Last weekend, I stole away for a few days to relax and recharge. There's a charming town just south of Silicon Valley 
flanked by waterfront and forest. Its streets are quaint and manicured, perfect for a life of leisure, shopping and dining, and boasts one Clint Eastwood as its former mayor. (Sometimes he even makes an appearance at his famous steakhouse, though on this trip, I wasn't so lucky).
This is the kind of place you visit when you're ready to put technology aside for a moment...chase tennis balls along the beach.
Amazingly though, technology follows. Everywhere I looked, from my seat at an outdoor cafe to the boutiques to the art galleries, people were rarely without their phones, talking, texting, mapping directions, searching for restaurant reviews. Mobile technology has become so ubiquitous, it's nearly an appendage.
Perhaps this shouldn't come as much of a surprise in 2009, but the vast majority of tourists in Carmel are an older set- they're the late adopters, they didn't grow up with computers or shed their land lines in the mid 90's. And yet, strolling the perfect sidewalks between flowering vines and wine-tasting marquees, they are in perfect harmony with electronic devices.
Carmel takes its quaint-ness very seriously; digital signage and high heels both are prohibited - but it can't stem the tide of touchscreens. Or tennis balls on the beach.
flanked by waterfront and forest. Its streets are quaint and manicured, perfect for a life of leisure, shopping and dining, and boasts one Clint Eastwood as its former mayor. (Sometimes he even makes an appearance at his famous steakhouse, though on this trip, I wasn't so lucky).This is the kind of place you visit when you're ready to put technology aside for a moment...chase tennis balls along the beach.
Amazingly though, technology follows. Everywhere I looked, from my seat at an outdoor cafe to the boutiques to the art galleries, people were rarely without their phones, talking, texting, mapping directions, searching for restaurant reviews. Mobile technology has become so ubiquitous, it's nearly an appendage.
Perhaps this shouldn't come as much of a surprise in 2009, but the vast majority of tourists in Carmel are an older set- they're the late adopters, they didn't grow up with computers or shed their land lines in the mid 90's. And yet, strolling the perfect sidewalks between flowering vines and wine-tasting marquees, they are in perfect harmony with electronic devices.
Carmel takes its quaint-ness very seriously; digital signage and high heels both are prohibited - but it can't stem the tide of touchscreens. Or tennis balls on the beach.
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