Analog Man in a Digital World

BYU scores again against Weber State

Warning!!!! If you are under the age of 40, some of the items in this post may be totally foreign to you. You may just shake your head and say, "Wow, that Forsling dude is OLD!  Anyway, I returned from yet another quick BYU football trip in the Beehive State, where my BYU Cougars defeated those Big Sky cast offs the Weber State Wildcats in a sleepy 45-13 beat down. It was a beautiful, warmish Rocky Mountain afternoon spent with my daughter, Ari, and best friend Steve Day and some of his family. It's always great when your team wins, but its all about who's with you at those games! Lavell Edwards Stadium has had a few digital upgrades installed since last season. A new giant screen scoreboard, courtesy of NuSkin, has replaced the relic of an earlier era atop the north end zone seats. New electronic message boards also grace the top edge of both the north and south end-zones. Gotta sell some advertizing and ring that cash register.
I flew home yesterday, alone, since the wife is sticking around a few more days in UT. So, while waiting for my flight I had to occupy myself with my ever present iPhone.  I picked a seat at the gate with a perfect view of the flat screen TV which had the 49er Packer game on. As I 'watched' the game, I text-ed my family, kept updated on my two Fantasy Football leagues, and found out on Facebook that there is nothing Brock Day enjoys more than watching football with his dad. I also checked my email, found out that one of my old baseball coaches had passed away at the young age of 67, after a short illness. (Walker Mortuary update) I also checked the bank balances, and followed up on a church related issue. Finally, I boarded the aircraft, got my Even More Leg Room seat, and plugged in to DirecTV. I caught the end of the Niner game (they won) and watched Peyton Manning's debut with the Broncos. Meanwhile, I kept tabs on the Dodger Giant game on ESPN (Dodgers lost) while composing this post on my iPhone. To keep things fresh, I played some Scrabble as well. After landing at Long Beach, I listened to the Bronco game on satellite radio as I drove home. Then it just kind of hit me like a tsunami: what the heck is going on in this world? Wherever we go we are constantly connected. There is no escape, but we can not resist!
In a moment of nostalgic madness, I longed for those far off days where we had to make carbon copies. But then the mimeograph machine became available. Holy cow, I just loved those brownish copies. Can you believe there was a time without telephone answering machines? If someone called and you weren't home, well, tough luck you just weren't reachable.
Morse code was still a hi-tech wireless transmission.Transistor radios? The Walkman wasn't even on the radar. The LP and the 45, then came the 8-track (it should have come with a paper clip to jam in the side so the tape would play right) and yes the cassette.(So much better!)

Then finally, that major break through the Compact Disc. Was it really 30 years ago that the CD came out?? Today, no more record albums, no more CD's, just an invisible digital download.
There was a time when we actually had to talk with one another to communicate. In 1975 while serving as a missionary in the Friendly Islands of Tonga, I spent almost 1 entire week traveling by boat and on foot to deliver a one sentence message to a fellow missionary! I spent 6 months on one remote island and received mail every six weeks or so. Remember the Aerogram? Our only contact with the outside world was the single Tongan radio station. Where was Facebook when we needed it?
When I was 10 my grandma brought home the 25" RCA ColorTrac TV from Forsey's.  Bonanza rocked!

Grandma Isabel's TV

The Cartwright's

Would you believe I paid $600 for my first VCR in 1982? ( it wasn't a Betamax it was a Mitsubishi, but had a wireless remote!) Now the VHS VCR is an antique from yesteryear replaced by the DVR where we can digitally record 4 shows at once and store up to 100's of hours of programming, most of which we never watch! Remember those days when you had to wait until the program finished recording to start watching it? How did we survive. Heck, when I was 18, I quit my job at the Duke's Lanes because I couldn't miss that night's broadcast of 'Where Eagles Dare.' If only VCR's had been invented! Yes, I was 18 and not too bright...

In the year 2525
If man is still alive
If woman can survive
Without cell phones?
Facebook?
Email?
I must be an Analog Man, a dinosaur from a forgotten age. I don't have a Twitter account!!
(But at least I have this Blog!)

Check out this new song from the irrepressible Joe Walsh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il1Byvn_vMA

(You may need to cut and paste the link)

Wild Flowers at Sundance