Beaver Island: Technology Creeping In

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BEAVER ISLAND (GaeaTimes.com)- It is not quite commonplace to find a province or state in the USA where the residents live blissfully without embracing technology. For the majority of the residents of USA, living without technology is next to impossible and it has crept into their lives in a big way. However, in Beaver Island, a remote island near Lake Michigan, the scene is quite different and the residents enjoy the life at the serenity of nature without using technology much. It is quite shocking to know that the majority of the inhabitants of this far off island do not have cellphone and are content with their landlines. The lack of Internet at their homes do not bother them much. However, things are slowly changing for them. A section of elderly residents interact with the world by means of video conferencing with a wide-screen television at the health center.

In Beaver Island, life still flows at a snail’s pace and there is not much activity or facilities for those who stay here. The arrival of Internet, however, is opening up new possibilities and a section of the residents are enjoying on line shopping and other ways of entertainment thrown open by the web. The kids are growing up as a tech savvy lot thanks to the numerous online curriculum in the school of the island.

Even a few years back, the residents of Beaver Island had only radio and TV sets as their technological apparatus. Now things are changing but some of them feel it might spoil the serene calm atmosphere and lifestyle they are accustomed to.