Generation Gap. Part II

Further to the 'apps' method of figuring out which side of the generation divide you are on -

Apprentice Writer is much struck with further dividing lines.

Gentle Reader - do you TWIT? E-READ? CELL?

AW suspects her own "No" answer may need to be reassessed soon. Her Very Good Reasons why she has not embraced these tidal-wave technologies:

Twitter: avoiding due to fear of yet another addictive time-suck
E-read: dedicated e-reader is low on 'most urgent purchase' list and threatens to be hard on the eyes
Cellular phone as message centre: AW's cellphone is of the very basic variety, used for actual speech (yes, it's true - cellphones can be used for talking to another person, not just texting/surfing/games/movies/camera!)

Yet signs of being left behind, like an LP in a cassette world (wait; that's too old) -
like a walkman in a discman world (still too old) -
like napster in an itunes world (getting better) -
have conspired to poke a hole in AW's "comfortable-with-my-level-of-technology-thank-you-very-much' bubble. To wit:

- big author news is broken on Twitter rather than the blogosphere,
- reader contests are held exclusively on Twitter,
- some bloggers seem on a trajectory of decreased time blogging and increased time tweeting
- Twitter shows itself far above a shallow time-killer by profoundly affecting the way people protest totalitarian regimes
- the longstanding slow simmer between romance writers published in print vs. e-presses reaches a full boil with a recent statement from the president of Romance Writers of America and perceived-to-be exclusionary policies for the 'big' industry awards
- Dorchester issued an open call for unpublished authors to submit serial chapters in a contest with a publishing contract as prize, with reader voting to take place via cellphone.

The writing is on the wall.