Discussion on:

10 high-tech gadgets I can live without

judging by #1,2,3,7,9,and 10 Mr. Norton dislikes mobile technology.

Honestly, aren't the only gadgets listed here the cell phone, the roomba, and the e-book?

Not saying I disagree with him mind you. Just not sure if a lot of the list actually are considered gadgets. (or in the case of the pager or speaker phone "High-Tech")

Leave it to an IT professional to find a pattern.

"judging by #1,2,3,7,9,and 10 Mr. Norton dislikes mobile technology."

Except for #9 I would agree with you. Perhaps my mobile device phobia would have turned out very differently if my first mobile devices didn't tether me to the job and trigger a negative Pavlovian response every time one beeped, rang or vibrated.

"Honestly, aren't the only gadgets listed here the cell phone, the roomba, and the e-book?"

You've got me there. 'Gadgets' sounded 'geeky' and I didn't want the title to be something like:

10 high-tech gizmos, gadgets, mobile devices, games and chips I can live without

Thank you for the feedback.

Cell phones, laptops, PDA's etc were devised by corporate bosses to keep their employees working for them outside of what were once regular working hours.

I meant to include my own list, but work caught up to me. Sorry if my post seemed overly critical.

I totally understand the pavlovian response, I have the same one from the same source.

How could I complain about you being overly critical? You were right.

I appreciate you adding your voice to the mix.

its like the old man has joined tech republic....

**Shudder**

he has the same gripes and reminds me constantly how people didnt used to need a box full of WhizzBangs to do an honest days work...

...and he used to walk to school, up hill both ways, in the rain... with only a candle for lunch

Should be:
And we liked it that way, too, dadgummit!"

OR
And we liked it that way, too, ya little whipper snapper!"

mcb

This is a generational thing for the most part, isn't it? I recognize three generations of technologists.

Gen 1: The mainframe generation
Gen 2: The PC generation
Gen 3: The mobile generation

I don't think it's necessary to be divisive though. I got along just fine with the mainframe generation and had a lot of respect for their skills, wisdom and experience.

Always there's going to be the elder and the younger. The elder mainframers were the ones who were mature adults when what they worked with slowly became computers. The younger were the ones who saw the computers emerge already as younger, some may have even pursued that work.
There are many similarities between them, but also differences.
Same with the other two, except that the younger PC generation may overlap more or less completely with the elder mobile generation... with some amount of abstentions either way.

Only if you generalize. The PC gen could be anyone from 25-45. And what is the mobile gen? 10-15 yr olds?

And one more thing. Who still uses a beeper?!

Many members of the medical profession like surgeons who are working.

People like that use beepers a lot right now as Mobile Phones are not a Option in their profession when they are in those positions.

Col

We do. I'm part of a hospital Help Desk that provides support 24/7/365. When I first started taking call cell phones were just not that common. Then we got a shared cell phone. Then we traded up for a wireless internet modem, since the hospital won't pay for our home internet. Nor will they pay for everybody a cell phone, so we each have a beeper and mostly all use our personal cell to call back in on.

I don't mind doing that, but I refuse to give my personal, paid for by me cell phone number out when I'm on call. If they can't get the official on call person they start going down the list til they reach somebody. So, yeah, no. I already cringe whenever the home phone rings, even when I'm not on call. I don't want to be that way about my cell phone too. (Pavlovian response is EXACTLY correct!)

Alan you are still part of the younger generation. I come from the time when computing was a hand cranked mechanical calculator. I eventually graduated to a Commodore Pet 64kb and then an Apricot. Upgrading the Apricot with a hard disk gave me 21MB. Such an enormous capacity allowed me to make three partitions - 1 for programs, 2 for developing Basic programs and 3 for data.

I love the uphill both ways to school argument....because I did actually have to do that.

In college, my off campus apartment was just over the crest of a hill to school, So technically I did in fact have to walk uphill both ways (and downhill both ways) and since it was in upstate NY, a lot of the time there was snow.

.

.

You had feet?

We used to DREAM of having feet...

My apartment was on the next hill over.

Also upstate New York. We might have met, but I doubt it. "Uphill both ways" pretty much describes NYS north of Peekskill.

These didn't fit into the article so I will share them with you here:

I am an analyst first, a programmer second and a geek third. The analyst in me can't help but recognize that the PC Generation would rather leave their technology behind on the desktop while the Mobile Generation would prefer to take their technology with them.

Item 1 - Examples of annoying cell phone behavior:

That fine upstanding young man talking on his smart phone in the library. Yes, it has happened more than once while I was at the library. They didn't seem to mind annoying the other patrons.

The lady who forgets to turn her cell phone off at the cinema show.

Item 5 - RFIDs: Can the day be far off when the following scenario becomes reality? You walk into a store. A scanner reads the tags on the paper money in your wallet or purse and knows how much you are carrying. The same scanner reads your credit card number and references the purchases you have made in the past week. Pictures of surf and turf and sounds of sizzling steaks are presented when the computer has determined that your last meal was six hours ago at exactly 12:34 PM. The scanner knows that the wife has three types of lipstick, two types of mascara, two brands of expensive perfume and four other makeup contrivances and sends marketing intended to steer her and the rest of the family in tow toward the cosmetics counter.

Item 10 - Please excuse my typos keyboard: These tiny keyboards and touch screen keys have led to a new syndrome, Blackberry thumb.

I will be popping in now and then to answer any questions and to participate when I have something intelligent to add.

Edit: Changed ? to '

at least for some of this. honestly ... pagers? this is 2010!

Some might take a look at me and say I have already died.

Honestly ... pagers are still being used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pager#Pager_use_in_the_21st_century

What's paper money, Grandpa?

I was actually thinking about hard currency just yesterday. Since we were married 27 years ago, my wife and I always saved pennies, nickels, and dimes in a cookie jar. We'd roll them just before a big trip, and for the first several years of our marriage we'd net over $100.

Over the last 10 or 15 years this annual / biannual ritual began yielding less and less. This weekend, we rolled change for the first time in three years and cleared about $38.

The difference is we don't conduct our transactions in cash any more. We use debit cards most of the time, Rarely have any paper money in our pockets to scan, and there's no small change left over. But we're actually saving more from the 'small change' source. With the bank rounding each transaction up to the nearest dollar and transferring it to savings, we're getting the quarters too. (No, this isn't our only source of savings.)

Yes, that is definitely the trend and has been for some time now. Once cash is no longer accepted, every transaction you make will be stored in at least one computer somewhere. I would miss paper money but wouldn't mind a cashless society if my privacy was left intact.

Thanks for the story.

But either way, don't you have one of those stupid member cards to get a discount at your grocery store?

You don't have to fill out the application. Just ask for the card, don't fill out the form, and use it anyway. The chain will get the buying habits of a customer of that store, but they won't know it's you.

Thanks for the info!

I held off for years -- kept telling them rich folk don't need no discount.

Finally, one checker told me, "Here: just take the card; nevermind the form." So I did.

Later, a senior checker who I've known for years, saw me using the card. "Finally," she says. "Yeah," says I, "It's a 'blank' card."

She shook her head, "No."

Explained that it was keyed to my credit card ID.

Hm, that wouldn't fly in the EU. Very strict on formalities.

Might not fly in Santee either... you can check if you're in that kind of mood. You might be able to swing a profile wipe with a frothy-mouthed letter and a threat of litigation.

The pen being mightier than the sword, it's inaction is enfeebling. No signature equals sketchy legal grounds for registering a persons doings.

I've also heard that your credit card number can be linked to the member card number. I had completely forgotten about it until you brought it up.

If true and you want to remain anonymous you would have to turn in a blank form and use cash only.

I finally gave in and got one after years of holding out simply because of convenience for those 'occasional items'. I do all my real shopping at grocery stores that do not use them.

I eat very healthy now (I have discovered that eating vegetables makes a difference in how I feel) but I still don't like having my dietary habits tracked in a database.

When my wife had braces for 30 months, she wasn't allowed potato chips. As a devoted and supportive husband, I forego them too. When she was allowed to eat them again, the effect on our digestive systems was ... interesting.

a grocer that doesn't use the cards around here. Maybe 'Fresh & Easy'? What made me get one was seeing one price on the shelf and finding out that was for members only. I hate that!

I have heard of people using bogus names on their form.

.

Bill

That they sell groceries too.

That's why Floridians know that Publix is the best grocery store! No Club Cards!

Food Lion ("Grocery Kitty") is cheaper even without a card.

Sorry - but you can't have a cashless society and intact privacy. One excludes the other.

are the major reason that I doubt cash will ever go away.

The crooked ones don't want any records left behind, and they know that "privacy left intact" is just a delusion when computers are involved.

I've been hearing about the "cashless society" for many years, but I doubt we'll ever see it.

as we all know, is one that stays bought.
So, all they're waiting for is the development of a "special" bonus card for those very special honest politicians. After that, all cash will be outlawed as only common criminals and joes/joans will have need of it.
And then the interweb will pwn us all!!!
Mwahahaha... er, wait, that's Booooo, boooo!!

Several years ago there was an attempt to promote a form of pre-paid credit card that could have actually replaced cash for the masses. Kind of a hybrid debit/credit card. I guess the current debit card has replaced that device. In the now defunct plan, a person was issued a card by their bank and there were recharging stations everywhere that one could recharge their card out of their bank account. A desktop device to connect to your home computer was to be made available so you could recharge your card from home, also. This card did not expose any bank account information. If one lost their card, their loss would have been limited to whatever balance was on the card, not their entire bank account. I saw some of these recharging stations in places like Wendy's Restaurant and Walmart in the Atlanta area when it was in use. I suppose the current debit card has replaced the cash card.

Good film, but scary possibilities

The scenario you listed is exactly how the marketing works in "Minority Report" except they use eyeball scans...that marketing ploy always creeps me out...

The last time I went for a contact lens exam, My eye doc (at Walmart) offered a discount on Retinal scans. I declined. He offered it for free. I declined. He offered again before I left. I refused. He made me sign a "release" form saying I refused the scan and it went into my 'file'.

Creepy? More than a little!

Is so that you forget about the DNA that you leave all over the place. They got that and are now tracking you.

Col

The purpose of a retinal scan is to examine the whole retina - rather than just the bit that they can see with a normal eye test - for any eye and general health issues, such as diabetic retinopathy, hypertension and age related macular degeneration - all of which are well worth catching earlier rather than later.

Creepy? Not at all. Bit dumb to miss out on a free one, really.

You've been watch far too many crap Hollywood movies and bought into too much conspiracy theory.

Neil

Hold out for the free scan next time, though.

... that wife entering the store gets a targeted video reminding her (and everyone in a 20 foot radius) that her 28-day cycle is almost complete and it's time to purchase feminine hygiene products. Based on purchase history, they suggest something for her typically heavy flow, as well as something for the severe cramps she experiences 73.6% of the time.

You happen to be with her, and get a reminder to buy another box of deluxe ribbed prophylactics because, based on purchase history, you've probably used up the ones you have. And they are running a special on the cinnamon-scented lubrication you seem to prefer.

Your pre-teen daughter is also with you, and the marketing videos suggest that she too consider birth control, because her calculated age puts her 'at that age'. Trouble is, you and your wife are trying to instill a faith-based abstinence mindset in her.

At least we'll all get to know each other (much) better.

except the condoms you bought you used with your girlfriend not your wife. I can't wait to see the issues created with this scenario.

I foresee a market for foil or metal mesh lined wallets and purses. Not to mention hats. Just had to slip that last one in.

http://www.difrwear.com/
http://www.roguewallet.com/RFIDShieldedWallet.html

Also of concern are "smart" passports. Their RFID devices allows nearby persons to read your info.

they do sell wallets that are supposed to protect RFID credit cards from being scanned by the modern day tech pick pocket with a scanner.

Not just on a Blackberry, but any absurdly small qwerty keyboard, you actually end up with "Carpal Thumbel!" [sic], and this condition has actually aggravated the joints in my thumbs from having to now text with my family, friends and coworkers...

Great list - Personally, I've found if the keyboard is too small to use, the screen is too small to read.

That's good. While I might take exception with some of the items in the list, your point is still valid - life is about working with, talking with, loving on and helping... people. Our lives our lessened when we forget this. Technology can cause us to forget sometimes. While I've made a career out of technology, I only endure the wacky and wierd world of Information Technology because of the people in my life that I love.

Any tool can be used for good, or used for bad. While some may be annoying, we might say that any of the 10 items in that list that are used for good... are worthy tools.

Welcome Kent.

There may yet come a day when some of those tools on the list get added to my tool chest.

IT professionals sometime put the technology ahead of the people that the technology serves. I know I did.

Thank you for posting your perspective.

should have been make believe sports in general.
video games are not a replacement for physical activity.

not even the dance games where you have to jump around on a control pad.

Hello Jaqui.

I used baseball as an example to fit in with the season but you are absolutely right. Name the sport and there is a video game version of it available.

as much Alan,
I just had to add the expansion of coverage.

some people might be nasty is mentioning it, rather than a post to help

Who said they were? Is it so hard for people to understand that doing one of these doesn't eliminate the possibility of doing the other. One can have a balance between all sorts of activities.

What's the problem with spending a few hours here and there playing a video game with friends when it happens to be raining, and then when it stops, going outside and doing something more active?

Absolutely nothing provided that you do go outside and exercises.

Today however kids particularly want to sit down play their Games Console/Hand Held Unit and do nothing else.

When you have several kids like my sister they even chip in to buy their brother another one. Not because they think he is left out but because he keeps taking theirs so they can not play with it.

That's the problem with Virtual Games the kids think that they are doing something when actually they are just getting fatter and more unhealthy.

Col

They do all of the above and more. It's very much up to the parents doing the same. Having varied interests and activities. Demonstrating the enjoyment of learning and trying new things while not throwing out the old.

It's possible and it's all up to us.

Is that the use of language like "the solution to ..." makes us think in terms of simple solutions and simple options. It doesn't help people to think of having choices and being able to have many interests. It also doesn't help in solving complex problems in the real world.

How many times have you heard about "the solution to the middle east". The idea that a single thing can solve something so complex is ridiculous.

I think we all have a responsibility to think about the way we say things. Using language that implies that one thing should or will completely replace another just reinforces the idea.

When I learned how to use a telephone, there were carbon granules in the thing. It was advanced, though. You didn't have to crank it to get on the party line.

Sandlot baseball, too, with sticks and rocks.

My biggest beef is with the "groundbreakers" who apparently need the newest of new with an invented justification.

All too often I receive requests from users who "need" an iPhone, then complain because the battery life isn't as good as their whatever they had and they have to carry a charger to get through the day.

Research your devices and buy the right tools for the job.

From my POV most laptops are probably better classed as ultra-portable desktops.
Don't supply a user with a 3KG beast and expect them to consider themselves mobile.

"Fit for purpose..."

The newest gadget, or software for that matter, is not necessarily better for your personal needs.

Thank you for the thought provoking post.

A gadget fulfills a need, if you have not the need, you need not the gadget.

We get a lot of smart phone requests at my office, they smile and think they got one over on us when they use things like "battery life" as an excuse.

Problem is that we have the last laugh since we lock down all applications and connections before they get the phone. It's almost humorous how they think they're smarter than the admins.

My favorite was one that complained about not being able to download additional apps and use certain extra functions, our response: "but that would ruin the battery life, which was your main justification for the device in the first place."

Those who don't know what they're getting, I agree, are just dumb and following a trend - there will always be people like that.

If I only wanted a phone, I would buy a phone that was just that.

The iPod I've never had a real need for. I worked with a Windows Phone for years, before that a Blackberry as it made dealing with email much easier.

But the iPhone? Most of my work these days is done on the web and the iPhone's browser and app support is 100 times better than others - so yes, it is the right device for the purpose. Has it changed my life? No - not really that much more than the other devices had already done - but it did expand it more. So I blame RIM

I used to think that way, too, when I was an employee. Then I became a consultant.

Funny thing, customers want you to answer the phone "NOW!"

Cell phones, call forwarding and technology have made it possible for me to "keep the customer satisfied" while I'm having fun.

I would never have dreamed that someone would pay me for sitting in a boat on a lake on a nice summer day, enjoying "refreshment" and catching a lunker.

Then I added technology. A customer called, and I was paying more attention to the call than to the fish. It was a beautiful afternoon, even if a customer was bugging me.

I hope the headset didn't pick up the whine of the drag when the fish hit.

I told the customer "Hey, I've got an emergency that just came up. Can I call you back on Monday and we can finish this?"

It wasn't a problem for the customer. It was Friday and he didn't want to be at work either. Monday was fine.

I reeled in the fish, then sent myself an email reminder to bill the customer for the call.

Cha-ching!

Technology is great.

I'm not. But I'll bet your business is paying for that phone, that it isn't being paid for out of your 'take home' pay.

Just because some of us can live without these tools doesn't mean others don't find value in them. Just because some find value in a tool doesn't require the rest of us to use them.

nt

It's the M.S. smart quotes feature that gives you a ? instead of a '
or actual quote marks.

disabling it is the only means to not have to edit a post and change them back.

Good to know.

check how many of TR's blog entries and articles have ? sprinkled throughout for ' and ".

It was figured out a couple years back, but turning off smart quotes seems to be to much work.

Why are they called, Smart Quotes?

.

I should not ask, a la, the Dumb Names thread.

Smart, in this sense, refers to a machine-powered insidious self-assertion of an otherwise inanimate object, one likely to have detrimental effects at inopportune moments.

Vide smartphones, smartcars, smart homes, etc.
Shop smart, shop S-mart.

if my recognizing the Evil Dead quote is a good thing or not.

Means that your memory still works.
What's not to like about evil dead though?
I mean, it's not like it's "gone in 60 seconds" or other such crapsploitation.

Why do they exist by whatever name?

the word processing app knows when to use opening quotes, curved like (, or closing quotes, curved like ).

I turn them off and just use straight quotes; they're "ambidextrous" (as well as more suitable for Courier or other monospaced typefaces).

I have a background in typography. I see what it's about. I appreciate your having made the connection for me.

I go about my day, now, knowing another new thing and, with a spring in my step.

The Mystery of the Email J Finally Solved

http://gaarai.com/2009/02/06/mystery-of-the-email-j-finally-solved/

I've never seen that happening.

and I have no Microsoft products at all.
so if I was to get an email with the code it would have shown up.

[ well, if I didn't disable smilies in my email client by having it only display in plain text. ]

and pasting from there does away with the question mark, too. And then, there's Notepad.

Occasionally I think about a cell phone (voice only, NOT a 'smart' phone), but I haven't found a reason to do anything about it.

I confess to borrowing a company laptop when I travel on business, but never when I'm on vacation.

When someone puts me on speaker without warning, I sing, loudly and badly. Either than or mumble until they pick up the handset.

Arranging your environment to suit you instead of having it inflict itself on you.

I see many people looking like slaves to their devices, devices they bought to make their lives easier.

It's called Active Voice and Passive Voice.

I see personalities like that, too.

I see help desk requests submitted with descriptions like 'Outlook needs upgraded' or 'Printer needs installed'. I feel so sorry for those unfulfilled apps and appliances.

Middle voice, active of form, but passive of content.
Like, "I manage these people", or "The stew cooking on the stove eventually caught fire".

I think that's descriptive of a lot of things. Especially things that people think they "do" when actually the things are doing the people.

A fine hair you split.

Of no use to us who come guns blazing.

There it is again.

And, middle voice is intransitive. It's not something to disregard out of hand.

Is an amalgam. It is not origenal, as in, genesis.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-13583-0.html?forumID=102&threadID=334623&messageID=3341936

I got lost, and the thread stumbled me.

After all, you don't know that active and passive are original.
Compare; is it a particle? Is it a wave? No, it's photon!
Sometimes the one combining the primitives is the whole, the others merely facets of it.

The tree falls. The river runs. The wind blows.

Compare that to that pesky copular: "is".
How active? How passive?
Not so much of either.

Think on it.

As copulative, as you do, and any Algorithm of the Almighty surely will escape you.

is splitting hairs?
Algorithm of the almighty?
If I knew the way of the becoming one who came make azoth, would I go it?
No.
I make gold of base matter in different, more fulfilling ways.

I improve. It is middle voice again.

...even though cell phones are not really optional for me. I just recently went smart phone for more timely e-mail responses.

That said, I agree. We're losing something in all this.

each other.

I also started with Hollerith cards but I'm still in love with Tech. I have 5 children, 3 of whom are adults, so cell-phones are required to keep track of everyone. Don't have a pager 'cause the cell-phone has text. Concur with statements about RFID and Roomba but everyone in my family - yes, wife and all 5 kids - have laptops (makes gaming in the Living room great) and we sometimes used text shortcuts until we got phones with qwerty keyboards.

But I'm way ahead of you. I cleaned old credit cards out of my wallet a couple of weeks ago and discarded my Egghead membership card!

That's perfect. Most people do need cell phones and laptops. Right now I don't.

I did finally get broadband a couple of weeks ago so TR members will no longer have to suffer reading articles I write that bemoan the woes of dial-up. Does that increase my geek quotient at least a little bit?

I still had dial up as recently as early 2009. The only reason I upgraded to DSL was the bundled price was less than I was paying for TV, phone, and dial-up separately.

have to use dialup when traveling certain places. The web is a nightmare via dialup, including TR.

Wow, I've had Broadband for almost 10 years now at home and it's at least 3 times faster than the connection at work.

Don't want to sound like a commercial but when Cox Cable says they're 'Crazy Fast', they're not kidding.

Downloads max at about 850KB. I've had the service since April. Better than DSL, at about 350KB, but not what I expected.

They agree. Technical people coming tomorrow to look into it, as well as the service completely crapping out at the most inopportune times (the guy answering in Rhode Island to my California commiserated with me: "Yeah -- it does that, just when you're doing something.")

You want me to lay all my life on this?

No way.

I am a curmudgeon Luddite and I intend to stay that way. Give me a straight pen, ink, and a candle.

For proliferating your posts.
Monkey rocketeers in fact, so they can send off your proliferated posts toot sweet, across the world.

I mean, you're not planning to cut us all out the loop, are you? Surely there's a bulletin board somewhere with a sign-up list and a dangling pencil?

EDIT: On a more helpful note... you do realize that you could build, weld and perforate yourself a Very Cool Antenna, with which to connect to some downtown wifi where you can buy an account. Those have high bandwidth too.
Of course they're not always encrypted, but you have that 0,45 inch firewall, so you're probably not too bothered by that.

getting on as a professional without such items in the modern workforce.

Perhaps your attitude could, in some circles, be seen as less than professional when it comes to technology?

I can only go by the experiences of my last job:

Cell phone - Not needed. I used it maybe once or twice a month on average.
Pager - Used but not needed. I set up an automated system to email the pager and alert me when overnight reports had not run. I could have just as easily sent an email and/or used the Conversant to call me at home. I also got a lot of messages to call group members instead of calls on the cell phone. Voice mail could have been used instead of the pager.
Laptop - Not needed. The point of item three is that a laptop is a poor substitute for a desktop computer, especially if you are a developer. By the way, we did eventually get desktop computers and my productivity went up quite a bit.
Web cam - Not needed. Teleconferencing would be helpful but not absolutely necessary.
RFID chips - N/A
Roomba - N/A
e-reader - Would be useful for learning while traveling but I personally would prefer a device like an iPad that I could use to watch training videos instead.
Virtual sports - N/A Ever hear of the exercise desk? Put exercise desk into Google images and see what comes up.
Speakerphone - Useful for conference meetings but I didn't need one.
Miniature keyboards - N/A

I could still be a professional and get my job done without these devices. What I could live without and what my manager thought I needed are two different matters entirely. Managers like to able to contact you anywhere and anytime. They also try to provide their staff with the tools needed to best do their job. If I absolutely had to use one of the devices on the list I could put a smile on my face and the right attitude in my heart and be very professional indeed.

In my personal life I neither need nor want any of the items on the list.

E-readers would be the most useful thing in the world if they actually worked.
In my research work I need regular access to loads of big heavy technical books- a regular paper mountain, and it would be really nice to be able to have them with me when I'm out. So I had the brainwave of putting everything on a Kindle, went through the first ten most important and not one of them was available. No e-readers might be useful for the casual reader but are useless for anything more complex.

The problem is that your desired/required content is not available in any format other than dead tree. Most e-readers handle pdf files just fine; contact the publishers of your manuals and see if you can get them in that format.

1. Years back, it was imposed on me by my employer. I considered it necessary evil until I bought a touch phone with bigger screen, and discovered http://www.ereader.com/ and http://manybooks.net/ . Carrying all of my favorite books in my pocket, all that hundreds of them... wow! A bookworm's dreams.

2. I've never used that. They never were very popular in Europe.

3. Occasionally useful.

4. Not using it

5. Naah, I don't know. There are many other, more useful way of tracking someone. Mobile phone, for instance.

6. Roomba and dog with diarrhoea is pretty interesting combination in unsupervised conditions, or so I heard.

7. I see no use for a dedicated book reader. Book reader app on touchscreen smartphone does the job far better. It's handy, and the small screen is not too inconvenient once you get used to it, especially if reader app has a good navigation.

8. Yup. It's dumb idea.

9. Yup. It's better if you don't use it at all.

10. Written character recognition is far better, especially when the technology gets a bit more mature.

This article is the equivalent of sitting on your porch shaking and shaking your fist while yelling, "Get off my lawn you dang kids!"

I have always promised myself I would never do that.

It's no fun waking up one day in a world where you can relate more with your grandfather than the kid down the block. That said, I intend to grow old gracefully and yes, believe it or not, there is still a lot of kid left in me.

preferred my grandfather to the kids on the block. He was fascinating.

that's what that is; the shaking of the fist and the shouting.
Not allowing potential technical obsolescence diminish one's humanity.

A newscaster's torrent of words on witnessing the Hindenberg disaster. Hydrogen filled gadgets haven't made a comeback since!

Hang in there Alan there are others out there that believe as you do. Myself, for one. I do have a cell phone (for safety sake) as an older woman it is nice to be able to contact help if needed. My biggest problem is everyone seems to think I should have more contact with it than an occasional text saying 'made it home safely'. I don't envy the ipads, iphones, or e-readers, I'm happy doing it my way. I still have an answering machine, my grandkids want me to change to voice mail. I like it the way it is, if the light is blinking I have a message. I don't like calling myself and tapping in my password just to be told no one called, depressing. So, Alan chin up shoulders back, these kids may say what they like but we both know they wouldn't have their technology if it weren't for people like us. They had to stand on your shoulders for the next generation of technology to be invented. For that, Kudos.

Thank you for the encouragement.

It's nice to hear a woman's point of view. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Didn't they have pagers when you were taking MIS at UA? I took some courses there in the 80s, some students were using floppies then. I was working nights on the Miracle Mile Strip then. The hookers were using pagers.

As for the rest of your list, all of them have the potential to be used for you or against you.

My 70 something Dad got a cellphone before I did. But I bought one a few yrs ago to make sure he called me if he needed me (my job is only a few miles from where he lived).

The roomba has great potential. Reminds me of Heinlein's "Door into Summer". But I'm waiting for the "Eager Beaver" to come out.

Carrying a laptop depends on whether you have a use for it. Digital photography comes to mind.

RFID? Lots of potential there. The potential for privacy invasion is scary. But so far the readers I've had experience with (we have RFID cards at work) require close proximity to read your card. They really can't track your movements yet. I don't know if there are other systems out there that can.

"I was working nights on the Miracle Mile Strip then. The hookers were using pagers."

What model did you have?

Nope. I was the dweeb selling condoms & beer at the convenience store.

You are so old school!

I agree that tech-gadget-ism has gone too far. You don't need to pack your phone, music player, calendar, scheduler, etc (all on your smart phone) for a quick run to the store.

That said I have seen Luddites companies that are that still using a typewriter and carbon paper for Purchase Orders. Why? Because this is way it has always been done.

This is the 21st century. I think typewriters went out at least 20 years ago.

Try using an e-reader before you knock it. You call it an all-to-specific device, yet isn't that exactly what a book itself is? It's designed for one purpose. To read. The ability to place hundred or thousands of such all-to-specific paper weights into an under one pound all-to-specific electronic device and gain the ability of search and annotated bookmarks and other such digital "upgrades" is only an improvement. It certainly isn't something to bash without having even used one.

I thought I was an OF for hating Twitter. At least I'm in this century.

Pagers? Really?

Your rant reminds me of an open mike night in LA and an untalented standup wannabe bombing without even being aware of it.

I am very impressed.

Only required for outgoing commandments, if then.

Look at the conversations you have. How many of them absolutely could not wait until you got home / back to the office?

In my case, about one a year.

Seems like an incomplete measure to me. Accessibility is not simply the tool of urgency, it is the tool of convenience. How often was it more convenient to reach you now than when you were back at the office - is a better question. I bet it is more than once per year for both parties.

And, the office of mind are different places.

Dead right.

I don't find having one convenient, or at least not in comparison to the operating costs. As to how often it would have been convenient to reach me outside the office, I've been called at home six times in seventeen years. I've never had reason to call the office from anywhere other than home or another company site.

But that doesn't make not having one 'impressive', it just makes me cheap; uh, frugal.

Yeah, frugal; that's it.

All the times I go grocery shopping, only the product ordered by my CO is missing...
Then five minutes later, the next one.

Then we just get it on the next trip, or the one of us at the store makes a judgment call regarding an acceptable substitute.

No biggie; there's ALWAYS peanut butter

Distributed intelligence, autonomous agents... that's advanced stuff

For the kind of work I do, a cell phone is a great convenience. Very handy. While I do have an "office" (actually just a cubical) back in the company owned office building, the reality is that my office is really my work vehicle most of the time. In my work, I am usually on the road, or at a customer owned building.

Yep, I could just give the home office a number I could be reached at when I'm at a customer facility. But its simply convenient for everyone to simply have one number at which they can reach me any time.

And it is just ONE phone number. Been working for the current employer for 10 years and the cell phone number I use hasn't changed in all that time. Its like my home phone number, it hasn't changed in 20 years.

That said, I doubt if I make or receive more than 3 to 4 phone calls on that cell phone on any average day. Its infrequently necessary for there to be more.

And those I work with, and my family and friends, know I absolutely despise getting "junk" phone calls. And if the call is necessary, make it short and sweet and to the point.

Its not a matter of being frugal and trying to save "minutes" charges. I'm on an unlimited plan. Just because, just because I don't want to be bothered with keeping track of minutes or any other unimportant trivia like that. The phone service company probably makes out on someone like myself, but I could give a rip. Just want the phone to work when I do choose to use it without wondering whether or not I'm running out of minutes.

But I use a cell phone minimally simply because I do have actual work to get done. And tend to get more than a little miffed if I keep getting bothered and interrupted by piddling trivia that could have waited.

So I tell folks to save up their questions or comments, take notes if needed, call me ONCE instead of 20 times.

Better yet, if its not friggin critical to have an answer NOW, or to tell me something NOW ... send the message directly to my voice mail, or email. BTW, keep those minimal also. Or you'll just cause me to think you're a bungling, incompetent fool and airhead who can't keep track of your own thoughts. Or organize your own a**-wiping without help.

When I have the time and its convenient, I check my voice mail and email. If its important, I respond right away. If its not, I'll respond when I'm good and ready and have deliberately planned the time for doing so.

The point being, in my view a cell phone is a handy tool, wouldn't be without one. But I'll be darn if I'll let it control my life or my time. I'm not a slave to it nor addicted to its use.

Before someone in the group jumps in and says something about it ... I've had this conversation with my bosses and my customers.

In fact, once I make my case, the majority of them agree with me.

The few who don't, well I'm a patient man. Used to do work after my normal business hours with mentally challenged kids. So long ago learned to be patient with those not quite as bright as average.

Chuckle, one of the managers in the chain of folks above me, used to call me about every nit-picking little bit of trivia on his mind at any particular moment. I tried to be patient.

Kept telling myself it wasn't his fault that he was perhaps a bit ... slow ... at figuring stuff out. After all, he was in his early 30's. And while he did have some real world experience, it was limited. Spent a lot of time in school. He had his MBA. Getting his head full of a bunch of nice theoretical stuff some college professor (himself a bit short on real world experience) told him to learn because it was important. And, previously, this guy had worked for a company his dad owned. As junior, assistant, vice-vice president of whatever it was he was supposedly in charge of. So it was likely his tasking wasn't just all that difficult or complex. And that as the owner's son, well ... it's a pretty good bet that most of the folks treated him as maybe a bit more important and knowledgeable than he really was.

I don't know that that last part above was true. I didn't work there myself. Just a guess given his general attitude about things when he first came to work for us.

Anyway, I quickly found out that he could be ... annoying. Like a small child is annoying. Always running around, looking and acting really, really busy. But accomplishing little except to make a lot of noise, getting in the way, and constantly demanding attention.

I tried to be patient and understanding. But after a bit I started to get tired of it all. After way too many calls, I told him once that I was, after all, trying to get some work done that'd actually make the company some money. So how about he consolidate his thoughts and questions, take notes if his memory was bad, and either email me the bundle and I'd respond to it all at one time, or make one call and we'd go through all of it at once.

It took a while for the poor fellow to get the idea. And some persistence on my part. i.e. Too frequent phone call would be made, and he'd ask where I was and what I was doing. I'd answer, "Standing right here on the job trying to get something done, but not doing so well at it since right now I'm wasting time and progress talking on this darn phone. How many times has it been today? Got a calculator? Can yah figure out how much its costing the company per day and then per year for me to be halted in my work and talking on this darn phone?"

He'd usually get a bit miffed and grumble something about the fact that technically I did work for him. To which I'd reply with something like, "Well, okay Boss, you're right, but I'm getting darn little productive work done right now. Want to increase my production rate? Pass the word around the office that people shouldn't call me for every little insignificant thing that passes through their heads. One at a time. What I do requires focus and concentration. Every interruption like this wastes perhaps 10 minutes of my PRODUCTIVE time. Counting not only the time to talk, but also the lost time caused by my having to go back to what I was doing, figure out where I was at, get back into the train of thought I was pursuing before I answered this phone, etc. Six calls like this per day, and you're paying me an hour's wage for time in which I didn't get much of anything done. Twelve such calls a day and I'm getting paid for 2 wasted hours. Let's see, I'm getting paid $45 an hour. Add bennies. Let's keep it simple and say each hour of my time is costing the company $70. That's $140 a day I'm paid for NOT doing my real job. Or, let's use round numbers and figure 2000 work hours a year, discounting vacation time, with 25% of those hours getting ate up talking on this phone. That's a cost to the company of about $35,000 a year ... of wasted time where I'm not getting my primary work done. In short, time where I'm not bringing them in a profit. But I'm sure you learned all that when getting your MBA, right?"

LOL ....

He still didn't get the hint too fast. In fact went up the chain and complained about me to HIS boss. Seemed to think I had a bad attitude or something.

His boss caught me one day when I was actually in the office and we had a little talk while having coffee. I made my case for my side of the story.

Later I gathered from the grape vine that the Big Boss had a talk with the Smaller Boss. A pleasant, patient one. During which it was pointed out that the techs and engineers really didn't need hand holding or someone constantly looking over their shoulders. And that the Smaller Boss really wasn't technically qualified to be giving detailed directions to them as to how to do their jobs. And that he should probably make an effort to interrupt them and their work as little as possible. There really wasn't a need to quiz them about trivial details throughout the day. Consolidate questions, directions, etc ... and send emails. Don't expect a quick response unless it IS something that's time critical. And in such cases, call em. BUT only if it was truly important.

Finally the guy got it figured out.

Makes my life easier. Fewer times that I have to ignore a ringing cell phone. And now I actually answer his calls, most times. Since he's gotten into the habit of only calling when it really is necessary.

I'm sure glad he got that MBA. With it, it only took me about a year to get the idea into his head about the proper use of a cell phone during business hours. Would hate to think about how long it might have taken if he'd not had all education.

That goes back to Ansu's grocery store example. I see people making a new call on every aisle, asking what if they should get chunky Jif if the smooth is gone, or should they get the smooth Peter Pan instead. Next aisle it's decaf Folgers vs full strength Maxwell House. Then rice is on sale, should I get more than the two bags on the list. Each of these is a new call.

It also relates to your position on the caller being afraid to blow his own nose without permission.

Man. I'm neck deep in Gen X and I just don't get you. At this very moment, I am (taking a break from) simultaneously developing software AND rendering video on my laptop. It's a hoss but it's not cutting edge. In fact, it was released in 2006 (Dell XPS M1710). And pagers? really? I haven't had a pager since 1994. Texting is the new pager.

I have been doing some developing lately on an X48/ICH9R computer running RAID 10 with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 CPU and it is still not fast enough for me. I thought most developers were like me and could never get enough speed.

"Texting is the new pager."

I agree but if you absolutely, positively must get a message through you use an alphanumeric pager.

Edit: Added texting info.

The nature of my job is such that sometimes I need to use a laptop. i.e. I'm at a customer site doing live testing, debugging, etc.

However, when doing serious programming development, I resort to my desktop whenever possible. Better keyboard, much bigger screen (two when I need that), loads of ram, multiple drives, faster processors, etc, etc.

But I suppose it depends on what type of development one does. And how fast one types. In what I do besides working with IDE's and compilers, I'll often have Office Word, Excel, and Visio open, all at the same time. Maybe also an OS or device emulator. And who knows what else. And am jumping from one to the other. I make a change here or there, hit the "Go" button and want to see the results NOW.

Laptops are fine and useful. But I'm not gonna be giving up my desktop any time soon.

It's simple, really.

If you grew up without these things, you're not as likely to view them as required expenditures. Convenient but not mandatory, especially when the economy hits the fan. Give it thirty years and see what 'necessities' of 2040 you'll think are superfluous.

Are you kidding? Based on the pagers part of the article, I'd think that this guy will write an article in 2040 about how CDs are no longer necessary. Sure it'll be true, but it will also be completely out of date.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go write an article about how I think 8-Track tapes have peaked.

For my last job, I had to wear a pager. It wasn't high-tech, it wasn't fancy - but High-Hell was it a pain.
Understood, it was a necessary evil for my job, as it diverted phone calls from the office (as I was on the road, out of hours), and any of my personnel, clients or colleagues would have to contact me.
Which brought in my next pet - the cell phone car dock.
It was a prick to get the phone into successfully, and when it rang, it cut out my CD playing in the car! (how rude!)

It's hard to understand how annoying and disruptive to normal life a pager can be. I have great respect for doctors or anyone else on call.

Like you, I understood that it was part of the job and I tried hard not to let it ruin my day and my attitude.

We got some new mission-critical equipment at one of my USAF assignments. Since the only way to be certified to work on this equipment was to attend the factory school (at an exorbitant cost), there were only two of us qualified on this equipment. We alternated weeks on call, with a requirement for a 5-minute response.

I was single, in my mid-twenties, and 'entertaining' as often as possible. More often than not, that damn pager would go off in the middle of the festivities. I would have to apologize to my guest, then call the site and spend 15 minutes talking them through the initial troubleshooting procedure. By the time I got off the phone with the site, many of my guests were dressed and ready to say good night. What really hurt was having to kick a couple of them out because they wanted to stay and I had to respond to the site.

I hated that pager.

At that age, probably made you look indispensable and super-important.

"Excuse me. The fate of the world, and all that."

"I hated that pager."

I can count the number of times I laugh out loud (LOL for the texters) in a year on my fingers and toes. That did it!

Oh holiday with a limited luggage allowance - books or shoes - the e-book lets me do both - a girls best friend

I think it is more related to what I call "monkey see monkey do" syndrome
I would classify the people who use new technologies into following categories:
1. People who use new technologies because they truly believe that it might be useful (I believe or, at least, hope that I belong to this category).
2. People who use new technologies because they are its technological or even artistic perspectives.
3. People who simply follow the principle "monkey see monkey do". They use new technology only because others do, because it is fashionable, or cool or whatever.
Sadly the majority of the people fall into the third category. Therefore most of the new technology is targeted for exactly this category of people. That is why the first and second category of people find new technologies either totally useless or not worth of the cost.

Interesting and funny article *but* let me counter each item.
1-3- Cell-Phone, Pager, Laptop. Really?!? Maybe you should go back to your compaq portable. Unless you feel like you should be chained to your desk. I'm surprised email wasn't on this list if these three were on the list.

4. Web Cam. I don't see a lot of people actively using these because their web connections are terrible.

5. RFID Chips. When did the barcode come out? Did shopkeepers around the world revolt because it meant there was a better way of managing inventory? Stop being a luddite. How do you feel about passports?

6. Roomba. I had one - it worked and then broke. It was never designed to replace a full vacuum in a large home with lots of carpets (more of a mid-week cleaner) but if you were living in a loft, it does a great job. If it didn't break, I would still use it - just like one uses a dishwasher, powerwasher (another useless tool), or any other time saving device. It's not perfect - nor are a lot of time savers but they definitely do perform some useful tasks.

7. eBook Readers. I just re-read The Time Machine (HG Wells) and while I always agreed that paper books should never be replaced, he made the point over 100 years ago. In 100 years, the books we read may simply be decrepit pieces of dust. It's hard to get used to reading on a device - but I thought it would take a while for my family to get rid of the physical newspaper - but we did.

8. Virtual Sports. Point taken. I feel this way about most video games. Get out and do it yourself. That said, what a great way for others who can't use their legs to get involved.

9. Speaker-phone. A great hands-free device. It sounds more like you can't take the idiots that use them incorrectly.

10. Virtual keyboard. Agreed - no excuse for poor grammar. That said, I couldn't make heads or tails of that cell conversation - but kids always talk weird - and I came from Compuserve where IANAL but ROTFLMAO were common terms. But once again, if you want to use abbreviations that's fine as long as your reader can understand them - but don't expect me to have to correct your bad writing skills.

Great - thought provoking article.

That's the point. When I go home at the end of the day, I'm done with work. I'll stay overnight if that's what it takes (and half a dozen times, it has), but once I walk out the door I'm on my time, not the company's.

If one maintains contact with work on vacation, is one REALLY 'on vacation'?

For a large group of people, I agree - when one goes home, their work day is over. They should be able to refuse it.

But for those who are in management for sales, customer service, running their own company, etc, it doesn't.

Good point about the vacation though. I have to remember to stop checking email while on vacation.

Nice analysis.

I really can do without items 1-3.

Barcodes can't be read the same way that RFID chips can.

My high-tech expert and consultant tells me that the biggest problem with the Roomba is the short battery time and the small debris chamber, but each new generation of the Roomba gets better and it is cool technology.

Paper will be around much longer than data. Pick any computer-based storage medium you want and paper will outlast it. Tape is longest at approximately 30 years shelf life. Then there is the problem of finding a device to read the media...

I am grateful that you saw and appreciated the humor. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

I agree the problem will be finding the device to read the media - but that doesn't change the point about ereaders. Most books these days (and I preface it by saying "most") are made to be read and thrown away or at the very least to be of interest only for a short period of time. From a purely environmental perspective, an e-Reader makes good sense. Again I say "most" - I have a Robert Louis Stevenson collection from the 1800s as well as a variety of earlier editions of other classics, and those are great to have.

But I don't think anyone in 100 years will really want to read the unauthorized bio of Donald Trump.

The more formats, the better - one never knows how anyone will read or understand 1000 years from now.

all I have to say is that I am glad I don't live my life with that much paranoia.

My Boss doesn't understand why I don't check my work email at weekends or when I am on leave.

While you get stuck waiting for "an agent [to be] with you shortly", speakerphone can be useful to continue working and avoid repeated stress injuries (if it happens often enough). After all, 15 to 30 minutes waiting aren't unheard of, and if I'm working, I don't really mind waiting.

I guess I'm an old fart too, but I agree with all of your points. In fact, I am firmly of the opinion that there is a special place reserved in Dante's 8th circle of Hell for the inventors of the cell phone. I have a 5 lb hammer in my garage waiting for my retirement party when I will gleefully destroy the obscene device.

I grew up in the time of party lines but even that was not so grossly invasive of my privacy. The fact that people think they have to be available 24/7 (or that I should be available 24/7) is something I find both presumptuous and inexcusably rude.

And don't get me started on the conversations I am forced to overhear standing in the checkout line at the grocery store.

I guess the unsurprising part of this blog is that what Mr. Norton is saying has been said before.

The surprising part - he's a technology editor.

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
Thomas Watson
President IBM 1943"

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899"

"If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger. ~Frank Lloyd Wright"

"Technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards. ~Aldous Huxley"

"It is a medium of entertainment which permits millions of people to listen to the same joke at the same time, and yet remain lonesome. ~T.S. Eliot, about radio"

"Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ~C.P. Snow, New York Times, 15 March 1971"

"Don't get smart alecksy
With the galaxy
Leave the atom alone.
~E.Y. Harburg, "Leave the Atom Alone," 1957"

"The drive toward complex technical achievement offers a clue to why the U.S. is good at space gadgetry and bad at slum problems. ~John Kenneth Galbraith"

"I am sorry to say that there is too much point to the wisecrack that life is extinct on other planets because their scientists were more advanced than ours. ~John F. Kennedy"

"I like my new telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind! ~Author Unknown"

"Lo! Men have become the tools of their tools. ~Henry David Thoreau"

"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three. ~Alice Kahn"

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.
Thomas Watson
President IBM 1943"

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
-- Charles Duell, Commissioner of US Patent Office, 1899"

Thank you for the promotion, but I am a lowly writer. My command of the English language is not sufficient to be an editor, as Jody and the other editors here at TechRepublic will attest.

I've never been called Mr. Norton so many times in my life!

My father once sent me a final exam for a 'old-time' school child and I couldn't answer many of the questions. I do believe that technology is largely responsible for the dumbing down of our society. Just look at the number of hours of TV watched by the average person and what they are watching and you can get an idea what is responsible.

I agree with some of the items on your list. Thank you for sharing it.

I found myself several years ago with little proficiency with the mobile generation technology. (Great distinction, btw)

I am of the Gen 2 tech group. I decided to take immediate steps to rectify that. I do NOT want to find myself so far behind the curve of current tech that I have no hope of catching up.

I can appreciate your comments and frustration, however, for me the sensible response is to pedal faster. (I'm even considering the purchase of (gasp) a game console of some sort.)

BTW, your replies to your many critics are remarkably calm and mature.

Keep up the good work.

Does the term 'Luddite' mean anything to you?

Ok, cell phones can be annoying. But not any more than regular phones. And maybe the author lives in Northern Idaho (no offense meant to our friends in Idaho), but where I live I almost never drop calls. And they are radios, after all; there is a certain amount of physics at work here. In return for carrying this little magic box I have instant access to the accumulated knowledge of a million years of human development at my fingertips, all the time, without having to wait 3 minutes to turn a computer on. Texting shorthand is not any different than the slang we used (I am 54) when we were kids, or when the Greek's kids were kids (I think it was Plato who used to whine about this too). Our parents couldn't understand our slang, and you can't understand your kids slang. Figure it out - it's not ancient Latin or anything.

Actually, the author sounds a lot like my dad used to back in the 60's when the world was changing faster than he could keep up.

Point is, I couldn't figure out how my teenage son got so damn smart so fast until I realized the Droid we bought him has 24/7 internet access, and he is one click away from Wikipedia all the time. And unlike when we were kids, I can reach my children via text anytime I need to. They may not answer the phone (would you at that age??) but they ALWAYS return my texts.

As far as your laptop, get a new one. My Qosmio has 4 cores, two drives one of which is a lightning fast solid state HD, 8GB RAM, and a Nvidia 360GT GPU. It cold boots Windows 7 in about 25 seconds. That's as fast or faster than anything you have on your desk.

Get with the program, old man!

Mark

Hello Mark.

Does a Luddite build their computer?
Does a Luddite have two networked computers in their house?
Does a Luddite run RAID 10?

I could go on but why bore the patient readers?

Not owning or using devices for which I have no need does not a Luddite make.

I spend too far much time browsing through Newegg's latest email promo items looking at devices I can't afford to be a Luddite. I spent more money for my two near state-of-the-art desktop computers than I can really justify. I am no Luddite.

Trust me - I'm not whining. I had a lot of fun writing the piece - more than any other I have written for TR in fact.

But this isn't, or shouldn't be about me. It's about the downside to technology that even geeks should occasionally take the time to consider. It's about poking a little bit of fun at an ever more technological society with its fascinating and amusing behaviors.

I may be an old man but, sorry, I'm not getting with that program. Even if I wanted to, I can't afford it!

Thank you for the feedback.

Was, "old man".

You blew your wad without investigating where "Mark" is on the spectrum.

Tells me you are not old enough yet -- nor, a discriminating enough writer and thinker yet -- to pull his rug from out under him.

You do okay, well enough, and provisionally, otherwise.

The term "Luddite" definitely means something to me. And probably to quite a number of folks in this forum.

But I can tell you right now that it'd just be a meaningless sound to my son, age 33, or to my oldest grandson, age 15.

"Ok, cell phones can be annoying. But not any more than regular phones."

No, they can be, and often are, far more annoying. Its more of a matter of how they are used, as versus anything inherent in the technology itself.

As discussed in other posts in this thread, people get call crazy. Because it is so darned readily accessible, some people are in the habit of calling or texting every little tidbit or stray thought that goes through their minds as it occurs. Resulting in such things as one of my managers who used to call me 20 times a day, thus interrupting my thought processes and work, wasting a lot of time, etc. With what was in all reality unimportant, low priority trivia. Which could have waited until he'd gathered up a list for us to discuss, at one time. Saving many interruptions. Or, better yet, often all of most of it could have been sent email to be read and responded to at a time when I had the time, and it'd not be interrupting work progress.

Heck, half the time the many interruptions were wasted anyway since he either did not remember my answers, misinterpreted them, or didn't understand them ... and he had to ask me to send him an email later with a better explanation and more details. You know, something to look at, read and then re-read as needed until understanding was achieved.

I'm just using him as an example. I have experienced many other people doing the same.

Also folks seem to use the darn things as a crutch.

For example, I had this young co-worker. Young, at least in my eyes, he was under 30. At a guess, I think he was 25 or 26. In a status of trainee as far as we were concerned. A college grad, but of course that just meant he knew, barely, enough to understand what the rest of us were talking about in tech meetings even tho he had no real command or understanding of the details.

Gad, you could fill a very large library with the things that colleges do not teach, or even possess a staff capable of teaching, in my field of work. Generally speaking we figure that the achievement of a suitable degree, plus a minimum of 10 years actual field experience, to become minimally proficient.

I'm not slamming his ignorance. Its expected and normal.

But one of his problems was the lack of initiative, unwillingness to take risk, etc. He wanted to be spoon fed all he needed to know, have his decisions pre-verified by someone else (I suppose so he could claim, "Not my fault"), etc.

He was on the darn phone friggin constantly to one of us senior types constantly.

Now we urge junior personnel to not be afraid or reluctant to call someone senior and ask questions/advice.

But not for every darn trivial issue, constantly throughout the day. Makes it so the rest of us can not get our own work done.

AND ... it leads to poor learning patterns.

He was learning little by getting the answer to a problem from me and then just applying it. Without having to think much about it, delve in and do some research, to actually exercise the thinking portions of his brain.

It became pretty much the same as, "Monkey see, Monkey do." He was able to repeat stuff, but not really garnering any real understanding, in any depth, of the underlying who, where, what, why, and how.

After some time it really got annoying. But beyond that, I was concerned with the fact he wasn't really LEARNING or achieving real understanding.

So I started asking him, "Have you actually RTFM? Do you really understand how ... insert whatever here ... works?"

Often, too often, he didn't really understand the basic principles and methods. If he'd RTFM, it'd just been to look for a concise, laid out answer to the precise issue he faced at the moment. Not having found an exact and SAFE answer, guaranteed correct and applicable to the situation, he called me. Or someone like me.

Rather than learn, achieve an adequate understanding, he wanted an answer that could be had NOW, with less effort, and which was SAFE. In short, if it didn't work he could blame whatever or whoever was the source of the answer.

It took some time, but I and others of my peers, started MAKING the young fellow do it the hard way. Actually exercise those brain cells with thought, do look-ups and frigging study the material until he actually, really understood it well enough to formulate his own answers to the problems, and learn to take a risk and accept responsibility for it when he made a mistake.

"Point is, I couldn't figure out how my teenage son got so damn smart so fast until I realized the Droid we bought him has 24/7 internet access, and he is one click away from Wikipedia all the time."

Yeah, I've had this conversation with my own son, and his wife (not to mention assorted nieces and nephews, occasional acquaintances, etc). Who're quite fond of looking at Wikipedia, or doing Google searches, etc.

(1) Wikipedia entries routinely contain errors, contain biased/one sided slants on a subject, and/or are woefully inadequate as concerns content.

(2) Google searches often return links to sites where FACTS are loose and free and too often unverified. Quite often they're more opinion than real verifiable, and independently provable facts. Just because yah read it on some web site doesn't mean its true.

(3) The ability to quote something yah read on the Internet (or anywhere else for that matter) doesn't actually mean you TRULY understand what you're quoting.

BTW, the "Internet" DOES NOT contain the "accumulated knowledge of a million years of human development".

Not even close.

At best, its a tiny fraction.

Chuckle, I recently, this past summer had an experience with my 15 year old grandson. Bright kid, has maintained a position at or near the top of the class in all his classes.

Very computer savvy. All his friends, and his parents, come to him with their computer related problems. And, if he can't solve them, he comes to me. He once asked me how an "Old Fart" like myself ended up knowing so much about such things. (I wear a t-shirt that declares me as an Old Fart, and proud of it) I reminded him that computers, operating systems, applications, and so forth ... weren't newly invented by his classmates. They were either invented by, or based upon knowledge gathered by ... a bunch of us Old Farts.

Anyway, I take him fishing regularly. And started an endeavor to actually teach him some of the art and science of fishing. Those sorts of things "Grandpa" has always handled and took care of. Like proper boat handling, reading the weather, reading the water conditions, understanding the habits and patterns of various fish, etc. Yah know, something more than just stick bait on a hook and drop it in the water and HOPE a fish bites it.

So a while back I informed him that next trip I was gonna teach him some fisherman's/sailor's knots of various kinds. Just the basic, most handy and useful.

So he up and looked a bunch of info up about such on the Internet. Read all about them, watched tutorial videos, etc. Thought he'd surprise me with his knowledge.

So one we were up at the lake place and I sat him down and told him I was gonna teach him how to properly tie a certain note, he declared I didn't need to. Said he already knew how.

So I handed him some line and said, "Show me.".

LOL ... oh he made a nice try. But discovered that JUST reading about it, looking at pictures or videos, wasn't quite the same as actually being able to DO IT. Took him quite a while, and some fumbling, to get a result that in reality would've been inadequate.

So I got my way, I SHOWED him, slowly, repeatedly, with many explanations of why I was doing each step precisely the way I was doing it. Of course, I had to show off a bit and do a complex and involved one quickly, making it look like utter simplicity.

With numerous practice efforts, and corrections here and there by me, he got the hang of that knot and we moved on to the next.

In the process I repeated to him something I'd already told him numerous times. That just because he'd read about something, or saw a picture of it, or a movie ... that did not mean he actually understood and could DO IT. Books and videos leave a lot of small but important details out, and yah never actually know if you understand something well enough to successfully do it yourself ... until you actually, really, successfully do it yourself.

In my line of business and specialty, which includes things like energy management, "green" utilities and building design and construction, I hear or read stuff all the time by many people who're expressing an opinion or thought about this or that. Based solely upon things they read or heard here or there. Usually something that didn't take em long to read or listen to, obviously. Because it could not possibly be something they'd spent much in-depth study about. Probably something they read on the Net, something short. And I have to stifle myself, prevent myself from responding or commenting.

Why? Because they're obviously quoting or commenting about something quickly looked up and as a result ... THINK they actually understand and have some knowledge about.

But they're wrong.

I resist responding simply because if I did, I'd be spending way too many hours trying to explain the how and why. As the explanation itself often necessitates teaching them about another dozen or so things they don't actually understand, either. Altho they often think they do.

The ability to look up most any fact near instantly, doesn't make one smart or knowledgeable.

My on-the-job training was sink or swim - the antithesis of the method you mention. Not the best method to be sure but I liked it that way.

I enjoyed reading your stories. Thank you for taking the time to write them up and share them here.

There is much to be said about the positive and long lasting benefits of the sink-or-swim training method. Where it can be safely applied.

Likewise, there are benefits to what I think of as the "Let him get his a** kicked" variation.

Which doesn't necessarily refer to someone actually being in a physical confrontation, a fight. Rather, it refers to the learning benefits garnered when you allow someone, or MAKE someone, struggle to achieve whatever goal or task to the point of failure or utter exhaustion. Even tho you've been observing and COULD have prevented it by a little hand holding and guidance.

As an example, quite a number of years ago while I was still on active duty in the Navy (I'm a retiree from that service) there was an incident I treated as a teaching opportunity.

I had some young fellows working for me. Bright enough, and graduates of the suitable Navy technical school for the field they were working in. Plus I held regular training sessions/classes on board ship where I and other senior Petty Officers who worked for me continued to try to improve their knowledge and skills. Add, the practical experience and learning they got from actually working with the equipment in question.

Then one day we had a massive equipment failure. A serious event, as this was mission critical stuff. However, there is a reason combat vessels have a great deal of redundancy in vital services. So it wasn't as if this failure crippled us. But it was important that the equipment be repaired and put back into service.

So I selected the repair team, and purposely made it up of a group of these young guys who were essentially still in the "learning" phase. And did NOT select a leading Petty Office to baby sit and hand hold them. I did impress upon them the seriousness of the breakdown, and the fact that their work day ended ... only when the equipment was up and running again. However long that took.

I set em to work, then went off to more important things, like finding a fresh cup of coffee.

It was perhaps 1700 hours (5:00 pm) when I turned them lose to do their thing. They jumped into it full of confidence and enthusiasm.

I did drop by that equipment space from time to time, coffee cup in hand, just to see how they were doing. By midnight they had 95% of the repairs accomplished. But had hit a technical snag. Now, they'd had a full day of work behind em before this failure. So they were now slowing down and getting a trifle tired and frustrated.

But I figured "What the heck?" Their work day was only going on 18 hours at this point. Piece of cake, no sweat. No reason yet for me to have any pity on them. Hadn't even got to the "really tried hard" point yet. 18 hours was nothing. Could do that standing on my head.

So when a couple of em suggested that this old Chief might give em a hand by pointing out how they could get past this snag and roadblock, I just suggested I had every confidence they could figure it out. Besides, I was busy, my coffee was cold and I needed to get a fresh cup.

And so it went through the rest of the night.

I made repeat visits, and noted the drastically decreasing enthusiasm and energy. In fact some of em looked pretty friggin beat and disgusted. At one point the senior man of the team told me, "Darn it Chief, we've tried everything we can think of and its not working !" I just calmly told him they'd have to think harder, and try harder. Keep up the good work, I was confident they'd get it done.

Finally, well after sun up I came by and they were all sitting down. Tired, sweat soaked, and completely disgusted with themselves, the Navy, and a certain blankety-blank-blank-blank, no good, dirty rotten Navy Chief.

I gave em a cheery smile, patted a well filled belly and told em that breakfast that morning had been particularly excellent and tasty. Their's had been the usual Navy box lunch, which I'd had delivered to their work space. The traditional horse-c*ck sandwich (bologna), on stale bread of course. With a tiny bag of chips, and an apple.

I withstood the glaring, hate filled looks I got in fine fashion. Was well used to such.

I just smiled and said, "Okay, enough is enough. I've let you jokers fool around and goof off long enough. I can't let it keep on any longer. This equipment needs to be up and running again. Besides, we've got a full work day ahead of us, and if you think I'm gonna let you slackers just sit around here goofing off even longer, you are mistaken. Now what's your hold up?"

LOL ... they showed me (tho, I already knew), and I told them to sit up, pay attention, and I'd show em how to get it done, the right way. And BTW ... in a far easier way than the methods they'd been trying.

An hour later everything was up and running.

Ohhh, they were mad. Several grumbled something about, "Why the HELL didn't you show us that before? You knew all along how to do it, and knew it was kicking our a**es."

I nodded and said they were quite right.

But I also said, "I figure this way the odds are much improved that at least some of you ... WILL REMEMBER next time. This has been covered more than once in those darn training sessions I give. Where you sat on your lazy butts, swapped jokes and lies about the women you've had, and whispered back and forth between you about how dumb and stupid and useless your Chief is. Now go get a shower and switch to clean work clothes and go to work ! Its a new day."

Ohhhh, they were hating me. It was wonderful. I was one happy camper as the day progressed because by lunch time every single one of the 130 something guys who worked for me had heard at least one of that group cussing about what a no-good, dirty rotten, a**hole I was. Several were expressing a desire to catch me off duty, off the ship, so he could express just how much he hated me. Preferably with a club in his hands, and no witnesses around.

Gad, it was good. Even my fellow Chiefs in other divisions and departments heard about it. And when they saw me clapped me on the back in congratulations, and envy.

Why?

Because those guys of mine got over it. They survived and eventually calmed down.

And they never did forget THAT lesson. The next time a similar event happened, they jumped on it and had things fixed up in a jiffy. I hardly had time to wander by with my cup of coffee. Even then, I got greeted by one of em who told me, "Forget it Chief, we got it covered. Don't need yah. We know what to do. Now go away and let us get it done."

I was so proud of them.

The thing is, we humans often learn far more and far better from failure and hardship and struggle. Than we do by having things handed to us all nicely wrapped and packaged, which means you really don't have to think about it that hard or long.

maybe you should have died in 1982 when all you had to worry about was pong and that dang postal service. oh and wondering what to watch on cable who could ever chose between all those 15 channels!

technology is great...you and i both make a living from it. do people abuse it...yes..duh.

I'm with you Alan. Despite making a living with computers for 44+ years, I have not intentionally purchased any of the above. I soon will have a cell phone to get the apps to replace my dieing PDA but I know my days of escaping from wife and family on my bike are limited once I have the phone.

Alan,
I also went to ua and had to make use of that computer center. Would you have been happier if someone reconnected the punch card reader so you can use it for text input (I was there when the last one was disconnected - was payed money by poor profs who had to have their fortran progs, but procrastinated till the last reader was disconnected). Maybe you would like all resonses of your messages (including this one) directed to one of those old printers at the center where you went to the building and picked up your output under your last name. Oh, but then you would have to haggle with some "young bueracrat" over your input message quota.

How about lugging one of those vax computers around, or at least one of those luxurious serial connect terminals.

Ah yes - the good old days. How much harder it would be to play MUDD on my blackberry.

Btw - I hate pagers also.

Keep writing - loved your article.

SCott

I have never owned a cell phone. I have had one for work for the last 10 years though, but it does not ring all too often, and I can count the number of times I have texted on my fingers.
I have had laptops for the last number of years too, and do enjoy having them. I can live without everything else on the list though, and have done up to this point.

It's a matter how you use the devices. I don't get the statement from people claiming tech is destroying human contact. Much of these devices is meant for increased human contact. My family will text each other when a full conversation is not needed. I am in the loop with them more than ever. If you have a cell phone and don't use it to connect with people, then you don't need a cellphone. Use it to game? Buy a gameboy. ebooks? really? If people are reading more because their eBook is more convenient to carry around than a stack of books I don't see how they are bad or going to disappear. Haven't tried the eBook with eink, try it before you add it to your 'useless gadgets list'. I admit that staring at a computer screen reading is painful, eBooks are not the same thing. Also, if you allow yourself to bring work home with you while not getting paid, that is your fault. If you are getting paid to take calls or pages during non-work hours and don't like it, switch jobs then. I have to question anyone that bitches about tech that forces them to work more. Laptops? Some people don't need ultimate gaming\publishing\developing desktops.

My point would be to only buy and use the devices you really need that will enhance your ability to do a task. You have the right to not like something, but that doesn't mean they don't have useful applications.

And if parents allow their kids to sit around playing video games instead of getting exercise, then they are bad parents. Did your parents allow you to just sit around all day?

Bottom line: It seems you have had bad experiences with some of these gadgets and just want to complain about it or haven't tried them and you judge them. Perhaps anything in the tech field is not for you. Instead of compiling a complaint list we should try to find better ways to make these devices fit in. These lists are as counter productive as a six year old with a cell phone.

Cell phones might be annoying in certain contexts, but I think that their usefulness greatly outweighs any inconvenience associated with them. Once I blew a tire on a major highway at 3am. Attempting to change the tire myself in that circumstance would have been dangerous, and the next exit was several miles down. At that moment, I wasn't exactly thinking of how much I hate my coworker's ringtone.

This list to me reads like a reactionary airing of grumpy grievances rather than a poignant commentary on our society's over-reliance on technology. In the case of fantasy sports, it's just another way for sports nuts to get involved in their sports nuttiness, and not a gadget or high tech at all (unless you consider the Internet as a concept high tech).

Most of the items mentioned here, I have absolutely no need (or use) for. I booted AT&T out of my life a few years ago. I do have use for a cell phone to replace the phone that I used to have that had a wire (technically a cable) that plugged into a socket on the wall. I purchased a "smart phone" because my address book really gets messy when it gets soaked with sweat in my shirt pocket. My telephone is therefore used for two functions and for two functions only - telephone and address book. If someone wants to send me a quick message, call me and give me a quick message and get off the phone. (I ridicule my grandsons when they visit and I see them sitting in the same room texting each other - if they can lay their DS game players down for a few seconds.)

I have a 10" portable computer with an air card that serves all email, book reader, latest news, online research, and whatever other functions that portable computers perform while I am away from home. I have multiple home computers (garage, workshop, upstairs, downstairs, etc. which become less used and less desirable as I transition from retired (so I can pursue fun stuff) to really retired (so I don't feel the need to pursue anything).

Maybe one day I will get another wired telephone and leave my address book on the desk and dump my current cell phone. NAH - probably not!

Who uses a pager anymore?

Sometimes, I think (and others) that I'm clearly not of my generation. I utterly despise texting when among a group of friends or even when it's a one-on-one environment. Do people even know what rude is anymore?

I also agree with you about cell phones to a degree. It's really something to see people immediately use their cell phones upon leaving a store or building and continue the conversation as they get into their car. I see quite often when I'm leaving or going into Walmart and other stores. I like cell phones. I don't have a land-line, I just use my cell phone. However, there are many times that I leave it at home when I leave the house.

RFID chips: I completely agree.

I also don't care for the e-book readers and doubt that I will ever purchase one.

I'm one of those guys that just isn't a slave to technology. I think ordering pizza online is ridiculous, or ordering any kind of food online is ridiculous, even texting your order in is just another evasion of human interaction. Would it hurt you to actually talk to a human?

I think ordering food is a matter of convenience for the customer and the business. I have been burned when ordering over the phone (order not right or missing items) vs. having the correct order when ordering online. It's not so much about not talking to humans. It's not like I am going to carry on a conversation with the person taking my order, especially if they are busy.

I'm not saying everyone needs to be connected at every moment, quite the contrary. I love to go camping, leaving my devices at home. Swimming, hiking, playing cards, and talking with the people I am camping with. I don't think this ideal is lost to everyone. Tech just fills in a void for some. If someone can't get away from their devices, well their loss then isn't it.

Preference? Yeah sure I understand that. It probably does help with orders too, but I don't like being connected at every moment (nor do you I can see).

Ordering online is just not for me.

Good point. Written communication is usually more accurate than verbal communication. Taking orders over the phone sounds like a lousy job to me so you might be doing some poor employee a favor ordering online.

If there is more than one restaurant a check could be made to verify that the order goes to the right restaurant based on the customers address, but I guess that could be done with a little extra work for a phone order too.

I can see myself using both and the wise restauranteur would have both options available to their customers.

I imagine you get a lot of grief for not fitting in. I can relate.

It is sad that so many of the Greatest Generation are now gone. They could teach us so much.

Thank you for sharing your take.

I don't have an iPhone, so some think that I can't possibly be in the IT field! Or if I haven't used the latest technology, which is usually just hobby technology, then I'm not "in." OK, sure, maybe I'm not "in" but it's just fad technology (I'm not talking about the iPad when I say fad tech.).

I like reading physical books, exercising outside, talking/hanging out, and going out to do things. I'm not always connected, waiting for my cell phone to beep indicating I have a new text or dying to check my FB profile. I can dislike those things and still be an IT tech, you know?

Okay, maybe I am being a bit of a snot. I actually like ordering pizza online. The folks that answer the phone (when I have called) seem to consistently get my order wrong in the last year. If I place an order online, I confirm it and get exactly what I ordered. It is not dodging the human touch - it is dodging the annoyance of incorrect product. I have also been known to order food from work online. I work in a cube and everyone in the office does not need to know where I am going and what I am eating. My office environment is annoying that way. If I want Orange Chicken, extra snow peas, and brown rice...it makes it easier to order online and I just run and pick it up when I am ready. This provides me a moment to get out of my work environment but only be out of the office 30 minutes. I then come back, start working again, and eat food I actually enjoy.

I agree when it comes to the way people use the cell phone. I only have my cell for those times I have to access to a land line and it is an important.

When it come laptops I sort of agree if you want a mobile desktop. But I love having my netbook because I do read ebooks. I even have an old palm I read stuff on there.

My cell phone is for MY convenience. I do not see it as invasive. How others use it is invasive or disrespectful. People I am physically in the same room with get my attention. I do not take calls when I am having dinner with friends with few exceptions.

The exception has a process. A text message of 911 must be received first before the call is made. This process is only known by 3 people who have the 'right' to use it.

I have not had a pager in 5 years. Even when I did have one, I only had to have it on from 4am to 6am and 4pm to 6pm 4 days a month according to the rotation.

Thanks for the idea. I need to design a wand-like device that will disable the RFID chips in the items I purchase. Speaking of which, where are those new Nikes I purchased @ Walmart???

Roomba, virtual sports, and eReader...yeah, I can skip those as well.

As for the mini-keyboard, that does not excuse grammar and spelling in my book either. Due to my company's regulatory status, I must handle my personal email via a PDA since no webmail interfaces are permitted access from our network. I still use proper US English in all correspondence from these devices. I will never set a texting speed record, but I do not care.

I still view some of these devices as good and due to my own rules, they are not a hindrance to direct, 'real' human contact. It is the person that makes them a pain.

...and the dishwasher. I mean, can't you just wash dishes by hand? Sure having a dishwasher saves you time and energy, but so does not having to push your own vacuum - and that's considered a novelty. Oh to be able to opine on gadgets that you've not even used. I can live without hundreds of things that I've never used, I guess. Seems like a pretty simple concept.

Is near and dear to my heart. Some connoisseurs of cuisine and culinary would have it that dishwashing is all part of it.

I agree.

Don't need gadgets, either, next day comes time to wipe my ass and start the cycle all over again.

The CTV (Cat Transportation Vehicle), AKA the Roomba:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewdbilSWjaM

The iPottie:

http://www.gadget.ca/Apples-Next-Product-The-iPottie-010632.php