Signs Of Greater Age (56)

The older we get, the more we have to update
and reorganise how we keep in touch
with our diminishing numbers of friends,
as new technology modernises communication
and the changes via  get always presented
as 'easy to use' but in reality it proves complex,
not least for security of identity reasons.

Where once friends used to meet each other
at weekends to share home made meals
and sit out and drink where it is pleasant in the sun,
we now sit alone more often, or with the phone.

The word 'phone' used mean a landline.
With time it came to mean a mobile phone,
once huge then small, now 'a blackberry'
or a smart phone. With each advance
in the apparent ease of use, and the extension
of their application they use more energy,
and require more rigorous security,
whilst their batteries lose their energy
more easily than we realise.

What is more, backing them up for 'roaming'
costs users more than they imagine, and are told.
But given how well the advertising oversells them,
it should be no surprise that we don't understand.

Then there are the laptop/online choices.
Facebook or Instagram? Twitter or Threads?
And how often to use VPN for confidentiality?
And in what circumstances? My line with the internet
is that much of it is often one-sided communications
presented as two sided communications,
whilst trying to go beyond mere appearances. 

If I could, I would always try to return
to chat where we could see each others eyes,
of a lazy afternoon in a shared back garden.