These two stories, noted over the weekend, I think are indicative of the times:
- From the “Pennsylvania 6-5000” Department: Remember the days when you c0uld rattle a telephone number off the top of your head? Your favorite aunt. Your girlfriend. Your doctor. Your home phone. But nowadays? As the New York Times has noted, people are lucky if they even remember their own numbers. It seems that cellphones have made remembering telephone numbers unnecessary, as some people (unfortunately) find out when their cell phone dies, they are stranded, and they don’t know the number to call.
- From the “Not Your Father’s Myspace” Department: Remember when Livejournal was populated by the teens. Then the adults came over, and the teens went to Myspace. Then adults discovered that, and the kids went to Facebook. Guess what, kids. Time to find a new home. Social media use has nearly doubled (up 42%) among people 50 and older. 47% of people 50–64 are using social media in some form.
