It’s weird how technology is adopted in my home. I met and married a software engineer without really knowing what I was getting myself into :) and while he certainly is geeky about some things (can’t tell you the number of times dinner conversations have devolved into Mr. Zoë and his friends discussing some coding principle or other technological such-in-such with me and other not-so-tech-savvy people rolling our eyes) he is also very un-geeky about others.
Our house is a prime example of our Luddite-like lifestyle in comparison to some of our friends (and even family members). We view our favorite shows on a very old TV via analogue cable, do not have Tivo, just bought our first real DVD player and, as of the last garage sale, do not even own a gaming system of any kind – though there has been increase post-holiday requests for a Wii.
But in terms of actually adoption, it seems that I’ve been the one to accept many of the recent advances in technology as it relates to social media and networking. Evan first looked on at my blogging attempts with curiosity, but as blogging hit an all time high crescendo I started hearing grumbles and blasphemies against my beloved medium and some of my favorite purveyors of the pastime. This turned into a weekly missive on his part about how he “hated bloggers” which of course was a little perturbing to me.
We recently came to an understanding about blogging rooted in my explanation that blogging isn’t journalism. Though, I have to admit I wonder how soon it will be before we see far more litigation in this space related to libel or other perceived slanderous comments.
Now we’ve moved on to comparing how we catch up on information from our favorite sites. My preferred method is through RSS readers and every now and then will actually visit a site if needed. Evan is decidedly old fashioned either bookmarking or even, heaven forbid, typing in the url. I’m able to make it through about 100 different resources or more in a relatively short period of time while he takes much longer to peruse through fewer sites. It’s come to a head recently as I have been able to get ahead of him in reading about the latest hot Hollywood gossip.
With how fast social technologies are innovating I wonder how quickly even some of the self proclaimed geeks will be able to keep up. I compare it to my own experiences with my friends and family that aren’t quite as tech savvy – though my dad did recently create his own MySpace page – and wonder how people just a few years younger then I are adapting and using tools that I never dreamed possible to create networks and reach out to the masses. What will my kids get into that I will have little understanding or interest in?
At the same time, it underscores the fact that personal preferences and behavior also play a huge role in the use of these new fangled inventions. Not everyone will jump into using the next greatest tool. I guess the key for businesses is that they don’t have to get everyone to like them, just enough that it’s profitable for them!