Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Don't be a Digital Deadhead!


   Everywhere one can find an advertisement for the newest phone to surf the web and watch movies on. Remember when a phone was to actually communicate and have a real vocal conversation? I know, what a crazy medieval thought! Recently I was at a local CD store in Cedar City, Utah and was having a great conversation with one of the owners. I watched someone come in and text the entire time they were in the store, never once looking up even when asking what artists say a particular song.  Then to add insult to injury, once this guy had his answer he made the comment he’d just go home and download it.
   What is becoming the norm is scary. We’re tossing aside such basic things because technology is becoming the in thing now. Everyone goes on about how their phones can tell you where to go and what to wear. We’re becoming slaves to digital while companies like Apple monopolizes off Itunes, all the while slowly killing the music industry and small business, yet some of you cheer in the digital age as dreams are dying.
   Generation to generation, first editions of books have been past down. Now instead of a wonderful hard backed book that will last forever if taken care of people are choosing a file. I cracked open a book yesterday and discovered it belonged to my late grandfather. Made me smile and remember all the good times of he and I reading together when I was a kid. Treasured memories like those who owned books before us that have been passed down will become extinct because amazon thinks the kindle is where is at.
   I’m not saying that all digital ideas are unwise, but some truly are. For example, say you go into a local independently owned CD or bookstore, right? You buy a CD that you can get on Itunes for a whole dollar more then the digital price. You’ve got a physical thing that if taken care of can last forever; you’ve kept your money in the community, so in turn that will feed it. Go and buy a book, write something in it that means something, and give it to someone you love. Hold on to these things and remember that just because it’s faster, easier or vastly talked about doesn’t mean it’s good. In the end we need to remember that being a digital deadhead will only take us down a peg. Nothing can replace human conversation and the ability to actually hold our possessions in our hands. I encourage you all to think about it!
 

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