Has digital communication improved your life? (how much, house, purchases)

[tcrackly]

My DH and I discuss this often. He resisted getting a phone with answering capability until just two years ago when a fire destroyed our other phone. He doesn't use the computer at alll, but he will ask me to do searches for him. I got a pay-as-you-go cell phone when several family tragedies forced me to keep in closer touch. All in all we are always trying to evaluate how much of these devices have changed our lives. Are we more accessible or just more self absorbed?
I call my refurbished ipod my "cheap mental therapy" though I resented the chore of turning all my favorite tunes, vinyl,tape and cd to mp3.

What do you all think? Are we MORE aware of each other? Do we have more leisure time? Or are we just more harried?

[BacktoNE]

I can't imagine giving up what few upgrades we have. We have digital phone, and the fastest internet that Road Runner provides, and we both have cell phones although mine lives in the bottom of my purse for emergency use only. Anything that helps me get information faster and easier is a good thing.

Neither of us has iPods because that isn't where our interests lie.

When we move again, we will probably do away with our landline completely (again) and go strictly with cells phones. It's worked very well for us in the past. At that point, I will upgrade my very basic cell to a Blackberry or iPhone.

I rarely feel harried since I stopped working, so that part of your question is better answered by those who have full-time job hours, kids, etc.

[reloop]

I think it has improved my life in the sense that it's made it easier to communicate, and I do so love my mp3 player - much better then having to copy cd's to tapes IMO. I hop on CData between doing chores etc...to see what the latest posts are - fortunately, I'm a speedy typer. It's interesting to see what others are up to and how they feel about various issues. I'd like to make it to lunch, but I'll be running kids around to various birthday parties etc tomorrow - I may still try to pop in if only for a moment as time allows because I do feel that it's nice to meet people live and in person.

I do think the downside of technology is that it replaces good jobs. I often wonder where everyone will work once computers begin to do nearly every task - not too far off IMHO. I also am not a fan of having cameras everywhere watching everything. When you can't stand out in your own backyard and pick your own nose without a satellite snapping pictures somewhere, I think that's far too "Orwellian."

[starwalker]

I hardly ever use the MPG player since I don't work out at the gym... everywhere else I want to KNOW what is going on around me.

I do appreciate the voicemail and caller ID on the phone, which I use primarily for business and for K's medical stuff. If I don't recognize the number/name I usually don't pick it up. The difference is that I usually didn't pick up before (HATE phones!). now the technology helps me.

I prefer to communicate online -- writing gives me a record I can refer to later, allows me to respond when it is good for me and my correspondent to reply when it is good for them.

[boonelsewhere]

I was the last in my family to get cell phone and PC. wife can not with out them. I get cell phone when we building house in the wood, still keep them but hardly use it. I get the PC when the company offered to pay for, all i have to do is to use it when not at the office.
I use PC a lot now, for my day to day tasks with out have to leave home.
the internet alow me to open up a bit(haha, hide behide the screen).

[Casper1212]

It's like everything else. It has it's advantages, and it has its drawbacks. Advantage--people can find you anywhere, anytime. Drawback--people can find you anywhere, anytime. We've all sort of gotten over the "turn off your cell during a meeting" thing because a lot of us use them for business, and you are basically on call 24/7. In the job I'm about to leave, I was on the verge of getting a smart phone just to keep up with my daily calender. Now that we can combine a GPS, music, email, phone, and PDA all into one unit that we can carry around in our pocket, it makes life easier. But there's always something to take up that free time it gives us. Just as sure as you go to a ball game or a movie, the phone rings and somebody needs you to do something NOW. If we didn't have it, we would wish we had such advantages, but we would find a way to live without it. We were doing it before all this stuff was invented.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I had a cell phone since 1994. It was a big analog bag phone. It was the best cell phone I ever had. US Cellular turned if off this month. I miss my bag phone because none of those disposable digital phones will work where the analog phones worked. I don't need a camera in my phone. I don't need a thousand different ring tones. I don't need a GPS in it. I just want one where I can make a flippin phone call!

Now Unicel has been bought by Verizon and my Unicel phone is going away. Then on June 15 we lose the last two TV broadcast channels. The system is deteriorating in rural Maine. It's intentional.

[lrfox]

They've certainly been a huge asset to my family and me.

I have had various smart phones for 4 years now and love them to death. I have the iPhone 3G right now (Maine FINALLY got 3G service this past fall), and it's absolutely incredible and convenient.

Last week, there was a medical emergency at work with a coworker who apparently broke her leg. She didn't want an ambulance and asked for us to call her doctor. She didn't know her doctor's name or number. I got on google on my phone (the iPhone google application allows you to voice search, instead of typing) and searched the name of her doctor's office. I found the office site and read off the name of the all of the physicians listed. When she heard hers, she said so and I pressed the number (the iphone highlights phone numbers like links for a website) and called her doctor. It took two minutes to get exactly who we needed on the phone when 5 years ago it would have taken 10 or more (assuming you could find a phonebook).

I wouldn't live without it. I COULD live without it (that's the key, I think too many people become dependent on this stuff), but I wouldn't want to. I can make dinner reservations waiting in line at the store by pushing three buttons, I can check my bank statement anywhere, anytime, I can use the GPS to get driving, walking or mass transit directions as well as real time traffic updates (not yet available in Maine). It tells me how my stocks are doing, what the weather is (even uses gps to give you the local VIDEO forecast), what is around me for taxis, restaurants, hospitals, pharmacies, etc. It has high quality games (I play "Spore") for when you're sitting at the airport or on a bus and it can even tell me how to mix my favorite drink. It's absolutely amazing. I bought mine last spring, and now my entire family has them... except mom.. she likes the physical buttons on her blackberry.

I think the biggest issue is how to use it properly and appropriately. I HATE walking through the mall, campus, or the city wearing my headphones and listening to music (which is why I won't do it). I don't know how people do it. It's unsafe (it's a major distraction and how two girls lost limbs while tanning on a railroad bed in NH last summer), and rude. Furthermore, it detracts from simple awareness and understanding of your surroundings. When used improperly, people shut themselves off from the rest of the world. They miss the bigger picture.

This technology is absolutely helpful if you can simply turn the phone off from time to time. When you're at that ball game or the movie, turn the phone off. When you're with friends or family, turn the phone off. When you're walking around a new place, turn the phone off. If people know you're not accessible 24-7, they won't EXPECT you to be accessible 24-7. It's easy to press the ignore button or turn the phone off and enjoy life for a bit, everyone can do it some just refuse to.

[tcrackly]

My DH thought that the computer was the machine from hell. But it aids me in handling my mother's affairs remotely, doing banking, purchases and information gathering that otherwise would mean 45 min. on a telephone recording loop. I don't like being so accessible. I have never bought anything as aresult of a telemarketing contact , I never will. I want them to stop.
The cell phone has become the "in case of emergency" phone. I love my Delorme GPS.
But I do find strangers to be less conversational, personal contact with people is more strained, and most of the kids I know can't spell worth a damn, let alone write anything intelligible.
It's a brave new world.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I have a DeLorme GPS also. Mine is the new hand held with topo in it. I hear their dash mounted unit is good also. It works with Street Atlas USA. Which of those do you have?