The speed of change - don't get left behind.

This morning I received an email about a package I've been waiting for.  It was a swimsuit for our daughter that I'd bought from ebay.

Now I was until now, unaware that packages could be tracked quite so accurately!

The first email I received told me that the package had arrived in Cairns and was currently "onboard with driver".

The second email I received a few hours later said the parcel was 'delivered'.

 I was sitting at the computer when the email arrived, so I went straight out to the letterbox and sure enough there was the parcel!

Now being told via email that there's something in my letterbox is just a bit weird.  I also find it strange and amazing to look at our own house and others on Google Maps- where you can effectively 'stand' at your front door and see what it looks like as you turn in all directions.

I am still constantly amazed at the advances in technology since I was a kid, and I reflect upon how different the world our kids are growing up in is to the one we grew up in.

Do you remember cameras that used film rather than digital cameras?  I grew up with cameras like that. I remember the excitement of waiting to collect the photos from the shop to see what they looked like once developed.  I also remember the embarrassment of paying for blank photos after opening the back of my camera to see what it looked like inside!

For our kids - we take a photo and they immediately want to see what the photo looks like - as you can with a digital camera - there is no need to wait!

Cameras, mobile phones, the internet, these have all made our lives faster, more instantaneous and removed a lot of the suspense of waiting for something. Or rather the suspense might still be there, but the resulting end comes much faster.

Now we can text or write emails to our friends, and receive instantaneous replies from anywhere in the world.  We don't have to write a letter, post it, wait for it to travel to its destination then wait for a reply to be written and be posted back.

Do you think this shift in speed is reducing our patience levels?  Kids these days just aren't used to having to wait for things in the same way we used to.

In the world today - a short attention span may not necessarily such a bad thing.  Kids with 'grasshopper minds' may actually be at an advantage to cope with the increasing speed that information is being made available to them.

We do try to encourage our kids to do a lot of things a more 'traditional' way I guess, rather than turning straight to technology.  Play outside and play board games rather than play games on computers; to work sums out in their heads rather than reach straight for the calculator;  to read a book rather than just watch the movie.

We want our kids to have the skills of patience, knowledge, mental agility and physical ability - all of which we can see them gaining from doing things 'the old way'.

To exercise by playing outside rather than playing games in the lounge on the Wii-fit, seems much healthier and more beneficial to our kids. On the other hand - using computers, mobile phones and other technology arguably increases different skill levels in our kids - perhaps more relevant ones to life in the future?

I do sometimes wonder, if we place too much emphasis on doing things the slower, older way.  We try to encourage our kids to use technology but I think compared to some other kids their age, they don't use that technology nearly as much.

Since the jobs our kids could be doing in the future could well be ones that don't even exist now - should we put more of an emphasis on moving with the times and accepting that things are changing rapidly now and to stay ahead in the world today, our kids need to be at the forefront of technology too?

As with everything I always come back to the importance of finding a balance in life.  Being up to date with current technology doesn't mean being stuck in front of a screen inside the house; technology is becoming smaller and increasingly mobile.  But I still believe kids still need to learn basic life skills. They need to learn to use their brains and bodies first and then how to improve those abilities by making use of technology.

How about you? Are you moving with the times and keeping up with technology? How about your kids?

I've love to hear your thoughts!

E-readers for kids

I love books, our kids love books, and we have a house full of books.

The girls have bookcases full, specially made bed pockets full, and still more books are overflowing into bags!

The books they have are read, re-read, sorted, and very well loved.

I remember when I was a kid, my brother and I would, every now and again, pile all our books up in a big heap on the floor and take turns picking books - so that we had a different selection of books to read in our room.

Some of my favourite books were kept for years by my parents in their loft in England and then brought out in their suitcases to Australia where we now live - for our kids - their grandchildren.

Seeing and reading these books from my childhood again (some of which have come from Scotland from Euan's childhood too) has been a wonderful trip down memory lane for both of us.  It's quite sad for us in way that our girls are now reading some of these books on their own - so we're missing out on the stories again!  - Although we still continue to read books to them at night before bed, and I'm sure we will for some time!

I have recently been thinking about e-books and e-book readers, and how this will change (if at all) reading for children.

We do not have an e-reader ourselves.  I was brought up with the philosophy and the attitude that you don't generally buy things you don't need. (Of course I do buy non-necessities but always find myself considering them lots before purchasing).

  Since we have so many books, are always getting more from various book sales, school fetes and of course the library; what need would we have for an e-reader?

What first made me think of it, was seeing how daunting it is for a new reader to see a big thick book that they would like to read, but the sheer size of the book puts them off.  If they were reading books on an e-reader, then would they be aware of the size of the book when they started to read it?  Would it make kids have more confidence in reading bigger and bigger books because they would all look physically the same size? - the size of the e-reader!

Our eldest daughter is currently reading one of the Harry Potter books, and each night she comes out to tell us in amazement how many pages she's read.  I guess this would be the same on an e-reader, which I presume still has page numbers showing.

Is there some way you can tell on an e-reader how far you are through a book?  It is satisfying to see where your bookmark is in a large book as you read - you can watch your progress through the story, and know when you're nearing the end.  Do you get this same sense of achievement, anticipation and excitement- of your progress through the book- when reading an e-reader?

Not having an e-reader myself, I had a look to see what you can get.  I was amazed to see how you can get books for young kids on e-readers.  Full pictures books - with interactive activities, and pictures that move - and the e-readers can even read the story out loud for the kid. 

The idea of reducing the need for all that storage space needed for books in a small house is appealing.  As is the argument for travelling abroad and being able to take endless books for the kids with you.

So, am I old-fashioned in liking actual books made of paper?  I like seeing shelves full of books - and as I mentioned earlier, ones that have been passed down through families - still with inscriptions on some of them of who gifted that particular book - or simply who that book belonged to. You wouldn't have this on an e-reader.  But then neither would they then deteriorate over time, and the pages start to loosen or fall out.

On the other hand, nothing seems to be made to last these days.  Most electronic equipment needs to be replaced every few years, and becomes outdated too.  I assume any books you have on your e-book can be saved and transferred to a new e-reader if necessary.

Then there is the environmental issue - of printing fewer books on paper - saving our dwindling rainforests.

My father loves reading too, and had not considered an e-reader at all until he won one.  He has now tested it out and can see the benefits in it;  from being able to download countless classic books for free, to being able to bring several books out to read when he comes to visit us from England (our choice of books doesn't always appeal to him!).

Do you have an e-reader?  If you do, do you use it a lot?  Do your kids use it? 

I would love you hear from those who use them as to what they are really like, but also everyone's opinion on e-readers vs books.