Welcome to the 21st Century

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity" - Albert Einstein

Out of the blue a friend of mine texted me. And you're thinking, why is that such a big deal? People text all the time. They've created a new way of talking because of IM and texting. It's taken over the world, they need to create laws to be texting while driving, etc.

Well, my friends this was unusual because this friend SWORE she would never text (And this is one of those stubborn people who generally don't go back on their stances). I'm not certain what provoked this response... probably the original cost of texting. Notice I said, "original" since unlimited texting plans have been around for a while. (sidenote: I personally love the efficiency of texting - as a person who's on the phone ALOT for business during the day, being able to text someone details instead of having to call is GREAT, eliminate some small talk.)

It took me a couple of days to ask when she started texting but when I did, her answer was (verbatim here, folks): "The same day B (her Hubby) signed up for facebook, we called it welcome to the 21st Century Day."

This comes to me on the same day that a friend of mine told me (in person) to check my facebook page for our plans for the following evening... I laughed and asked her if it was too much effort to talk to me in person since I was standing right in front of her.

And also on the day when a business colleague started a meeting by asking who around the table twitters? (Want to follow me?) I was the only one in a group of 6. I must add that I was the only one under the age of 45 as well. He wanted to tell us all about message streaming for healthcare... an idea that I've yet to buy into. Maybe in a couple of years...

This conversation segued into a conversation about how cell phones are starting to be used for traffic predictions and how soon when you walk into stores, they will know who you are and what you purchased the last time you were there. A little "1984" scary idea to me if you must know.

It was just interesting. How you can't avoid it, as my friends attempted, you have to join and give over your information to the Big Brother of Technology.