I was at the FIRST Robotics Competition to support FRC#5902 – The Wire Clippers and I had my iPad with me. I was planning on getting a comic drawn in between matches. That’s the beauty of drawing digitally – I can work pretty much anywhere now. With deadlines looming, I brought my Apple Pencil to the screen and … nothing. It was dead. I had already worn out the battery and forgotten to charge it before showing up for the competition.
Luckily enough, I was able to charge it anyway by plugging it into the iPad. It didn’t take long. But another parent was curious as to what I was doing. “Charging my Pencil,” I had said. And she looked at me in a confused and funny sort of way. I then realized how ridiculous that sounded. I was charging my pencil.
We live in a world where we charge books, cigarettes, watches, fidget spinners, pocket computers, clothing, belts, and even mood rings. My daughter is going to grow up in a world with so much technology that it’s a bit overwhelming to think about. Will she even know what it’s like to have to sharpen a pencil in the middle of a test or have to use the Dewey Decimal System and check out books in the library to write a report? Probably not.
It’s not good or bad either way, it’s just odd. It’s odd that we won’t share these types of experiences. I’ll have to learn how to keep up with her as the world changes quickly around me. I’ll have to ask her to teach me all about the newest devices and programs so that I won’t get left behind. It doesn’t take long to get left behind nowadays.
I’m already behind, aren’t I?