Born between 1946 and 1964, the Boomer generation has witnessed a monumental shift in technology. Imagine growing up at a time when televisions had only two channels, as my mother-in-law recalls from her childhood.
One respondent shared in an online forum that, growing up, they had a “party line” telephone, which means that when they called someone, others could listen in on that conversation.
One interesting issue with the advancement of technology is that hardly anyone remembers phone numbers anymore. I remember teaching my Gen-Z daughters our phone numbers, but nowadays, it’s all digital, as one person noted.
One respondent answered best how technology can be helpful and harmful. “I feel like technology has worsened my memory. If I don’t remember something, I look it up.
“I was in high school when the Internet revolutionized everything. When I was 16, it took about 45 minutes to download a .mp3 off Napster, and AIM was the biggest social network around.”
One contributor highlighted that technology goes far beyond television and computers: “In school, educational films and documentaries came on reels of 16 mm film that ran 15 minutes.