Text 181, 72 rader
Skriven 2006-05-23 11:43:26 av Sam Alexander (27.fidonet_amateur)
Ärende: Magic of Amateur Radio of today
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Hi Everyone,

I read this article on the ARRL website today, and it touches on a theory 
I've had for many years now, is the Magic of technology still there?  
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/05/19/2/?nc=1

I grew-up in a small community in Central Texas where my friends lived a 
good distance away (not easily walking distance), so we talked to each 
other on the phone quite abit.  Myself along with many of my friends got 
into computers in Middle School (this was about 1988) and shortly after we 
discovered modems and BBSes.  What a wonderful technology!  We could 
communicate with not only friends across town but also people across the 
globe!  I remember the first time I jumped on a Fidonet echo and someone 
replied back from over seas, it was for lack of a better word, magical!  

Most of us had one phone line homes, so with parents not quite appreciating 
the screaming carrier when they picked-up the phone, I along with other 
friends started getting CB radios in our rooms and after we turned driving 
age in our cars.  We CB'ed during the day and hit the BBSes late at night.  
Though CB Radio wasn't global, we could talk to folks on the interstate who 
were from all over the country and world... which was equally neat.

Something about communicating with people from elsewhere was the magic for 
me.  Just like that first message on Fidonet I remember the first time I 
jumped on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) in 1994 and was talking to a fellow in 
Paris who simply said "The Eifel Tower looks great today".  He said his 
apartment was in Paris and looking out his window he could see the Eifel 
Tower!  Again, this was truly magical thinking I was chatting with someone 
in real time who was across the globe.  Fidonet took days to make it, but 
via the Internet it was instant!  I admit, I was hooked on the Internet 
early on.

Now 12 years after that IRC conversation such things are a daily 
occurrence.  Kids grow-up with the ability to call anywhere on their cell 
phone to anyplace in the world at virtually no cost.  Anyone can jump on 
the Internet and see the Eifel Tower via webcam now.  As usual Technology 
has made it easy to do things like talk across the seas, but in a way this 
simple ability has taken the magic away.  

I never got my amateur radio license, but I've always wanted to get it and 
I'm working towards it now.  I wish I could've felt the magic of talking 
with someone across the globe via radio before the Internet made it such a 
common thing.  The Internet has done what many people hoped it would do, it 
made global communication simple and common place, but look at what it has 
taken away.  Why would a kid want to get into ham radios if they can do the 
same thing via the Internet or cell phone?  Nostalgia plays a huge part in 
it too, but for someone without that nostalgic memory of "the way it once 
was", what else is there?  I see this daily with BBSing, why use a BBS when 
you have the WWW?

I'm not saying such things are dead, I still plan on getting my amateur 
license soon, but I hate that the magic might not be there.  Just the 
simple fact that the ARRL president needed to post such an article proves 
the magic is gone for new comers.  Also they keep speaking of making the 
tests easier to pass, and for the same reasons.

My wife and I got married six months ago, and we're planning on starting a 
family soon.  Our hope is that our child not be exposed to the Internet or 
cable TV growing up (like we were).  Though the magic might not be there 
for me, I want to learn the skills of amateur radio, astronomy, and much 
more to pass along to my children, and I want that magic there for them.

Thanks for your attention and take care.

Sam

---Sam Alexander - sam.alexander(at)sidebandbbs(dot)com icq: 5386757 [] AIM/Y!:
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