Ten great apps for Pilgrims…
Way back in 1620 a fearless band of English men and women fled ‘religious persecution’ and found a new life in the Americas. Their journey was arduous but nowhere near as hard as the first few years of life in what we now know as the United States of America.
When we learn about the struggles and problems they faced one can’t help wondering how things might have been improved if they had access to the technology we take for granted. We have a saying today which works for most occasions when we don’t have an answer for something, it goes something like “there’s an app for that!”
So here is my top ten apps for Pilgrims, if I’ve missed any let me know!
1) Boat Watch…lets you spot and track any vessel on the seas.
This would have been great for the Pilgrims to see where they were and gauge how much longer the journey would take.
2) Google Earth…. once they had achieved landfall they would have loved to get a birds eye view of the land. Choosing the right place to live has always been a problem for mankind, location, location, location!
3) Skype…. think how fantastic it would have been to call ‘home’ and tell everyone that you had arrived safely. For many of the first settlers contact with home ceased the moment they boarded the Mayflower….very sad when you think about it.
4) Yahoo Weather….. imagine the delight of being able to get the next ten days weather forecast along with the phases of the moon. This would have made planning the many hours of backbreaking farm work a whole lot easier to arrange.
5) Reuters….. being isolated is a form of torture and the main reason many relocation efforts fail. The need to feel connected is hard-wired into the human brain and feeling that you know what is happening around you is crucial when you go to a new place.
6) GardenID….. help with planting and growing….. much of the initial trauma related to the Mayflower’s arrival centred around the difficulties they had growing enough good food to sustain them.
7) iHandy Translator…. can you just imagine how powerful this would have been when the settlers met their first native Americans? No need for all the anxiety of first meetings and the misunderstandings which go with it.
8) YouTube…. oh yes, all those ‘how to’ videos they could post showing what they did and how to get it right next time. If a picture tells a thousand words these videos would have spoken volumes about their lives.
9) GarageBand……. well you don’t think all work and no play was the order of the day , do you? They had to make their own entertainment so what better than this little band of instruments to create original soundtracks for their new lives?
10) The US Constitution….. this flash card trivia game ensures that everyone knows and appreciates the brilliance of the document. Now, little did they know when they landed that they would unwittingly spawn the attitudes and mindset capable of delivering what is arguably the most magnificent document written in modern history. Technically this app does not fit with the theme BUT what a great way to acknowledge the tremendous achievement of everybody who went before?
Enjoy this video detailing the history of what we now call Thanksgiving……. and give thanks!
Happy Thanks giving to you all!
see you on the long and winding road…….. Patrick
