We who live in the present and ever-changing technological world are extremely blessed.
With all electronic devices and gadgets at our disposal, everything has become so instantaneous.
Whatever happens now, is sent into cyber space, captured by a cleverly designed satellite thousands of kilometres away and sent back down to earth to be processed and displayed by an equally cleverly designed electronic gadget.
All of this happens within seconds. Amazing!
Things such as telegrams have long since become obsolete and a hand-written letter is a rarity.
Now here is a chance for the old folk to turn the tables and explain to the kids what a telegram was, but first make them promise not to laugh!
Remember the old orange coloured envelope with the message cut from the Dictaphone and pasted in lines? “Hello Stop Arriving 12 noon 24th Stop Pretoria Station Stop Bill & Fam Stop.” Now that’s ancient!
Another thing the younger generation have probably never heard of is the term running an errand. In days gone by when we were kids, we were sent on errands.
This could be going to the corner shop with a hand-written list of things to buy, or literally running down the road to aunty so-and-so to tell her something or hand her a little note.
Yes. kids, we actually physically ran in those days!
Technology has replaced all this, something which may be seen as either good or bad. Yes, it is extremely convenient and fast; however, sometimes it can be too fast.
Living in the competitive world we do, everyone wants to be first to break the news or take credit for posting a photo or video that has the potential of going viral on social media.
The down-side of this is that it may often have serious consequences in the form of personal disputes and even legal claims for defamation.
The most disturbing aspect is that by doing this we may unknowingly be assisting a criminal to escape prosecution.
A photo of a perpetrator taken at the scene of a crime and splashed all over social media by bystanders before a trial can and often does render an identity parade completely useless.
It can be argued in a court of law that anyone could have identified a suspect after seeing a photo on social media. The identification parade is then viewed as unfair and in some instances even cancelled.
So, let’s all take a minute to consider the consequences of sharing potentially damaging information and photos on social media.
We all like to see that perpetrators are apprehended at the scene of a crime, or shortly after a crime has been committed.
None of us would like to see them walk free because of something we did in haste.
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