Not Everyone Who Prefers Flip Phones is a Luddite

[Binkie The Clown]

40. I'm with you there.

I'm 72. I started working as a programmer fresh out of high school. A neighbor worked at IBM and gave me some contract programming work to do while I was still in high school. That lead to a full time job, and eventually, years later, an MS degree and a solid career in high tech, both software and hardware in aerospace. I built one of the first home computer kits (Altair 8800), had a KIM, an Apple I (yes, I, not II. $666 without a case or keyboard), and an Apple II, and the first model of the Mac, and more PCs than I can count, most of them built myself from components.

Now I'm retired, and I have a flip phone as my only phone. Am I a Luddite? I just finished building a spot welder from parts out of an old microwave oven so I could weld battery tabs on the power pack for the home brew electric bicycle I'm almost done building. This is my second electric bike. I'm a early adopter of technology that makes sense for me and my lifestyle. If I want to watch a movie I use my big screen TV. If I want to take a picture I use my top of the line SLR. If I want to play video games I use my desktop PC or my laptop. If I want to read a book I use my Kindle Fire. If I want to talk to my out-of-town kids, we use Skype or Ventrilo. If I want to "message" someone, I use email.

I'm laid back and relaxed. I have no need to send people pictures of tonight's dinner, or tell them that I'm at Walmart to buy a roll of toilet paper. I'm never in a hurry, so I have no "urgent" texts I have to send. Most people don't care what I'm doing right now, I, frankly, I don't care what they're doing right now. Tell me about it tomorrow when you send me an email. I'll probably read it by this time next week. I'm done with "hurry up".