Dear Gen Zs, there's life beyond mobile phones, internet

 

A happy youth takes a selfie on his smartphone. [Getty Images]

I recently stumbled on a sentimental note a lady left me as an undergraduate student. 

She slipped the note under my door after discovering I was not home. She was pleasantly surprised when I shared it with her 30 years later via the Internet.

Keep such old notes, they will become valuable with time.  I have copies of my high school “love” letters. 

The small note generated a humorous discussion with some Gen Zs over life before mobile phones. The simple debate was how you would inform friends and relatives you were visiting.  

There were about 300,000 telephone lines in Kenya before Safaricom. You couldn’t call many people.

The best option was just to turn up and hope you would find whoever you hoped to see! If you didn‘t, you would leave a message, perhaps with the neighbours or just try some other time.

An easier way was to agree in advance when you would visit after bumping into one another on the streets, at work or at the bus stop.  

Someone could ask, why not send a letter or a telegram. Why bother with that for a friendly visit? 

Think of someone’s death. How would relatives know about it? We would send someone to inform them or place a burial announcement on the radio.

But radios were rare. I recall my neighbours who had a National (later Panasonic) and the other Philips. Citizens were more responsible for one another. Those who owned radios would inform relatives. 

The pace of technology growth makes it easy to take things for granted. Think of Gen Zs and Gen Alphas who have grown up with mobile phones and the Internet. They should be very thankful for using this technology to enhance and enrich their lives.  

The problem is that they have no reference point; they cannot fathom an age without mobile phones or the Internet. Phone addiction has joined other addictions like alcohol, bhangi and betting that stalk society today. That is why storytelling and appreciation of history are good. We come to appreciate where we have come from and where we are going. 

We are now members of several WhatsApp groups. We are on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, among others. We are spoilt for choices.  

Can you take time to appreciate technology and its potential? Leverage it to enrich your life and that of others, and while at it make money beyond being an influencer.

Without such appreciation, technology will become like shoes. Do you ever think about the shoes you wear? 

Finally, what’s happened to SMSs? Everyone now uses WhatsApp. What is your most nostalgic memory before mobile phones?