Todays technology and you

@pete I agree sorta.. but I'd be happier if the bin was capable of loading itself then going to the kerb to wait to be emptied.

But all this shopping online really forces us to miss experiences like I had today. Oh, the joys of driving in a lane next to a person who had their turn signal on. For about a mile.. did tney want me to let them in? Then yes, they did. Let them in and they slammed on their brakes at the next green light. Then they decided to go back to the right lane and just leave tneir turn signal on for miles and miles. Guess they were testing the longevity of the bulb...

And I would have missed the kid screaming it's way through a temper tantrum and the mother not understanding the funny side of my comment. I merely smiled and suggested the child would be a great advertisement for birth control...

But I got all of my groceries (no kits or instant stuff) plus a bag of grass seed.

There are lots of pros and cons here

 

Hands up! I set out to start a new thread, only to find that, yes done that, been there etc.

So friends. Honestly, please share your thoughts and whatever. All this modern technology. Are we all becoming victims of some alien-like super control. Take the mobile phone. Perhaps hailed as the saviour in emergencies, as most public phone boxes have been vandalised or to discusting to use due to having been used as urinals. Truly. What did we do before the mobile. Meeting friends may have been a pleasure...now. You are virtually living with them, it might be said. You are joined at the hip.
Then what's happened to your moby? Now with internet connection, you can pay your bills, order from ebay, store so much of your personal and private info. No offence intended but. Who knows. Perhaps the very next super duper model will wipe your backside for you. This in my opinion is seriously getting way out of hand.

So often highway robberies amount to mobile phone thefts. Think about it. Your mobile is your life history.

So friends. Please share your thoughts.

 

I learned my lesson when I was over there and my phone updated it's system and because I was 3500 miles from home, it for some reason decided it would be clever to erase all of my contacts!

I don't keep anything sensitive in my phone. And I will NEVER, not ever knowingly communicate with someone who carries a handheld spying Huawei.

I like the conveniences. I pay my bills online and lots of tasks like that so when I go grocery shopping, I've got loads of time to chat with friends and well anybody who looks pleasant

I have antispyware on my tower, laptop, tablet and allinone so I'm not worried. And I'm aware of scams and loaded emails.

I love reading several different papers in the morning... well at least what I can get for free. I read the letters to the editor from across tne country, over tnere, the New York times, etc, just to see what the temperature is in those places regarding current events and politics. Never had this much fun with satisfying my curiosity!

 

Agree to some points but let's not forget that technology has many beneficial uses too!!

My mobile is on and with me all of the time, as it's a link to my Dad's and disabled brother's care alarms. It means I can be with them in minutes if needed. We have an Alexa Show, which isn't a necessity but as our eldest has one too and we don't get to see him that often it's nice to make a cuppa and drop into his kitchen and have a catch up.
We have an ordinary Alexa upstairs on the landing too , but this is audio only no visuals. Again this serves as an extra alarm , as my Dad and brother have this one too and in case they have forgotten to wear their alerts or even maybe have working issues with it they can both just call out for Alexa to connect up to us. Such peace of mind if you have vulnerable people who depend on you.

Microwaves have their place too, my Dad can't cook for toffees!!
He has WFF's that he heats up , all very nutritious and ideal ( otherwise he wouldn't bother with veg!!) , and if my sister, his lovely neighbour or I cook him something then this too can easily be reheated.

All in all ...wouldn't be without it.

 

We wouldn't have Gardener's Corner without modern tech....

 

Even though I'm here on GC I don't like technology and it hates me! I'm often tackling unusual computer issues that seem to search me out. I can't use the modern diy checkouts in the supermarket or diy store as they always break down. Even the ignition on my car has issues with me that never occur with Mr S.

I have a basic mobile phone for emergencies only. It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people/companies that think it's their right to have my number. A receptionist at my local hospital got huffy when I refused to give it to her.

It does have it's good points though.....

I can Skype video call on computer with my children around the world for hours. It would cost me a fortune in phone calls.

And, although I don't have it, GPS I've learnt recently is a great piece of technology. When my son-in-law had an accident out in the wilds of Canada it saved his life. Without it the search and rescue team wouldn't have found him.

 

Exactly @Sheal , GPS kept hubs and myself sane ( well fairly sane!) when our eldest went on his world trip at the age of 22 all by himself. He was gone for over a year and went to 28 countries, got seriously ill, also got stranded on the Easter Islands without money ....technology allowed us to contact the British Embassy and they transferred funds to him, cancelled his cards that had been stolen too.

He went mountain trekking in New Zealand alone ....that was a worrying time but we had a tiny bit of reassurance from his GPS.

You can't have kids without having technology!!!!! Without it you'd be a nervous wreck!!!

 

We do Hangouts ( similar to Skype) hubs can talk and see his family back in his country.

Our middle son and girlfriend have bought a house and are completely gutting it all. Recently they finished their lounge renovations and called us on Hangout and ' walked ' us through their lovely lounge.....it was as if we were there with them!! Brilliant!!

 

As time passes, I'm beginning to turn more and more against technology. I'll try to explain some of the reasons.

Years ago, when we wanted to go shopping, we went to things called "shops." There, we met something called "other people," interacted with them and bought what we needed. Nowadays, a lot of this can be done in front of a pc screen. Heaven forbid that we meet "other people" in the process.

When I am out and about in Europe, I do admit to using a dedicated GPS system. One of the few pieces of modern technology that I use. Even if I do understand that it can in the circumstances @Sheal mentioned above, even that has drawbacks. Not only because there are still some places in the world that dont have the signal that it uses to operate, but also because its inaccurate! Judging from the one I use (Garmin) each map update makes it more so! The trip to Germany I made last week was a good example. 400 metres wrong to some autobahn exits, placing a campsite on the central reservation of the autobahn (!) and pointing out that upon returning home accessibility to my own street was "unknown!"

I could go on and on...

 

I've just changed our second TV which is in the front room.
I've been using 20 year old technology with a succession of TV sets in that room.
For years I had under the TV, a DVD/CD player, a VHS recorder/player and later a Humax HDR.
I also had this auto selector which plugged into the mains.



Scart leads went from the three machines into the auto selector and then one went into the TV. So whichever remote I picked up and started to use, that was what appeared on the screen, overriding what had been showing previously.
Recently I added a second Virgin Tivo box, so there was no room for the VHS recorder. Most of the films I had on tape are now either on DVD or stored in the Humax and a second hard drive.
But the selector still worked, as long as I wasn't using the Tivo box as that has HDMI connections.
With the new TV there's no scart socket, just lots of HDMI sockets. So I've got four remotes,TV, Humax, Tivo, DVD/CD player, plus another one for the soundbar.
So now I have to select the function with the TV remote then use the appropriate remote control. I've had to order a scart to HDMI lead for the DVD/CD player as it's that old it has no HDMI sockets, just two scart ones. I could use a scart to HDMI adapter, but that's just one more connection.

I checked on eBay for an HDMI auto selector. Nowhere near as bulky as this. Lots on there. But they come with another naffin' remote!

So I won't bother. The auto selectors were originally designed for TVs with fewer scart sockets, historically there were either one or two. I guess I could still use it with scart/HDMI connectors but I'm not keen on buying more bits in case it won't work. I'll put up with a number of HDMI leads in the back of the set and all the remotes.