Last week, I
read a blog that made me take a break from all of the technology and contracts
and stress of life and stop to think about the simpler things.
It was about how to give your 2014
kids a 1970s summer. It made me laugh. In fact I’m still laughing.
And it brought back many wonderful memories of leaving the house at 7:00 in the
morning and not coming back until after playing hide and seek at dusk. Riding
bikes. Bouncing from house to house and slapping together sandwiches at
whoever’s house we were at when we got hungry. Lemonade and Kool-Aid stands.
Cartwheels and Red Rover on the front lawn. Playing in the sprinklers. And
laughter. So. Much. Laughter. Thank you Melissa
Fenton and @_MommyPage for the fabulous flash back.
We thought it
would be fun to take a look at what was happening with business and technology back
in the 1970s too. Here are just a few kind of important things that happened
during that decade:
- Southwest Airlines made its first flight in June 1971
- Federal Express was founded in 1971
- The earliest floppy disks were invented at IBM; they were 8 inches wide and became commercially available in 1971
- The first e-mail transmission took place in 1971
- The first voicemail system, known as the Speech Filing System (SFS), was invented by Stephen J. Boies in 1973
- On April 3, 1973, the first cell phone call was transmitted
- Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975
- Apple was founded April 1, 1976
- Oracle was founded in 1977
- The microprocessor, spreadsheets and the C programming language were invented
- Pocket calculators and the Sony Walkman were built
- Microwave ovens and VCRs became commercially available
- In 1979 e-commerce was invented
Clearly, the
1970s saw many inventions and thriving entrepreneurship. Technology grew by
leaps and bounds. And it has never stopped.
Hmmm. Any
correlation between that and the “forced
smile-inducing, uber planned and supervised, over-the-top summer life
experiences” parents are providing these days?
Technology is
an amazing thing. It’s what allows us to run our business when we live in
different places and our customers are in other different places. That’s not
something that could have happened in the 1970s and not something to be taken
for granted.
But, this
article reminded me to take more moments to remember the simpler things and
break the ‘rules’ more.
In fact I've just used an app to put that on my To Do list in the cloud so it will trickle
down to all of my various technology devices. J
How do you take time to remember the simpler things?
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Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing, event planning and other support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Learn more at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com.
Kerry Brooks is Co-owner of ProfessionalEdge Associates, offering a wide range of marketing, event planning and other support services to businesses that want to increase their success, but aren't in a position to add to their staff. Learn more at www.gettheprofessionaledge.com.
