Once upon a time, I fancied myself a bit of a techie, although enthusiastic adopter of new technology would probably have been more accurate.  You know the type, the one who always has an opinion about the latest new gadget or software, who devours reviews and insider tips on the latest and greatest technology, and who loves offering free advice about what to buy, what to avoid, and why.

But, truth be told, this was a while ago.  Make that a long while ago, as in the era of the 8088 chip, the original IBM PC, the Osborne portable computer, DOS 2.1, and 5.25″ floppy disks.  It was fun while it lasted, reading all those articles, teaching myself to write DOS batch files, and spending spare hours repairing and upgrading my PC, and those of some of my friends.

As I say, long time ago.  Three and a half decades later the technology has changed, and so have I.  Today I routinely do things with my office PC that would have been unimaginable in 1985—running virtual meetings, watching streaming video, and working with files several orders of magnitude larger than the 640k of memory that was the total amount of RAM available—for all purposes—in a DOS world.

And something else has changed too: my enthusiasm for new technology.  Once this seemed like fun; now it seems more like work.  Age is the most likely explanation.  Of course, the way I explain it to myself is a bit more comforting.  Something along the lines of, “It’s not that I can’t do it. It’s just that I’m a lot busier now.  I have too much other important stuff on my plate to risk wasting time on another new software package, gadget, or Web service that will probably be obsolete in six months.”

Sic transit youthful enthusiasm.  Fortunately, ye editor and publisher’s jaded perspective is not representative of Choice staff.  Here at Choice, we have in recent years added a number of newer staff members who remind me of my younger self.  Bright, highly motivated, and yes, younger people whose first response to new technology is less guarded and more enthusiastic.  One of them is Rachel Zippin, our marketing specialist.  I will not soon forget Rachel’s calm, confident response during her second job interview when asked whether she was familiar with Adobe’s CS software.  “No,” she said, “not yet.”

Unsurprisingly, we hired Rachel, and she has worked out wonderfully.  Within a week or two of joining Choice, she was using Adobe CS and has since gone on to master another half-dozen Web and desktop software tools.  She, along with others like Aryn Kyer in Customer Service, Robert Macaione in IT, and Anne Doherty, the RCL project manager, are part of the newer generation at Choice.  And thanks to the wisdom that comes with age, we graybeards are mighty glad to have them.  After all, if there’s one thing we old folks are good at, it’s recognizing and appreciating youthful talent and energy when we see it.  And that’s a skill that makes us especially valuable, does it not, dear reader?—IER