Traveling through the Ages
Is Travel Becoming Device-ive?
We have all heard about time travel. What about traveling through the ages of life? And have high-tech devices, like cell phones, screens, and earbuds, begun driving a wedge between generations of travelers, hindering easy face-to-face communication?
If so, does that mean they are “device-ive?” It seems that a new word is needed to describe what is going on here, folks. I would like to suggest this one: Device-ive.
You heard it here first.
***
In October, I continued traveling through space and time as a 67-year-old man, a relic of a bygone era, a time when there was no Internet or smartphones. Back then, people talked to each other. We voluntarily spent time outdoors unconnected to devices.
It is almost too much for the rational mind to comprehend.
Those of us from the distant past who travel in the present sometimes feel as if we are on a journey of the Star Trek Enterprise. Has the crew stumbled into a modern-day coffee shop with no idea of human customs, blind to what seems obvious?
Let us boldly go where Americans have no business being right now: Canada.
O Canada
My first stop was Quebec, where they speak Quebecois French.
Excited to be there and to speak French, I approached a local person and introduced myself in French. The man looked at me and said, “Mon dieu -- you speak good French, so… I am going to speak to you in English.” “But… I don’t understand.”
‘Correct, monsieur, you won’t understand Quebecois. Let’s speak English.” He was right. Time waits for no man, especially at a bus stop.
Language moves on from the past, and Quebecois French sailed in the 1500s.
Time travel affects how the Quebecois speak. They speak something close to Old French, as it was spoken in France in the 1500s-1600s. An ocean of water separated the Quebecois from France; the centuries gradually separated the two languages.
Most interesting in Quebec is the phenomenon of dipthongization, which sounds like something a pole dancer might do. It refers to drawing out or extending vowel sounds, as American Southerners may say “Thank ‘Yee-Ooh,’” or “Let’s take a ‘cay-abb’” (cab).
Age and Time
You want to know about time travel? We all do it, starting when we are born.
Our journey through time has a fixed beginning but an unknown ending. One generation follows another. As a Boomer, I belong to the oldest generation, followed by Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z; all of us are on our own journey through time.
It is easy to get confused traveling through the various ages of people. In Quebec, the people looked much more historic than I do, possibly relics of a time long ago. They look like their ancestors who left France 400 years ago to colonize modern Canada.
The French Got Smaller while Canadians Got Bigger
I have traveled through time amongst French speakers.
When I spent a year of college studying in France in the 1980s, I was surprised to find that, despite my being of average height in the US, in France, I was taller than most French classmates. The rumor was that the Napoleonic Wars decimated the male population of France, killing off the tallest, leaving behind smaller men to procreate.
There is no evidence to support this rumor, but I suspect the short guys had a ball.
What about Canada? The 10,000-12,000 male colonists France sent to populate Nouvelle France, now Canada, produced, over the centuries, millions of tall, burly, manly men that I saw all over Canada, sporting dark, thick, long lumberjack beards.
The Frenchmen who emigrated from northwestern France appear to have been a big, burly bunch, the sort of men who would be drawn to a rough and tumble frontier life.
Beavers beware.
History and Hysteria
This blog is not about ancient history, but the hysteria of the ancients, guys like me, old-timers who hit the road to begin traveling late in life, trying to discover the wonders of the world in our waning years, only to discover we’ve passed our best-used-by date, and appear to younger generations, especially Gen Z, to be old and feeble.
At a Tim Horton’s in Canada, normal people use the drive-in or order at the kiosk. Crotchety old-timers, belly up to the bar, so to speak, to place their orders in person.
What a quaint thing, the baristas think. Or maybe they suspect we just don’t get it.
One particular old-timer, me, waits at the counter as young staff scramble to fill orders placed by smug drive-through customers who can’t bear to come inside. The staff appear comfortable receiving order information from their fancy headsets.
Not so, talking to live customers. Face to face. Awkward!
Are You the Person to Whom I Am Speaking?
A young female barista stands there, staring blankly, as if I am a museum piece. I wait for her to come to life and to speak to me, then I decide to take the initiative.
Me: “May I place my order, please?”
Barista: (Looking startled) “Oh, sorry, I was in low-battery mode. What would you like?”
Me: “I’d like a medium double-double coffee, but with sweetener instead of sugar, please.”
Barista: (Looks down at the POS device while I’m talking, begins punching buttons). “Oh, what did you want, again?” she asks. “I didn’t capture your initial voice prompt.”
Me: (Staring at the barista) “What part of the order did you get?”
Barista: Nothing. Can you give me the order again now? I’m prepared to receive input.”
Me: (I repeat the order, speaking more slowly and clearly, hoping she is not insulted.)
Barista: “Got it. Anything else?”
Me: “Yes, I’d like a large cup of ice water to share with my dog.”
Barista: (Staring at me, perplexed) “So, do you want ice or water in the cup?”
Me: “Please fill a large cup with ice, then could you add water to it for me?”
(I feel that high-tech devices we use are beginning to divide, rather than unite us, to complicate rather than to improve our lives. It is in this sense that I suggest we adopt a new word, ”Device-ive” to describe and characterize this growing phenomenon.”)
As I pick up my order, I feel the staff’s eyes upon me. Am I an anachronism? When did people decide to drive through or use a kiosk instead of going inside to order?
The ages made us, and the ages grade us. Boomers are out of it, Gen Z is now “with it.”
To Boldly Go
Like the crew of the Starship Enterprise, I have time-traveled, yet I don’t understand.
In this next scene, Captain Smirk, played by me, and Mr. Spock travel to America in 2025, dressed in their outer-space garb. They walk into a coffee shop with no clue how to order. They are not aware that Gen Z staff are less accustomed to speaking directly to unfamiliar humans than dealing with devices, and prefer texting and video chatting.
Captain Smirk: (Smirking) I’d like to order a cup of, I believe you call it coffee, please.
Barista: Why are you speaking to me, dude? Don’t you know how to use your device?
Captain Smirk: (Puzzled) Are you referring to my phaser or my transporter device?
Barista: (Staring blankly.) Dude, where is your cell phone? Can you use that, please?
Mr. Spock: (Cupping his hand, speaking into Smirk’s ear) Captain, I believe they are referring to what was once called a ‘smart phone’ in the early 21st century, sir.”
Captain Smirk: (Looking bemused) “Interesting observation, Mr. Spock.” (Turns to the barista.) “I’m afraid we are not equipped with those particular (smirk)… devices.”
Barista: (Looking perplexed) I have to call my manager. She is the only one here trained in processing live voice input.”
Captain Smirk and Mr. Shock look confused by how young humans of 2025 behave, and by the device-iveness of our devices.
***
People my age are now time-traveling in our lifetimes. We encounter people from the future, known as Gen Z, who were born after the creation of the Internet. They grew up with smartphones; for them, live voice communication seems odd and quaint.
Perhaps someday we will abandon voice communication altogether, but I hope not.
I got a glimpse of this future from my own kids.
You Rang?
Changing ways of communication began with my kids, all of whom are Millennials.
In the 2000s, after the introduction of cell phones, my children informed me that calling without texting first was impolite, like showing up at someone’s front door without calling, and knocking until they got out of the shower to open the front door.
For me, calling is an instant opportunity to connect with a friend or one of my kids.
Wrong.
”You should text first to ask if it’s OK to call,” one of them told me, by text. “Why would I text you to ask if I can call?” I asked, perplexed. “Because that’s how to do it.”
Calling is immediate; it puts younger generations on the spot: “Do I answer now and have a live conversation, or let it ring to voicemail and call back later?”
They usually let me ring to voicemail. If I am lucky, they text me back. “What’s up?” (I text them back.) “I just tried to call you.”
To which they say, “That’s why I’m texting you.” I say, “Why didn’t you just call me?” They ask, “What for?” Game over. My parents didn’t get it. Now, I don’t get it. Sigh.
The Times, They Are a-Changing
People my age are from the past. The youngest generation, Gen Z, is from the future. We occupy the same planet, but we are not on the same wavelength.
Our signal is fading, while theirs grows stronger.
This form of time travel I did not anticipate, and do not enjoy. My generation has become the butt of jokes for our ineptitude with high tech, just the way we joshed with our parents when trying to teach them how to make a call on a cell phone.
No matter what we do, Boomers cannot compete with the younger generations.
When we travel, we must prepare ourselves to cope with new technology that pops up (or poops up) in the most unexpected places. Tim Horton’s replaced old-fashioned push-pull doors on the restrooms with automated doors.
***
Nowhere is safe, not even the bathroom at Tim Horton’s.
Now, a switch pad opens the bathroom door. Once inside, another switch pad locks it. The door is not actually locked until the light on the pad switches from green to red.
I did not know that.
Then a woman opened the bathroom door. She may be traumatized for life.
“SORRY,” I shouted, trying to figure out if, as per traditional etiquette, a man should stand up when greeting a woman, and close the door, or should remain seated?
Meanwhile, she stood there, hands covering her mouth, shouting, “Oh my God!”
I remained seated.
***
I end this week’s blog hoping that, with years of therapy, she might work through the trauma of that unfortunate incident, and that Tim Horton’s will kindly agree to take down the scary poster of my face, saying, “Beware of this man in our restrooms.
Your friend, the man from the past, wishes the best to those of you from our future. No matter our age, time travel awaits. The young become old; the old become obsolete.
Hope our paths cross one of these days. I might even speak to you. Be ready.
Author’s Note
On the origin of new words “Device-ive” (adj.) and “Device-iveness” (noun)
coined by Carl Henn (2025).
“Device-ive” (adj) Definition: Pertaining to or characterized by the tendency of modern high-tech devices—phones, earbuds, screens—to divide rather than to connect us.
“Device-iveness” (Noun)
Usage example: “In the café, the silent glow of screens and the absence of verbal chatter amongst customers, even sitting at the same table, reflected our growing device-iveness.”
Notes:
First used online in passing in 2017, but overlooked, not widely adopted.
Unaware of the first use, it then occurred to me separately for my 2025 blog, “Traveling Through the Ages: Is Travel Becoming Device-ive?”
The new words echo existing words (divisive and divisiveness), but redirect their meaning toward the unintended but very real isolating side effects of technology.
As of 2025, device-ive and device-iveness are unattested in major dictionaries, marking these original coinages.
Carl - I enjoyed your visit and hearing most of your blog comments in person - before I read them on your sub stack post!
I really enjoyed this, Carl, thank you!
I can so relate, feeling like I’m a step out of time - you did a great job of capturing that.
I loved your follow-up and definition on ‘device-I’ve’!