I often fancy myself a bit of a neo-luddite. You know...neo-luddites are those people who would opt for an old-fashioned human-powered lawnmower over a self-propelled riding lawnmower. They think the "dishwasher" they have in the kitchen is really whichever kid wants to get their allowance that week. Neo-luddites aren't "anti" technology, but they aren't going to start using a new piece of technology without first giving thought to what it means to do so.
For me, being a neo-luddite is often about just not wanting to spend the money. I could have a dishwasher installed into my 1950s-era home, but it doesn't make sense from a cost standpoint. I live alone, so the number of dishes I use is minimal unless I'm having a whole lot of people over and I've done the research into the cost. Because the pipes in my house are so old and were not laid out well, it would take over $1000 in new plumbling work to install a dishwasher (and that's without the cost of the dishwasher itself!). It took me YEARS to get on board with CDs over cassette tapes. I vowed to not change unless someone could assure me that they would be the last musical technology. Of course, as soon as I switched to CDs, downloading to Ipods, etc became the new thing. Argh! Just this last year, I finally got a flat screen television. Up until then, the monster (26 inch) television I've had since moving into my first apartment (in 1997) was perfectly fine. In fact, it still works perfectly in another room. (A side note: It amazed me that the first thing the poker guys noticed when they came to my house was the new 42 inch TV. Go figure!)
I've also been known to go YEARS beyond when I could upgrade my cell phone because I often lament when a "phone was just a phone". I hate transferring the numbers over (the cell phone company can do that for ya now!), learning my way around the menus and don't get me started on all of the ringtones. Lord have mercy!
{sigh}
Alas, the cell phone makers have even reeled me in. A few weeks ago I upgraded my cellphone to the Blackberry Curve. (For the record, I only did it because the dog got mad and chewed on the old one. It still worked, but it had some SHARP edges!) Already, my worst nightmare with this phone has happened.....I don't know how I ever lived without it!
With this in the palm of your hand, you can look up anything (that's where the looking up part comes in -duh!). For instance, on Sunday, Troy and I wanted to see a movie, but we didn't know what time they started and we weren't at either of our houses where we could connect to the internet. Now, I realize we could have just driven to the theater or called on the phone (I think they still give you the movie times over the phone, don't they? hmmm), but instead, I simply downloaded the *free* Moviefone app and poof! all the movie times (also descriptions, trailers, etc etc etc) right at my fingertips! Seriously amazing! Wanna know where the nearest sushi restaurant is? Sure! Need to know who won the World Series in 1975? Coming right up! Wanna win a bar bet in no time flat? You got it!
Seriously. Amazing. How did I ever live without it?
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