Communication

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I just got a telephone call from half a world away. And just like that I was talking up a storm. Catching up with someone I hadn’t seen for a while. The sound as clear as if he were sitting right next to me. The only thing that is somewhat difficult with a telephone call like that is to account for the time difference between where I am and where he is at.

It is a mode of communication that is considered simple, nowadays. More and more often we get a video stream to accompany the audio ~ allowing body language to be part of the call...
And suddenly we cannot hide quite s much from the other person. Not the fact that we are tired, had a ‘bad hair day’, are busy, or have a number of other things on our minds. Now that we can actually see the other person while we are talking with them on the phone ~ all these things shine through.

It makes me think of days gone by when a quick communication was a telegram. Usually only for emergency messages as the price of a telegram was high ~ and got higher as the number of words increased. Instant communication had a price tag then...
The alternative would be a hand-written letter that would take up to 6 weeks to get to its destination ~ depending on where it was sent from and where its destination was found.

Between then and now technology has evolved at an ever increasing pace.

Answering machines, especially the ones with the two little tapes inside, and fax machines are ‘vintage office furniture’. But even the digital answering machines are outdated and replaced by voice mail.
And come to think of it ~ even the quick telephone call is rapidly being replaced by the text message.

It is an interesting polarity. On one hand the technology now makes it possible to not only talk on the phone but also see each other while we are doing it ~ making a more encompassing communication possible. On the other hand we seem to decline that opportunity, choosing to ‘text’ the other person rather than actually talking to them.

And there is another interesting thing about our modern way of communicating with each other ~ the ‘social networking sites’. Sites where we can post all our interesting, frustrating, and curious things that happen to us over the course of the day. And if we can’t think of anything to post, we can ‘re-post’ quotes, pictures and video’s. So instead of communicating who we are and what we are doing ~ we express that which we wish we would be. Post the things we wish we would have thought of and put into words.

More so than taking our time to enjoy our communication as we did long time ago ~ we now can’t wait to communicate ~ immediately. With everyone. About anything...
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