8.02.2011

Challenge #16—Then and Now

Do you remember how when you were younger you thought the new technology was so cool?  I remember when I had my first email account, and I thought it was amazing that I could “talk” to people through the computer!  Well, that’s what this week’s challenge is all about!
The Challenge: How has technology changed since you were younger?
You can approach this by recounting the many different things that have changed, or just by focusing on one thing and recording the different parts about it.  Also, you can record each thing in depth, or just skim the surface of each one.  
However you want to do it—write it down, take pictures, type it up, blog about it, scrapbook it, or even do a video!  If you any old items still, go dig them out and record the differences in size, speed, shapes, etc.
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What Kim did:  (Kim does a new post on her private blog and this is what she wrote.)


When I was little and my parents needed to get in contact with me, this is how they would do it:


In high school, I was lucky enough to borrow my dad's cell phone every once in a while since I was so busy with sports and other extra curricular activities. I remember feeling cool to have a cell phone, but also feeling embarrassed about it. The battery alone was bigger than my cell phone today.

Now when people need to get a hold of me, they can email me, text me, call me, facebook me... you name it... and I can do it all on my phone and almost anywhere.

Another helpful change:
When I was a kid my car seat looked something like this. It was just a booster with a fat padded bar that went in front of me. I don't remember the seat belt coming in front of me or having anything behind me, maybe it did and I just don't remember, but I do remember having a seat with a big fat bar as my car seat. (Note:this is not me in the picture)

Now I am a lucky mom who gets to buckle her kids into something a little more safe, sturdy, and cute:

I'm really glad these things have improved over the years.
(My side note:  I didn’t even have a car seat!  I remember laying in the back of the car!)
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What I did: 
I thought it’d be fun to focus on my phone for this one.  It has become one of my most used items (technologically speaking), and I often marvel at all the things my current phone can do!  I made a digital scrapbook page (surprise, surprise) showcasing 3 phones—my first phone, my first cell phone, and my current phone.  

then and now i
The journaling is hard to read, so if you really want to know what it says, it says:
Ahh, the story of my phones. 
When I was 12, my friend across the street got THE coolest phone I’d ever seen--it was red, yellow & blue with these huge buttons on it.  I wanted it so bad, that I begged my parents to let me get one too.  For Christmas that year, it was all I wanted.  I was thrilled to get it, and felt so cool that I had my own phone in my own room!  Yes, I shared a line with the family, but I had my own phone! 
Fast forward to 10 years later.  I was in college and affordable cell phones were coming out.  I convinced my room mate that we should drop the land line phone and both get cell phones (because then I wouldn’t have to pay long distance to call my family!).  It was quite large and I could talk on it.  That’s all. 
Another 10 years later, and here I am with another cell phone.  I can speak into this one and it will dial for me.  I can text someone with the keyboard or even by speaking it, I can surf the internet, check my email, check the weather forecast, play games, set multiple alarms, listen to thousands of songs that I have, get turn by turn navigation, update my Facebook status, keep grocery lists and notes, and it even syncs my calendar to Quinn’s calendar, my computer and Facebook! 
20 years ago when I got that first phone, I didn’t know what cool was!
(I just realized that this journaling makes it sound like I’ve only had 2 cell phones in my life!  Um, not true.  I think I’m on my 6th one—and each one has been able to do more and more!)
Now I challenge you to go record about how technology has changed in your life!
 Credits:  Fonts—Small Fonts (Then), TXT Longhand (and), My Own Topher (Now), Pea Sugar Noodles (journaling).  All other paper and embellishments I made myself.

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