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By Jerry Finkelstein

Donna Gorrell and I were talking the other day about how differences in life experiences are dependent in large part on the fatal impact of technical achievements on our cultural bearings. Remember all the talk about the generation gap? Donna suggested that even so short a time as nine years was enough to create significant differences in thought, use of language, attitude. If so, we don't have to go back to the horse and cart, to the days of the trolley car, the slide rule or the Burrough's calculator - they were all part of my life growing up in The Bronx - to register nostalgia for the past.

Still, it is something of a cultural shock to think that there are adults living in our urban world who have never heard the sound of a typewriter. Does it make any sense talking about my life with my portable Royal? Does the Selectric mean anything to anyone? No?

How about this one, the Princess phone? The days of punching cards to organize and store data seem like a topic for a medieval history course. Once upon a time we cut a record; now, we burn a disk. We are told that the days of VHS are over; make transfers to DVD. Wedding planners are putting weddings on hold whilevideographers switch from tape to digital.

So, if you can remember the last time you dialed a phone number it doesn't just mean that you are older and that you have great memories. It also means you've got stories to tell and you've got lots to talk about. You lived through astounding changes and you've made it. Instead of dialing, you are pushing buttons. And pretty soon you'll be using your voice to set things off. Nothing new about that one, the technology is already here. Lucky you.You can look back and say I was there and I'm still here, eagerly looking forward to the next new thing. In the meantime, have a healthy and happy New Year.

JF

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