They say that everything is online these days. People can download electronic books, send text messages to one another, and make wireless payments. Self-proclaimed futurists are talking about how things like paper money and printed books are on the way out, made obsolete by new technology.
That might seem pretty straightforward, but at the same time I wonder just how true it really is. There’s something to be said about “old” technology and how, in its own way, it can be just as convenient as the latest new online gadgets, without any of the hassles this new technology can sometimes bring.
Take paper money and cheques, for instance. While almost all businesses now have wire transferring technology that allows people to pay with debit or credit cards, individual people usually don’t have that. Paper money and cheques can be and are still used in private transactions. When I spent a summer in Quebec a few years ago, my landlady didn’t have a wire transferring machine in her living room, so I paid my rent with cheques that she could cash when it suited her. When I chauffeured my grandparents when they need to run some errands, they gave me some paper money in thanks. Again, we didn’t need advanced banking technology, since the paper money suited us just fine.
And then there are paper books, notebooks and documents in general. We now have e-books that we can download and read on computers, and most long documents are now written on computers. However, paper materials have their own advantages. In my experience, typing things on touch screens is slow, tedious and annoying, while keyboards can be annoying to carry around. Ironically, I’ve found it faster and more effective to write notes on paper and referring to them later. Using paper books can sometimes be more convenient as well – if I have to consult multiple sources at once when I’m writing something, I’ve found it easier to pick up the books I need, rather than trying to sort through a dozen different web pages or Word documents.
This old technology also lacks many of the problems that come with modern technology. Paper books don’t need to be recharged and they don’t suffer from memory limitations. Written notes can’t be electronically hacked into or stolen. Printed money can’t typically be used to commit identity theft. All of these things function perfectly well in technological “dead zones”, don’t become outdated six months down the road and function even when the infrastructure that supports technology like Facebook, Twitter, cellphones etc. is on the blink.
Am I criticizing new, modern technology? Not at all. A lot of this new technology is extremely useful in all walks of life. Computers and cellphones have improved society in more ways than anyone can count. But that doesn’t mean older technology is or should automatically be dismissed out of hand.
Both the old and the new technology have important roles to play. It’s a mistake to assume that the older ways of doing things are automatically worse than the new ones – if we reject everything old out of hand, we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Far better for us, rather, to appreciate the values of both the old and the new technology, and recognize that they each have a place in the modern world.
Jared Milne is a St. Albert resident with a passion for Canadian history and politics.
