Should We Be Concerned?

Now, I have come to realize over the last few years that I am no longer part of the targeted audience I used to belong to. This has obviously made me feel, firstly a bit worried about feeling like this in my early 20s, and also concerned as to how to keep track of the new tendencies.

This whole thing started by me wondering how the older generations of my family felt about the most important communication device I own, my laptop (and therefore the Internet). My results were not shocking, the elder could not care any less.

A few months ago when I was teaching I wondered whether mixing my professional online life and my private online life was right…I still have no idea of what is the correct answer for this. I guess that teaching 15 years olds could be the clue to tell me that it is possibly wrong to do so (and best for me to keep away from or get added to facebook or randomly poked).  I also read the other day to my deep discontent that my generation is not a digital-native generation. I knew it before I got to this article, but I had although hoped that not remembering most of my childhood could make an exception..apparently not.

So, I am a non digital-native female who worries about sharing her email address and social networking profile. How does this translate to those I work with? Easy: I picture my parents putting sellotape on videotapes in order to be able to use them again. That was the moment I thought my parents obviously were 100 years old and would never understand the magic of materialism. Now I reckon my students think I am not work a blog-post or a twitter update or a single smilie on msn…

Oh Dear..

Time to Pretend? No, Time to Change

At the age of 21 I own around 250 books to say the least. My family and friends also own a fair number of books, but we are apparently living in more of a primitive world than our friends from the States or even our European colleagues, the British.

During the twentieth century the industry of books, or rather the industry of commercial books, made the very old book become part of an exciting experience. Most of us have had the pleasure of experiencing the Big Bookshop Experience. To the Spanish audience, I should probably explain.

It is not only on tv where people get into humongous bookshops, similar to those modest shopping centers of only 4 or 5 floors, and wish to lose identity to gain the imperturbable blank face of that person following the mass flow. It is certainly one of the most appealing places to go to for a person coming from a small city like me, but it is just one of the ‘advances’ of the modern cities, like London. As you open the doors of the desired place, a feeling of overwhelming well-being overcomes you. It is quite a feeling, I’m telling you! Coming from the rain outside, the coming and going of people, suddenly carpet in the floor! –if you are lucky, of course- and a quiet corner of the world opens up.

Once there, it is a difficult choice whether to pretend to actually look for some book in particular or some department. Most of us just walk around it pretending, once again, to be too unspecified as to being able to check one department only. Before even starting to think of what I want to buy, the simple coolness of standing in it makes you proud of yourself already.

A book, 15 pounds and 3 floors later, it’s the ‘what the hell I’m having a coffee’ moment. Your mind has got into such a peaceful stage after looking at all the discounts coming from heaven –called usually ‘the marketing people’-, that a cup of tea is granted!

Some would say it is a topic, but when you get your well-deserved tea and cookie, choose your wooden table and sit down, there is a big change you will overhear a conversation that you are most likely not to understand. This is not because of it not being in your language, yeah could be, but because after all you are there just for the fun of the experience rather than the bunch of friends discussing more intelligent sounding topics.

Why would anyone even think of taking this experience from us? I know the digital book, the deeply loved and hated Kindle and all of his friends are very exciting to start off, but do not deprive me of these moments.