The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
I remember being amazed around 25 years ago sitting at Wekusko Lake campground about 15 kilometres outside of Snow Lake. I was a young boy, I was out spring camping with my dad and the NHL playoffs were on. After listening to everyone complain one night about missing the hockey game, the guy camping next to us ran into town and got a TV set, rigged an aerial up in the spruce trees and we all sat outside, shivering around the fire, watching the Stanley Cup finals around a little 12 inch black and white TV. This was technology at its finest. So what is roughing it these days? I've been doing a lot of camping this summer with my kids and paying close attention to the stuff that families travel with these days. I've seen countless vehicles and campers with TV sets, VCRs and DVD players. I've seen Playstation rigs built right into minivans as manufacturers jump on the idea that we cannot leave home without being entertained. I've watched kids listen to music from laptops and from portable MP3 players. Apple now makes an iPod that boasts it can carry 10,000 songs on it. I have yet to figure out when you would have the need for 10,000 songs in your pocket, but you can do it. Last year I read a newspaper article somewhere that carried the results of a survey which asked campers what they most desired in the campgrounds they stay at. Running a close second to level camping lots was the need for Internet access. I doubted this at the time, but more and more this summer I have run across hotels and campgrounds that advertise Internet access as a selling point of their location. I'm actually typing this column at Gordie Howe Campground in Saskatoon and when it's finished, I'll email it out right from my camper as this campground has wireless Internet access available throughout it for a few dollars. Cell phones filled with games meant to be played on trains and buses, motorhomes with satellite dishes rigged to the top, and McDonalds and Starbucks restaurants with wireless Internet access throughout the chain are all signs that we are getting very attached to our technology. We have to take it everywhere with us. When my family travels we take an extra bag in the van to hold all of our electronics. Laptop computer, digital video/still camera, 12 volt converter, palm pilots, mouse, a leather case filled with games on CDs and movies on DVDs, as well as all of the cords to power these things and to hook them together. Standard traveling stuff my father would have never dreamed of having to take along. So where is all of this going? Where will we be 15 or 20 years from now? Will my kids have Internet access wherever they go? Will they be able to surf as they travel down the highway in their vehicles? I believe that will be possible and much more. I predict that you will be able to watch pay per view events such as movies and sports in your vehicle as you travel, play games online, send email, and be in contact wherever you go. First these things will show up as safety features, but it won't be long until we are using them for the sake of convenience and entertainment. We are getting more plugged in all of the time. If only I can remember where I keep putting all of those cords. ([email protected])
