Changes and Challenges in the Digital Age

I’m in my forties, but I feel like a grumpy old man. Technological changes in my lifetime have been staggering. Computers, smartphones, and the internet have revolutionized the world, changing the way we live and work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Luddite. I still have a flip phone so maybe I’m a partial Luddite. I embrace the march of technology. But technological progress hasn’t come without its downsides. Many of the changes have been good. My parents bought me my first digital piano in 1988, a Yamaha pf 85. The hernia machine was nearly 100 pounds and took two people to carry. Now I play a Casio Privia. It’s light and has a superior piano sound and feel. I remember the first time I booked a gig by email in 1999. It was a novelty then. Now practically everything is set up by email or text. It’s fast. It’s easy. The thought of calling someone on the phone now seems quaint. In 2010 I worked in a trio led by a bass player friend. He used a Google calendar for the band’s dates. “Start a calendar and share it with me,” he said. Oh no, I thought. He’ll see my whole schedule. Now I won’t be able to lie about my availability if there’s a job I don’t want to do. I’m all for transparency, but that felt like too much. My mind’s always wandering back to the ’90s. The halcyon days. Life was slower and simpler before we were all staring at screens. I’d go