I want to go back.
Posted by Shirley Anne on November 18, 2009
I wish I was back in time, to a time when we didn’t have technology except in places like hospitals. I don’t know about you but I personally I hate mobile phones, iPods, computers, all singing all dancing televisions and other ‘desirable’ electronic gadgets. If the media are to be believed we all ‘want’ these things. Advertisers proclaim that these are ‘must have’ items. Phooey! I wished I could live without it all. About the only thing I really need and that only because of my work is the mobile phone. Many new phones connect to the Internet and allow access to email and on-line browsing, like I really cannot do without those functions! My phone is there so people can ask me to work for them, simple and that is all I require. I watch television but all I watch are the basic programs that are broadcast. I have a DVD recorder and home cinema system too but they gather dust for me. I don’t want an iPod and have to buy loads of music to make it worthwhile. I listen to the radio for that. There are many things electrical which I do find useful, washing machine, refrigerator and freezer, cooker and microwave oven, kettle and vacuum cleaner and of course lighting, heating and other things but all these are simply functional and I don’t get enjoyment out of using them as perhaps I would from something which entertains, like the television. I want my electrical goods to be useful, simple and necessary. Maybe I’m a dinosaur or Luddite but I don’t like technology for technology’s sake. I would prefer a much simpler way of life whereby the electrical products I do have don’t control me. I apply this principle to most things in my life and I resist any suggestions that advertisers would have me believe in that I need this or that item, technological or otherwise. Take me back in time.
Shirley Anne
Emily said
I love living in this time for the way that I bring my life with me. I have two phones which connect to the internet, one for my private life, centred around Apple and Google technologies, and one for my work life, based on RIM’s Blackberry technology. Wherever I am, I am in touch with my world and since so much of that happens on the net, the email, twitter and web services are hugely important to me.
Aside from that, like you, I have a home cinema system that gathers dust 20 days of a month, but for the 10 days of the month when I am watching a film, gosh does it enhance the experience. I have a home network system which is all integrated, so I can listen to my music wherever I am and when I’m away from home, I have access to all my data through some clever services I buy.
Are you a dinosaur? No, I don’t think so: You use the right technologies for your life. Am I a victim of the advertisers’ creativity? No, I don’t think so either: I have a lifestyle which is enriched by that connectivity and access to content, both personal and shared.
That’s what I love with technology as it’s heading… It’s all about giving each of us what we need. Of course, there’s hype and rubbish out there and the companies want you to buy the latest gadget ‘just because’, but if one is intelligent and knows what one wants from life, the lure of the marketers is so much reduced. You get what you want because it makes sense, not because they tell you you want it.
Sandy Shannon said
I tend to agree with Emily on this topic Shirley Ann. I hate phones because of work related stresses in a previous life. I’ve no cell phone never plan to own one and the “conventional” phones get unplugged when I go to bed.
I have a digital TV subscription so I can watch BBC News whenever I want, but do not own a high definition television. (The digital recording system was a gift.)
Computers are a different story, kind of long running hobby. I count four in my study this week.
(This makes me sound like a nerd, not true the discovery of Sandy is taking up more of my time, money and Sandy is a little more social.)
One thing to take notice of though is how manufactures / marketers ensnare young people at a early age into certain “communities”
It is almost scary they way young persons are addicted to video gaming and social networks.
I’m taking a course in American Sign Language with students who are mostly in their twenties and the it is fascinating
to observe their attitudes towards society, government, marriage and sexuality.
But like you Shirley Ann, sometimes I wonder if it might be nice to go back in time when life seemed slower and simpler.
Walks with a dog along a waters edge, weekends off, radio theater and game of pool with a tall gin and tonic. Who could forget Mom’s apple pie on Sunday evening?
Sandy Shannon
Shirley Anne said
How nice it would be not to have to rely on gadgets to enjoy your life. Emily enjoys her gadgetry and seemingly cannot do without them. I wonder though Emily, how you would cope with life if suddenly you found yourself without them? Real life for me is not found in gadgets. I am writing this on a gadget of course and this is what makes this gadget a good thing but it isn’t necessary for my life. I can live without it and did so for many many years. It enables me to communicate with anybody in the world, like a phone does but if I didn’t have one I’d be communicating with people close by instead and probably that’s what I should be doing more of anyhow. You see, there is nothing to compare with face to face communication. Sandy might fancy the idea of going back in time when life was much slower and easy going and why not? I think it’s the fact that we are bombarded with all this electrical gadgetry that we are running at such a fast pace. I could do without it all tomorrow and not regret it. I remember the days of my youth when life was a happier affair and yes, mum’s apple pies and other nice things too but the real difference was the lack of interference to one’s daily routine. Today unless I switch off my phones and my computer I know I will be contacted several times and be bombarded when I would rather be incognito. Today I don’t want music blaring either in my ears or as background noise unless I’m in the mood for music. Today I don’t want my nerves shattered by some frantic computer game that puts me on edge when I could just be sitting quietly watching the rest of the world hurrying by as if they’d all only a minute left to live. Today I don’t want the television adverts boring the backside off me because I am not influenced by them anyhow. Today I don’t want the spam mails or the cold callers, the special offers and the great savings. Today, can’t I be left alone?
Shirley Anne
Emily said
My life has been enriched in many ways by the technology we now have (some parts of which I was involved in building – I’m partly at fault for the high tech world you now see!) However, that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the simple, calm things of life. One of my favourite pass-times is to read and I read a huge amount. My absolute favourite pass-time is to cook, and I’m a firm believer in slow food.
I don’t see the modern world and the calmer pass-times as mutually exclusive. Were I no longer able to have access to mobile telephony, mobile data and mobile computing, the scope of my world would shrink horribly (making my relationship with my girlfriend in the UK quite a bit more difficult), but aside from that, I doubt my life would change dramatically. I would still read, I would still cook, I would still interact with people (though I would, no doubt, give everything up in Germany to be with my girlfriend straight away!!!!)
My work life would be very different, though. Gone would be the instant contact with people around the world, the virtual teams and the easy international contact I enjoy so much. Doing what I do now would require a lot more work and a great deal less efficiency. However, I think I’d survive that, too, though I’d probably find myself a great deal more on planes and trains than I am now, and I would miss my home life a great deal.
As for being left alone, I’ve found this wonderful button which I like to use. It’s the ‘off button’ and when I’m settling down to read a good book in a steaming hot bath, surrounded by candles, that’s just what happens to my devices. It’s amazing how easy it is to find peace when one wants it!