Generations of Tech
Yesterday I had a very interesting experience.
My family (parents, grandparents, wife, one of my brothers and my sister) all tried to be helpful within finding flight information at some point during the day. It was interesting to take note of their perspectives on how to get flight info:
- My Grandparents: Told me you need to call the airline 48 hours in advance to confirm your reservation and then again at 24 hours before and then again at 2-4 hours before. The good news is that they “have 1-800 numbers, so it won’t cost you to call.”
- My Parents (my dad, specifically, who’s been an uber-Platinum elite member since before I could walk): “Yeah, technically, you’re s’posed to do that. I check on-line 48 hours ahead to see the status (which we all think means: to confirm he got a first class upgrade) and then check it once more a few hours before I leave on-line.”
- Me: “The on-line thing is probably a good idea, but when I make the reservation, I set up notifications to be sent to my email, which I get on my phone.”
- My Sister (who’s 14): “… or you could just check it on your way there on your phone, or probably text them … but you guys all have laptops, so why don’t one of you drive there and the other can check it from your laptop in the car?!”
I absolutely love that progression of technology! Its important to note that my sister also assumed that since I had a WiFi card, I could get a WiFi signal in the car. She doesn’t live in a city where they have free WiFi (yet) but she does consider it to be somewhat of a ubiquitous utility.
Oh, and incase you were wondering, we did all of those things … because my family is also a bit hyper when it comes to traveling. ![]()
(The “laptop in the car” thing was accomplished with the help of a bluetooth cell phone connection.)
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