It’s rather easy to see how people could be that way. Originally, it was a very painful time, the very cusp of history so to speak, when industrialization was a life or death matter. I can’t help but have some admiration for those feeble attempts to fight it, but it was always a losing battle.
And there are many parallels to today. It isn’t industrialization, it’s globalization, and that has been painful too. But without any evil biases involved, the history of all species on earth is Adapt or Die, and always has been. Whether it’s a machine (like a mechanized loom) or a computer, you have to learn to understand it and work with it, or it will defeat you.
On a smaller, not yet life-or-death scale (notice I say, not yet), it’s similar. I know people who don’t have smartphones, Kindles or IPads, Bluetooths, and in some cases, not even computers. Think about that. And if you don’t have a TV (I know some of them too, or at least I’ve read about them), how do you get news? Word of mouth? The newspaper?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the main reason people don’t have any of these devices is not because they think we’ve lost contact with nature. It’s because they’re scared of them. They’re afraid they won’t understand how they work, and will be too embarassed to ask. Pride is truly a Deadly Sin.
Just as one example, I’ve been having a problem with my smartphone, and emailed Sprint. About the time I was ready to hit send, it said don’t email us if one of your problems is an inability to connect to the Internet. Which was my exact problem. What the hell. I sent it anyway. And to my complete astonishment, they replied in less than 24 hours and I fixed it.
So. When I have a problem like this, I think, I thought technology was supposed to make my life easier. Instead, I feel like I’m spending a lot of time in the care and feeding of my devices. And don’t get me started on chargers. I am forever charging something, or having to remember to charge something.
But when they are charged and happy and not malfunctioning (ha!), they actually do make my life easier and they enrich it. If I want a book I can’t find at the library, I can have it in one minute on the Kindle. Usually.
As frustrating as it can get, I am not going back to pencils and legal pads. And I have a funny story about pencils and legal pads I’ll tell later.
Fakename2's Weblog 
OK, let’s see. I don’t have a smartphone, a Kindle, or an iPad. I do possess a Bluetooth headset for my not-a-smartphone (Bluetooth being a protocol, not a thing) that I use oh, so rarely. I have too many computers. I lived for many years without a TV and currently still use the one we bought when we decided that we really needed a TV, about 20 years ago.
I recently thought about a Kindle for the husband so he could read that tome about LBJ without aggravating the problems in his neck. Not a Kindle fire because it is heavier than the older Kindles. In the meantime, he finished the book.
I do not know how to program the VCR/DVR currently connected to the TV/satellite receiver. Programming is accomplished via a newer TV, I might add, since the old one doesn’t have the right sort of interfaces to link up.
I think this makes me half a Luddite 🙂
And thank you for reminding me – my not-a-smartphone needs to be charged!
You know, Fakesister, I wonder if you are not 3/4 of a Luddite 🙂 I still remember trying to watch one of the Star Wars movies on your 20-year old TV and having to squint 🙂 And the number of things you have connected to that TV makes it truly a Rube Goldberg contraption. You could go out and for about $300, buy a TV with all the stuff you want a TV for already included.. With much less muss and fuss. But I think Fakehusband may have something to do with this, because I can just picture him saying, There is no need to go buy a new (insert name of gadget here). I can fix this one! No offense intended to either of you! It’s pretty charming.
Fakehusband is approaching the point at which he wants a new-fangled TV. If he ever finishes the remodeling so we can paint and put the furniture where it belongs, I’m sure we’ll get one. He’s very good at starting projects …
> people who don’t have smartphones, Kindles or IPads, Bluetooths,
I am one of them. Not because I’m scared; I used to build my own computers so I could choose what *I* wanted until it became cheaper to buy the whole “box.”
I don’t have those devices because I see no need for constant connection. I have a computer at home and that’s where I use it. I see these pathetic husbands “grocery shopping” and having to call and ask their wives whether to get X or Y. If this is to “save time” so the wife can be doing something else, they need to find a way to reduce their time constraints.
As you know, Susie and shop together. That’s what marriage is about…being together!
spencercourt, one of the many reasons I like you and Susie 🙂 Fakesister and her husband are the same way.
I would never accuse you or Fakesister of being scared. But surely you know the kind of people I’m speaking of?
Now I’m feeling defensive lol 🙂 I have a smartphone because my other phone was on the verge of death. I had to do something, and these days, if you replace your phone, that’s your only option. Of course you don’t have to choose Internet service on it.
I got the Kindle because I needed to reduce the weight I was carrying around.
The Bluetooth is probably the only unnecessary perk I have. Even though I still have great hearing, I still hear better with the Bluetooth. Plus, my hands are free.
Fakesister..ROFL. You could just get the TV anyway, and cover it with a sheet 🙂