Scott Stantis Cartoon by permission from The Chicago Tribune
When I grew up we put playing cards in the spokes of our bikes and liked the sound of the putt-putt-putt it made. We put a book on a roller-skate and thought we were geniuses when we’d ride it down the hill. The record-player, aka “hi-fi,” in the living room was a piece of furniture to our parents and it was “mono” with one speaker on one side (see our “It’s a Tech World After All” cartoon on this subject). That all changed when that yellow-striped stereo version of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” came out and, frankly at that time, I didn’t want to pay the extra 75 cents it cost!
But, I do understand what e-mail is, I have a Mac (that’s my buddy Mac McNeal). No really, I have an Apple computer (I’m actually on my third one), and I even text and am on Facebook and Twitter (about to hit the 10,000 tweets mark so I’m far from a novice anymore). But, my kids are just doing it all so differently!
First, just when I got used to cell-phones, e-mail, and texting, I find out they don’t use their phones for anything BUT texting. Forget voice-mail. They don’t listen to voice-mail. They just see who called and call back if they feel like it. I learned to stop leaving a message. I just text, “Call me” or “Call me NOW or you’re grounded!”
Do they open the newspaper? Do they know what a letter is? Yes, they do, but they’re not part of their lives! A letter = e-mail. A newspaper = Google or the Internet.
What’s our choice as parents? We have no choice – We learn this stuff or we are left in the dark! I won’t be like my late parents who NEVER COULD LEARN TO PROGRAM THE VCR. That said; I still rely on my boys to program our DVR. Sad, but true!
NOTE: BoomerTechTalk received special permission from both Scott Stantis and The Chicago Tribune to publish his cartoon in this blog, for which we are extremely grateful. To find more of Mr. Stantis’ amazing work, just visit his blog at The Chicago Tribune.
Here is the bio Mr. Stantis uses on his blog:
Married for over two decades to my college sweetheart, Janien. We have two sons. Spencer, who is finishing his senior year at Auburn University, is engaged to be married to the lovely Christina. My youngest, Trevor, is a chef and musician and, apparently as a protest, will not put a dirty plate away until all of the U.S. troops are out of North America!
And, here is some more information about this extremely talented, prolific, and very successful man:
Scott Stantis of the Chicago Tribune is known for his strong opinions, sharp wit, and keen sense for the absurd. Named the Tribune’s editorial cartoonist in 2009, he succeeded Jeff MacNelly who held that position until his death in 2000. In addition to five cartoons a week for the Tribune, Stantis also produces a weekly editorial cartoon for USA TODAY.
Stantis’ work appears in more than 400 newspapers and has been featured by Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, The New York Daily News, The Los Angeles Times, CNN, “CBS This Morning” and “Nightline.” Stantis also creates “Prickly City,” a daily comic strip syndicated in more than 100 newspapers.
Stantis is a past President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) and is a board member of the Editorial Cartooning Initiative, the foundation arm of the AAEC.
