The primary reason that I bring these up is that over the last two days (in three separate instances) the topics were raised in conversation and one or more individuals responded to me as though I had just fallen off my T-Rex into a pile of stegosaurus shit. I don’t feel that I’m being contrarian, but that only leads me to the conclusion that I’m some combination of lazy and indifferent.
Smart phone: I own one. It has a full suite of smart phone capabilities. For the life of me, I can’t muster up the desire to coordinate all of the functions, much less use them. I call and text with it, and sometimes use it to break open pistachio shells.
Gaming systems: The last one I owned (and used) was a Super Nintendo back in the mid-90s. It was like a Nintendo with four extra buttons. I’ve since owned a PS2, Xbox and Wii. None of them made it out of the box before being re-gifted.
Social media: I have a facebook account. I use it quite sparingly - mostly for news - and almost never for regular social interaction or communication. I’ve never instagrammed, tweeted, or hash tagged much of anything … at least not wittingly.
Other than to check the weather reports or use the calculator once in awhile I mostly use my smart phone like your basic 90’s cell phone to make a phone call.
I also had a facebook account but cancelled after getting invites from people I hadn’t seen for years and didn’t want to see again.
no smartphone, still do my emailing off a laptop. For this reason I don’t get many calls/texts and am spared a ringtone going off when I’m trying to concentrate. I enjoy concentrating, because I’m old.
don’t have a power meter but that’s just a matter of time/justifying the spend to hub. Don’t have a tri bike because we have no room to store it. Mountain bike, ditto.
Am not interested in selfies and instant opinions (except on LR) so stay away from twitter, Pintarest and Instagram.
I got rid of our juicer because it wasn’t used enough but really really want a Vitamix . . .
-No Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or any of those other social media sites. I have no interest in them.
-Smartphone. I still use a flip phone.
-Texting. I use a free app on my iPad and AIM to send messages to my friends when at home otherwise I pick up the phone or use Facetime.
-no Wii or XBox. When I feel like playing video games, I plug into the television a multi-game battery operated joystick and go for a round of Ms. Pac Man and Pole Position.
-On Demand or Pay Per View movie viewing. I do not watch movies.
-Buying on iTunes. I like to have a hard copy CD at my disposal.
-Flat screen/Smart TV. I still have three big analog televisions that work very well.
-Copper cook wear. I still use pans and pots my parents bought over 30 years ago because the cook is just as even to me.
-High-tech home appliances. Other than the basic refrigerator that is running daily, none of the others are so one or two settings is enough.
I agree that a lot of the stuff in this thread is not very useful/easy to live without, but not the smartphone. I routinely:
sync contacts and calendar with my work laptop so I can always check on schedule hours or days ahead for planning purposescheck weather first thing in the morning so I know whether I’m going to be able to do stuff outside or not and what to pack for workoutscheck map/traffic if everything is coming to a screeching halt to figure out an alternate route (don’t have a dedicated GPS)use Urbanspoon to look for interesting place to eat if away from my immediate environmentuse CardStar for all loyalty cardsuse Spotify or similar if on a treadmill or trainerGoogle something I want to know
There are another dozen or so apps I use occasionally. What I really look forward to is an NFC-based payment system and legally-accepted driver’s license & insurance info, then bye-bye wallet. And a watch to let me make/answer call and texts without the phone leaving my pocket, which will be here soon.
I think it largely just depends on your lifestyle and also age (no offense).
I use my smartphone for work, same with my laptop - but I also use it to watch TV and movies (always for free) and I’m a bit of a gamer so I use it for that - don’t need a gaming system. I could throw out my television at this point. Music I also download for free or use a youtube conversion site. Social media is used exclusively for business but is necessary to me. People who have their own businesses or deal with a demographic that uses a lot of these tools simply has to use them more.
I love new technology but for the most part I do not see the point of iPads and similar tablets. I own one and barely use it except if I go on trips.
I hve forgone CD’s. I love the idea of being cool enough to sit around with my collection of vinyl, but I hate the clutter, so I only buy mp3s.
I have a ps3, which has become a very expensive Netflix player…
I am a postive luddite when it comes to some technology. I particularly dislike technology that I have to pay for on a monthly basis.
The list of things I do not have;
No smartphone - I do carry a BB at work but I turn it off and leave on my dresser when not at work.
No game console - never had one, my father bought the original pong console back in the 70’s and I played with it for a day or two and got bored.
Social media- FB only, which I got into almost by accident when I received in invite and had to use FB to respond. Dang FB automatically took every email address I had and sent an invite to them, and I discovered that several friends I thought were dead were actually alive and kicking. Now I use FB to stay in touch with those friends and my kids who are grown and serving in the military now. No instagram, twitter or hash tagging otherwise.
I have adapted Sirius/XM though, I listen at work, in the car and at home. I prefer the Dish satellite TV service to cable but our current apartment does not allow us to set up a dish.
I don’t have or use a fancy cycling computer, just a simple mph and clock on the handlebars. No satellite GPS trainer on my wrist, although I did use a Garmin 305 for a while before the battery became unreliable.
No power meters on my bike either. Kinda like the days when airplanes were made of wood and fabric, I am flying simply and by feel more than technology.
I pretty much have all the popular ‘stuff’–tablet, smartphone, gaming system–and use all of them frequently. What I DON’T use is social media, I have a facebook account and will browse on occasion to see what people are up to but never post. And Twitter/Instagram/etc isn’t on my radar at all, don’t want don’t care. But I do find the tablet useful–all my reading is done on it, and it’s fantastic when traveling–and the smartphone almost essential, I use it for everything from navigation to communicating (phone/text/e-mail) to looking up restaurants to my alarm clock to getting sports scores and news highlights to music and on and on.
As far as gaming system, I’m with you to a degree, in the past five years I’ve owned an xbox 360 and two Wii’s and both were resold within the year. I got a PS3, however, and do use that one quite a bit, I think mostly because I’ve been hurt for a while and have a lot more down time, especially during the winter, but it was a god-send after a recent surgery, between the games and the tablet (reading) and a smart tv I had more than enough ‘stuff’ to keep me entertained.
No Facebook for me. And now gaming systems either. I think the last one I had was Super Nintendo or Nintendo 64. I know plenty of seemingly normal adults (mostly men) who are really into game consoles, it just seems totally foreign to me, not the slightest bit of interest. But they probably say the same about my hobbies.
There’s at least one more. It deals with the advances in “woods”. It is worth the watch as well. It hit close to home for me, as I still own some persimmon woods and will use them when I golf!