In my early travel years, one had to get
somewhere in order to place a simple phone call to somewhere else…
Never
mind a call with an accompanying picture or –Gasp!!- a real time video of the
interlocutor. This was Star Trek stuff, not meant for real life, only for Mr.
Spock and the likes. And while I am not sure the technical advancements and
embellishments accomplished since then are a real life enhancement bonus, they are
here to stay and are evolving at a much faster pace than we ourselves can.
Today, a
cell phone (and all its peripherals)
is a ubiquitous (I had to dig in for that
last one!!) artifact which has become more important than the food we eat.
In fact, it tells us which food we should and should not eat…Everywhere you
look and everyone you see is hanging from one of those. We can’t seem to contemplate the consequences of being without it...
Weather, mail,
news flashes (the ones we may want and
the ones we want to do without), junk, the latest gossip, political stuff,
pictures, FB, whatsapp, whoapp, whenapp… and, of course… the one with the
little birdie that makes more noise than a flock of Birds of Paradise… yes,
that one, Twitter.
This last
has, actually, done a favor to us all by limiting the amount of stuff we can
put on at one time. It has also opened the way for a new, condensed version of English
and, apparently, the way to the future of the language. “f u cn rd this ur rly rd” or something like this will permeate our
children’s and grandchildren’s books at some time.
I look at
FB a couple of times a day and don’t even have it in my phone (Too much space and too many interruptions to
my day) but I have to confess that Twitter has become a regular companion. It
began as a simple way to follow some folk and learn of their ideas. Then,
little by little it grew into a quasi-political forum which includes people
from 4 continents and some 16 countries.
Yes, most
of my correspondents are folk with whom I share a right-of-center viewpoint but
I have also had the opportunity to have some lively and good discussions from
folk who represent the other side of the divide. A majority of the entries are
in Spanish, since most friends are in South America and Spain but now it seems
that the US based contingent is growing…
The dove is
on its way to become a big eagle. In countries where governments try to shut
down communications to avoid critical comments or the spread of bad news, this
little bird has flown high and has kept all informed as to what is going on. It
has become a critical social medium where citizens can tell each other real stuff in real time. The Tweets have become a thorn on the side of budding tyrants and
there is little they can do about it.
That is
one function which can be lauded and praised. Even if it means we have to put
up with some “famous” people meaningless diatribe once in a while. Small price to pay.
The virtual world, a world without frontiers.
Be Well… Be Back!!!
Final
Notes:
· Pray for those who are fighting an illness
which may take them away from their loved ones… Every request is heard, and
counts!!
· Follow us on Twitter … @RJAsPandora
