I know that we, older citizens, and by the way, the new older citizens, are anyone over 75, are generally perceived to be against anything new, or at least out of the norm that we’ve known over the past 70-plus years.

This 78-year-old (just for your information, if you want to buy me something expensive, I’ll be 79 on April 27th, the same month and day as Ulysses S. Grant. Impressed yet?) As I was saying before, I interrupted myself. This 78year-old usually likes change, especially if it benefits me.

I love tech. Maybe love is too strong a word. Let’s say that I really like tech. From a narcissistic viewpoint, understanding and learning how to use new technology makes things easier. I can remember from my school days that, while doing research, I had to consult vast volumes of written material at the library. Even in my room as a boy, I had a complete set of Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia. Today I access Google.

In 1977, the year that Elvis Presley died, I was working in a computer room at a bank in downtown Kansas City. The room was half the size of my house. One entire wall was a bank of large tape drives that held vast amounts of financial information. The printer was a large affair, the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. When it jammed while printing, you had to go through a lengthy process to find the information on one of the tape drives before you could resume printing.

Today, I pick up my phone to access a world of information, copy that information, and hit print on my smartphone, remotely signaling my printer. On my phone, I can watch a full-length movie and listen to music. I can remember having to contact a telephone operator to make a long-distance call and being charged a good amount of money for the privilege. Today, dial direct and no extra charge.

With all the rapid changes in technology, we keep up, or we’ll be left behind in the darkness of feeling cheated. Having said that, I’m still not keen about A. I. It may have some advantages yet to be seen, but it will not compose an article for me. It’s my name on the byline, errors and all.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system. I wanted to use this forum to praise the new, brilliant look of The Lexington News. The print is easier to read. The colors are more vivid, and it can be held and handled while reading it in a galeforce wind.

Whoever came up with the paper’s new format should be paraded through town with a laurel wreath around their neck and a crown of golden flash drives atop their head. I hope to see the “Author’s Corner” logo prominently gracing one of the pages.

Just remember. Technology in all its wonder cannot replace a conversation with a friend. It can’t match reading a good book. It can’t replace a kind word. It cannot answer a prayer. That’s God’s province alone.

Oh, and if you do need help in navigating today’s technology, I have a 7-yearold great-granddaughter who will assist for a nominal fee.