Episode #249: Luddite(ing) My Way Through Life

Our legendary Oreo stylin', profilin' and modelin' a Hollweenie sweater for the Autumn/Winter season. Even at his ripe old age of 12, he's still got the energy to annoy everyone inside and outside the house.

No writing update to give this week, as everything is in a bit of flux, due to the dawning realization that extending a well thought out plan is a necessary evil. So I thought for this week's post, I delve into the Luddite history of myself.

note: I was going to link to a Wiki article about Luddites, but found this very odd one about Neo-Luddism instead.

So I'm one of those very strange fellows who did not immediately embrace the technology of today, but simply hung onto to the tried and true technology of yesterday. For example, I didn't start using computers until my first state job in 1996 (for those of you keeping track, that means I was 31 when I was dragged kicking and screaming to modern tech), which if you're curious, that was when M$ 6.0 was the O/S of choice.

Now because of this very late exposure to modern technology (remember this was when cellphones were just starting to become affordably to the masses), coupled with my normal reticence to new technology, I never really suffered from the original T.D.S (that's Technology Derangement Syndrome). I was quite happy with the computer technology I was using at the time (small floppy disks); the old music technology of vinyl and cassette (this was a bad idea in the long run, but yanno, 20/20); and not being connected to cellphones.

So I merrily skipped my way through life blissfully unconcerned about the rapidly evolving technological landscape. Because my mindset was "if ain't broke, why fix it", I often had to be dragged kicking, screaming and crying to use new technology because my old technology was rapidly becoming obsolete.

One of those aforementioned technologies was cellphones. For the past 22+ years, I've owned exactly 7 cell/smartphones: Sanyo (2), Samsung, Nokia, LG and Motorola (2). Each time I was dragged kicking and screaming to buy/upgrade my phone, because again, if it ain't broke....but instead it was the cellular carriers that broke (networks), discontinued (LG) or obsolete O/S that forced my hand. And I'm sure when O/S 11 for Android becomes obsolete, I'll be dragged kicking and screaming to upgrade my phone.

And for the record, I'm only lightly tethered to my phone via podcast apps, music apps and MLB app. I choose not to have socialized media beyond YouTube on my phone, and the amount of minutes spent per month talking/texting would probably equal two days max for the majority of my readers.

I'm also pretty much a major league caliber Luddite when it comes to finances. I do online banking only to print out my monthly statements or transfer money to a semi-active savings account (saves on monthly fees). I do money orders for all but three of my monthly bills, only because I never liked it when banks switched to automatic withdrawals the moment a check crossed their desk nor do I really trust any of the myriad of businesses I deal with to process EFTs properly.

In regards to the audio and video portion of my life, I have long accepted that CD's are here to stay and that I will never download music (my personal belief is that it's way too east to lose access to a download than it is for a physical copy). I still do vinyl and moved on quite nicely to DVDs. Fun thing about DVD's is that I can build a personalized collection simply by purchasing them used. Why drop $10+ on a DVD when you can purchase used for less than $4?

In general, I can state with a degree of certainty that I will always be a mix of Ludditism and Modernism when it comes to technology (I had a old microwave that used a dial for temperature and a dial for time. overall it lasted about two decades), if only because old technology, so long as it isn't connected to the more destructive parts of the World Wide Web, is still quite functional.

Have a fantastic week, and remember, to make it through your day, just channel your inner Gloria Gaynor.

{c} 2024 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved