Technology Passing Me By?

As many of you know, I spend a lot of time in my job talking about and advising on new technologies. I have been working, professionally, on web-related legal issues since I graduated from law school, so, I feel pretty comfortable with both the technology aspects and the legal aspects presented. But, every now and then I begin to feel like technology is starting to pass me by, and I wonder if there will come a day -- given my chosen niche -- when I am no longer relevant because I have failed to keep up.

For example, I have seen RSS feeds do their thing, but, I still do not quite understand the point of them. So, they update constantly and you can read them if you have an RSS feed reader -- so? Aren't websites updated constantly and you can read them with your browser? What is it about an RSS feed that is better/different? I have tried to read about the feeds, but, I just don't get it -- I need someone to sit down with me and talk me through them. Practically speaking, I do not really need to know HOW they work technically speaking and WHY they are preferable to updated websites -- I just need to know that it is a method for obtaining and presenting updated content quickly. But, I would feel better if I understood them better.

Another example of areas that I have not really been paying attention to is MySpace and Facebook. Aside from the fact that I am about twice the age of the average user of those sites, I thought that they were more cultural phenomena than technological innovation. Au contraire. These communities are really sophisticated and have all sorts of cool functionality. Imagine my surprise! At least it has been relatively easy figuring these sites out!

But, seriously, I remember in college calling the elderly guy who ran one of the community service programs. He was not there, and so voicemail picked up and what I heard was him talking to another person in the room saying, "What do I say? That I'm not here and to leave a message? Okay, but, I don't understand." BEEEEEEP In other words, he was of a generation where answering machines and voicemail were new-fangled technology and he just did not understand it and could not bend his mind around it.

I think about whether that will happen to me -- is it even a question of whether, or is it more reasonable to say "when?" Let's say I retire at 65 and live another twenty years -- will I keep up with technology when it is not an integral part of putting bread on my table? I like to think that I will, but, I find myself wondering whether someday I will be that elderly guy?