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comment by Ascientist
Ascientist  ·  3176 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Could you live without a computer or smartphone?

I think it would be a good idea to ask older people that were around before computers what they did for fun, you might get some interesting responses! I have used computers since ~2003, and I got my first cellphone in 2011. I do find myself "wasting" time on these devices, but I do not think it is excessive. I could live without these devices, but my life would be harder. It would be harder to exchange information with co-workers, get updates from my friends, and talk to family. Technology makes it easier for me to communicate with people I know and to learn about the world.

If you did not use computers, what would you do instead? If you do not find the answer fulfilling then technology might not be the problem.





korny  ·  3174 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I hate to think of myself as "older" :) But I did grow up where the computer was something my dad would bring home once a month, until the blissful day I managed to save up for my own ZX-80 ... and even then, there were only a handful of crappy games, and nothing like the internet.

What did I do? I watched TV, naturally; I read a lot of books; I rode my bike around to friends' places and played war games or D&D or just mucked around.

Big things that are different now? It's much harder to get bored. As a teen, there were long vast hours where there was nothing good on TV, you'd read all the good books, your friends were unavailable - basically sometimes there was _nothing_ worth doing. I'm sure people now feel the same way some of the time, but if you are from a first world country, you have access to vast amounts of things to read and do, huge libraries of books, Netflix, Youtube, and all the other entertainment hubs, and millions of mindless trivial entertainments.

(Though that can lead to a special modern kind of bored, where you fill time doing something that takes no thought, like browsing reddit or instagram or phone games; but it's still better than having _nothing_ to do, take it from me)

Another huge thing that's different is the amazing level of connectivity. It used to be, if you wanted to organise to see a friend, you had to phone them, on a land-line, if they were home. And if they went overseas, you had to write letters, or make very brief hugely expensive phone calls. Now, I've moved from Melbourne to the UK, and yet I can still skype people at home for free; I can maintain close friends, keep up with my family, and I'm more connected to some old friends than I was 15 years ago, when we lived in the same city.

So, the TL;DR - would I unplug? Maybe for a few days; sometimes It's good to shut down the noise. But never for any length of time - I rely on the computer and the smartphone, to keep me in contact with friends and family, and as a constant source of information. And the occasional crappy phone game.