Experiences lost with new technology
 

It's inevitable that some where along the time line in human history, we come up with newer and better ways to do stuff, and with the advent of newer technology some things go obsolete.

What are some experiences you miss that got replaced by new technology?

I miss snail mail. I miss having to send out things by post, looking forward to new mail in the post box, sending my friends a response back. I don't remember half the conversations I've had with penpals when I was a kid, but I do remember they were special. Emails were useful for work, but all of the sudden when writing to a friend became just as easy as picking up the phone to call them and response was instantaneous, the whole luster of "writing" in general got lost.

I think it's easier for me to count the things that I like better with newer technology than it is to count the things I miss. I'm definitely in the minority and I take a lot of flak for the opinions I have on technology. I do want to say that I acknowledge most of the benefits of technology, and I appreciate it. I do not, however, require an iPhone to live.

Among those things which I reject most vehemently are GPS devices, DVD players in cars, handheld video games for children (oh boy i can't WAIT to see what you guys say to me about that), and ridiculously powerful space phones.

Among those things I miss the most: old fashioned cooking. Maybe it's just the people I know, but so many of them seem content to eat whatever they can toss into a microwave. Food that is made with love by hand almost always tastes good and rarely leaves you feeling heavy and disgusting like a frozen meal will.

I think you hit it on the head, Shorty, with snail mail, but more particularly with writing in general. I think it must have been nice to sit down and write long letters to friends, but then, perhaps not. I can't, after all, even write a damn email half the time to friends and family, and if I had to actually pay to send it off (cheap or not) I don't know how willing I'd be to write.

I guess I dislike e-readers like the Kindle. I'm an avid reader, but that has nothing to do with it. I don't know why I dislike them. They seem cheap to me; I like the physical copy you can hold in your hand. I should probably embrace it. Oh well.

Those have been around for quite awhile. Do you mean how they proliferate the market today, or do you mean to evoke, like, the 1980s? Because I think I agree with you, but I feel kind of weird for saying that when I grew up playing handheld games.

Why would we pick on you for not liking gameboys when you reject modern medicine? That's like picking on Jason Lee for being a bad actor when the scientology thing is sitting right there.

Why do you tempt me so, Sass? Are you doing this on purpose? Are you trying to take my troll job away from me by trolling yourself?

http://tarapants.com/wp-content/uplo..._on_desk-1.jpg

I actually agree on the cooking thing, though. Most people are useless in a kitchen, and it is baffling to me how few people even have an idea about how to use spices, or just basic things like how to make pasta properly, or how to use a knife.

Other than that, I still get letters on the regular from a few people out east, so I don't overly miss that. I guess small local shops that have been driven out by massive, efficient monstrosities of bright lights. Not because I'm anti-big business, but because they all have the same thing, which makes finding diverse options pretty difficult some days.

To clarify, I think a child has more to learn and experience in a stick, a bucket, and some mud and water than he or she has to learn in a handheld gaming device.

That's not to say I wouldn't permit my child to have one, but time spent with it would be extremely limited, just like the television. (I didn't grow up playing them, which also may skew how I perceive them. All we got was the original 8-bit NES, and for a small amount of time before or after school/schoolwork. We had to buy any new games that we wanted with our own saved money, which also limited our exposure)

Maybe my issue in this regard is more with modern parenting and less about technology...? (I'm terrified someone is going to come in here and scream at me for having an opinion about child rearing when I don't have any to raise myself)

While there's something to be said for physical copy assholery (and I'm in that camp), ownership rights is the largest problem with e-anything, and it's especially devious with e-readers. Until that shit is even borderline customer friendly then it can just fuck right off.

The lending store is a good start off point though.

Additional Spam:
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I could go on for pages but yeah.

It's a modern stick and a modern bucket. Cool that you think otherwise though. It's not like there aren't tonnes of studies that respond to your assertions with "derp" or nothin'.

So they claim. I'm sure they're alright in moderation. You know. Not playing them 4-6 hours or more a day.

Like I said, I think maybe my issue is more with modern parenting and letting children excessively use electronic toys. Unsure.

All I know is that I have seen and continue to see many, many kids (who also grow into adults, not pointing any fingers here, Skills <3) that have no idea how to interact with either peers or adults. They'd rather pick up the electronic devices and interact with them. I don't think this should be permitted in a child's world.

Within reason, it's alright. Like I said.

Whats wrong with GPS devices? There is not possible real good pro with a old map over a gps.

Pretty sure this is your response to ALL THINGS EVER.

"What do you mean they have pills for...killing pain now? SO THEY CLAIM"

"What is this modern science stuff? A...telly....fone? I can talk to people from...far away? SO THEY CLAIM"

Yeah. Bad parents are awful. But going "herp derp dem vidyas" is about the same as "herp derp dem telly vizion macheeens" or "man comic books are so terrible" or "MAN CHILDREN LIKE DUMB THINGS".

Play is important, no matter what form it takes. So is variety. So is exercise. The medium really isn't THAT important.

Stupid parents are, though. Stupid parents have also existed since FOREVER so uh.

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I have socialized with you assholes and with many of my friends through vidyatrons. Now and when I was midget. Shit is alright. Don't blame new fangled things just because OH GOD IT'S NOT NATURAL. WHAT IS THIS THING MADE FROM MATERIALS THAT I CAN'T PICK UP IN MY BACKYARD.

There were super derpy awkward kids back when the only console was Pong, too. Right now, anthropologically speaking, the studies on the effects of playing video games are pretty split. There are really good case studies on both sides. Sass is right about moderation, but if the studies are to be followed, she's missing the point pretty huge on why. Playing video games isn't the issue. Playing video games alone is the issue.

Playing with a stick and bucket by yourself is just as potentially harmful as sitting in your room playing Dragon Quest IX for hours on end. From a social angle, anyway.

With a regular road map I do not need electricity to communicate with outer space, Zip.

No, you're right about the derpy kids always being around, sure. It's not just video games.

But kids don't always employ moderation voluntarily, and if a kid REALLY LIKES video games, it's up to someone to step in and say "enough." You understand. I just happen to think video games are much more likely to evoke this behavior than, say, sticks and mud.

Zip: I can't stand GPS in most every day uses. It's fantastic if you're going cross country and want the best routes, but the majority of people who OWN GPS units rarely seem to go ANYWHERE that they'd NEED it, and it only encourages them to never actually LEARN where to go.

I know both men and women who are SO FUCKING RELIANT on their GPS that they couldn't navigate their way out of a fucking paper bag. They don't know their local highways, they can hardly find their way to the next town over, and they're very useless to bring anywhere when YOU need to find something.

I know people who don't even know how to "use" a map. Seriously. No joke. One is a few years younger than I am, works for Harvard, and is generally pretty intelligent. Completely blows me away.

Skills, you know I didn't mean anything personal by all that. You're very social from what I've seen. Much more than the average nerd who'll never get laid, anyways. <3

I was going to type out "lol americans" but i kind of get what you mean, but shit I dont mind the gps at all, even if you are still in the same town I much rather prefer to follow the gps then drive around an neighburhood trying to find the right street.

I was going to write something I miss from the old times but I forgot what it was. I miss the old gas drinker cars though, all these new hybrids and ecofriendly cars piss me off.

Other then that we live imo in the greatest of all times.

Where is this line drawn, anyway?

Even 4000 god damn years ago they had rattles and wooden dolls.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3312/...f63e033804.jpg

Why do I imagine you in that time period saying "THOSE WOODEN MICE AND THESE POTTERY RATTLES ARE TOO FANCY. KIDS ARE WASTING AWAY. GO PLAY WITH STICKS AND MUD"

http://images.memegenerator.net/inst...0x/9770735.jpg

Yeah, but that's because it is a fairly interesting experience. Kids also get addicted to movies (see: sprout, lehah and deni) or model planes (two of my cousins) or music their parents would think was kind of out of date and lame (Dull). I think you nailed it when you said it's more parenting than video games you have issue with. Sometimes you need to tell little jimmy to put down the stamp collection and go play soccer.

That was a nice tag on insult. Real talk.

I think this is less about how much time a child puts into gaming and a lot more about the variety of activities she engages in. When I was a kid, I used to play games quite a bit (of the console variety, that is), and, after turning off the Super Nintendo, would go outside and play with my friends. In that sense, the games sort of encouraged us more to do surprisingly creative things.

All the stranger that I'm not particularly engaged in life today. Not in that way, anyway. I'm not sure if that's the fact that I'm an adult now or that I don't play games or other interactive mediums. I think as adults we tend to tune out and take the paths of least resistance. It's so much easier for me to watch a movie for two hours than get involved in a thirty-hour game. But then, maybe I'm being nostalgic.

I guess I'm just saying that it depends on whether or not the child is engaging solely in the games he has or whether or not he has other interests. I think we're on the same page here. Just want to point out here that I just got a GPS system a few months ago and it's encouraged me to learn the local area a bit better than before.

But I've definitely met the idiots who use the GPS to go down to the mail box, so I understand that.

I miss buying a CD and putting it in the CD player and letting it just run throguh. Spotify and fucking itunes has ruined music listening a bit for me. I just skip through a song by the progress bar and sometimes i put on a track, then think of another track and sort of like OCD i have to hear it immediately and I click it on.

I have to agree with the cooking issue. Being in student halls last year really opened my eyes about that. Three of the girls in particular couldn't believe that I and the other person in the flat who actually cooked from scratch had just picked it up. It was the same when I was in supported living. Even though most of the people in there were on the dole they spent their money on take aways because they just didn't know how to cook for themselves.

As for videogames, I agree it's an issue of context. I have this argument with my mother every time the subject rears its ugly head. Even though with her job she talks to parents who are proud of their (primary school) kids because they can play games with an 18 certificate for hours on end (apparently the age rating has some correlation with intelligence in the parent's head) she is completely prejudice against the games and not just the parents. She's taken more than a few offensive pot shots at me for obsessively playing games as a kid when I spent just as much time reading or playing outside.

In regards to maps and gps's, I admit I have grown a liking to having my iPhone:
1) Map our routes
2) Tell me which routes have traffic
3) Turn by turn navigation

I still know how to read maps and navigate my way through, but it's just nice having that little device handy that tells me if there's a big traffic jam on my way where the haul's easily 30-40 minutes additional (hurr hurr LA traffic). What I've lost through all that is the resourcefulness it takes to route myself around jams and blockways and knowing alternate routes and times where certain roads get congested, etc. Not that I was particularly good at that to begin with, but I kinda feel something is amiss that I wouldn't have a chance to hone those skills and giving my brain that exercise.

One thing I miss is people picking up the phone when I call them. Granted, it isn't everyone, but a lot of my friends have a terribly hard time keeping enough funds in their phone to be able to pick up. They all work more with text messages or Facebook, which I don't care enough to join. I have a cell phone, but I barely use it as I have a home phone and I spend most of my time at home. Also, my cell is more of a minor convenience for those times when I do leave my den, and texting is a pain in the ass on it as it doesn't have a proper keyboard.

I think, out of this entire thread and whats been mentioned so far, cooking is the only thing I can agree on. However, I don't think technology is necessarily at fault for it, I think people are just too busy these days. You have a lot of people who work two jobs and have a family, they don't have time to sit down and learn to cook. Technology has just made it easier to handle the lack of time.

I personally love to cook, I prefer it over microwave meals, cause fuck those. The only microwave meals I have are ones I made myself. Ex: I have 4 sets of breakfast sandwiches I made from scratch that I can throw in the microwave at any time. Generally, if I'm going for quick makings, I just get a bag of tater tots and fish sticks from the store and use the oven, cause its better for you and tastes better.

GPS? I think its a great piece of technology. Do people abuse it? Fuck yes. I use my GPS to get me to a new spot once or twice, just enough for me to learn landmarks and streets. Once I got it down, I never use the GPS to get back there again. However, utilizing GPS to avoid traffic jams? Saves gas, saves rage, saves money.

Handheld video games have come a long way. Back in the 80s and 90s when I grew up, I could possibly agree that portable video games were bad for kids, but only if excessive. Video games in general improve hand-eye coordination, help kids focus, and keep their imaginations active. They're even better now with games like Brain Age and Big Brain Acadamy, where the game is giving the kids something to learn. I think the blame should be on how much parents are relying on handheld games, TV, and other such devices to do the parenting for them than the devices themselves.

In response to the topic? I can't honestly think of anything I miss. I have all but done away with physical media (gaming is the only thing that uses it). I don't have a land line. I don't like snail mail. I do my own cooking, that hasn't changed. I enjoy a GPS a lot more than trying to figure out a route and remembering it. I love my slacker account vs a CD/tape. I don't miss standing in lines for buying items. I don't mind reading books on a gorilla glass/ink screen.

If I had to pick one thing, perhaps I'm a bit off-put by the upcoming push for cloud technology. I know its coming and I know its what will be the way thin clients are done, but that doesn't mean I'll have to like it. I prefer to have my applications and data local thank you very much. :mad:

I actually miss VHS and rewinding tapes. Don't know why I found that so satisfying. Also, I really preferred my online experience before "web 2.0" and social media. I have fond memories are GFF from back in the day. Back when we just reached over 10,000 members and had a very active community, making a thread was fun because people would respond within the first 5 minutes of creation. That is not to say I don't like the convenience of social media (to be honest, it's really great) but I'm starting to experience nostalgia in a totally different way. I've found the same to be true of video games. I play my SNES and Genesis every so often and realize that I liked games back when they were simpler, more colorful, and game play focused.

Also, I realized the other day that a modern child probably has no idea why the movie "Home Alone" was such a big deal because that would never happen now with everyone having email and cell phones. Sorta made me sad.

I miss getting excited with the new comics I read. These days, they (news sites, publishers, some authors) spoil the ending even if the story-arc isn't even finished. That way, people will be hyped with what's next. Not that it's a bad thing, but I want to enjoy reading a book and be surprised with the twists and discovering them on my own. Not read the spoiler online and just tread through the arc knowing how it ends.

I miss finding things out for myself. These days if you want to know something you just type it into Google whereas once upon a time you actually had the sense of satisfaction from doing some research or whatever.

That said, I cook proper food, don't and won't use an ebook thingy and have no need for or desire to get a GPS (Although I do use Google to find directions if I've never been somewhere before and then Streetview to look at the junctions where I have to turn so I recognise them but I do seem to have an uncanny sense of direction and ability to find my way back to anywhere I've been once before) so my life hasn't changed all that much due to technology over the years.

Actually, scratch that, I miss when companies weren't all multi-nationals and as such the lazy bastards didn't just import adverts made for other countries and try to use them to sell me shit. European ads which are badly dubbed are pretty bad and make me want to never buy that product again but the very, very worst are the companies that take a US ad, filmed for NTSC and then punt it out over here without converting it to PAL. They look ugly as fuck, American accents don't encourage me to buy things and nine times out of ten the sentiment is completely at odds with the national feeling over here. Every time I see a US ad imported onto UK telly it makes me want to not only avoid that product but also every other product that company makes. I mean, big multi-nationals can afford to localise their advertising so they fucking should, cunts.

I do not mind all of the GPS, even if you are in the same town, I would prefer to follow the GPS, and then try to find the right street everywhere neighburhood.