Dialing Back in Time

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There was no telephone in our home in the 90s; it was some kind of a policy of the company where my dad worked - the residential landline was allotted after a certain seniority or designation. We(mostly Mom or Dad and sometimes all of us) used to walk to the club reception to make phone calls. The operator (named Latif) used to come to our home on his bicycle to inform us if we had a call from some relative. He always used to come with short messages like when the caller was expecting a call-back or if there was an emergency call.

We never felt the need to have a telephone at home, although it was arduous to walk to the reception on cold winter nights just to make a phone call. It wasn't far though, just a block away. Maybe, there was never much need. It was enough to inquire about the well-being of all relatives once or twice a month.

When the telephone was issued finally in 2002, the gap was shortened to once a week. It didn't become overwhelming; it was a new-founded relief that we didn't know could exist.

Then we got the Internet and our once simple yet amazing computer now allowed us to connect to our cousins in Dubai. Chatting, hmmm.... fancy!

Then one day my dad brought home a tiny Samsung mobile phone in 2003 and since then our lives have been climbing the graphs of complexity, more steeply since my first smartphone in 2012.

There's never enough time for anything.

I don't know how I used to read a 300-page book in a day while manually checking the meanings of words I didn't know, in a fat dictionary.

Now I just have to type or say the word and I get access to the meaning, synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and whatnot.

And yet...

I don't have enough time...

I know I have bigger responsibilities now but even then in my free time, I'm not able to do much...

With so much information just a few taps away, it's easy to fall into the trap of jumping from one thing to another and forgetting midway, what we were supposed to do in the first place.

I am reading something, I get a notification from another app, I stop midway and switch to that other app, and then again something comes up and the cycle goes on.

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New users say Steemit is outdated, but I love its simplicity.

I'm not distracted by a pop-up notification every time somebody interacts with me. Yet, I think I've never missed a comment or an important discussion/thread. Sometimes late but I eventually get there - because I want to, not because I'm reminded or it's imposed.

This makes all the difference.

I love to have 'no direct messaging system'. I believe it would have affected the engagement. I want you to talk to me under the posts and have meaningful discussions - I don't want hidden and pointless chats unless you've become a really good friend then I can simply drag you to other medium for contact. But I still think it's more fun catching up on-chain. 😉

I'm not saying the interface doesn't need improvement, I'd love any interface that's distraction-free like life was before 2000s.

Nor do I promote stone age, I only wish for moderation in technology in this era of Reels and Shorts.

So not ready for the next virality.

I remember @anroja mentioning that he avoids screen on Sundays when I was knee-deep in Steem stuff. I found this practice appealing and thought to implement in my own life one day.

Well, I haven't achieved that but since the past few months, I've been trying to cut my screen time by reading books, playing board games or screen-free games with kids, going on a walk. I'm even bugging my husband to find me a paper guy. I have this strong urge to start reading newspapers and magazines again. The smell of freshly printed papers... 😌

While penning down my chaotic thoughts into this unorganized post, I had a wild imagination which I should name - Steem Unplugged.

Here 'unplugged' is not a slang but is used in the literal sense. Although, I love the way Steemit is - an advanced technology presented in a humble way.

But what if we had to do Steemit when there was no computer? I know it's wild, I can't think of a substitute of on-chain engagement but I can't stop imagining receiving tangible steem coins in my mailbox and sending some to a couple of authors whose posts I liked in this month's issue of Steem Paper.

No, I'm not crazy... I just miss simpler days.

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I was hoping to be productive today since both my kids were at school but turns out my train of thought went completely off track.