Video chatting through online venues have enabled my son to stay instantly connected with his
friends he left behind when we moved recently.
As I write this post,
he is chatting with a friend back in South Dakota. They are using funny filters
on Facebook messenger while they video chat. I would never have imagined such a
way of connecting with friends when I was a kid.
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| Jacob video chats with his friend. |
All I had was a pen, stamps and – if I was lucky – a pretty set of stationery on which to write my letters. While my kiddo gets instant communication, he will likely never know the excitement of waiting days, if not weeks, for a letter from a friend. As a child, I corresponded regularly with a friend or two from Bible camp, and even overseas with a cousin in Sweden. It was an exciting day when I would find a letter addressed to me in the mail box!
As much as I enjoyed writing letters, I remember marveling at
the technology used on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Much of the technology
envisioned on that show is currently in use, such as handheld touchscreen
computers (aka tablets and cell phones) and laptop computers able to connect
with other computers. I also remember thinking, “We’ll never see that in our lifetime.”
It seemed so amazing!
And now, my son is
sitting on the couch, using my phone to video chat with a friend while I type
on a computer capable of connecting wirelessly to another computer across the
world. I don’t think we’re to the point of connecting on an interstellar level
yet. 😉
While none of this is
new information, nor is it particularly exciting to most people, it is a fun
way to reminisce about the differences between my childhood communications and
my son’s.
