Quest for less technology...beyond shaving

[Tirvine]

There is a fun new post about the Quest for Less Technology, but it is focused on shaving. I enjoy that particular quest in a lot of things. Obviously by my being on this site, you can tell that I believe technology has a few terrific applications, but there are so many activities where I enjoy, even prefer, the older ways and things. They include:
* Gardening, the gentle sounds of a reel push mower, a leaf rake, a broom, and shears are all music to me.
* Many of us enjoy the ritual of loading a fountain pen and writing letters, lists, and more.
* Cooking is Old Ways Central: kneading loaves by hand, making mayonnaise with a whisk, shredding cheese on a grater. This could go on and on. I am always looking for old technology, the sort that is solely mechanical and uses no microchips.
* Exercise, the sort where body is the weight like pushups and the chinning bar.
* A simple, old fashioned stereo with a turntable, an amplifier, and real loudspeakers.
* Hanging laundry outdoors to dry.
* Carrying a few golf clubs, even if my playing partners are rocketing around in a cart. I can keep up.
* Sharpening knives with stones, not sharpening machines.
* Building fires, indoors and in the outdoor kettle, rather than resorting to gas.
* Winding my watch and clock.
* Painting with a brush, not a sprayer.
* Using hand tools to build and repair.
* A personal favorite is the telephone. If I am out exercising, I carry a cell phone in case I am injured or waylaid, but the voicemail message says I never check messages. If you really need me, call the home phone. In short, my cell phone is for my convenience, not to make me accessible 24/7.


You can tell from our various threads that many, perhaps most, of us use these same approaches. Do you have any others you employ?

 

[blethenstrom]

You are hitting the nail on the head, at least for me. You know I was thinking in my journal of "Quest for less technology" is not all about shaving really. I was actually going to start writing about other things as well as time passed. It spans my whole life. I am tired of all the new fangled stuff that takes time away from things that really matter in life. Technology (I am speaking as one who has been an electrical engineer for 25 years designing circuit boards for a living) has of course its upsides, but the older I get the more I realize the value of life and what we are missing out on spending so much of our time infront of the tv, cell phone, tablet, computer. Is this really what it is about? I constantly find myself more seeking out simpler things that I can do spending time with other people and learning fading and dying skills that is disappearing.

 

[Tirvine]

I grew up the son of an EE. Rather than going to the store to get a hifi or a color TV we waited while he built them, using his soldering iron and, to build his speaker cabinet and turntable plinth, old hand tools. The hifi went in a cabinet he bought as unpainted furniture and finished in lacquer, red inside and black outside, emulating one he had admired in an old Chinese store in San Francisco.

 

[ByMyBeard]

There are certainly conveniences that I am glad are around and happy to take advantage of. But I absolutely am with you on the cell phone thing. While most of my colleagues are running around with a smart watch, I find myself wanting less to do with my smart phone. The need/expectation to be "constantly in touch" is stressful.

 

[Tirvine]

There are certainly conveniences that I am glad are around and happy to take advantage of. But I absolutely am with you on the cell phone thing. While most of my colleagues are running around with a smart watch, I find myself wanting less to do with my smart phone. The need/expectation to be "constantly in touch" is stressful.

When I worked for Texas state government, I was pretty much required to carry a cell phone. Late in the day on Christmas Eve I got a call on that cell phone. It was a state senator. The subject was beyond the scope of my job, but it could definitely have waited until after Christmas.

 

[blethenstrom]

I grew up the son of an EE. Rather than going to the store to get a hifi or a color TV we waited while he built them, using his soldering iron and, to build his speaker cabinet and turntable plinth, old hand tools. The hifi went in a cabinet he bought as unpainted furniture and finished in lacquer, red inside and black outside, emulating one he had admired in an old Chinese store in San Francisco.

Those were the days when you could actually work or make your own electronics. These days it is way more difficult with all the surface mount components. Unless you have a slew of tools. Also you need eyes and hands of a teenager to solder them parts. Personally I cannot solder anything smaller than 0603 resistors and MSOP ICs anymore. Too old and too much coffee.

Now I have made some electronics at home. There are some free tools and they are pretty good and you can get boards made at a fairly reasonable cost (in China), but anymore when I get home I don't want to look at electronics. Disconnect if you will.

 

[DesertIguana]

Less electronic communication between people, Talking is faster, plus you do not have to say to self, when will my TEXT or E-mail going to be replied too?

Personally hate calling companies a Customer Service Dept, then big told to push series of numbers, only to get voice mail to leave a message on.

Then you never hear from person you left voice mail with.

 

[blethenstrom]

Yes you can get the message across so much faster in person or at least over the phone than over messaging. We are loosing our personal touch and care for each other and have replaced it with technology as the surrogate. It is very interesting to go to restaurant and other places and watch the people at the other tables. It is frightening. One very true enlightening commercial that I saw years ago highlighted this. I am not sure if I can post a link here, but if you search on it you will find it. "toyota venza facebook friends". Very telling.

 

[Deano]

There is a fun new post about the Quest for Less Technology, but it is focused on shaving. I enjoy that particular quest in a lot of things. Obviously by my being on this site, you can tell that I believe technology has a few terrific applications, but there are so many activities where I enjoy, even prefer, the older ways and things. They include:
* Gardening, the gentle sounds of a reel push mower, a leaf rake, a broom, and shears are all music to me.
* Many of us enjoy the ritual of loading a fountain pen and writing letters, lists, and more.
* Cooking is Old Ways Central: kneading loaves by hand, making mayonnaise with a whisk, shredding cheese on a grater. This could go on and on. I am always looking for old technology, the sort that is solely mechanical and uses no microchips.
* Exercise, the sort where body is the weight like pushups and the chinning bar.
* A simple, old fashioned stereo with a turntable, an amplifier, and real loudspeakers.
* Hanging laundry outdoors to dry.
* Carrying a few golf clubs, even if my playing partners are rocketing around in a cart. I can keep up.
* Sharpening knives with stones, not sharpening machines.
* Building fires, indoors and in the outdoor kettle, rather than resorting to gas.
* Winding my watch and clock.
* Painting with a brush, not a sprayer.
* Using hand tools to build and repair.
* A personal favorite is the telephone. If I am out exercising, I carry a cell phone in case I am injured or waylaid, but the voicemail message says I never check messages. If you really need me, call the home phone. In short, my cell phone is for my convenience, not to make me accessible 24/7.


You can tell from our various threads that many, perhaps most, of us use these same approaches. Do you have any others you employ?

Your clock reference made me smile. Wednesday is winding day for my eight day striking clock. I also have a cuckoo clock that is in need of repair.

 

[brucered]

* I cut wood with a saw and axe.
* I listen to all my music on LP with an analog connection. No streaming.
* All my headphones are corded and large.
* Cook over charcoal.
* Canoe with a paddle, no desire for a motor boat or jet ski.
* When I hike or run, no watch or cell phone, just me and the dog.
* My lawn mower is a reel, push mower. My leaf collection is a rake.
* I don't own a smart watch, only 3 hand watches.

I've been this way since my early 30s, I just turned 50.

 

[La Malice]

In short, my cell phone is for my convenience, not to make me accessible 24/7.

could not say it better. I spent 5 years without a cellphone at all what a bliss to not be buzzed at all time of the day

 

[Tirvine]

Your clock reference made me smile. Wednesday is winding day for my eight day striking clock. I also have a cuckoo clock that is in need of repair.

I have an eight day clock that strikes ship's bells. I wind it on Saturday mornings. I have tinkered with the tiny speed adjustment lever until it now keeps pretty much perfect time (not counting seconds since it only has two hands). I always wonder what dinner guests are thinking when it strikes six at eleven.

 

[Deano]

I have an eight day clock that strikes ship's bells. I wind it on Saturday mornings. I have tinkered with the tiny speed adjustment lever until it now keeps pretty much perfect time (not counting seconds since it only has two hands). I always wonder what dinner guests are thinking when it strikes six at eleven.

Mine is a cathedral strike. Bought it at a flea market for $30 10 years ago. Brought it home and wound it and its been running ever since. It does lose around three minutes a week. Its a Seth Thomas.

 

[Tirvine]

Mine is a cathedral strike. Bought it at a flea market for $30 10 years ago. Brought it home and wound it and its been running ever since. It does lose around three minutes a week. Its a Seth Thomas.

Mine is a Seth Thomas, too. We bought it circa 1980.

 

[Whisky]

I sometimes wonder what would happen to society if there was a massive EMP from any one of several possible sources. Do you think society would collapse when only about 5% of electronic devices continued to work or would people pull themselves up by their bootstraps and keep on living? I use and enjoy many modern appliances/gizmo’s/gadgets but I have, and know how to use, appliances/gizmo’s/gadgets that don’t use electricity.

 

[Captain Pre-Capsize]

I like my cell phone but it is neutered - I keep the switch flipped off so it won't ring / chirp / buzz. That way I have my life and can check it at my convenience, not feel obligated to look at it when it makes a noise. Works for me.

After several years of this and having missed calls from The Better Half I drafted a teenager to help me out. There is a way to select on someone in your contact list so that it will ring if they call, even when flipped off to not ring.

 

[Possum092]

I appreciate all dental and medical technology. Modern drugs are a Godsend for many. Personally, I enjoy all technology after having grown up without many modern conveniences.

 

[LuckyR]

I guess I'm not a technology avoider, but I do try to make the technology work for me (rather than the other way around, which is common, in my experience).

For example I use my wife's old Fitbit, but I only use it when playing sports, for the heart rate feature. I have a cell phone, of course but have no alert for messages, so I use it for outgoing communication at my convenience, but review incoming messages also at my convenience.

 

[selbedj]

I've used a reel mower for almost seven years. Not to avoid tech, but it works and was super cheap.
I turn off my phone when having lunch, coffee or beers with someone.
I hand sharpen my knives.
And I shave with a safety razor.

 

[Tirvine]

I sometimes wonder what would happen to society if there was a massive EMP from any one of several possible sources. Do you think society would collapse when only about 5% of electronic devices continued to work or would people pull themselves up by their bootstraps and keep on living? I use and enjoy many modern appliances/gizmo’s/gadgets but I have, and know how to use, appliances/gizmo’s/gadgets that don’t use electricity.

One thing I have noticed during several power losses is all of the things that are chip dependent. we lived in Houston and had an old pre-chip Chambers stove and gas hot water heater. Now we live in Austin, and neither worked without electricity despite being gas fueled. We bought a generator. Mischief managed. I have noticed some chip free appliances beginning to appear. As long as I can use the stove I really do not need any other appliances as long as the food and liquor holds out.