we live in a digital age .... NOT!

[nospam99]

The subject statement came up in a Dating thread and I'm just so put off. I gotta think it's my age (65 for the umpteenth time) time. But I see 'social media' and text as just two mo' ways to communicate, along with 'cave man era' ways like face-to-face, snail mail (yeah, even I don't to that one anymore), telephone (dumb cell and land line), and email.

 

Maybe it's just that 'younger' people have had cell phones and web services for so much of their lives that they never got used to communicating in a 'non-digital' way. But that's still a matter of personal preference. No one 'needs' the internet or a cell phone to communicate (they ARE very convenient though) and if they disappeared tomorrow I wouldn't miss them. The 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s were just fine for interpersonal communication.

[Prudence V]

I survived the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s by hiding when there was a knock at the door, ignoring the phone, and writing letters under duress. To me, if it’s not digital, there’s no communication. Don’t even try to phone me on my cell. I very occasionally check voicemail (and will reply with a SMS, if I deem a reply warranted) and we don’t have a landline. I use email at work, but aside from that, it’s WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Messenger or KiK. It’s not an age thing. Prensky would not consider me a digital native.

[alphamale]

one must keep up with the Joneses

[Blind-Sided]

I don't accept that at all. With that kind of attitude... you may as well be Amish. Who needs cars? Who needs electricity? To be blunt... it's backwards thinking.

 

 

OK... I'm late 40's... so I grew up pre-cable TV... and the VCR only got mainstream when I was in middle school. many of my friends had rotary phones... and I would ride my bike a couple miles to just see if some of my friends were home. SO... I get what you are saying... but to just blindly reject technology is DUMB !!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

1) My 73 year old mom loves her iPhone, and FB... and being able to get any info she need.

 

 

2) My kids play different now. For example... I can her my 8yo "Playing" dolls with her friend, and it's almost 8pm, and her friend is 3 miles away. But, she has a tablet on her bed, and they are facetiming.

 

 

3) My older kid is on her xbox and playing games with at least 4 of her friends.

 

 

4) I'm here, typing on this forum, to exchange ideas with everyone who cares to read. (Including you, who is rejecting other kinds of the same system)

 

 

It's good, and allows interaction differently than +40 years ago.

[Mr. Lucky]

I gotta think it's my age (65 for the umpteenth time) time.

 

I'm in your age group so I get the mindset, but there's no stopping change. And if the choice is either to adapt or be left behind, I try to stay (reasonably) current if for no other reason than communication with my kids and grandkids.

 

It's a brave new world, and when our generation is gone we'll take everything from retail shopping to standing in line with us. I'll leave "better or worse" for others to decide...

 

Mr. Lucky

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

I wonder if this is what the townspeople were saying in the late 19th century when telephones started appearing in homes and people didn't have to visit each other in person to talk to them.

[nospam99]

@Mr L, I still retail shop most of the time. (Try to) return one clothing item that doesn't fit or book with torn pages or empty packaging or item described inaccurately that was bought 'online'. Or write it off as a loss because the cost of negotiating and performing a return is more than the item is worth. Been there, done that, always buy retail if possible.

 

@CO, I believe there's been resistance to technology throughout history. The difference now, at least to me, is that the improvement is marginal and, with my background in computers, software, telecommunications, and electronics, I know what's going on behind the scenes and choose not to accept the quality for convenience trade-off.

[lana-banana]

No one 'needs' the internet or a cell phone to communicate.

 

This is flat-out false. Everything from job applications, ID paperwork, vehicle registration (where I live I literally cannot renew my registration in person; it has to be done online), obtaining medical records, insurance signups---requires the internet. And as for communication? If I didn't have multiple mobile phones and unlimited data, I wouldn't be able to do my job! Most people wouldn't! Internet access is not optional for participation in life in 2019.

 

If you choose not to and have the luxury of spending so much time, money, and effort of doing things in person, then that's your choice. But let's not pretend that we don't require the internet.

Edited November 11, 2019 by lana-banana

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

the improvement is marginal

 

Oh, I totally disagree. Technology has made so many things more convenient! I don't think I'd have to leave my house at all if I could somehow get dental and medical procedures done at home!

 

But, seriously, I love that I never have to actually hear my ex-husband's voice and can just text and email if we have to. Texting is worth it just for that!

[Gaeta]

I am 54 yo, and I wish back when I was 20 yo we had all this technology. I was a military wife living thousands of miles away from my parents. We only called on Sunday nights because it was expensive and my parents saw my daughter grow up on photographs I sent twice a year. Now my mother Face-time 3-4 times a week with her grand-kids that live far. It's amazing to my mom to see them grow and have a live-connection with them even 1000 miles away.

 

With this technology I have grown so much closer to my mother who's 800km from me. I bought her her first computer she was 65yo, and I bought her her first Smart phone she was 70 yo. We text each day, we send pictures, and we share so many things via media. Last night I was cooking something from my childhood, took a picture sent it to mom, right away she told me to use less broth. That would have been impossible 30 years ago!

 

The same with my siblings, we have FB family groups, we organize Xmas through that group, we have monthly brunches we organize through a FB group, b'days. It's sooo easy to get a hold of everybody!

 

Conclusion: in my case, this technology has allowed us to be closer, and allowed us to share moments we couldn't otherwise because of tte distance.

.

[Shining One]

(Try to) return one clothing item that doesn't fit or book with torn pages or empty packaging or item described inaccurately that was bought 'online'. Or write it off as a loss because the cost of negotiating and performing a return is more than the item is worth.

This depends on where you shop. Some online vendors make returns painless. Some local retailers make returns painful. I've returned plenty of items ordered online for a variety of reasons. If the vendor doesn't have a good track record of painless returns, I don't order from them.

[nospam99]

This is flat-out false. Everything from job applications, ID paperwork, vehicle registration (where I live I literally cannot renew my registration in person; it has to be done online), obtaining medical records, insurance signups---requires the internet. And as for communication? If I didn't have multiple mobile phones and unlimited data, I wouldn't be able to do my job! Most people wouldn't! Internet access is not optional for participation in life in 2019.

 

If you choose not to and have the luxury of spending so much time, money, and effort of doing things in person, then that's your choice. But let's not pretend that we don't require the internet.

 

Not to pick on you, lana. But you did make a list which is handy to refer to. I bolded the most disputable parts. With respect to those bolded points, 'nope, nope, and nope'. I live and work in New York, not the least 'technologically advanced' of the states in the US. Plenty of business processes are set up to 'steer' people to the Internet. But all work just as well or better with phone or fax and can easily be done with snail mail or in person. Only in person can you get (by request) on the spot a receipt and avoid the frequent disputes which start with an assertion by the state or municipal agency or medical practice that they never received your transmission. Try getting your money back when a business uses your routing code and account number, credit or debit card, or Paypal id to take money for goods or services never ordered nor delivered (Verizon - took me six months calendar time and hours of activity). There is even non-Internet email though effectively no one uses it any more because Internet email is so ubiquitous. But I find most medical practices and certainly the courts usually require paper, though fax is an acceptable alternative.

[preraph]

Totally agree, but again, old fart here.

 

I was without my cellphone for over a week a couple months ago and it was almost a relief.

 

I give businesses my digital landline so they can leave a message if I'm not here because I had to turnoff my voicemail on my cellphone because it's 99 percent spam calls and I didn't want to have to go in there and clean it out and listen to them every day. But it's crazy that you can tell them it's a desk phone where you can leave a message and they will still try to text it and then try to blame me for not getting the message. Duh. I guess phone numbers in the future need to have a prefix that shows if they're land or cell because businesses still very much use landlines since they can't afford to miss a message and because the sound on them is SO much better than most cell connections.

 

I still prefer e-mail to just about anything. I don't much like texting because it interrupts you, and e-mail doesn't. I get annoyed when someone texts me and I'm in the middle of a tv show or something.

[Woggle]

I realize you need these things to operate in today's world but I still wish communication was the way it was in the 90s.

[RecentChange]

And time marches on.....

 

Sure my industry used to function before the internet.

 

But now we are 10x times as productive because of the internet. And unless you are willing to use the internet, interact via email etc you are completely obselte and would be out of a job.

 

And yes you absolutely DO need access to the internet to operate with much of today's world.

 

Did you know many companies do not accept hard copy resumes? That they must be submitted digitally?

 

I am 41, didn't have the internet or cell phone till I was in college - and well now they are necessities. I must use them to be employed.

 

For me, they are a net gain. I love the access to information and ease of communication. Makes keeping in contact with my family, both young and old so much easier.

 

My 78 year old father is hard of hearing so phone calls were always pain - he's a wiz at texting on his iPhone though, makes it so much easier to talk to him.

 

It's your prerogative to resist change - just don't expect tech to be going away anytime soon.

[lana-banana]

nospam, you're welcome to come to where I live and try to renew your registration in person. You can't. The DMV literally will not let you; only initial registrations can be done onsite.

 

As RecentChange pointed out, no reputable employer paying above minimum wage is going to accept a paper resume and a landline phone. Teachers and professors aren't asking for handwritten assignments, either. And good luck getting an apartment, a car, buying a house, working with contractors, navigating a new city, or even ordering dinner without going online at some point. Printed maps aren't going to help you find critical businesses and services nearby.

 

Are some of these things technically possible without a mobile phone and an internet connection? Sure, some of them, but not all. Your analog alternatives actually require major amounts of time and money that most people, especially the young and poor, don't have. Not being able to check traffic or respond to messages instantly can be the difference between getting a job or being on the streets.

 

For a while I volunteered at the library helping folks experience homelessness register for cheap prepaid phones so they could call municipal services (e.g. get emergency shelter during cold snaps) and set up email addresses so they could start sending resumes out and communicating with prospective employers. These people were starting at the very, very bottom of the ladder and they still needed emails and phone numbers simply to be available.

 

There is even non-Internet email though effectively no one uses it any more because Internet email is so ubiquitous.

 

This is irrelevant. No one uses it anymore because it's not the 1980s. It would do me no good to insist on using a telegraph to communicate because it's just as obsolete.

 

Internet service is not optional for meaningful participation in our world. Look, you may not like the rules---I really like to unplug myself, when I can---but it's ridiculous to pretend otherwise.

Edited November 11, 2019 by lana-banana

[Mr. Lucky]

@Mr L, I still retail shop most of the time. (Try to) return one clothing item that doesn't fit or book with torn pages or empty packaging or item described inaccurately that was bought 'online'. Or write it off as a loss because the cost of negotiating and performing a return is more than the item is worth. Been there, done that, always buy retail if possible.

 

I'm with you my friend, but have raised 4 reasonably successful adult children who think shopping in a store is a form of medieval torture. Same with waiting for a restaurant table, they'd much rather have it 'grubhubed' to their home.

 

Moore's law at work...

 

Mr. Lucky

[RecentChange]

Retail shopping....there are many reasons why online is winning.

 

Oh I tried to hold out. I screamed shop local, I tried to avoid online and instead go to brick and mortar stores....

 

But the service is dwindling, the selection - oh the lack of selection makes me crazy! Oh you need that color in that size? You can order online and have it shipped to store.

 

Recently I spent an entire Sunday attempting to buy some new clothes for work. The malls - I hate malls! The parking, the kids, the service, ugh - so I wasted an entire Sunday driving from store to store, leaving empty handed.

 

Gave up - ordered online and got everything I needed delivered to me without the hassle - and returns do not require sitting in traffic to drive across town - instant and painless - shipments these days come with prepaid return labels.

 

I am still a hold out when it comes to GrubHub etc. I see the damage to the service industries that these companies cause. And so far I can still go to a restaurant and expect service and selection.

 

But times are changing there too - there are now facilities being built to cater to delivery services only - no wait staff, just a to go kitchen. So we will see what the future holds on that front.

[Ruby Slippers]

I realize you need these things to operate in today's world but I still wish communication was the way it was in the 90s.

Yeah, it was pretty sweet when a guy liked you and would call you on your parents' landline phone in the evening - especially when your dad answered the phone

[mark clemson]

I would note that, despite predictions to the contrary, malls have not gone out of business, nor are they likely to anytime soon.

 

Some certainly have closed and they are no longer the grown industry they once were, certainly, but they are still here and often filled to capacity on weekend afternoons, at least where I live.

 

Now if we have another 2008, they will presumably be hit worse than Amazon, but even then I suspect it will a shake out not complete destruction.

[nospam99]

Well --- I guess when I die someone will strip my bones and put my skeleton on display with the rest of the dinosaurs in the Museum of Natural History. FWIW, I use 'digital' when it is convenient FOR ME. Apparently that's less often than when it's convenient for a lot of the rest of you on LS. The only thing I do where paper, snail mail, phone or fax is not an available option on request is OLD

 

Also FWIW when I was unemployed (last time) I sent more than 700 resumes online. Almost all would have accepted snail mail; in that case online was convenient (and cheaper). But when I finally got a job, the resume was paper. I'm unemployed again (one-year contract ended) and signing up to substitute teach: application, resume, transcript, reference letters - ALL required on paper and not accepted digitally. My divorce and continuing (current) lawsuits to resolve 'financial irregularities' performed by my ex-wife - all evidence and filings required to be paper. I pay all my bills by check and snail mail in. Each time (three) I've had to chase and resolve false digital charges, the frustration and cost in time outweighed the convenience of digital payments for the rest of my life. I could go on. Just sayin'

[RecentChange]

And I think many of us could go on and on about the benefits of technology.

 

I am in silicon valley - I assure you many industries here require that you be connected in order to seek employment.

 

Is being connected through technology perfect? No far from it - but on the other hand, one can not expect to thrive and grow in today's economy without embracing the digital era.

[Mr. Lucky]

I am still a hold out when it comes to GrubHub etc. I see the damage to the service industries that these companies cause. And so far I can still go to a restaurant and expect service and selection.

 

But times are changing there too - there are now facilities being built to cater to delivery services only - no wait staff, just a to go kitchen. So we will see what the future holds on that front.

 

Remote order and delivery will win simply on the basis of being able to monetize your data and preferences. Just as Google sits atop the advertising income stream, so will the food concepts able to worm their way into your digital heart and online wallet...

 

Mr. Lucky

[RecentChange]

Remote order and delivery will win simply on the basis of being able to monetize your data and preferences. Just as Google sits atop the advertising income stream, so will the food concepts able to worm their way into your digital heart and online wallet...

 

Mr. Lucky

 

Right?! Soon I will be getting ads - RC, We know you love sushi and Korean food - how about your favorite dishes delivered to your doorstep with three easy clicks?!

 

Currently I am the dinasour who goes down to the sushi spot in my stretch pants, orders, then takes it home.

 

I tried door dashing from them once but it costs more and the food was stale by the time it arrived.

 

But what I am doing now is the equivalent of using snail mail - I am sure they will hook me eventually.

[Els]

Dude in 100 BC: "Man, I don't understand the point of this whole newfangled writing thing. We were going along just fine with smoke signals and talking face to face. No one NEEDS writing....".