CH ch ch changes......

My favorite radio station went off the air.  Sort of.  It's still there, it just no longer has a dj, or the news, traffic or weather.  It has become a prerecorded steady stream of a variety (not always the variety that I like) of music playlists.  

I can't stand to listen to it now.  Gone is the personality.  Gone is the ability to call in and make a request or share an idea (not that I ever did, but I liked to hear it).

I was really sad and shocked when it happened a few weeks ago.  There was no warning.  One day they were there and the next they weren't.  I doubt that the radio personalities even saw it coming.  

My reason for sharing this is because I have been thinking about the blessing and the curse of technology.  I remember as a kid thinking how cool it would be to have a tv like the Jetsons where I could see the person I was talking to.  Guess what!  Now I have a computer that does just that.  It is incredible really, when I think about how much technology is a part of my life.   But for the last while or so, I've been thinking with a bit of nostalgia about what it is replacing and wondering if it really is always for the best.  The fate of the radio hosts from my once favorite station is probably where the trend is heading.  With so many ipods out there and the ability to play them in your car, or from a docking station,  there really isn't any reason for people to be a part of broadcasting music anymore.   We can simply make our own playlists, so who needs anything else.

Do people sit down anymore and take pen to paper to write a letter?  Why bother with it, when email and texting is faster, more convenient and you don't have to pay for a stamp.   Newspapers have been struggling in many places and will probably be replaced one day with the internet or whatever is next out there.  Yesterday, I had a friend visiting from out of town and she noticed all of the books I have piled up.  She laughed and told me I should get a Kindle to cut down on the clutter.  To me though, there is something about the smell of a real book and turning the pages myself that I don't think I will ever be able to let go of.  I then proceeded to tell her that if I were to go back to college I would want to get my degree in library science.  She laughed again and told me about all of the libraries that are closing down. 

Change is inevitable.  As long as people are set on discovery and exploration, change will follow.  I appreciate all of the luxuries that change has afforded me and I would be hard pressed to live without them.  

I just wonder, are we pushing away the human connection?