Out with the Old, In with the New: The Class of 2012

With each graduating class, there is hope for these aspiring individuals to tackle the great issues of the century--there is also the reflection of the iconic things this generation has grown up without. Here are just a few of those items that are rather unfamiliar to me:

Payphones

The only time I even attempted to use one (with little success) was in middle school. I couldn’t figure out whether to insert the money or dial the number first. Many kids were proud owners of cell phones, decreasing the “coolness” of using a payphone. After much effort, I never did make the phone call.

Dial Telephones

Never mind the payphone, I certainly don’t know how to use one of these. The one my father owned years ago had the most obnoxious ring to it. Forget the catchy ringtones available today; there was a blaring screech whenever a call was received.

Records

My first understanding of this music technology was that it was just a “big CD.” I still think of them that way (much to my parents’ amusement).

Floppy Disks

In the sixth grade I stored my writings for English class on these. I quickly became infuriated when my work repeatedly was not saved, costing me hours trying to rewrite stories and essays. That was when we purchased my 64MB flash key for ten dollars (I now have a 4GB one for the same price).

Despite the discontinuation of these gadgets, I’ve grown up with some new technology. I played Blue’s Clues on the first computer my family bought. My elementary school (Zeh School—go zebras!) updated its computers every three years. Typing became the new writing—I’m probably one of few teenagers who remembers cursive.

My first cell phone was a flip phone, my current model has a full keyboard and touch screen, and my next one will be an iPhone. My first iPod was the original iPod shuffle which I then upgraded to the third generation iPod nano.  Black boards were replaced by white boards and those are now being replaced by smart boards.

To me, all this is normal; being surrounded by technology is all I’ve ever known. “Out with the old and in with the new” reoccurs every few months, making me curious as to what will be extinct by my next graduation (I’m venturing a guess that it will be CDs).