Technicalities

For the first time in my Generation X life, I picked up one of the many manuals that came with my new cell phone and started reading. Maybe it is a right of passage. Perhaps it is a sign that I am ready for parenthood; for kids to walk into the kitchen, grab whatever new gadget has arrived and have it programmed and upgraded within minutes while I sit back, exasperated from trying to pry the gadget out of layers of adult-proof packaging. Sign or no, what this incident has confirmed is that technology has rounded a bend that surpasses my technological intuition.

 By no means did I ever describe myself as a techie, or even believe that I was technologically savvy. There are many aspects of blogging that are still out of my league; yet I got a blog up and running. For the most part, if a new computer, printer, dvd player, cell phone etc came into my life, I had it up and running with basic features without having to read a page.

That all changed yesterday when I had to open the “quick start guide” to figure out how to turn on my new cell phone. It reminded of the Sarah Jessica Parker’s character, Carrie, in the recent Sex and the City movie, when she is handed an I-phone and responds, “I need something with buttons.”  I was desperately searching for a way to make familiar buttons appear on the gigantic, blank screen as I talked to a very patient – and no doubt amused – Verizon Wireless customer support operator.

Stack of manuals and box of software and accessories for new phone. Picture take with new phone!

Once I found the on/off button and figured out how to display the number pad and navigate the menu on my phone I was off and running. As of this morning, I have downloaded all of my contacts from my old phone to the new one, set my ringtone back Earl Scrugg’s Foggy Bottom Breakdown, checked my e-mail, sent two text messages, and made and received phone calls. Yet I am certain there is more bewilderment to come. I have only read the Quick Start Guide and a few pages into the thinner of the two thick manuals. A USB cord and a CD-Rom that apparently have some significant relationship to my phone still lay in the box, swaddled in packaging. I think I will save those for another day when I have to time to wade through more technical writings. Today I will savor my successes.