The digital age is upon us, and has been upon for us for quite some time. No longer do we communicate with our mouths as we type down in a tiny messaging box the words that no longer reach our eardrums. Meal times are spent swiping smartphones or watching a TV show in silence. Or at least that is the road we're rapidly speeding down.
According to Ofcom's Communications Market Report "over a quarter of adults (27 per cent) and almost half of teenagers (47 per cent) now own a smartphone" and "By May 2011, around 500,000 households had adopted superfast broadband - with a headline speed of 30Mbit/s or higher - a fivefold increase from 2010."
For the majority there is comfort in holding your life in your hands. With a push of a button we can text, send photos, update statuses and post tweets so it's no wonder that we don't feel the need to communicate face to face as often as we should.
Even though this seems to be more or less the norm now Cheltenham has proven otherwise. Though occasions where we meet and discuss audibly may appear rare in this day and age we still can't resist a good old board game as votes have been flooding in towards what should appear on the town's upcoming Monopoly board.
With votes of around 4,300, with some even coming in from Australia and New Zealand, it is safe to say that there is still hope for man's communication skills yet.
Graham Barnes from Winning Moves UK expressed how:
"Each year we do one or two around the country and this year the dice has rolled on Cheltenham. This isn't a case of why have we done Cheltenham more than why wouldn't we do Cheltenham? It's Cheltenham's time and we're delighted to be doing one for the town."
A quick glance at some of the suggestions has been made with Pittville Pump room being the most popular, leading the way for the Mayfair Square. Other suggestions include the Banksy street art being placed on the Angel Islington Square, as it's a "trendy" location, and the Racecourse on a chance square.
Graham Barnes said:
"Once we've got the votes we'll study each one then decide who goes on. Santa Claus will not be delayed this Christmas so the board has to be out for October. That's a fact. People will want the board for Christmas. There's not point in toy stores putting them on their shelves on December 26th."
So does this mean that instead of the usual video game consoles, smart phones and other anti-social technology some family somewhere will enjoy an old-fashioned game of Monopoly with stuffed stomachs and smiles on their faces? Or is this a lost cause? Will the board be played once on Christmas day and then shoved back in the cupboard amongst the other dust topped boxes of Cranium and Kerplunk as we set ourselves up in front of our computer screens once again?
Other editions before Cheltenham include a Portsmouth edition, Bournemouth & Poole, Nottingham and Brighton. We shall have to wait and see what awaits in October. Hopefully the sales will be a decent number and mankind will remember at least 10% of the Oxford English dictionary once again.
Voting is now closed and being collected. Let's all put our electrical devices down this October and enjoy something that requires a good deal of fun, social interaction.