The Era of Generation X

The youth of today have so much to thank for given the fact that there are indeed a number of things which the past era of youth had not had the privilege to enjoy.  While there was the beauty in simplicity during my time many decades ago, this did not in any way altogether compensate to what I and the people in my generation lacked in terms of enjoyment.  Yes, there is indeed beauty in simplicity, but the enjoyment and empowerment that one gets from new technologies and being techno-savvy is something to reckon with.

First in my list is the computer, particularly a laptop.  Had this gadget been present before, I could have done a lot of excellent term papers before.  I am an excellent typist on the manual and electric typewriter, a skill I got from my Typing class, one of the subjects that I have to attend to in my Accounting course.    Despite being able to type in a speed far superior than others, this did not make me appreciate the end result of my work because let’s face it, a typewriter does not have the facilities to allow one to manipulate the texts or create designs to make a report attractive to its receiver.  So unlike to the computer, where the user feels to be the master of its own universe.  He can do or redo whatever he wants for his work to his own satisfaction.  The computer’s work is boundless, why it was not invented before is beyond my comprehension.  Oh well, that is what technology is all about after all.

Then, I would not have imagined there would come a time that talking face to face with someone on the other end of the globe could become possible through computers. 

Second to my list is the availability of computer shops.  They are at your beck and call.  The number of computer shops sprouted in every corner of the neighborhood abound.  This gives one access to the technology regardless of wherever he is at the moment.  For a modest fee, one can enjoy the amenities of a computer even outside his home.  Nothing like that was enjoyed during my time.  Even if it was only a typewriter, the availability of which was so hard to find for most of the cases these stuff were normally limited and usually housed only in offices.  I remember the discomfort I experienced each time I asked my father’s secretary for a favor to use the office’s typewriter and I would recall the self guilt I put upon myself each time I stayed long enough thinking I had already  become a nuisance especially in the use of their ink and electricity. 

I wonder now why there weren’t typewriters shop before serving the same purpose those computers shops now serve.  Perhaps, people were not as enterprising as they are now.  Oh well, that too may be a part of evolution as well.  What they had before rather were typists for hire lining in front of the universities or beside them who would work on your paper for a fee. 

Then too, who could deny the mobile phone’s importance to every individuals, households and lifestyle nowadays?  With the emergence of this gadget, everyone you care about is just a text away.  May the youth of today would be prudent enough though to use this only when necessary.  There are instances that use of the same are already beyond what is necessary like courting through texts which I find so obnoxious.  This is a far cry during our youth where the males courted the girls they like through a personalized love letter written in a special stationery.  That one I will never exchange for a text.  Sadly though, courtship through texts becomes a norm already in this age.  Its one example of how one good technology turns one good traditional value upside down.

For all of these that are within the reach of the younger generation, the computer, the computer shops and the mobile phones, may they value these and use it to empower them in a positive way.  Though my generation may not have the opportunity to avail of these different technologies during the time when we needed them the most in the seventies, at least my generation and perhaps those that came before us, has able to catch up with the evolution.  It’s never too late to learn the trend.