My oldest brother (he'll be 88 next month) is 16 years and change older than I am. By the time I was old enough to really understand family, he was married and gone. I'd see him and his family maybe twice a year - usually Thanksgiving or Christmas.

For the next 30 or so years, we communicated sporadically - a card for Christmas, a letter here and there. I didn't really know who he was on a personal level.

When I retired from the Navy (32 years ago last September) we got to know each other much better. I've made several trips to Michigan to visit, they've been here once.

When I retired for good, it became a monthly phone call, nothing deep, just touching base and catching up.

About a year ago, his kids finally talked him into a smart phone. Now we text pretty much every morning. Again just a weather report and plans (if any...) for the day.

I just got a call from him. He hadn't received a text from me in 48 hours and wanted to make sure everything was okay.

So...from a letter every 6 months or so to a text every day. They say technology is isolating us, reducing human contact to 40 characters or less. That's no doubt true in some cases, but it's also a boon for those of us separated by hundreds of miles.

There's no doubt that technology can be used for good. You and your brother text a little each morning, and that's great! But, have you ever been out in public and seen a couple together - and both of them are strapped to their cell phones and totally incommunicative with each other?

Another effect of mobile communications- probably- is literacy rate. How ya gonna be 14 years old and not send/receive 500 texts a day? Though much of it is in internet shorthand, youngsters must be literate in order to socialize.

I have no data to support my belief, but it seems to me that a couple of decades ago, literacy was a real problem, but these days, not so much.

I had an Aunt who lived in France. We spoke once per year for less than a minute. Rates were sky high. The same with my grandparents in Kansas. When I was in college there was one phone on the dorm floor. Phone calls were very limited. We wrote letters. It is nice to communicate more frequently and affordably. I have never spoken on the phone while driving or walking around.
TV remotes beat having to find the pliers to change the channel selector as it had been rounded out.

I have known several men who moved here from countries just to the south of us who could not read Spanish or English. One who could only sign his timesheet with an "X" (witnessed by his friend who had helped fill it out). All of them had working cell phones, but there wasn't much texting going on.

It is hard to imagine how countries that fail their citizens so badly are ever going to haul themselves out of their morass.

quote:

Originally posted by synthplayer:
There's no doubt that technology can be used for good. You and your brother text a little each morning, and that's great! But, have you ever been out in public and seen a couple together - and both of them are strapped to their cell phones and totally incommunicative with each other?

Indeed, hence my comment about reducing human contact.

Never thought I'd like texting but over the years I've found it's a great tool for short communications.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
I have no data to support my belief, but it seems to me that a couple of decades ago, literacy was a real problem, but these days, not so much.

It's still a problem, just manifested in different ways.

In the same way some people are unable to differentiate between slang and standard/formal/proper language, young ppl are often unable to code switch out of internet shorthand.

The generation that has never been w/o wireless internet is also nearly completely reliant on auto-correct for spelling & grammar.

I also hear all the time that aside from high-achiever students, schoolkids are hardly taught how to write anymore and can hardly put together a coherent essay. Why should they if the critical state-mandated tests they're required are strictly multiple choice?

quote:

also hear all the time that aside from high-achiever students, schoolkids are hardly taught how to write anymore and can hardly put together a coherent essay. Why should they if the critical state-mandated tests they're required are strictly multiple choice?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I write reports on a daily basis in my work. I have no time for someone who lacks basic written communication. My children have that ability.

It is the difference between you owning the technology or the technology owning you.

quote:

Originally posted by SpinZone:
It is the difference between you owning the technology or the technology owning you.

That's a good way to put it. With all the young people I meet here the trend I notice is a 100% reliance on it without knowing how to or where to look if you didn't have youtube in your hand.

The ability to read a map, recently told by one person they don't need to know, they have GPS on their phone.

The fact that some folks don't realize the skill needs to be enhanced with technology instead of replaced by it is frustrating.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Never thought I'd like texting but over the years I've found it's a great tool for short communications.

It got better once we dumped those flip phones with only a 12 key keypad.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Another effect of mobile communications- probably- is literacy rate. How ya gonna be 14 years old and not send/receive 500 texts a day? Though much of it is in internet shorthand, youngsters must be literate in order to socialize.

I have no data to support my belief, but it seems to me that a couple of decades ago, literacy was a real problem, but these days, not so much.

There's an xkcd comic discussing this exact phenomenon. The gist is:

"Imagine kids suddenly start playing catch literally all the time. Everywhere they go, they throw balls back and forth, toss them in the air, and hurl them at trees and signs - nearly every waking hour of their lives ... Do you think their generation will suck at baseball because they learned sloppy skills?"