someone out there trying to discover a new and inovative way to steal from us.

There is no doubt that it is fantastic to have all the power of information right at our fingertips. I don't know how I would make it without internet communication if it were suddenly taken completely away. My wife recently got her Masters Degree in educational technology. One of her last classes had her on an internet discussion with an instructor from Australia!!! She was sitting next to me, and while I watched TV, she talked to Australia and worked on graphics on the computer. That wasn't going to happen in 1977! In fact, you would have probably been lucky just to have a clear phone connection to Australia then!

And then, the greatest advancement of all in the the past thirty years - blogs! Wow, what a great way to express your thoughts. I guess mine were somewhat negative in this post. I apologize for that. Thanks, "What's Crackalacky?" for some good reflection time. I still can't belive I graduated from high school thirty years ago!