With technology, these are the good ol' days - DadevilleRecord.com

The Outlook has featured stories this week where new technology is being introduced into areas that have traditionally been manual or paper rather and ink than digital.

Sen. Tom Whatley and Rep. Mark Tuggle visited with us about autonomous vehicles, cars that actually drive themselves. They talked about the fear of the unknown and how the rise of this technology could actually damage the state’s economy as traffic tickets that help fund government would be a thing of the past. Think about it, if cars were so smart they wouldn’t crash, why would we need insurance?

Tuggle called it “real George Jetson stuff.”

He’s right. It is a bit unnerving to think of being in a car where no human has control, unless you are riding with me where some people say they would rather ride with a robot at the wheel.

A story from the Tallapoosa County Board of Education heralded the inclusion of money in the upcoming budget so students could be issued laptop computers so that textbooks could give way to digital editions. Comments on our social media outlets were critical of the move fearing that students would goof off rather than learn. They also feared that teachers would leave instruction to the computers rather than being hands-on with the kids.

I must admit that I’m not the most tech-savvy guy in the world, but I look at my own job at how technology has changed our business.

When I started we typed on Smith-Carona typewriters and a typist entered those words into a machine called a linotype, where the copy came out on paper and had to be waxed and carefully laid out on the pages. (No lead type was before my time.)

Pictures required developing film and printing pictures and color photos were not possible in the small newspapers where I started.

Now we take digital photographs and I can write my story anywhere, even from my phone, email it back and it can be digitally designed and shipped through cyberspace to the press. The first time it hits paper is when it is printed and ready to be delivered.

I can even do stories live on the Internet. That’s almost like having a press that runs 24-7.

I guess my point is we shouldn’t fear technology. It may be difficult to get the hang of, but once you do it a few times it becomes second nature.

Just think about purchasing things today. Would we ever have imagined a day where we don’t need actual money?

Last weekend I was covering a football game at Reeltown and the smoke coming from the grills at the concession stand was almost intoxicating. You could almost taste the burgers and hot dogs sizzling on the grill and by halftime, my mouth was watering. So with a break in the action I started to make my way up the stairs and it hit me. I had no cash, just a wallet full of plastic. 

I usually try to hide a bill or two away in a hiding place in my wallet, but it’s not unusual for me to have no more cash on me than what’s in the ashtray in my truck at times. So luckily for my cholesterol level, I had to pass on the burgers Friday night. I must admit I was tempted to go to the truck and raid the ashtray when they announced that everything left was half price in the fourth quarter.

Almost nobody carries cash anymore, a new study shows, and those who do, don’t carry much. Roughly eight in 10 people carry less than $50 cash in their wallets on a regular basis, according to a recent report from Bankrate.com. Close to 50 percent of Americans carry $20 or less each day, including nine percent who don’t carry any cash at all. And only 7 percent carry more than $100 each day.

The findings aren’t too surprising at a time when most consumers are able to swipe their debit cards to buy a pack of gum and use smartphones to beam payment to the cash register to buy an afternoon cup of joe.

I do miss getting a paycheck and having that feeling of wealth when I cash it at the bank, but come to think of it, it never lasted long after the bills were paid.

Us older folks can wax poetic about the good ol’ days. But think about how good we have it now. Sure there are some big issues we face today, but haven’t we always had issues?

All I know is that we are living in an amazing time in history where technology makes things available that we never thought possible. I love it. If I could just get this VCR to stop flashing 12:00 I’d love it even more.

Sneed is the editor of the Tallapoosa Publishers newspapers.

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