Do you wish you could live in the past? (1 Viewer)

[RobertR]

I find that it makes such a big difference to have technological devices that I very much think of them as a need. Doing without the Internet, for example, is unimaginable to me, even though I didn't use it until 1994. More "mundane" examples would be the telephone (who would want to be without one, especially in an emergency?) and the calculator. In the case of smart phones, the technology is still new enough for me (I've had mine about a month) that it still has a big "wow" factor, and it's rapidly becoming a feeling of "how did I ever do without it?", just as happened with the Internet. I'm fascinated with just how much technology is packed into it. I spent less than a hundred bucks (I used the balance on my VM account from my previous plan), and for that, I always have a phone and a camera and a music player and a GPS device (things I didn't have to pay extra for) and access to the Internet. It's true that the small screen limits general browsing, but mobile apps (I still wish HTF had one) mitigate that problem very nicely (for example, sigalert.com is just as easy to use for checking traffic on the phone as my PC). But what really sets smart phones apart is the concept of downloadable apps, making them able to do countless other things. For example, I was thinking about getting the Amazon Kindle. Not any more, because a book reader app puts that kind of technology on the phone as well. Being an engineer, I love having one of the most powerful HP calculators in the phone. The apps concept makes the "can do" list enormous. Asking if I "need" these things is like asking if air conditioning is needed when it's 100 degrees out.

 

[Stan]

Originally Posted by RobertR

Has anyone observed kids doing something like texting each other face to face, in preference to actually talking to each other?

I actually have. Waiting room of my doctor, mother goes in and leaves her two kids in the waiting room with me. They begin texting back and forth. Naive me, I thought one of them was deaf and what a great thing technology has done to help them. Wrong.... Mom comes out they all leave, chattering like all kids do.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by Stan





I actually have. Waiting room of my doctor, mother goes in and leaves her two kids in the waiting room with me. They begin texting back and forth. Naive me, I thought one of them was deaf and what a great thing technology has done to help them. Wrong.... Mom comes out they all leave, chattering like all kids do.

Interesting. I wonder if being in the doctor's office had something to do with it (maybe they didn't want people to know what they were discussing)?

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by mattCR


As for work calls: Neither I nor most of my coworkers receive calls, texts, or emails at home. This modern matter of taking being called about "non-emergency emergencies" is foreign to me. But that's the work style of the industry I'm in.








Perhaps because of this, I can only say positive things about cellphones (except for the cost). They've only made my life better. They've improved my ability to get in touch, stay in touch, and now with smartphones get info on the go. And I'm intruded upon less at home than with a landline since I don't get robocallers and telemarketers on my cell.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by DaveF

I have a similar attitude. I've made it clear to people that my cell phone is to be used when they need to get in touch with me. The idea of using a cell phone to talk for hours on end is foreign to me. That's why my 300 minutes a month plan is plenty for me (I typically use less than 1/6 of that).

 

[Ron-P]

Do you wish you could live in the past?

Nope.


Too many good things in this current time period to enjoy. Micro-brewed ales, Disneyland, a vast array of entertainment, fast cars, cell phones, great music on my iTouch, a comfortable home with heating...I mean, seriously, I could go on and on and on.

Now, do I love the past, sure do. Heck, my house is slowly being modeled after a castle on the inside. Why? Castles are just so damn cool.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by RobertR

Has anyone observed kids doing something like texting each other face to face, in preference to actually talking to each other?

I've seen adults do that.

 

[DaveF]

I've texted my wife while we're both in the house. Sometimes it's easier that shouting downstairs about whatever.

 

[Eric Peterson]

For that matter, I don't understand the objection to technology in general. How has it not made our lives longer, more comfortable, better housed, clothed, and fed?

My only issue with technology is that it was supposed to give us more free time......and I have seen the complete opposite. In the engineering field, a design cycle used to be 3-5 years for a new product. Well, that has been cut in half (good thing I guess).......but instead of being happy and being able to stop and take a breathe, it just means.................now we can re-design something twice in the same amount of time. Do we really need everything to be re-designed on a yearly.....or even less basis.


I love my technology and my gadgets......but I cannot fathom the mindset of people who have the need to upgrade and replace on a such a rapid basis. These people that you see lining up for the new iPhone or iPad or other latest gadget or usually the same people that were lining up 6 months ago. Not only am I content with keeping something much longer (3-5 years).....I expect it to be good for that long.

• My Ipod is more than 3 years old,
• My mobile phone is only 6 months old.....but all of my previous phones I kept for at least 3 years.
• I always keep my cars for a minimum of 4-5 years (It would be longer if my commute was not so long!)
• My Harmony Remote (which I love!!) is starting to act up.......but I'm irritated because it's only 3.5 years old
• My computer is also only 6 months old, but my previous PC lasted for more than 7 (with a few upgrades over the years.....and it's still running)
• All of my HT components are more than 7 years old.....except for the Blu-Ray (for obvious reasons)

I like the advances in technology - it generally makes life better. If you are feeling overwhelmed then just disconnect (at least some.) You still have that choice.

......well that's much easier said that done. At some point it almost becomes reflexive. I can be having a conversation and as the topic slows down, I'll find myself reflexively looking at my E-mail or Facebook on my phone. It disgusts me every time.....but the only way that I've been successful at not doing that is to leave my phone in the car or at home......which then defeats it's ultimate purpose.........as a phone!!!

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by Eric Peterson Do we really need everything to be re-designed on a yearly.....or even less basis.


I love my technology and my gadgets......but I cannot fathom the mindset of people who have the need to upgrade and replace on a such a rapid basis. These people that you see lining up for the new iPhone or iPad or other latest gadget or usually the same people that were lining up 6 months ago. Not only am I content with keeping something much longer (3-5 years).....I expect it to be good for that long.

• My Ipod is more than 3 years old,
• My mobile phone is only 6 months old.....but all of my previous phones I kept for at least 3 years.
• I always keep my cars for a minimum of 4-5 years (It would be longer if my commute was not so long!)
• My Harmony Remote (which I love!!) is starting to act up.......but I'm irritated because it's only 3.5 years old
• My computer is also only 6 months old, but my previous PC lasted for more than 7 (with a few upgrades over the years.....and it's still running)
• All of my HT components are more than 7 years old.....except for the Blu-Ray (for obvious reasons)

......well that's much easier said that done. At some point it almost becomes reflexive. I can be having a conversation and as the topic slows down, I'll find myself reflexively looking at my E-mail or Facebook on my phone. It disgusts me every time.....but the only way that I've been successful at not doing that is to leave my phone in the car or at home......which then defeats it's ultimate purpose.........as a phone!!!

It seems to me that your post emphasizes that it's the choices one makes that matter, not so much the technology itself. I thought about getting an iPad to use as a universal remote, then realized that my 10 year old Pronto is perfectly satisfactory. I'm happy with my 10 year old CRT projector (the only thing I had to do to accommodate "changing times" was to get an HDMI input card for it). Whenever new technology comes out, I always ask myself if I would really use it and benefit from it, instead of thinking I have to have the "latest and greatest" (the other factor with new technology is the knowledge that it will become cheaper). The Android phone has been a resounding "yes" to my two questions. When will I "upgrade"? When a newer phone does something my current one can't (or does what the current one does much better in a way that matters to me) AND the new ability is something I would really make use of. I don't think there's an objective standard for how long technology "should" last. It's what matters to you. Of course, if you view technology as fashion instead of something that does something for you, that's a problem.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Of course, if you view technology as fashion instead of something that does something for you, that's a problem.

I think this statement sums it up beautifully. A lot of people constantly upgrade just so they can brag about having the latest hot thing....and then proceed to use only a small percentage of the product's functionality!!

 

[DaveF]

Now, I wouldn't mind living a few days in various periods in the near past. Circa 1997: tell myself that I should, definitely buy that $5 APPL stock I was daydreaming about. Circa 1998: have that relative go in for an MRI, just for kicks. Circa 2004: Don't buy that house; renting's not so bad for the next five years. Circa 2002: skip the overwrought dating process and just marry her already!

 

[Walter Kittel]

Oh yeah, forgot to post this link earlier. The OP (and anyone else for that matter) might want to browse the free PDF download of this book...


http://focusmanifesto.com/


- Walter.

 

[RobertR]

Originally Posted by DaveF

Now, I wouldn't mind living a few days in various periods in the near past. Circa 1997: tell myself that I should, definitely buy that $5 APPL stock I was daydreaming about. Circa 1998: have that relative go in for an MRI, just for kicks. Circa 2004: Don't buy that house; renting's not so bad for the next five years. Circa 2002: skip the overwrought dating process and just marry her already!

Travel to the past just to take advantage of knowledge of the present is rather different from the OP's topic. I remember seeing a PBS Nova program about time travel that had some fascinating answers to the questions raised by it. To the question "is time travel possible?", the answer from the physicists in the program was "yes, with limitations (you can't travel back to a time before the time machine was created)". To the question, "could you change events by traveling back to the past" (something everyone always wants to know when discussing time travel), the answer was "no", which wasn't an unexpected answer for me.


But what WAS unexpected (and fascinating to me) was this: Suppose you went into the future and observed what would happen, then returned to the present. The physicists said that since time is symmetrical with respect to going backwards and forwards, that not only can you not change what did happen, but that knowledge of the future would not allow you to change what will happen. The Universe has an "inevitability" to it. Quite a concept.

 

[mattCR]

Originally Posted by DaveF

I've texted my wife while we're both in the house. Sometimes it's easier that shouting downstairs about whatever.

My wife and I do it all the time. I find it a lot easier to say things you don't want the kids to hear

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Originally Posted by RobertR

To the question "is time travel possible?", the answer from the physicists in the program was "yes, with limitations (you can't travel back to a time before the time machine was created)".

What would be the point then?

 

[DaveF]

To tell yourself not to waste time building a pointless time machine.

 

[Hugh Jackes]

I've texted my wife while we're both in the house. Sometimes it's easier that shouting downstairs about whatever.

My son has texted me from the bathroom asking for a roll of TP. Less embarrassment yelling out, with his sisters in the house, that he got caught on the pot.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by RobertR /forum/thread/312003/do-you-wish-you-could-live-in-the-past/30#post_3822452

My wife and I do it all the time. I find it a lot easier to say things you don't want the kids to hear

If I had a time machine, I could go back tell my wife what I'm going to tell her at a future inconvenient moment, saving the nuisance and cost of texting her.


Society would be far more civilized if we all had time machines. Then, people could go back in time to before the movie starts to make their super-important phone calls, instead of talking during the film. Drivers could go back and text before getting in the car. Time travel would bring the dawn of a golden age of good manners!

 

[Craig S]

I'd like to suggest that this thread's participants go see Woody Allen's excellent new film, Midnight In Paris, which is about this very subject - a man who wishes he could live in the past (a very specific past in a very specific place).