I read this blog post from the Washington Post this morning entitled Smart design + school = health. It described beautifully why atmosphere is important in the classroom. The final quote stood out to me:
“We really focused on what kids need. What I see in that space are kids gravitating to that atmosphere because they know it’s for them, about them. Everything is tailored to their needs.”
Dina Sorensen, project designer, VMDO Architects
Boy, a lot has happened since I sketched this concept of catching the tech wave! The technology keeps getting faster, smaller, and cheaper. But are we any better for it? If we are continually connected to our devices, is it a good thing?
Technology is changing everything, including surfing. Apparently, it has changed surfing in dramatic ways; from surf forecasting to shark mitigation. I found this in my sketchbook. It was about surfers using GPS devices to find the best waves back in 2012.
The Angry Birds phenomenon had been around long enough in 2011 to come up with a cartoon about an angry bird sermon. People love to give pastors ideas for sermons much like they love to give ideas to cartoonists!
So when I thought of this idea, I considered how technology has changed the church. If you walk into most churches today, you’ll at least see a projector on the wall. They have replaced hymn books with Powerpoint and lyrics projected on a wall. I see it as a good thing.
As we enter the month of May, and the end of school is in sight, it becomes the prime season for a roughing it at church camp cartoon.
This cartoon was in a magazine that focused on summer activities and missions. They were talking about Vacation Bible School, camps, and all-around summer fun.
Some of my earlier memories were when my mom took some kids to church camp in Northern Indiana. The camp seemed rustic even to a kindergartner. It didn’t look much better when I was old enough to go camping.
Yesterday, the big news was that the classic BlackBerry operating system would no longer be supported. There was a time I would have loved to have a BlackBerry. But I had to settle for a Palm Pilot. Do you remember those? Alas, technology is temporary. What was the hottest thing twenty years ago now looks like unusable junk.
As a result, for technology to be relevant, it must advance. One day, my iPhone will be useless. Unless I keep up, the laptop I’m using today will be a relic tomorrow.
I once did a post on making the best use of technology. I wrote it at about the time the COVID pandemic was in full swing. At the time, I wondered if I would be working remotely and how to handle it. It didn’t happen then but did this week. The virus keeps mutating and we have to adjust. In a sense, technology is like a mutating virus. We either have to adjust or get left behind. Progress is rough, isn’t it?
But if there was no change to face, life would be pretty boring. We need to change and grow or things stagnate. I think of this every time I drive by a neglected farm house. It could be a nice place if someone adjusted and made made improvements long ago. But today, it is rotting away. The house and barn roofs have holes in them. Nobody would want to live there without a total overhaul.
Therefore, we must move on and ditch the BlackBerries. We need to keep growing and adjust to what is coming next. Technology is temporary, much like every other area in life. When we adjust, we grow and improve. But when we resist, we neglect and end up with a bunch of useless junk.