Ideas appear, technologies advance, and gadgets come and go. I consider myself and this generation lucky because we grew up in a fast changing and information rich decade. We had fun times playing similar games that might have been played in our parents’ childhood, and we have also witnessed the advancement of computing and its related services corroding away our traditional pass-time activities.

One of the reasons why I consider myself lucky to be born during the 90s is that my experience of the old gadgets and the new replacements allows me to act as a bridge between generations. The article “25 Things You’ll Have to Explain To Your Kids About Marketing One Day” mentioned in my friend and classmate, Eleanore’s blog, is fascinating because it reminded me of old gadgets that I have long forgotten.

Like Eleanore, I remember the days when I would find a big bundle of Yellowbook outside my front door that has my family’s address listed on it. I don’t know if physical copies of Yellowpages are still distributed today, nor do I remember when I stopped seeing them. But, I realized that Yellowpages have become a website with the same information and a new search function that makes life much easier when looking for an address.

What feels like a sad thing is that names like Yellowpages, which I understand its original form as a thick and heavy address book, will have no meaning for kids in the future. Most of them won’t know the meaning it holds for people that have found Yellowpages useful in the past. But then again, everything around me, such as my computer and cell phone at this moment, will probably be an ancient artifact in 20 more years.

Original Blog Post: https://blogs.ubc.ca/eleanorechang296/2013/03/28/out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new/