Change Indicators

As I stood in line at the post office last Monday, I heard a very old, yet very memorable tune. That collection of notes that designated the end of a Warner Brothers Loony Toons cartoon. I looked around for the phone whose ringer mimicked the familiar tune. I expected to be able to spot the culprit by their fumbling for a phone either in their purse, their pocket, or clipped on their belt, trying desperately to answer it before everybody gives them the now classic ‘your phone is ringing’ look.

Change – sometimes we identify it as good, sometimes as bad. We can’t help but see life changing events, simply because it usually knocks us over, sometimes with a feather, sometimes with something much harder. But what about the rest of time? Changes occur constantly in our world, yet we tend to overlook them, usually because we are so neck deep in what we are dealing with that we do not see the changes coming. Usually the times we become cognizant of these subtle changes is often when we are external to the event, and thus may not affect us directly.

That day at the post office I had the opportunity to witness one of those ‘events.’ As I look around to see who would answer the phone, I found it was not a ringer. It was a phone, but not a ringer. I spotted two very young girls sitting at their mothers’ feet¸ each sharing the same Sprint phone. Both staring at – no watching, the tiny screen. They were watching a cartoon, being broadcasted via the Sprint network, while their mother waited patiently in line. To me, that one simple observation of that one simple act highlighted a change for the coming youth. I remember watch ‘Loony Toons’ on Saturday mornings while eating a bowl of Cheerios. These two girls will remember watching ‘Loony Toons’ anywhere they wanted.

When phones came out with cameras the naysayer’s talked about the uselessness of such an amenity, citing marketing gimmicky, lack of resolution, etc. Yet, as the services were put in place to utilize the capabilities, resolution increased, and camera phones became more prevalent. Their value increased, first among teens, then expanding upwards. There is something kind of special to get a picture via phone sent from someone close to you, highlighting a snippet of that person’s experience: a chance to share across distance and time.

As these kids grow up, they will utilize phones, not just as a way to communicate, but as a tool used for communication, entertainment, shopping, finding their way to, through, and out of a mall, paying for items with the phone they are concurrently using to talk to a friend either in the mall, or on the other side of the world.

Just as today’s phones took a step forward, and is becoming entertainment for kids, and news, weather, and sports updates for adults. Is it really that far fetched, or that far off, to say tomorrows phones will no longer be held to our ears, but rather in front of us so we can see the person we are talking to, and they, us. Tomorrow’s phones? Maybe it is safer to say this evenings phone. For change comes while we are living life, and if we are not watching, it sneaks up, and in my case, next to me in line.