Text Messaging Mania

I read somewhere the other day that text messaging has become the primary way that young people communicate with each other. I think a close second is Facebook. Some teenagers and college students send HUNDREDS of text messages a day. I know. I've got teenage daughters. And I teach at a community college. Between classes I see the majority of students either checking their cell phones for text messages or sending text messages. What could all these messages be about? Why would they rather send text messages to each other than talk to the other person on the cell phone, or just have a face-to-face conversation?

Last night I was watching television with my 17-year old daughter, Maria, and we saw an advertisement for a new cell phone that you can talk into and it converts your recorded message into a text message. I turned to Maria and asked her if she would want one of those phones. She said no, that they would just be for people who were too lazy to type a text message. Beside, she said, if you recorded a message, why wouldn't you want the other person to hear that instead of reading it as a text message? Maybe there is still hope.

Can you imagine how we managed to live a mere 10 years ago before everyone had a cell phone? Don't get me wrong. I think technology is a good thing and has improved our lives in many ways. Usually. But sometimes I wonder if we are using the technology or the technology is using us. What do you think?

The iPad

I'm not a power user of technology, but I think I can spot a technology product of dubious value and a limited life expectancy. That's how the iPad strikes me. It seems that Apple produced this new digital tablet because "it could." On one of the late night talk shows recently, the host was joking that people would purchase the iPad just to see what it is. Not a strong product endorsement. My daughter's boyfriend knows a lot about technology. He always has an iPhone in his hand and is constantly checking for text messages from his buddies, e-mail, and searching the Internet to find answers for whatever we happen to be talking about. I asked him about the iPad. With a look of disdain, he said the iPad doesn't do anything more than his iPhone does and he couldn't stick it in his pocket like his iPhone (not that he ever does). I guess Apple has sold a lot of iPads, but something tells me they might not be around long. But I could very well be wrong, especially about technology.

Digital Books? No Thanks.

The demise of printed books has been predicted for many years. With recent advances in technology we have Ebooks, Kindles, PDFs, and so on. I think it will be quite a while until printed books go away because they have become part of our culture. Think of what you can do with a printed book that you can't with a digital book. Many people like to have a book shelf filled with books they have read or intend to read someday. I do. Curling up in bed or in front of a fire with your favorite book is not the same as curling up with a Kindle. It's a different experience. You can dog ear your favorite paperback book and stick it in your back pocket to read later. You can't do that with a Kindle. If you are lucky, you can go to an author signing, buy a book and have the author sign it. I have several signed copies of books that I cherish. Try that with an digital book. Most people would rather read a printed page than a computer screen. I think it will be a while, maybe never, before people stop buying and reading printed books. There will probably always be some die hards, like me, who don't want to give up their library of printed books. Maybe if most people start reading digital books, the prices of printed books will go up. I'll still buy them and put them on my bookshelf.

Are you busy?

In our modern, fast-paced world it seems that people are busier than they were in the past, answering "urgent" e-mail, phone and text messages, attending to family, school, and work responsibilities, and taking care of urgent matters that arise daily. Is this a good thing? Maybe it's a good idea to stop from time to time and ask ourselves what we are so busy doing. In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey shares some important insights on managing our time more effectively, spending less time on urgent, but not-so-important tasks and more time on more important, less urgent tasks. Covey writes about the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. We can go to work and get so caught up responding to e-mail, phone and text messages, and "putting out fires," that we don't have time to get to the important items on that must-do list that we prioritized for the day. Has this ever happened to you? Covey says that we can be very efficient at taking care of pressing, urgent, small things, but not be effective at doing the things we have identified as important in our personal and professional lives. Sometimes "busyness" can even be a form of work avoidance; focusing on small, easy-to-accomplish tasks to avoid tackling those more difficult and important projects that we keep putting off.

Next time you feel too busy and completely overwhelmed by life, school, or work, stop and ask yourself what you are so busy doing, and if you are busy doing the things that are important to you. Depending on your answer, you might want to re-think and prioritize the way you spend your time. In my own life, it has been my experience that I "find" a lot of extra time to do things when I focus on what is important to me.