Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

intrepidity

(7,241 posts)
Fri Jan 27, 2023, 07:26 PM Jan 2023

Am I a Luddite?

I want a phone that I can use for 5+ years, without the internal memory running out ---*not because I use more apps, but because the constant updates to the few I use chews up memory, but somehow never releases any memory from older updates---* I don't care to have the latest and greatest, just content with what works.

I want a computer that doesn't *demand* an internet connection at all times, or even once a day. I want the software running on it to be under my control. I do *not* want the software "phoning home* to it's corporate masters what my computer is doing.

Seriously, is that too much to ask? We consumers have really given away too much (everything, really) in order to play with their toys---except that it is no longer "play" or even optional to not engage with this new technology. Every aspect of life now requires it, so unless you're an off-grid survivalist, you must engage.

It could have gone differently. I'm glad I won't be around much longer. :sigh:

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Am I a Luddite? (Original Post) intrepidity Jan 2023 OP
I'm completely with you! fierywoman Jan 2023 #1
Yes, you are a Luddite. So am I. FuzzyRabbit Jan 2023 #2
You should be able to.... walkingman Jan 2023 #3
Luddite here! old guy Jan 2023 #4
I'm not really a Luddite myself, PoindexterOglethorpe Jan 2023 #5
I have a flip phone and a computer I diverted from the e-waste stream. hunter Jan 2023 #6
Take it from a systems engineer... discntnt_irny_srcsm Jan 2023 #7

FuzzyRabbit

(1,958 posts)
2. Yes, you are a Luddite. So am I.
Fri Jan 27, 2023, 07:44 PM
Jan 2023

Cell phones and computers will bring the end of civilization as we know it.



walkingman

(7,512 posts)
3. You should be able to....
Fri Jan 27, 2023, 07:48 PM
Jan 2023

Disable your network adapter for a hard-wired ethernet connection and also disable your wifi - it should stay like that until you change the setting (after you reboot). This is for a PC not Mac.

Can't help you on the phone - I am a luddite on that. I refuse to get a smartphone simply I view it as a distraction (I do have one that I use as a camera )

PoindexterOglethorpe

(25,750 posts)
5. I'm not really a Luddite myself,
Fri Jan 27, 2023, 10:04 PM
Jan 2023

but while I have a smart phone, I don't use a lot of apps on it. I use it to make phone calls, send and receive texts. Oh, and use it as an alarm clock. I do, on rare occasions, look something up on Google. That's it.

Here's the thing. I was a very early computer user. In January, 1969, I went to work for Mohawk Airlines, which was the second airline in this country to have a computerized reservations system. Yes, it was very simple and basic, but it was light years ahead of the airlines that didn't yet have a computerized reservations system. I got very good at figuring out various work-arounds, and how to use it to get more information.

Clearly, things are very different these days. I always and only am on DU from either my desktop computer (as I am right now) or my laptop, which is mostly used when I'm travelling somewhere. While I do text, what I hate about it is how slow it is for me. I'm an excellent touch typist, and I'm awed and dismayed when I watch young people use two thumbs to text rapidly.

But here's something else to keep in mind. As we get older (I'm 74) we are more and more resistant to change. And that happens at a fairly young age. When I worked at the airport I was in my 20s. Most of my co-workers were equally young. And every time there was some kind of a change to our reservations system, we all pissed and moaned and resisted it at first. We'd get used to one way of doing things and didn't want to change.

hunter

(38,264 posts)
6. I have a flip phone and a computer I diverted from the e-waste stream.
Mon Jan 30, 2023, 11:04 PM
Jan 2023

Yeah, I'm some kind of Luddite.

The first real operating system I ever used regularly was BSD, a flavor of Unix, starting in the 'seventies.

When I quit Windows 98SE for Linux it was like going home again.

I've still got files and programs from the 'seventies that "just work," thank you very much.

Mostly I use my phone as a phone. Sometimes I use it for texts, but not every day.

I'm a great fan of the KISS principle because I'm frequently stupid and quite easily irritated, especially when something that used to work stops working for arbitrary or commercially capricious reasons.

Some people live on the bleeding edge of new technologies, I live on the long tails.

discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,470 posts)
7. Take it from a systems engineer...
Mon Jan 30, 2023, 11:24 PM
Jan 2023

...engineers, left to themselves, will continue to improve things until they no longer work at all.

Latest Discussions»Help & Search»Computer Help and Support»Am I a Luddite?