30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 46: Communication Tools

Today I am going to expand on a point I alluded to a few days ago when I was speaking about the comforts and conveniences of modern living (click here to read that essay): the many and various tools available to me today to aid in communicating with others.

In particular, of course, I am thinking of various digital electronic media that I have to use today that were not available to me when I was starting college. Though I was already interested in computers back then, and even spent my junior year of high school learning about computer programming and data processing, computers were enormous and expensive, and only government agencies and large corporations were making effective use of them.

I went to college with an electric typewriter, stamps, envelopes and stationery. There was a coin-operated telephone in the rear stairwell of our dorm. Those were the tools available to me to maintain contact with my family and friends who were now separated from me physically by a minimum of 3.5 hours by car--a car, by the way, which I did not have. My letters home, and my letters from home, were very rare. Even more rare were the phone calls.

Today, I am sitting in the classroom in our church building, composing this entry on my iPad and listening to Christmas music on the same device. From time to time my iPad emits a soft chirp, notifying me that a new e-mail has arrived and is waiting to be read. Beside me on the table is my mobile telephone, a "smartphone" that also sends and receives e-mail. I am waiting for a phone call from the car dealership that will notify me that Kelly's car has been serviced and is ready for pickup.

If I need to look something up, the Internet is just a few keystrokes away. I can find virtually any piece of information that exists (though I wouldn't understand most of it even if I did look it up!)

In a few more minutes, I will have finished this entry, and one or two more keystrokes from there will publish this essay and make it INSTANTLY ACCESSIBLE to anyone with access to the internet, from ANYWHERE in the world! In theory, 6 billion people could read what I am writing now within minutes of my completing it. (Of course, the number of people who will actually read this is much closer to 6 than to 6 billion, but not because they cannot read it if they want to!

All of this communication technology makes me, a naturally introverted person who finds direct personal communication often awkward and intimidating, feel connected to people who I love, who I care about, and who I want to stay connected to. Granted, reading something I have written, even if it is directly addressed to you, is not an even exchange for a face-to-face conversation. I am often reminded of that fact. I am also aware that not everyone to whom I wish to be connected has access to the internet, and even those who do will not necessarily see what I have written, know that I have written it, or, even if they do, look at it and read it. I understand that.

Even so: writing and publishing this "blog," posting a link to it on Facebook, Tweeting that it is available, e-mailing a link to it, sending a text message, instant message, Kik message, or making a phone call to say that a new essay is available--all of these choices for communicating a simple message were not available to me 30 years, 20 years, or even 5 years ago. By this time next year, I may not even require a keyboard any more, because I will have figured out how to use the "speech-to-text" dictation program already installed on my iPad. For me, a confirmed geek and technophile, it is a great time to be alive!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gifts of technology that assist in communicating messages. May You sanctify my use of these tools for Your service.