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I know a person who lives in a small cabin in the mountains here. No electricity no water, uses wood heat. Has an old AM battery operated radio, no tv no phone no internet. Grows and cans his own vegetables, hunts and fishes for meat. Seems to be pretty content for 80 years old. I visit after the spring thaw just to make sure he hasn't been eaten by a bear and bring him books to read.
I think a lot of it is fear. My MIL always said she was afraid she'd "hit the wrong button". Also, I think there's just a frustration with remembering multiple steps used in a new technology, and having to learn a "new vocabulary".
This is the third thread on technology - advantages and frustrations. Clearly, the issue is significant.
Technology can be enormously helpful - and a major time sucker, source of frustration, and intrusion. Many issues cited on the above threads - resulting in even "experts" cutting back on usage.
I would be lost without the internet. Drives me up a wall if there are issues with either computer and/or WiFi provider. Imo, no internet is equal to not having a phone - worse, actually. That said, I don't have smartphone and have yet to determine if I really need one. Do have a cell phone for emergencies only. 99% of the time, I use my landline. Will never give that up. I call people directly or email, don't text.
80 y/o guy living in the wilds of Colorado has all he needs for his way of life. And, he's much happier without the intrusion of the outside world and all its chaos - weather, politics, plague, natural disasters, climate change, crime, inequities, wars, pollution - the list is endless. Social media and talking head lies, anger, hate, distortions has destroyed comity in this country and many parts of the world. He's way better off not hearing about any of this. How would it benefit him if he did at this point in his life? No TV, no phone. Enviable, peaceful simplicity. Not for most of us, but I do understand it.
Last edited by Ariadne22; 01-21-2022 at 06:24 PM..
Technology can be enormously helpful - and a major time sucker, source of frustration, and intrusion. Many issues cited on the above threads - resulting in even "experts" cutting back on usage.
I would be lost without the internet. Drives me up a wall if there are issues with either computer and/or WiFi provider. Imo, no internet is equal to not having a phone - worse, actually. That said, I don't have smartphone and have yet to determine if I really need one. Do have a cell phone for emergencies only. 99% of the time, I use my landline. Will never give that up. I call people directly or email, don't text.
80 y/o guy living in the wilds of Colorado has all he needs for his way of life. And, he's much happier without the intrusion of the outside world and all its chaos - weather, politics, plague, natural disasters, climate change, crime, inequities, wars, pollution - the list is endless. Social media and talking head lies, anger, hate, distortions has destroyed comity in this country and many parts of the world. He's way better off not hearing about any of this. How would it benefit him if he did at this point in his life? No TV, no phone. Enviable, peaceful simplicity. Not for most of us, but I do understand it.
Well if your internet goes out, you can usually use your smartphone as a hotspot to still use the internet with your computer.
I think a lot of it is fear. My MIL always said she was afraid she'd "hit the wrong button". Also, I think there's just a frustration with remembering multiple steps used in a new technology, and having to learn a "new vocabulary".
yes - that is what my sister says - afraid they will hit the wrong button and bring it all crashing down.
Well if your internet goes out, you can usually use your smartphone as a hotspot to still use the internet with your computer.
THAT has been the only reason I've considered a Smartphone. Of course, I'd have to figure out how to do that beforehand. Few months back internet was unreliable for about 3 weeks until it was determined I was too close to the pole, signal so strong it powered off the modem - i.e., modem running too hot. Took a cadre of people to figure this out as issue worked its way up the food chain. Two techs couldn't do it because they didn't know to look for it. Escalating the problem to people with more experience solved it - put a damper on the modem. I have zero tolerance for any annoyance these days. Catalyst for a serious rethink on technology - and its necessity - in general.
Back around 1988, I was an 'early adopter.' I had a primitive laptop with a monochrome screen,
and I used it to go online to a pre-AOL system called People Link. Just words on a screen,
(no pictures, no video) but it was fun chatting with people far away.
Along came better computers and faster internet speeds. And AOL - which I enjoyed for many years,
long after its star had faded. But web sites were the greatest innovation -- being able to access
information and ideas from around the world, any time, from home, for free (other than the monthly
access charge).
The second great innovation was email -- a way for people on different schedules to communicate,
without ever interrupting each other, with the ability to add documents and pictures,
and with all the correspondence automatically saved.
Facebook didn't impress me, but I eventually started using it, and I must admit --
it can be a handy thing. There are groups of every description, and I've carefully selected a few relevant ones.
But I spend more time on CD than on FB, and haven't seen a reason to try other social media...
Twitter seems especially pointless.
Nor have I seen a reason to acquire a smart phone. I have a flip phone that comes in handy
once in a blue moon. Mainly it's there so an elder sibling can reach me in an emergency.
And I don't text.
The moral of this little story is that technology isn't an all-or-nothing decision. I chose the tech
that promised to be useful to me (most of which was in place 15 years ago), and didn't bother with the rest.
Each of us can do the same.
Everything I have ever wanted to do was available in the 20th century. Now, speed and bloat are in lock-step.
Why should I have download speeds of 1000 Mbps just because Gamers "need" it? Gamers do not control my universe.
In 1994, on my 286 with dial-up freenet, It took 1-2 seconds for my e-mail inbox to load. Now I have 80 Mbps and it takes 5 seconds. What has been gained by the post-Mohicans?
I have one foot in each decade I think. My office still has a typewriter which I use once a year for an office chore I can't do otherwise. I love my desktop computer and the internet, would be lost without them. But my other posts elsewhere document how I'm limping my way along with first smart phone. I am actually embarrassed at how far behind other people I am. All my elderly friends are way more competent than I am. Still, I am determined not to be so tied to this electronics that I lose contact with the world except through air waves.
My husband is struggling with flip phones now. They are not the same quality they used to be. Last two broke at the hinges, exactly the same place. Extremely hard to find a good quality nice dumb phone any more. He has several problems that make using a smart phone unmanageable for him. He wants ME to be up to speed so at least one of us is current. He does use the computer and loves the social stuff he does and he can look up mechanical answers/fixes when he needs that, and can order parts etc. Hunting a phone for him recently, many people are selling older phones that won't work, even as bad as 2G phones! Not everybody who is not "connected" is stubborn, some are just unable.
My father that passed in 2019 @81, never used the internet or a smart phone. But the reasons were simple. English was not his first language so reading was tough, and on a small screen, even a monitor, even harder. The big problem is he had gigantic fingers, despite being 5’8”. That was always the first thing you noticed on him. His pinky was wider than my thumb. He physically could not press one keyboard button if he wanted to, and once his arthritis was in full swing, he had very little finger co-ordination for anything that fine. Most of his fingers had little feeling through the calluses. He had a special remote with giant buttons for his TV. Regular remotes were useless to him. When my sister tried to find some stuff for him on the internet (she eventually did a virtual walkthrough of the small town he grew up in, in Italy, which absolutely amazed him), she tried to have him speak in the phone in Italian because it couldn’t understand a thing he said in English. (Despite him speaking mostly English since he came to the US in 1956!). Turns out it couldn’t understand his Italian either, as his dialect had become distorted from back then to today. (And of course, older peoples eyesight for up close is aften poor. He only ever bought drug store magnifier reading glasses. He’d never been to an eye doctor. His distance vision was good until the day he died!) When I learned Italian, he had a hard time understanding me, and when we concentrated on words, his pronunciation was not like the online was. When we traveled to Italy, no one had any problem understanding me in any mainstream place we went.
When they were in their early 60’s (pre-smart phone) and both alive, I bought them a computer to help keep in touch, and my mother was the only one that used it occasionally but mainly to play scrabble and gamble online, all through AOL. Even she couldn’t get a hold on using email vs a letter. She never texted. She was fine with a regular cell phone for calls. But he did have a cell phone that my sister programmed with hot keys for numbers he used and bought him a bunch of those penlike sticks with tips that the phone responded to. He basically never answered the phone, but called you back. It was easier for him that way.
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