what is your current relationship with technology ?

throwaway4372 said:
Basically agree with the OP...

I'm 35, so got mobile phone and internet around age 15. I threw myself into the internet and gaming and web design/development as a kid, and ended up making a career of it, but man it's changed. Instead of discovering new things to be enthusiastic about, time is spent dodging ads, trolls, abuse, crime, and violence. To say it's gone downhill is the understatement of the century.

It's a pretty big dilemma for me because it's also my job, but now I wish it didn't exist.

I would:
- ban smartphones, dumb phones provided the benefits without the cons
- ban advertising, online or otherwise - it manipulates your brain on purpose to create demand, immoral. yes this means sites which depend on advertising will go away, this is a good thing.
- ban collection of personal data, regardless of consent. which destroys [anti]social media and search engines. good.
- ban calling things smart which are actually the dumb choice. smart bulbs, thermostats, doorbells, meters. spending 10x the price for something unnecessary that breaks easier is absolutely dumb, you are dumb if you buy them.

In life, your happiness depends on where you deploy your limited attention. Put your attention in the right place and your life is better. Technology designed to consume your attention also consumes your happiness. </deep>
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There most defiantly needs to be some kind of reform on smartphones but everything I think of just wont work like a national no smart phone week. They have turned people into zombies.
 
My phone is pretty important to me ,mostly having WhatsApp group family chats as they are scattered around the uk . my old panny plasma is dumb but made smart with a now tv stick , I quite like my smart light but thats about it ,posted from a 90 quid refurb laptop
 
ecksmen said:
This is my biggest gripe, there's so much dependency now on maintaining the latest versions and we're at the mercy of how good the developers are. Being signed out of apps due to an upgrade is really frustrating, especially on a TV!
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My fear is the TV slowing down in some years to come, not sure if that would happen, but phones do this annoyingly. I'm going to look if i can disable the updates when i can be bothered, i literally only use Netflix and ignored all the T&C signing for voice commands etc
 
I have a mixed relationship I think. I definitely value and enjoy what technology facilitates, be that learning about interesting things on Wikipedia or watching factual YouTube documentaries, playing games, being entertained by the fun side of YouTube or programs on iplayer etc, and sharing experiences / information and discussing things on forums like this.

However I am also aware that it can take up a huge amount of time and if I'm not careful it's very easy to waste a whole day just browsing and watching stupid videos.

In terms of the more day to day aspects and how society works my feelings are a bit mixed too. Emails, Web forms, online shopping etc can be reat, really convenient. However I hate how the modern trend is for more and more things to need a new app on your phone, and default to being paperless. I find it much easier to track and deal with important documents when they're sent in the post, and can file them away for future reference without having to remember whether I may or may not have seen something on an app or website, may or may not have asked something on a Web form etc. Having to have apps on your phone that track you, fill up the device, and ping you useless notifications until you work out how to turn each one off individually really grinds my gears too.

Also for society in the broader sense while it's got good points (like allowing communication and collaboration between wide groups of people, and democratising information to a certain extent) I think it's facilitated some really unhealthy attitudes and modes of discussion. Social media can really get under people's skin and enter into their every waking moment in a way that old fashioned public / social interactions couldn't, in general.

ecksmen said:
This is my biggest gripe, there's so much dependency now on maintaining the latest versions and we're at the mercy of how good the developers are. Being signed out of apps due to an upgrade is really frustrating, especially on a TV!
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Yes, absolutely hate it when this happens! Also you just know that in a few years time a couple of the apps might stop working, or the interface will start to become bogged down and a hassle to use as updates slow it all down. Or, as recently happened to my TV it's stated showing adverts on the TV guide screen inbetween some of the channels :mad:
 
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My house doesn’t even have any light switches… they’re all motion activated :cry:

I embrace technology and make it work for me.
 
The_Arbiter said:
My fear is the TV slowing down in some years to come, not sure if that would happen, but phones do this annoyingly. I'm going to look if i can disable the updates when i can be bothered, i literally only use Netflix and ignored all the T&C signing for voice commands etc
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Not sure how a TV set can slow down is it going to be showing everything in slow motion? The issue of updates is something that does concern my PS3 can't access anything anymore its all non functional aside from playing DVDs and Blu-ray its completely useless. Nothing wrong with it its just that all support has been (deliberately) dropped. The satellite TV box is the same used to be able to access iPlayer once upon a time but that ceased to function a long time ago. Satellite transmissions havn't changed in all that time that works perfectly but as far as the internet is concerned that particular horse has long since bolted from the stables and galloped over the hills and far far away. TV will likely go the same way in a couple of years (have internet protocols changed so much in all that time? Nope they just expect you to buy a new one).
 
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I'm 45, grew up with consoles and built my first pc aged 28 (evening classes).

I just view technology as a tool, and try to balance the benefit of owning tech against the time spent faffing about with it. I'm grateful for being a teenager long before mobile phones were ubiquitous.

My smartphone gets used for so much now, I rarely need to turn on my home laptop, but I'm not interested in social media. I no longer have a pc, I've gone back to a console for gaming.

I'm not interested connecting things other than a computer, tablet, console or smartphone to the internet.
 
Retro6 said:
They have turned people into zombies.
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they do seem to have quite good esp (or a proximity app) - you can walk at them on the pavement , but they tend to spot you before the collision and they drop their precious - costing them god knows how much per month - the gadget show were heralding as a bargain the new samsung flagship@£60pm.

there's so much dependency now on maintaining the latest versions .....
first rule about installing software - establish how you block updates so they occur when you want them - so don't install windows 10


European right to repair legislation ? - avg. Joe can access the software and fix it themselves.
 
Hagar said:
I'm nearly 70 and built my first PC in 1993, a 486DX33 prior to that I bought a 286 machine in 1990. I dislike mobiles and have an unsmart phone, I listen to music on vinyl, occasionally stream. I can switch lights on and off by myself.
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I’m waaay older than that, but I’d have trouble building a sandcastle, let alone a PC.
I’m quite au fait with my desk top and iPad, I can book flights, order stuff online, book a vacation house or condo in far away lands, (until the advent of the dreaded Covid), check train times and book tickets including on SNCF and Deutsche Bahn
I can send and receive emails, open attachments or insert attachments, send and receive WhatsApps on my iPhone, easy peasy.
If everything goes sweet I can bumble along regardless, clicking on this, opening that, a ghost of a smile playing on my overconfident lips at my prowess, but should I run into a technical hitch I have a sure fire rescue plan.
I lean slightly back, turn my head to my left, and call, “RED, RED! WTF do I do now? I’m cattle trucked!”
Within minutes, my intelligent lovely wife comes in, nudges me aside, appraises the screen, pecks at a few keys, and Bingo, I’m back in business, simples
 
EVH said:
My house doesn’t even have any light switches… they’re all motion activated :cry:

I embrace technology and make it work for me.
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Pretty much in the same boat. My work revolves around tech, my hobbies revolve around tech.

I think you need to make a judgement on whether tech works for you and how much of it you want in your life.

Hang time makes a great suggestion about putting all your tech aside for a month and see how you manage without it.
 
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