I love Napoleon Dynamite. I must be from Cache Valley, or just mental. I worked with the mother of the writer/director for a time. She was the owner of the black Llama, Tina. The bonus feature wedding scene is not to be missed, in my opinion. I don’t think Kip will be a recording star, but what a funny song.
What is the link from obscurity, to the reason for this post? Technology:
I remember when cable TV came to my home town, much later than it did to other parts of Cache County. The means of getting it to the far reaches of the valley was to beam it from the cable company offices by microwave, or some means of transmission. I believe the town council had to vote on it, after public hearings, and then a spot for the receiving hardware had to be located. Quite the process….
Now, we were not in the dark ages, but it was a big step forward into the information age for my home town. What was huge back then is not a big deal these days. Satellite or cable television and high-speed internet to visit anywhere in the world is now the standard, not the exception. 24/7 news, making the latest events unfold right before our eyes in ways that were hard for me to imagine. With all the amazing things it brings us, there are a few things technology provides that I find to be redundant.
For example: Ordering an item from the web page of a local store to have it delivered, or pick it up. Who would have imagined the NEED to ever do that, let alone that the businesses in this area would offer that convenience? What is wrong with the phone, or just spending the time to go to the store and get whatever is needed using the old fashioned method? My perspective was to change, however.
The first time I ever made a purchase like that over the internet was to buy movie tickets. We were worried that the theater would sell out for the screening we wanted to attend, if we waited until we arrived to buy our tickets. I was happy for the convenience of it, but it was at the same time, well, weird... I guess I just didn’t see many instances where it was necessary, in still mostly rural Cache County, Utah.
Today my understanding of the need has grown. We were expecting a visit from the representative of a company from Salt Lake City, that we have a business relationship with. Yesterday we made arrangements as to the time he would arrive, and that he would pick up sandwiches on his way, from a specific sandwich shop with a store in Logan.
Using an online menu I polled the office and I received sandwich orders back from all who would be attending the meeting, and emailed the list back to the rep from Salt Lake. I honestly expected the list to be taken by hand to the deli chosen and the order to be handled that way, or a phone call would be placed. But no, my feeble understanding of how technology can improve our lives was in need of expansion!
This morning I was a bit surprised to find in my email inbox a copy of the order confirmation from the local store of the deli. It contained the entire list of sandwiches I had emailed to the SLC rep, down to the detail of additions and deletions requested by each attendee. Amazing! The online order matched each person’s requests item by item.
I doubt I will ever order food over the internet for myself, or even 2-3 people, ever again. It’s still weird, if you ask me, but today my eyes were opened. Now I can understand how using technology to order a SANDWICH online – of all things - makes life better, even if I choose not to use it.
