I'm sorry. Let me try again. "I was born in the era of telephones." "Today I am living in the Internet era." "The passing of John Babcock on Feb. 18 was the end of an era for Canada."

Yes you can! Think of "era" as "period of time." You can use it in past or present. From Google's dictionary: era. noun 1. a long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic. "his death marked the end of an era" synonyms: epoch, age, period, phase, time, span, eon; generation "the Roosevelt era" 2. a system of chronology dating from a particular noteworthy event. "the dawn of the Christian era" synonyms: epoch, age, period, phase, time, span, eon; generation "the Roosevelt era"

It has a specific meaning in geology. Here are correct examples of use in the past and present tenses with its geological meaning. Dinosaurs lived in the mesozoic era. Today, we are living in the cenozoic era. When an influential person retires, an important institution closes, or a long-established tradition ceases, it is common to call it "the end of an era." Here are some usage examples from Google News: "Web-Era Trade Schools, Feeding a Need for Code" (today we are in the "web era") "An era ends as SEC commissioner Mike Slive announces his retirement" (Slive was so influential that his period as commissioner was "an era") "I guess it is time to usher in the Paul Cornick era!" (A sportswriter thinks football player Paul Cornick is going to be a star on his team). "A new era of judicial activism..." (A writer thinks that the Israeli High Court is entering a period of time in which it is going to practice "judicial activism") "Russia Seeks to Dissolve Soviet-Era Human Rights Group..." (The period of time in which the Soviet Union existed, 1922-1991, was an "era" in Russian history)

the word "Era" refers to any period of time that is characterized by certain events. read more of this word in different contexts, and hopefully you will get the meaning.