Electronic Envy
Electronic envy opens up a world of possibilities!
Electronic Envy
Can Be Good!
Envy when taken to extremes is a bad thing. Envy, by definition, is a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages, success, possessions etc. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins. People will say they are “green” with envy. We all have envy at some point. Honestly, I can say I have electronic envy!
Now you are probably asking what is electronic envy? I will tell you, it means I covet electronics. I am a geek dad by heart and when I see someone get a new I-phone, I-pad, 3D-TV or any other type of gadget, I want it!! I don’t dislike the person for getting it but I certainly do dislike that I don’t have the item myself.
It seems now my 3-year-old son is following along the same path. We can go somewhere and someone will be playing with an electronic device and he will start telling me, “I need it! Let me have it, please! I want it!” Electronic envy is not a quality that I tried to instill in my son. Evidently, my son sees my own actions of “I want” and feels that newer, might mean better (figuratively of course!)
Film was fun! By: knorfield
Yesterday’s
were
good!
All of these new gadgets are wonderful. I know they help guide us towards a better tomorrow. Parents today are responsible to keep up with technology because of the rapid developments. If we don’t our children will pass us by. In some ways having newer and newer gadgets makes me sad, there are many things my son will never know.
1. Black and white television – The first set my family ever owned was a black and white Magnavox television. Color TV’s were available but far to expensive to own. The one we owned had an added bonus of having a built-in LP player and radio! The television would often be turned off and the radio playing instead. I learned everything I know about Elvis Presley because of our television with a built-in radio/LP and my mother.
2. Life without cable – We had three basic channels and used an antenna (covered in tinfoil) One of my jobs, when I was my son’s age, was to help move the antenna. If I was lucky, I could stand on one foot with my arm stretched skyward and help us to receive better reception (occasionally I even got to stay in the room and watch television while doing this!). The television actually went off after 10:30 at night because there were no broadcast and the stations went to test patterns.
3. Film – Unless you had a Polaroid you took pictures and had to use the entire roll of film before you had it developed. If you were lucky a Kodak roll of film that had 24 shots would actually give you 27 or 28. You took it to the local drugstore (where everyone knew you) and dropped it off for development. When you finally got it back you could laugh at the pictures that just didn’t come out quite right. Looking back at some of the old pictures now, I know my family has more developed pictures of elbows, knees and bottoms than they do of actual people.
4. Letters – I will never forget how excited I was because my grandmothers would send me letters or cards. Okay, they often had money in them too but the fact is I was waiting at the mailbox almost everyday! Now, I can’t actually recall the last time we received a letter from someone. It’s easier and quicker for people to send e-mails. Electronic envy had me on bulletin boards talking to people long before there was a true internet (I was using a commodore 64 with tape back-up)
5. Gas guzzlers – The first vehicle I ever owned was a 1984 Ford F-150 pick-up. It had a V-8 engine and I happily got 7 miles to the gallon. I didn’t care that I could literally watch the gas gauge go down. Gas was under a $1.00 a gallon and I could fill the tank up for around 10$ more than once a week.
The future is what we make it! By: Daniel Voyager
Tomorrow’s
are
better!
Life goes on and times change. Like my son, electronic envy hit me at young age. I wanted the newer toys and better gadgets. Newer innovations made me easily give up the black and white TV, antennas, film, letters and gas guzzlers. I know that things are better now but I still find it sad that he won’t get to know first hand some of the older innovations. The original gadgets that I fell in love with that gave me my electronic envy. I am almost certain someday when he is talking to his children they will laugh about today’s “better electronics.” Hopefully, he will be able to associate some of his electronic envy to good family memories and simpler times.
Be sure to check out Andi-Roo at TheWorld4Realz who is writing about a month of controversy in the A to Z +1 August blogging challenge with me! Today is the letter “E” for electronic envy.
Follow Dadblunders on twitter
Tags: better tomorrow, black and white television, electronic device, possibilities, seven deadly sins
9 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- A to Z plus 1 Challenge - Dad Blunders - Life As I Know It - [...] – Electronic Envy – Envy is a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages. [...]
Ah memories. Many’s the time I’ve heard “But dad, I neeed” before heartless dad turns round and says ” No darling. you don’t need a hamster really” or in the case of a wife ” you don’t need a ferrari” and I’m sure it’s something you’ll hear many more times. Yes, your electronic envy may certainly have rubbed off on Xander so I’d not make a point of letting him know he latest acquisition is new. Of course that won’t work a he’s as bright as a button so you’re just left with giving him the gadget one behind yours so you always have the knowledge to answer questions about it. Best of luck Aaron, you made a rod for your own back. LOL
David,
You make me laugh a lot. Yes, I did seem to encourage this behavior and hopefully it won’t cost me continuously throughout my life. I wonder if I start showing a preference for an abacus if I could convince him it’s the latest innovation….
Aaron
I’m glad I can make you laugh Aaron in exchange for the memories you invoke with your pieces and the smiles and laughter that brings forth. Go ahead and try with the abacus but I think he might just master it’s intricacies in about 30 seconds flat and suggest you get a calculator. Having said that, it will probably be long time before he needs on since I suspect he’ll be doing accurate calculations in his head for a while yet. He’s certainly got your number mate !
I can just hear a dad, “You don’t know what you are missing. In my day, we had rolls of film. We had to wait until the roll was full. Sometimes it took a year to finish off a roll.” i agree that some subtle character-building lessons are lost with today’s technology. Let’s hope something else will serve to teach our kids these important lessons.
Pam,
I hope so too! I am old enough to recall being told to go outside to play all the time (the weather was never factor with that statement either) Technology now keeps many kids inside instead. Hopefully, kids will know what it feels like to at least see rain, snow.. etc.
Aaron
Black and white TVs, no remote, rabbit ears or an external antenna you had to go twist by hand unless you bought one of those new-fangled rotary things that sat on top of the TV. 13 channels, but you really only got to watch three of them (Fox wasn’t around yet). Unless you lived in the city – where you got some of the UHF channels too
Yep, gave you a lot more incentive to go play outside all day!
Brian,
It did give me a lot more incentive to play outside! Unless…. I was lucky enough to hold the antenna just right and actually got to stay in the room with the television!
Aaron
I remember film, and catching just enough on the spindle to get a couple of extra shots on a roll. Can’t say I miss it, but really makes me appreciate being able to shoot everything without a second thought. Terrific list. Anybody remember vinyl?
Oh I definitely remember vinyl and 8-track…. The good old days of scratched records before rap…. Lol
Aaron