Text, Email or Phone -- What's Your Preference?

 

“The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting.”  Dave Barry

 

Communication has certainly changed through the years.  Way back when Pony Express riders transported the mail across the country it took just about forever to send mail and receive an answer.    Now even though some of our grandchildren may believe our lifetime might just have been during the time of the Pony Express riders or even before Alexander Graham Bell become a popular household name, it definitely is not true.

We were all very much raised with the telephone. Some of us were on party lines.  Remember the party lines?  You had to count the long and short rings in order to know if that ring was for your household or one of the other five households on your party line. If you wanted to make a call, you needed to be sure no one else was talking on the phone.  You could always listen in or even interrupt the conversation but that really wasn’t a polite thing to do.  It was a time when we were all taught telephone manners. 

Communication today is very different than just a few years ago.  We have choices now in how we want to communicate with family, friends and even for business.  The internet and cell phones didn’t exist just a short time ago.  Today, it would be hard to imagine living without either. 

 

Not everyone has converted to the internet or even to cell phones.  However, almost everyone has.  If you want to communicate with others and travel, you have to have some way of keeping that connection.  There are a few out there who I know that are not internet saavy and there are a few out there who don’t have a cell phone.  In my little RV circle this is more the exception than the rule.  Our communication choice has a lot to do with what we are comfortable with.  It’s not that folks in my little circle are “as old as dirt”, it’s just that some of these communicating tools were developed during their lifetime and they never quite made the transition to it.  However, if they haven’t, their spouse certainly has.

However, almost everyone has. There are a few out there that I know who are not internet saavy and there are a few out there who don’t have a cell phone.  In my little circle this is more the exception than the rule.  Our communication choice has a lot to do with what we are comfortable with.  It’s not that folks in my little circle are “as old as dirt”, it’s just that some of these communicating tools were developed during their lifetime and they never quite made the transition to it.  However, if they haven’t, their spouse certainly has.  How else would we keep tabs on each other?    

The internet has certainly become a big player in the communicating field.  Heck, the internet has become a big player in just about every field.  Almost everyone has at least one email account and many of us have more than one.  After all, we’ve got to have that extra one or two to give out to all the places that want it in order to give you their discount.  Then, they bombard your email account with spam.  Grocery stores aren’t too bad but give it to World Market, Harbor Freight or Barnes & Noble and you’ll notice your mailbox fills up fast. 

I’m an expert on emails.  How do I know I’m an expert?  It’s because I recently discovered I had over 13,000 of them in my main inbox.  That’s the downside of emailing.  If you don’t clean it out, it accumulates.  If it accumulates, it takes forever to clean it up.  Well, I'm finally in the process of cleaning out this gobble-de-gunk.

 

Regardless the amount of spam mail we now get, having an email account is a necessity in my book.   That’s where Dish Network, AT&T,  Mellenicom and American Express send my bills. It's also where my banks send the statements and the list goes on and on.  I'm certain this change in technology is what is causing the post office to lose billions.  People aren't buying stamps. The internet has been around for about 20 years so why didn't they see it coming?   For us using the internet and corresponding with emails (or even Skype) is a way of life.  It’s something we have to have and something we can’t imagine not having access to. 

Internet connection has changed too.   Remember dial-up internet?  Dial-up certainly wouldn't work for RVers and neither does cable or DSL.  Most of us are thankful for our aircards and satellite connections no matter how restrictive they can be.  What other options do we have other than using the internet supplied at RV parks   ... not very many. 


We rarely call our phones a telephone anymore.  We call it a cell phone.  We can communicate on them similar to a telephone by putting in a phone number and waiting for the phone to ring.   Now it seems almost everyone has their own cell phone and are able to use it all the time. 

We can reach for that cell phone to read our emails, search the internet or even send a text.  You will never get some to get a smart phone.  You will also never get some to give up their smart phone.  It's their world.

There are always those who say they like to hear the voice because it gives them a closeness. Then, there are others who would rather send a text.  What category are you in?

I'm a texter.  I think it's faster.  Terry would rather talk than text.  I can get to the point and say what’s important at my convenience but not everyone texts either.  With a phone call it has to be at the convenience of both parties but not necessarily so with other methods.  A text is fast, it’s quick, it's quiet and it's usually misspelled in some way or other.  Either it’s because text-talk is a whole new language and you’ve learned it or it’s because your fingers are fatter than the keys and you’re always in a hurry.   I have fat fingers.

Can you tell that my mind wanders to many different subjects when we're not on the road? That will soon change though.  Summer is flying by and cooler weather is just around the corner.

'Tis life on the road.