New Technology Can Wait

As a millennial, I am a leader in technology. Aside from the newest Generation, “Gen Edge or Gen Z,” I am, along with my generation, foremost to embrace all things social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest and Spotify.

In the morning, I wake up and check my phone for new emails, What’s App and text messages. To go to new places I haven’t been before, I use Google Maps to find my destination. I use my Macbook Pro to watch shows on Hulu and HBO Go. Apple TV is also available to watch my favorite movies and TV shows on Netflix. At dinnertime, I check Pinterest or the Food Network App for recipes. I order meals from Plated.com and if I want to go out and eat, I use yelp.com to ensure my restaurant is peer reviewed and endorsed.

As an art director, I get inspiration from the countless images on the Internet and I analyze social behaviors on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. I constantly have to update all of my Adobe products, including apps, software and the creative cloud. Technology and media consume my life and I find myself completely dependent upon it.

I’ve accepted my dependence on technology. I know that in order to “make it” in the business of advertising, technology is something I will need to continue to embrace, love and be excited about. But sometimes, I wish technology would just take a long nap. Not a forever nap, not even a yearlong nap. I find it hard to keep up with the demands of becoming an expert on all the latest devices, apps and updates that are constantly being created and evolving within the world in which I live. It is tantamount to having a full-time job, researching and becoming an active user of all the new communities on the Internet that has emerged. Technology is growing at a rapid pace and sometimes I must rely on the people around me to introduce me to the latest trends. To a point, I fear my age catching up to me.

What hasn’t changed is my interest in both people and social behavior. What drives people to try these new communities and devices that are introduced in the market? Is it filling a need that hasn’t been introduced before? Is it solving a problem that the old technology or community has inadvertently created?

I won’t be able to slow down technology, just as I won’t be able to slow down the aging process. But I believe, as long as my curiosity remains, I can continue to fight the battle of learning new technology.