Age, changes and technology

One of consistent themes in the countries of FSU is that of renewal, rebuilding and restoration. The old little church, that used to be the only functioning Russian Orthodox church in the city when I was a kid, has been restored and looks just about brand new. When other forms of faith had collapsed in the collapse of Soviet Union, many turned to churches for some kind of emotional and moral support. The churches provided (for a fee of course). Near the well kept church and grounds however, what used to be a large bazaar, is now a sorry small collection of stalls huddled against the road. The rest of the space is a lot with broken up asphalt and trash. Along with the renewal efforts, there is an accompanying process of things falling apart.

As I walked along the church grounds, an older woman walked up to me. "Honey, she said, do you happen to have a mobile phone?" "Sure, I said feeling somehow generous, what do ou need it for?" "Oh, could you tell me the time? she asked and then explained, see nobody has watches these days, they all tell time by mobile phones so I learned to ask if they have one first, then they I know they will tell me the time."

I was visiting friends of my grandmother - similar to her in age, living on a meager pension in their 80s. As we sat on the couch and talked, drinking tea and watching the Russian version of court-TV (since TVs are never off around here it seems) she was telling me how they manage on their meager pension and how she desperately wants a mink coat, but that's the same as not eating for six months... Suddenly we were interrupted by a loud sound of a mobile phone ringer - aunt Lida calmly turned and picked up what turned out to be a mobile phone. She had trouble answering it, but eventually figured out how to call back and then spoke with her husband for a few minutes. "We all have these mobiles, she told me, you can't really get along without them! We got our youngest grandson a cheap one first some years ago, now he has a nicer one and we all have one. It's nice to be able to call at any time from anywhere and it's safer." She explained that her husband has a mobile with a camera and other things, but he doesn't really use that and she wouldn't really know how. They don't send those text message things though they've seen them on their grand-son's phone, but calling - that they do all the time. It's cheaper to call, since her husband lives on their dacha, 50 kilometers out of town most of the summer, coming back into town just once a month to collect his pension. Calling on a regular phone - it's a long distance call, but on a mobile it's much cheaper so they call each other all the time - they are old, anything can happen.

It seems the tariff and pricing system here has a fairly substantial effect on mobile phone use. Similar to many developing countries, here landlines are expensive and the need to communicate drives people of all ages to adopt mobile phones, to maintain connections as families and friends move around in search of jobs and better lives. The need drives adoption and use and then we see examples of grandmothers in their 80's texting grandchildren to feel less lonely.