“I think this computerized age is hard on the old timers. I know it’s difficult for me.
Cellphones should never been allowed to go further than being a phone.”
I hear you, however you do realize you wouldn’t be on Free Republic if it weren’t for the computerized age. In fact there would be no Free Republic. Plus you sell yourself short. Obviously you were able to master the computer enough to be on FR at any time of your choosing.
As to cellphones. Parents with children in school are very happy that cellphones can now be used to send text messages on them, as they can keep track of their school age children on them, and not have to worry so much as to their whereabouts or safety. When stuck waiting in doctors’ offices (and with Obamacare that wait could indeed lengthen) you can pull out your iphone or tablet and settle in to checking out FR or otherwise surf the web or read a book or magazine online or do bills, or play a game or watch a movie.
Years ago we couldn’t have imagined a microwave oven, now we can’t easily live without them. My mom claimed she never wanted a microwave, until she was given one, and then she was hooked. Technology advances, and I am in general delighted with it.
No one writes letters anymore; however, I maintain more people are writing now than ever before in history because of the internet, IM’s and e-mails that have made the U.S. Post Office almost obsolete. I can send messages back and forth at whim to friends overseas at the speed of the send button, and those in the military can keep in constant contact with their loved ones via e-mails and visually through Skype. Imagine that. Napoleon couldn’t do that, lol.
There are good aspects and bad ones to most anything in life, the yin and the yang. I guess you just roll with the punches on the bad things and thrive amongst the good. I for one prefer to see the good in today’s world of communication, even though occasionally its darker side gains some ascendancy. I just wouldn’t go back to the days of yore (except for in Hollywood acting) thinking that those days were so much better. In some ways yes, in many more ways, no.
To each its season, t’is the computer age, and believe me, existing in it is no reason on God’s great earth to decide to take an overdose of barbituates to end one’s life. That is the coward’s way out. Even if the woman ended up in a nursing home, she could have had friends there and social activities and some meaningful interactions. And nursing homes aren’t prisons; friends can come over and family and friends can take their loved ones out for visits. Granted, growing older, with its associated aches and pains isn’t necessarily a bowl full of cherries, but it still has its plusses, and it sure beats the alternative. Life is what you make of it; make lemonade.
“Years ago we couldn’t have imagined a microwave oven, now we can’t easily live without them.”
Not altogether true.
I'll offer your statement that "more people are writing now than ever before in history because of the internet, IM’s and e-mails (etc.)." I'm not sure very much of this counts as "writing" by any objective measure. More and more of this "writing," as I see it, is in the form of e-mail and text messages that are spelled like something I'd expect to get from someone who is being held hostage.
With every step forward in one area of life, it seems like we're taking two steps backwards somewhere else.
“Life is what you make of it; make lemonade.”
Assuming that life’s lemons are all that’s available? Don’t be too quick to settle for less. However, there does seem to be a ‘drive’ to have people do just that.
Increasingly, I observe people who are not aware of their surroundings, they are that involved in the gadget in their hand. Not just drivers, although daily I have avoided accidents with people who are invariably paying more attention to their 'smart' phone than their surroundings.
I am talking about people walking through stores and down sidewalks, allegedly 'working' in between messages--in all sorts of jobs, and those who cannot be bothered to pry themselves from their screen.
They seem increasingly emotionally disconnected from humanity while 'connected' to lines on a screen. They tap in LOLOL while someone goes off and hangs themself.
I can put this in perspective, however. If the SHTF, and for whatever reason their comlinks are lost, they will be the disoriented masses. wormbait.
Sorry, but that's how I see it.
The backyard gossip has reached the ability to spread their vile poison to the multitude at lightspeed, and it is literally killing some of our young.
We are bombarded with unprecedented amounts of 'information' but acquire little knowledge and even less wisdom as a result.
Most of it is meaningless fluff at best, often erroneous, and sometimes maliciously so.
In the meantime, it is a pity this person became so frustrated with the very technology she could have used to locate others who are frustrated with the effects on human interaction.
Probably the same way that my grandparents looked at TV, or my parents looked at video games. :-)