Analog Girl in a Digital World

I am always quite thrilled, in that small-t thrilled way, to hang my new calendar up and crack open my new At-A-Glance each January. There's something hopeful about all that fresh scheduling space and all those pretty pictures to look forward to each month.

But the other day when I mentioned this, my kids looked at me quizzically, as they so often do since they went away to college. "Why do you need a wall calendar?" one son asked.

"So I can see what date it is," I explained.

"You can Google that, you know," he replied, scornfully.

"I know, but I like to see what day goes with what date, and how many more days are left in the week and how many more weeks are left in the month," I replied, patiently.

"Pfffttt" is the closest I can come to the sound he made next, something between bafflement and pity. Poor old girl, stuck in the last century.

Remember when the Generation Gap described a dichotomy in parents' and kids' musical taste, political proclivities or sexual mores? No more. I would like to posit that today's Generation Gap involves the analog vs. digital divide.

What distinguishes my attitudes and habits from those of my Millenial offspring? It's wearing a wristwatch and reading the print version of the newspaper, and even watching the television set.

It's a spatial thing. I seem to need the physicality of objects to orient myself in space and time. And not only do I rely on a watch, I actually prefer an ancient two-hands-that-point-at-the hours-and-minutes timepiece.

But why oh why do you need a watch, or even a clock, when your phone can wake you up and tell you the time? my kids will ask.

And why trek outside to pick up an inky newspaper (or several, at my house) made from dead trees when you can read any number of them online, for free?

The other day, when I informed my son that I had recorded his favorite TV show for him, he made another one of those "pffffttt" noises. "I can watch it online, you know," he said.

"Yes, but I thought you might enjoy watching it on the big screen in the comfortable living room, instead of hunched in front of your computer," I replied, teeth clenched.

He smiled patiently. "Thanks, Mom," he said, patting my hand.

I didn't say anything, but I noticed later that he did watch the show in the living room, on the teevee.

Score one for the old girl. There's some life in that analog universe yet.

Updating Your Website?

Check out this great post, with terrific visuals, from the small business folks at American Express OPEN.

I agree with the commenters: Not only is it a big expense and aesthetic hurdle for many small companies to host a fantastic website, but the bigger problem comes in updating it and keeping it fresh.

If you don't have someone in-house, it usually has to be done under contract and becomes a low priority for the busy entrepreneur.

h/t to my web guru, Paula Johnson, for the link.

Tweet, Tweet-Tweet, Tweet-Tweet

Yes, I worked at Disneyland back in the day and listened to the Enchanted Tiki Room soundtrack one too many times. (My restaurant, Plaza Pavilion, was housed with the Tiki Room ride and the Tiki Terrace, a Polynesian-themed restaurant that was well-known among Disney "cast members" for only hiring Asian employees).

In today's terms, "tweeting" is a technological innovation that one (apparently) must participate in to be a valid member of society. Or at least a smart marketer and savvy solopreneur.

Buzz Bissinger, once a Twitter skeptic, has become an enthusiastic convert, according to The New York Times.

I feel more like the Times' Peggy Orenstein, who wrote an insightful column in last Sunday's magazine. It's worth a read, but here's a bit that particularly resonated with me:

The expansion of our digital universe — Second Life, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter — has shifted not only how we spend our time but also how we construct identity. For her coming book, “Alone Together,” Sherry Turkle, a professor at M.I.T., interviewed more than 400 children and parents about their use of social media and cellphones. Among young people especially she found that the self was increasingly becoming externally manufactured rather than internally developed: a series of profiles to be sculptured and refined in response to public opinion. “On Twitter or Facebook you’re trying to express something real about who you are,” she explained. “But because you’re also creating something for others’ consumption, you find yourself imagining and playing to your audience more and more. So those moments in which you’re supposed to be showing your true self become a performance. Your psychology becomes a performance.”

It's that blurring between the public and the private - that sense of being "on stage" at any given moment during the day - that gives me pause and makes me a reluctant technology adopter.

No doubt one day I will tweet like the birdies tweet, several times a day. But for now, I'm content to stay quiet.