In-between Technology and Old School

At the grand old age of 28 I would say we hit a golden time of being able to appreciate technology and have the ability to embrace it, but also we still appreciate the way things were before the advent of the home computer and the internet.

I can remember as kids we would spend our summers out until dusk, building dens for torn car seats. We use to hunt for ages come autumn trying to finding the biggest conkers we could. In winter we would hike to the top of the tallest hill and chuck ourselves down on a polythene sheet as we didn’t have anything else. I recall one time as summer was ending and autumn was starting, me and a friend rafting down a small river on a huge block of polystyrene we found. I went under at a drop off and came up with my lungs half full of water. It was an experience I’ll never forget and a memory that I’m glad I made.

I also recall countless hours a few years later spending all my time playing computer games. With the progression of PCs and broadband came online gaming. A way to play anyone, anywhere. It became all consuming. Late nights, early morning, calling off in real life plans to stay in and play a game. Again, I’m glad I have these memories and I also believe video games play a very important part in society and young people’s development. I just never seemed to be able to strike a balance between embracing technology and also learning how to not rely on it.

Technology has played a huge part in my professional life too. Having worked for a tech-driven company like Apple I probably have a slightly higher knowledge of technology that the national average. I know a lot of people who know a hell of a lot more than me, especially since I currently work in beer. We have such an over-reliance on technology. The amount of times you are with a group of people and you can’t recall who played the lead in a film, everyone jumps straight to their phone to check the answer. After realising how much I do this and asking myself ‘what the hell did people do before we had a computer in our pocket?’. The answer to this is people didn’t really care that much and continued to have a free-flowing conversation. The answer usually came like a lightning bolt a few days later when you were thinking about something else entirely different.

One thing that I have found that influences people’s hobbies is how easy it to get hold of new information, online blog posts and video tuition make it real easy to remove barriers to entry when taking up a new hobby. Someone was telling me the other day that when they were much younger (about 30 years ago) you had to seek out information in what is now a very primitive way. Your time became consumed on one hobby as it was impossible to gather information as easy as it is now. They recalled how that they would spend countless hours listening to the radio for new bands, going in all the record shops and bending the staffs ear about any new releases, going to all the gigs they could. This was the only way they could stay ahead of the latest trends. Now it’s much easier and you can do it all from the comfort of your own bed behind a screen.

I’m a sucker for trying out new hobbies, some stick (like photography), some resurface now and again (snowboarding,camping and fishing) and some just fade away very quickly (too many to list). I don’t see this as a bad thing. I very much see this as a way to try new experiences. You have no idea how good you may be at something until you’ve tried it. I am not going to close my mind to something because I might suck at it or I might not enjoy it. I am happy to have tried and satisfied my curiosity.

I am happy about the fact that I have lived in both worlds, albeit an early introduction to the home computing phenomena. I have experienced what it is like to be bored, to entertain yourself with countless games, to not glue your eyes to a screen for countless hours in the hopes something interesting will happen. Sometimes you need to take a step back from technology and ask yourself ‘what the fuck am I doing?!’ because you become so wrapped up in it losing so much precious time. That’s not to say I don’t indulge in playing a videogame for a few hours when I’m severely hungover, it’s just that sometimes there is a need for detachment from technology.

One big thing I took from this is that you cannot be afraid of a shit experience. Sometimes you have to take chances on doing things that don’t always work out. I have had this a bit with photography. Some really elaborate well planned trips have yielded nothing but poor photos. You just have to accept it. Take a risk and accept the outcome, embrace the experience for what it is.

Thanks for reading,

Andy

— Written while listening to XX —