The last 2 decades there have been significant technical advancements. These technical changes have a deep impact on our lives and those around us. The pace of these changes become especially clear when kids are confronted with “old” technology.
My son loves playing outside (like all kids) and tends to stay out longer than we like. So we thought that it might be a good idea to buy him a phone. We figured that this way he could call us or that we could call him whenever he was out playing with a friend. But with him being 10 years we decided that it might not be a good idea to get him a smartphone but to buy a classic Nokia instead.
We were going for a classic Nokia model that has no internet capabilities or advanced operating system like Android or iOS.
I set out to the local electronics store to buy the phone for him. Satisfied with my purchase I headed home and presented my gift to my son.
The conversation that followed went something like this:
(me) Hey son, we have a surprise, we bought you a phone
(son) oh wow….. very excitedly starts tearing at the box and pulls out the Nokia phone.
Confused he looks at the phone from all sides.
(son) What's this?
(me) that's your new phone so that we can call you whenever you are out playing.
(son) I don't understand why is the screen so small?
(me) It's not a touch screen, you use the buttons instead
(son) Looks at me confused
(me) You see it is not a smartphone.
(son) But how do you work the apps?
(me) Well….you can't exactly install apps, you see it's not a smartphone.
(son) does it have any games on it?
(me) Yes it does…look it has this game called snakes
(me) Showing off the snakes game
(son) (looking at me with an expression like I just took away his favorite toy)... I don't know what to do with this…
While cleaning out the ol' attic we came across some VHS tapes. My daughter who found the tapes picked one up and asked. What's this?
Well, that's a video tape, it has movies on it, I answered her.
My daughter laughed, highly amused. Her face clearly saying "yeah right"…No seriously, what does it do?
Again we tried to explain it to my daughter.
It's a casette with tape inside that you can use to copy movies…no not from the internet. You then put it into a machine called a videorecorder that is connected to your TV so that you can watch the movie.
Totally intrigued she kept staring at the video tape (but still not buying our story)…
Yeah, that's really funny but what does it really do?
So I was just chillin' watching the movie Seven Samurai in black and white when my son came in. He sat down beside me and asked….what's wrong with the TV? I couldn't stop myself from smiling. Nothing, I told him. This movie is in black and white, they didn't have color back then….
My son paused trying to digest this new (but for him confusing) information.
Then he said, ok I understand, they didn't started getting color until there were cowboys, right?
Now I was the one confused, what do you mean?
Well I saw a cowboy movie yesterday and it was in color so they clearly had color movies then.
Took me while to explain it to him.
Have you ever experienced kids who were confused by outdated tech? Let me know in the comment section.
