Any other semi-Luddites?

[StylinLA]

It's your right to do whatever you're comfortable with.

I for one embrace new technologies.

I think many people avoid them because they're afraid of them. I am blessed with patience that allows me to take them on, and a tenacity to not be defeated by them.

* I drive to work everyday with 2,000+ songs that I like available in my iPod.
* Satellite radio lets me listen to my Detroit Tigers.
* I watch whatever I want on TV when I want to watch it.
* A navigation system lets me know where I am all the time. Can tell me how to get where I'm going easily when out of town.
* Facebook let's me stay connected with more people I know than the phone or email every could.
* HDTV! I find it incredible, but some people can't see the difference. I can. Big time.
* 3D TV? My jury still out on this one...I see that Samsung is now issuing some pretty intense warnings about 3D TV watching with the sets they sell. I'm holding off.
* I am still old school on the bookreaders, but I can see the brilliance of those. Download books wherever you are. Carry 10 books with you on an airplane or vacation in one little device.
* Cell Phones? Are you kidding? Revolutionary.

None of this was available 20 years ago. Amazing.

YMMV.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Well, somewhat.

I can't cope without my iPhone. Yes, it is a toy, but I use it all the time and it truly is a gadget that improves my life.

Other than that, I run some older computers (the old NeXT machines remain surprisingly usable, even 20 years on), spin vinyl, use vacuum tubes, write with a fountain pen and insist on shifting the car myself.

I don't have a television and I don't miss it.

While the Internets are indispensable, as well as email, I don't twitter and am loathe to create a Facebook account.

I do not like microwave ovens, either. I'd rather cook over an open fire.

 

[OldSaw]

Well, somewhat.

I can't cope without my iPhone. Yes, it is a toy, but I use it all the time and it truly is a gadget that improves my life.

Other than that, I run some older computers (the old NeXT machines remain surprisingly usable, even 20 years on), spin vinyl, use vacuum tubes, write with a fountain pen and insist on shifting the car myself.

I don't have a television and I don't miss it.

While the Internets are indispensable, as well as email, I don't twitter and am loathe to create a Facebook account.

I do not like microwave ovens, either. I'd rather cook over an open fire.

I was talking with a Dish Network telemarketer once and he could hardly believe that I didn't have a TV. When he asked if I had a computer I said, "Of course, everyone has a computer." I think he was even more befuddled by that.

 

[82R100]

Are you having an affair with my wife? You seem to be kindred spirits!

Having affairs (with other people's wives) is very old school!

 

[gaseousclay]

I will say that the one great thing about technology is that it has given me access to anything and everything I could ever dream of. I remember when I first did mail-order as a teenager and had to mail *gasp* money to the company first to get what I wanted. now, with the few clicks of a button I can order anything in the world and have it delivered to my doorstep.

 

[airplanedoc]

An electronic book reader seems absurd to me.

I have a friend who lives in a small town it is 40 miles each way to the nearest bookstore. Her local library is also relatively small and it takes a long time to get books ordered in. She and her Husband are avid reader and recovered the cost of her kindle in 4 months in savings from lack of shipping costs, reduced book prices, and fuel costs to drive to the bookstore.

 

[Oklahoma]

I believe all cell phones will dial out to 911 in case of an emergency, even without a plan. If you don't want a cell phone but like the safety aspect of owning one that is a good alternative.

 

[Jim B.]

I'm 59 years old so I've seen a lot of technologies come, go and develop. Most have been for the best.

The first television that I saw in someone's home had a 3-inch screen inside a huge cabinet. Not only was it hard to view but the channels were few and far between. Reception was sketchy at best. Big screen t.v.'s and cable/satellite systems are much better.

Trying to call someone when I was a kid and not at home meant having to find a payphone and hoping that you had the correct change. Cell phones are much better.

Listening to music when I was a kid meant either listening to radio broadcasts full of static or playing 33 rpm or 45 rpm vinyl records. Better music quality and a lot less space with MP3's.

I love reading and my wife was always complaining about having walls of books. I also used to carry around pounds of book when on vacation. Some I brought with me and some I bought on the road. An Amazon Kindle solved those problems.

I recently had my 40th high school reunion. We used to sent out letters every 10 years trying to find old classmates. We were able to find more of our former classmates last year than ever before because of e-mail, Classmates.com and Facebook. I now keep in touch with more people than ever.

Obviously, those are all big changes. But they happened over a period of time and they usually worked out for the benefit of everyone. I usually wait for a few generations of change before hopping on the bandwagon. So, I don't have a Blue-Ray player, or a plasma t.v. or an iPhone or an iPad. However, give me a few years and I'll have something even better.

 

[arcman]

It can still send a conventional fax without having to scan it

Um.

 

[OldSaw]

Um.

Apparently you stopped at the comma. Commas are only a pause in a whole sentence, not the end.

 

[blary54]

As much as I like new technology sometimes I wish I could go back in time to a period when no one had cell phones. Today you can be reached(and almost expected that you answer) anywhere anytime. Off duty I am expected to answer if work calls and I can get in trouble if I don't answer. The person that calls in sick should get in trouble not me!

Also think that the technology is destroying face to face interaction. Its turning us into hermits. Instead of talking to someone on the phone we send a text message or chat online. Instead of playing sports we are secluded in our room playing an online game.

Working out at the gym no one talks to each other anymore. Everyone is plugged into their MP3 player or watching the TV on the elliptical machine.

Now this being said I am guilty of all listed above. But I am aware that technology is turning us into a society of social retards...and its only going to get worse.

 

[BurkDarkpatches]

I've been a technophile since I was a wee lad; however, when I see the drones constantly on their cell phones yakking and texting, I'm reminded of this bit from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

"The Belcerebons of Kakrafoon Kappa had an unhappy time. Once a serene and quiet civilization, a Galactic Tribunal sentenced them to telepathy because the rest of the galaxy found peaceful contemplation contemptuous. Ford Prefect compared them to Humans because the only way Belcerebons could stop transmitting their every thought was to mask their brain activity (or its readability) by talking endlessly about utter trivia."

I suppose I'm a proponent of less talking and more thinking. My wife, on the other hand, probably would like me to talk a bit more. I try to make up for lack of quantity with quality. ;-)

Steve

 

[Stubblefield]

Apparently you stopped at the comma. Commas are only a pause in a whole sentence, not the end.

Grammar is sooo old school.

 

[Hansel]

I don't have a cell phone.
I've never owned an Ipod.
An electronic book reader seems absurd to me.
I've never tweeted. Or facebooked. Or myspaced.
I don't know what a Blu Ray is. Or a Bluetooth.
The notion of "upgrading" my tv to HD or 3d or any other D seems like an utter waste of $$$ to me.

I have a cell phone, but I leave it turned off most of the time and just trust in my 9x19 to get me out of a jam if I need help "right-the-f***-now"...
I've never owned an Ipod and don't intend to.
An electronic book reader seems silly unless it means I can get hard to find books for really cheap.
I've never tweeted, facebooked, myspaced, and I won't.
I know what Blu Ray and Bluetoof are, I just don't give a damn.
The notion of "upgrading" my TV to HD or 3D or any other D seems like an utter waste of $having $$$ to me.

Yhea, we're a lot alike.

 

[BrianL]

You are old. I am too. Let's rant about the good old days.
It is not that the technology is bad, I am just set in my ways.

 

[OldSaw]

I have a cell phone, but I leave it turned off most of the time and just trust in my 9x19 to get me out of a jam if I need help "right-the-f***-now"...
I've never owned an Ipod and don't intend to.
An electronic book reader seems silly unless it means I can get hard to find books for really cheap.
I've never tweeted, facebooked, myspaced, and I won't.
I know what Blu Ray and Bluetoof are, I just don't give a damn.
The notion of "upgrading" my TV to HD or 3D or any other D seems like an utter waste of $having $$$ to me.

Yhea, we're a lot alike.

That's exactly what you will be able to do. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of old classics in the public domain that can be had for a buck or two and sometimes even free. I have one set of 150 classics that was just a few dollars, I think it was less than $10.

I am currently listening to the Meditations of Marcus Aerelius, which was free.