I’ve grown up in the tech generation. In my lifetime, I’ve experienced the growth of the iPod, smartphones, fancy computers, amazing software, and so much more. Technology is forever changing; what we see today may or may not be what we see tomorrow. The dynamics of this tech world amaze me more and more every day. It’s hard to remember that there was ever a time without many of these things. This week at school, I was reminded of that very thing: that at one time, all of these devices and programs that I use every day didn’t exist, or only existed as concepts or dreams.

On Tuesday, a guest speaker from a creative agency in Hollywood spent some time with us. He talked about his work with motion graphics and his other experiences as a creative director. He told us a story from his college days, when a professor of his took a sabbatical to learn this crazy new program called Photoshop. That was in 1991.
At first I was shocked and a little mind-blown. A sabbatical just to learn Photoshop? Really? But then I realized, that was back in 1991, the year I was born. At that time, it probably would’ve been monumental to do that.
My goodness, how things have changed. Programs, software, and devices become obsolete in what seems like the blink of an eye. I remember when my mom got a Nokia cell phone in the early 2000s. Now I think about how hard it is to find a “dumb phone” in stores; smartphones have taken over.

 

In fact, over Thanksgiving, my grandparents made the jump from 8-year-old flip phones straight to iPhones. That was a whole experience in itself. My grandma was quite pleased with her new phone, but my old-school grandpa still hasn’t come around to it. He keeps asking when he can get his old phone back.
I hate to break it to you, Papa, but you’re not getting that phone back.
And now I’m in this Interactive Media master’s program. It’s only 6 years old and each year, some aspect of the program changes, based on media and technology trends. They used to teach Flash as an animation and motion graphics program. But just a couple years ago, Flash became pretty much obsolete, and the curriculum had to change. Now we learn Adobe After Effects and Edge Animate. (Side note: I have a love/hate relationship with both of those programs.) 
Living in a digital, tech-saturated world has its benefits. At the same time, I won’t lie, sometimes it’s intimidating. But I’m so drawn to technology and the digital world, and I love being tech-savvy. I’m so excited to see how technology changes this year and beyond, and I’m enthusiastic about using my tech-savvy-ness at my job(s) in the future.

How do you feel about living in this digital world? Are you tech-savvy?