Over-50

Not Being Pushed Around by Techies, Not in 2019

In the influential The Wall Street Journal Timothy Martin and Sarah Krouse chronicle the ending of the era of the smartphone - at least in terms of the technology's control over us.

In itself that article could trigger the thinking: Hey, I don't need to always be checking my smartphone to be in-touch, cool, or managing my business anymore.

Those who aren't trend-setters receive permission to detox from the addiction to the smartphone that has overwhelmed society since Steve Jobs introduced the technology.

Those who are trend-senders will search for the next big thing in order to be or at least to appear to be at the top of the pack. 

Meanwhile, those of us who have already untethered ourselves from the smartphone have found our lives are returning to normal. Or how we lived and thought pre-smartphone.

The average lifespan for a smartphone is 4.5 years. I've had two. That means I have lived almost a decade as its obedient servant.

That changed last November. My iPhone was behaving crazy. I bit the bullet and, after research on the internet, concluded it wasn't worth having repaired.

Then, somehow for some reason I don't understand, I made the leap into the post-smartphone era. I bought a flip phone. It was high-end, meaning it had features for texting, email, and voicemail. But they were difficult to operate.

The first return to normal was to inform a new client, no, I didn't like to text. I made sure they got it that the reason wasn't attitude. I explained the flip made that process difficult. I added that I was usually on my laptop, in Word and researching on the internet. Therefore they could reach me easily through email. The client has continued to doing business with me.

No longer am I always-on via a the portable smartphone we had become accustomed to carry with us at all time.

Another bit of normal has been being present in conversations. Instead of being preoccupied about what's happening on the internet I listen, I talk, I laugh. I am a little less lonely. That could have kicked in years ago. I have a dog. Walking our four-legged children opens us to the wonderful social network of other animal lovers. 

A third back to normal has been moving that body. Yesterday, I spent about 2.4 hours cleaning the house, 1.5 hour working out, and 2.4 strolling around a mall that still is hanging on. Finally, I have hope I can gain the upper hand over middle age mid-body spread. 

No, I am not anti-technology.

Without digital, I could never be operating two enterprises whose clients are primarily remote and global. Ageism would have finished off my career in the U.S.

In 2013, I got it: I had aged out of pitching for new assignments in-person in the New York Metro area. But there were no limits on attracting accounts sight-unseen via telecommunications. Early 1n 2014, I made the soul-wrenching move from the Big Apple to a more affordable and less-age-biased location. 

No, there's no hate of technology. But there is the end of gee-whiz. And lots of mistrust.

This week I went into Office Max to price a new drum for my $70-something Brother printer. The drum was a little over $100. Common sense, which I have returned to, meant this: But a new printer, not a new drum for one whose shelf life is heading toward an expiration date.

The clerk didn't seem to agree. He pointed out that I would probably have to pay to have the new printer installed. Smirk Smirk. I have been purchasing printers for my businesses since the end of the 1980s. I have managed the installation just fine.

Finally, those of us who have overthrown the tyranny of the smartphone are no longer enslaved by Apple, Alphabet, Facebook, Microsoft or the telecommunications carriers such as AT&T. We have returned to being the alert consumers Ralph Nader trained us to be way back in the early 1970s. 

The feeling? It's that of returning home to being human beings who have confidence we can take care of ourselves. How we solve our little and big problems may or may not include technology.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.

Watergate Was Small Potatoes, Compared to What FBI Currently Is Investigating

Before the campaign leading up to the presidential election of 2016, much that is being documented or speculated about Donald Trump would have been unthinkable.

Now, what has been proved or alleged simply seems as The Usual in TrumpWorld.

The latest of what would have been unthinkable is the FBI investigation of whether Trump had been intentionally or unintentionally a Russian agent in the time period of May 2107. His actions, it is alleged, were potentially against American interests.

That was at the time he had fired FBI director James Comey.

Here are more details from BusinessInsider.

The New York Times broke the story. Here you can read it.

If that allegation is taken all the way, then it could be speculated that the U.S. President's seemingly bizarre behavior could be interpreted as intended to bring down America and pass on power over it to the Russians. That craziness has ranged from building The Wall to shutting down government. 

Clearly, this investigation in itself could be the tipping point for the appropriate authorities to begin putting in place the actions to remove the U.S. President from office. To those of us who lived through Watergate, that crisis seems like small potatoes compared to what is currently occurring.

The takeaway is: Let's hope the system works yet again, as it had in Watergate.

Get amazing results through out of box communications strategies/content. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com. I help, not sell.