banks and others..
HUH? What's up with that? is all about adjusting to change. Years ago, my principal said to me, Aging is all about adapting. I have thought about those words many times, both in the classroom and after retirement. It's easy to criticize those who struggle with new ideas, but to move forward, each of us must continue to grow and that generally means embracing differences.
Most people take innovation in stride, but sometimes it is more difficult for seniors for one of several reasons. including: a reluctance on the part of the person to admit change can be positive; an unwillingness to change because it's always been done this way; and, fear of the unknown. But, take a walk in our culture to witness transformations in our lives that are coming or are already here. Most of these differences appear to be irreversible. So, these advancements are permanent. For example, have you walked into a bank lately?
Traditionally, banks are some of the finest architecture in any city or town. Gothic, Modern, Tudor, Colonial, Italianate, Victorian, Romanesque, are just some of the styles on display in any modern city. Of course, along with beautiful architecture and buildings there comes a huge cost. Millions of dollars are spent on the construction of these institutions. However, we are in the middle of permanent change in the banking industry. Americans no longer walk into bank buildings because now we go online.
Statista.com, a site that reports on banking practices and machinery, reports the most common reason to use a bank app last year was to check account balances, followed by looking at recent transactions. 86% of all U.S. banks now offer online bill paying.
A recent visit to a branch bank revealed major advancements are rapidly coming.
Bank tellers will be little used as fewer and fewer people actually walk into a bank building. In addition, many banks such as Fifth Third Bank have computerized tellers in their main lobby in many branches.
According to CenterState Regional Bank, the average age of a person utilizing bank services in person is in their mid 50s. The vast majority of millennial and Generation X customers bank online and rarely set foot in a bank.
Just like the thousands of telephone booths that no longer exist, bank buildings may one day be a trivia question.
Phone booths are obsolete now, but in the 1950s, the Bell System operated over one-million pay phones in this country and most of them were housed in a booth-like structure. Glass booths replaced all-wood enclosures in the mid 50s and Superman's famous wardrobe changing area was exposed.
And, just as technology expedited the demise of telephone booths, CDs and typewriters, so too has Mr. Edison's most significant invention seen a different light of day.
J. P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts were the major investors in The Edison Light Company in 1878. By the end of the following year, Thomas Edison demonstrated the first incandescent light at his Menlo Park lab.
Now, we also have LED lighting and eventually the experts say traditional lighting will be relegated to history. There is some reluctance to this change for a variety of reasons, but cost is a huge deterrent. LEDs can be up to five or six times the price of an incandescent bulb, but they supposedly last much longer.
It won't be long before trying to find an Edison bulb will be as hard as finding a Circuit City Store.
I am from a generation in which prime referred to a quality of beef. Now, Prime means a subscription service that has over 103 million members who pay a monthly fee to belong to the service. Again, we see a reluctance on the part of older citizens to participate in the program as 73% of Prime users are under 54 years of age. Amazon is also the largest provider of electronics in the world. Are we witnessing the demise of another type of specialty store?
All in all, I love the changes technology has brought to our lives and try my best to learn. Adapting or adjusting is a mindset and for me that's what aging is all about. But then, just as I got used to CDs followed by digital, I find out vinyl records are back! HUH? What's up with that?
HUH? What's up with that? is all about adjusting to change. Years ago, my principal said to me, Aging is all about adapting. I have thought about those words many times, both in the classroom and after retirement. It's easy to criticize those who struggle with new ideas, but to move forward, each of us must continue to grow and that generally means embracing differences.
Most people take innovation in stride, but sometimes it is more difficult for seniors for one of several reasons. including: a reluctance on the part of the person to admit change can be positive; an unwillingness to change because it's always been done this way; and, fear of the unknown. But, take a walk in our culture to witness transformations in our lives that are coming or are already here. Most of these differences appear to be irreversible. So, these advancements are permanent. For example, have you walked into a bank lately?
Traditionally, banks are some of the finest architecture in any city or town. Gothic, Modern, Tudor, Colonial, Italianate, Victorian, Romanesque, are just some of the styles on display in any modern city. Of course, along with beautiful architecture and buildings there comes a huge cost. Millions of dollars are spent on the construction of these institutions. However, we are in the middle of permanent change in the banking industry. Americans no longer walk into bank buildings because now we go online.
Statista.com, a site that reports on banking practices and machinery, reports the most common reason to use a bank app last year was to check account balances, followed by looking at recent transactions. 86% of all U.S. banks now offer online bill paying.
A recent visit to a branch bank revealed major advancements are rapidly coming.
Bank tellers will be little used as fewer and fewer people actually walk into a bank building. In addition, many banks such as Fifth Third Bank have computerized tellers in their main lobby in many branches.
According to CenterState Regional Bank, the average age of a person utilizing bank services in person is in their mid 50s. The vast majority of millennial and Generation X customers bank online and rarely set foot in a bank.
Just like the thousands of telephone booths that no longer exist, bank buildings may one day be a trivia question.
Phone booths are obsolete now, but in the 1950s, the Bell System operated over one-million pay phones in this country and most of them were housed in a booth-like structure. Glass booths replaced all-wood enclosures in the mid 50s and Superman's famous wardrobe changing area was exposed.
And, just as technology expedited the demise of telephone booths, CDs and typewriters, so too has Mr. Edison's most significant invention seen a different light of day.
J. P. Morgan and the Vanderbilts were the major investors in The Edison Light Company in 1878. By the end of the following year, Thomas Edison demonstrated the first incandescent light at his Menlo Park lab.
Now, we also have LED lighting and eventually the experts say traditional lighting will be relegated to history. There is some reluctance to this change for a variety of reasons, but cost is a huge deterrent. LEDs can be up to five or six times the price of an incandescent bulb, but they supposedly last much longer.
It won't be long before trying to find an Edison bulb will be as hard as finding a Circuit City Store.
I am from a generation in which prime referred to a quality of beef. Now, Prime means a subscription service that has over 103 million members who pay a monthly fee to belong to the service. Again, we see a reluctance on the part of older citizens to participate in the program as 73% of Prime users are under 54 years of age. Amazon is also the largest provider of electronics in the world. Are we witnessing the demise of another type of specialty store?
All in all, I love the changes technology has brought to our lives and try my best to learn. Adapting or adjusting is a mindset and for me that's what aging is all about. But then, just as I got used to CDs followed by digital, I find out vinyl records are back! HUH? What's up with that?
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