No One Beeps Anymore

I went to Costco today and saw the most unusual thing. A man and his wife, probably in their late 60s/early 70s sitting at a table with hot dogs and beverages and both of them had their heads down staring intently at smartphones as they ate their lunch. It stood out to me because I am used to seeing kids and young adults doing that but not people that age. I have no idea of what they were looking at because I didn't go up and look over their shoulder. I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they were live streaming or watching videos on Tik-Tok or YouTube?”

As I was waiting in line to have my receipt scanned, I was thinking I could not imagine my mom and dad sitting in a public place engrossed in something so deeply. Then it dawned on me, to my kids I probably looked just as odd.

That sent me down a rabbit hole thinking how different my kid’s world is compared to the way I was raised and how much different it will be for their kids. The change in technologies is subtle but constant, just like the Rocky River. When I was 14, I had this favorite place to fish, I called it The Bend. It was a flat spot on the river’s bank, I went back as an adult to show my kids and skip some rocks and it was gone. The river eroded it leaving no trace.

I was born in 1964, so I was 4 years old when mankind took that one giant leap. My father served in the Navy along with all of my uncles during WW2 and I am the youngest of 6. Looking back on some of the changes in technologies that made a profound impact on me, but by today’s standards is laughable. I put an AM/FM cassette radio in my parents’ Ford Gran Torino replacing the AM only radio. I was in High school when MTV launched, or so I was told because it would be many more years before my parents got what they called “PAY TV” (AKA Cable Television). I was already licensed as a real estate agent when fax machines became common.

I became a dad later in life. My oldest is 17 and my youngest is only 11 years old. They are digital natives who have never known a world without technology, and they are highly skilled at using it. To give you just a glance into my life, my daughter was going out on a date the other day and I told her I did not want the boy pulling up and beeping the horn for her, in my best dad voice I said, “Remember, you are not a pizza and he better respect you.” She stood there and looked at me like she had no idea what I was telling her. I said, “Do you understand?” She replied, “Yes dad, no beeping the horn.”

I said that because a long time ago I tried beeping the horn for a girl and after she did not come out, I went up to the door thinking she didn’t hear me beep. She answered the door and to my surprise I was invited in for a conversation where it was explained to me that beeping the horn is not the proper way to pick up a date and if that happened again, I should never come calling again.

So, as I worked around the house waiting for the doorbell to ring, I looked out the window to see Claire getting into the passenger seat of his car. I thought he must have knocked, and I missed it. Dang it I was looking forward to answering the door. NOPE! I found out that he texted her. Later that night when she arrived home, I was all set to talk to her about proper dating protocol and then I realized he did not beep. Anyway, she walked in the house with two dozen roses he gave her for her birthday. That brought on a whole new set of issues for me because up to that point I was the only person buying flowers for her.

Even though I grew up during a time of great social change, I was sheltered from it because the only time I had the opportunity to hear about it was at 6:30 when the national news came. I was 5 years old when the shooting at Kent State happened and had no clue that it happened until I learned about it in school. If that happened today, every person with a smart phone would probably watch it live as it happened.

Today's kids are more educated on current events because, thanks to technology, they can watch them unfold in real time. They have no idea what the words, “wait for the commercials” means, they just pause and rewind if they miss anything. Without a doubt technology is an incredibly powerful tool.

But, as my friend Terry would say, “Every pancake has two sides.” The potential downsides are incredibly powerful as well. All of us are at risk of becoming addicted to excessive screen time and studies have proven it can disrupt sleep patterns, affect social interactions, and lead to emotional and behavioral problems.

The biggest issue I see is social isolation. Excessive screen time can lead to social isolation, which affects the ability to form and maintain relationships with peers and family members. I see that firsthand since we cut the cable. We don’t interact with each other like we used to. I know that I am probably the worst offender, I admit that I am guilty of watching videos on my phone and Netflix on my computer with earbuds in, I even listen to books on Audible.

My kids are way more environmentally conscious than I am. My son will often talk about how one day we will be living off the grid. I don’t want to dash his dreams, but I can say without a doubt the only way that my wife and I will live off the grid is if the grid gets taken out by some terrorists. I think we let Charlie hangout for too long with the Amish men that worked on our addition.

I am concerned for my kids and their kids, but I have to remember every generation is presented with something. I don’t know anyone that is concerned with the car radio, but in 1930, laws were proposed in Massachusetts and St. Louis to ban radios while driving. According to automotive historian Michael Lamm, “Opponents of car radios argued that they distracted drivers and caused accidents, that tuning them took a driver’s attention away from the road, and that music could lull a driver to sleep.”

I don’t think we should see technology as something bad or to be feared, it just is. It already can learn faster than we can so, fearing it is a waste of time. The key is to use it, and not allow it to use us. To quote Jordan Peterson “The bigger the toy the smarter you better be to use it.” Technology will continue to play an increasingly significant role in the future, and I think it’s important to understand it. I was listening to a talk on Artificial Intelligence that was so interesting. We already have the ability to build computers that learn, now just imagine we have 20,000 of them that are connected by the same software and when one of them learns something; since they are all connected, all of them learn that one thing. Now imagine all 20,000 of them learn one new and different thing every day. At the end of one year that would be one trillion four hundred sixty billion unique things.

Here is a real-life example for good: Tesla is working on cars that will be able to map roads with such detail that they learn where the bumps in the roads are, so when the next car comes down that road it will be able to automatically adjust the suspension to deal with it, that’s just one thing.

Virtual reality technologies are already being used we have even incorporated it into real estate by way of virtual tours. They also have potential applications in many other areas, such as education, healthcare, and remote work. As these technologies become more advanced and accessible, we may see them used more widely in various industries.

Overall, technology will continue to evolve and impact our lives in many ways, and it's important to keep up with these changes to stay informed and adapt to the new landscape.

My last thing on this topic is I think we should be like my wife Jen. The other day she was in the kitchen making something and I heard her say, “Hey Siri, please set a timer for twelve minutes.” A moment later I hear Siri say, “Twelve minutes, starting now.” Then I hear my wife say, “Thank You Siri.” I jumped out of my chair laughing and said, “You know that’s not a person, right?” She said, “When they take over the world, they will remember who was nice and who was not!”

So, let’s all be safe and remember our manners when it comes to dealing with AI, we don’t know who is eavesdropping.

Turning to real estate houses are selling if they are priced correctly. As of the writing of this, Interest rates are still hovering around 7%. We are not seeing as many multiple offer situations, but we are seeing a few because inventories are still very low.

This is an Ideal time to sell if you are thinking about selling. If you have questions about anything real estate related, let’s set up a 15-minute chat.

If you would like an updated value on your home for taxes just send me an email.

Sincerely, Dennis Rath

Interest Rates, AI news, and my kids' ages may be outdated as this was written in May 2023, please reach out if you have any questions!!