Venturing Into the Unknown: When My Family Got iPhones

I recently underwent an epic string of phantom phone calls. In a given week, I would have two or three missed calls and a voicemail of static. When I returned the number, the recipient would deny responsibility.

This whole thing started when my family got iPhones. Now, we did not grow up in the most high tech of households — our original Nintendo console wasn’t upgraded until last year, by which time it was older than our house, cars,…  even older than me! We’ve since improved significantly, but my parents especially occasionally lag in technology adoption.

So when one of the most advanced cell phones was added into the mix, I was suddenly bombarded with unintended phone calls from family members.  The touch screen was nifty, but inexperienced fingers have a tendency to accidentally dial numbers, or fail to end a call. Conversations started out with “Did you mean to call me?” Text messages often came in collections of incomprehensible garbles when “send” was pressed instead of “backspace.” When the calls were intentional, most were either about troubleshooting or Blackberry-withdrawal.

So what happened?

The whole saga boils down to adoption. My family made a leap to the latest technology. For some it was more of a simple step, while others felt like they were trying to cross a canyon. Some adapted quickly, while others found themselves in completely unfamiliar territory. However, the results have been fantastic: I can video chat with my brother, my mom has mastered the touch screen, and my sister and I are in better contact than ever.
This same evolution is happening today in PR, with companies transitioning to interactive and social communication methodologies to better reach their audiences. This can open up innumerable opportunities, but can be uncomfortable as you venture into the unknown. For my family, the new cell phones improve our ability to keep in touch (not to mention open up the world of app-shopping!).  With all of the new ways of communication, just think of the possibilities!