According to William Powers, one who is not connected is the one left behind. He began this concept of connectivity with the idea of paper. Paper used to be the connection, what the world calls today 'Snail Mail' was once the world's 'Facebook or Email'. Although paper is the past, it will never die it lingers in the backround as a tangeble object... Paper is eternal. So what of the people who are not connected? There was once a time, not too long ago that email was the new thing, cell phones were making a debut as big bulky 'walky talky' type objects that were primarly held by cops and business men and women.
Today we have slimmer cell phones with email, texting, music and video/photo capabilities and internet connection on the go. There are people who have lost the ability to read maps as well and rely on a GPS system to get them from A to B. In the music industry we went from Vinyl records in the 50's, 8 tracks in the 70's, to tape decks in the 80's and early 90's to CD's. Now any type of CD is technically obsolete with I-pod, I-tunes, Amazon and free download torrent sites. Like paper, Vinyls are eternal because they are tangible and somewhat prized in the fact that they are the product of the music. William Powers has observed that when not connected people miss out on the movement of a community and the movement of the world as a whole. But for the ones who choose to turn off cell phones pagers and ipods they are able to come back to a time when you could stand and watch something happen... Anything and have the ability to appreciate it. Yes technology is a luxury, but it leaves us to wonder would we know a little more about ourselves and how we learn if we could take a break! 'Connectedness is balanced by disconnectedness... both matter.'
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