Senior Connections SeniorConnections_JanFeb20

Job skills change with technology Curmudgeon’s Corner IVAN RACONTEUR • EDITOR Advances in technology have created new jobs. They have also changed or eliminated other jobs. I was thinking recently about some job skills I have learned over the years that have become obsolete. When I was in school, I took a printing class. We learned to set lead type by hand, which seemed primi- tive even back then. At no time since leaving that class have I been called upon to use those skills. I have heard about printers who have restored and maintained vintage presses and use them for high- end, small-run printing, but these tend to be special- ized situations, rather than high-demand jobs. Later, I worked in a photo lab. People would bring in ﬁ lm from their cameras, and we would process the ﬁ lm, print photos, duplicates, or enlargements, and cut negatives. At the time, mini labs like the one where I worked were everywhere. The rise of digital photography changed all that quickly. Not only did we process ﬁ lm and print photos in that store, but we sold ﬁ lm and accessories. No doubt there are people today who have never used a ﬁ lm camera, and wouldn’t know what to do with one. I sus- pect some people may have never used any camera, other than the one on their phone or tablet. The fact is, for many people, phone cameras are ad- equate for their purposes. In a very short time, the quality of phone cameras has improved dramatically, and the images they pro- duce are surprisingly good. The ﬁ rst camera I owned was a ﬁ lm camera, and it required the use of ﬂ ash bulbs. If one tries to explain that setup to young people today, they are likely to act as if one is describing something from the ancient times. My second camera was one of those units that used a special kind of ﬁ lm pack, and produced photos that developed on the spot. The camera was huge, the ﬁ lm was ridiculously expensive, and the photo quality was poor, but the camera was great fun for parties. My friends and I could take photos of one another and watch them de- velop before our eyes. I still have the last ﬁ lm camera I purchased. It lives on a shelf in the spare bedroom. The cam- era was expensive, and I purchased a variety of expensive lenses and accessories to go with it. The camera and accessories became worth- less practically overnight when digital cameras hit the market. 10 Software is another area in which technology has made old skills outdated. The word processing software that we used at my ﬁ rst newspaper job in college – Volkswriter – essen- tially disappeared not long after I left the school. At no time since leaving college did I work anywhere that used that software. We learned to adapt quickly in those days. I grew up in the era of manual typewriters, ﬁ lm cameras, and land-line telephones. I witnessed ﬁ rst- hand the transition to electric typewriters, word pro- cessors, and, ﬁ nally, personal computers. Today, tiny tablets have dramatically more comput- ing power and features than we could have imagined when the ﬁ rst home computers were introduced, and they cost a fraction of the price. I saw the transition from the introduction of mobile phones, to a world in which nearly everyone has a cell phone and fewer people each year have a land line. When I started in the purchasing ﬁ eld, most orders were faxed to our vendors. It wasn’t long before faxes essentially became obsolete, and we did everything through e-mail. Today’s journalism students will work in a very different world than those who graduated a few years ago. The new journalists won’t be tied to a desk. Even today, many media professionals do much of their work on their smart phones and tablets. They can record interviews, take notes on a touch screen, use voice recognition software to transcribe material, as well as taking photos and recording vid- eo, all from the same device, and they can send this material back to their ofﬁ ce wirelessly, or post infor- mation online from wherever they are. This is an exciting time to be a journalist, as it is to work in other ﬁ elds that are changing rapidly. As I look back at the changes we have seen just in the past decade, it’s difﬁ cult to imagine what the em- ployment landscape will look like in the years ahead. One thing seems certain. We will need to be pre- pared to adapt if we are going to survive. Portable Oxygen For The Way You Want to Live Includes Everything You Need to Regain Your Freedom At just 2.8* lbs, the Inogen One G4 is the ultralight portable oxygen concentrator you have been waiting for. The Inogen One G4 is approximately half the size of the Inogen One G3. Meets FAA Requirements for Travel JUST 2.8 LBS. REQUEST YOUR FREE INFO KIT TODAY! CALL TODAY! 1-855-418-3428 *With a single battery. © 2019 Inogen, Inc. All rights reserved. Senior Connections HJ.COM

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