I admit I am not someone who was not always on the cutting edge of technology. It’s not that I don’t love technology and appreciate the many improvements it has made to my quality of life. It’s just that I am not an early adapter type. I need to fully understand how and why each technology product is going to improve my life before I invest any of my own time or money.
A classic example is how I was the last one in my house in college to get a cell phone while the other five guys had their sweet Nokia flip phones. They thought they were pretty awesome loading up their phone with friends and of course the girls they would meet at parties. As for me, when it came time to giving out the digits, I was stuck giving out our house phone. This was 2001 and I couldn’t imagine needing to have all my contacts at my fingertips and carrying a phone in my pocket. I was in the habit of getting back to the house checking the answering machine. But then something happened. I was up in my room and heard the phone ring and knew everyone was home. The phone rang for two minutes. And then it rang for another two minutes. I ran downstairs and saw my crew of friends laughing at me. They told me there was no point for them to answer the phone since I was the only one that got calls on the landline. Imagine all the girls I missed calls from and had no idea! The marketplace had spoken and I needed to join the revolution.
I recently went back to my old college to where I first was introduced to phone addiction. I was attending the first Friday Luncheon at The University of St. Thomas featuring the former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty. His talk was titled "The Third Industrial Revolution" and was centered on just technology and innovation, and how educators and business leaders must adapt quicker than I did in college. Here is a link to his speech which I would really encourage you to watch. His passion and insight into some of the technology changes coming was fascinating.
I caved in and got my first cell phone after I realized I was the last holdout and had been missing a lot of calls. In 2002 when I met my now wife at a local establishment I was able to give her my cell phone number and plug hers into my phone. 10 years of marriage and two kids later, I am sure happy I joined the cell phone revolution when I did.