Does technology free us or trap us?

As far as I'm concerned the technology that I see people using today has trapped them, is holding them hostage.

What am I referring to? The sheer numbers of people who walk around with their noses and ears glued to the cellphones.

Tells me everything I need to know about technology and it's downfalls.
 
Being relieved by machine from some of the physical requirements of life has been a good thing (clothes washer, central air, central heating, etc.) But, I look for the least computer controlled items so I can manage the decisions myself, without someone controlling my thermostat from far away, which does happen and has been in the news.

Also, the least electronic the controls, the cheaper to repair. I dread replacing my car, it's an oldie and I am not ready for all the electronic stuff the new cars run by.

Aunt Marg, I was on the Tube and looked at the other riders. It was a weird moment to see every single person young and old, looking down at their phones.
 
Becky1951 said:
Gone are the days of the less expensive fixing autos, appliances by buying a part and doing it your self.
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for the most part ( unintended pun)... my o/h can still fix most of our stuff himself....we've saved fortunes where some would have thrown an item like a fridge or dryer out, .. equally so much of ours cars he can repair despite them being mostly computerised, he's bought his own computer technology to fix them...
 
hollydolly said:
for the most part ( unintended pun)... my o/h can still fix most of our stuff himself....we've saved fortunes where some would have thrown an item like a fridge or dryer out, .. equally so much of ours cars he can repair despite them being mostly computerised, he's bought his own computer technology to fix them...
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My youngest son is like that, he works on all the families autos, and also any small engines.

Hey I fixed my electric can opener last week. Gorilla glue is amazing..🤣🤣
 
I think technology has freed me more than trapped me. It is great to stream movies and TV to watch at the time I want instead of when the networks or movie theaters told me. I love downloading books instead of going to the bookstore or library. I can order food, clothes and anything else without chasing all over town. Easier to pay bills too.
 
Jeweltea said:
I think technology has freed me more than trapped me. It is great to stream movies and TV to watch at the time I want instead of when the networks or movie theaters told me. I love downloading books instead of going to the bookstore or library. I can order food, clothes and anything else without chasing all over town. Easier to pay bills too.
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My thoughts too. Yesterday I woke up late and lay in bed for a while listening to the radio. There was discussion about a couple of books that I became interested in. I decided to buy one for my grand daughter (a young mother of a soon to be 2 year old) and Hubby who will be having a birthday fairly soon.

Neither was a new release but with the help of a search engine I was able to locate both at the same book store. Sydney is in lockdown right now so no chance of travelling into the city. With a few clicks I had ordered and paid for them and I should receive them in a few days.

Rather than trapped, I feel empowered by technology.
 
Buckeye said:
For me, I love the new tech stuff. Smart phones and all the apps, GPS built into my car, all of it. And, for the record, I have never seen anyone with their nose or ears glued to their cellphone.
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Satnavs I find extremely irritating, so I don't bother with those. Any form of payment, other than cash or cheques, goes completely over my head, especially Pay-pal and the way some point their phone at the payment reader, that really does my head in. So cash is king. My phone is antiquated by today's standards, it is a so called smart phone, too smart for me though, it took three months to work out how to use the basic text & voice. The one piece of technology that I could never master is the television. My wife flips through this menu, goes here, does that, burns a disc, explodes my grey cells.

Cars, I'm alright with cars, my 1947 MG runs very well and not an onboard computer in sight. Same with phones, our 1968 rotary dial is still in good working order and the benefit of it is that when a voice menu asks you to press one for the money, two for the show, dialing those numbers cuts them off. But the drawback to a rotary dial is, you cannot see the number of an incoming call.

Does technology trap me? It's too complicated too.
fuzzybuddy said:
Let's see. Is technology trapping us, and you're asking this in an online chatroom, using a computer, and via the internet. HUH?
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On line chat rooms are no different to the way we had pen-pals in years gone by, it's hardly entrapment, unless of course, one is so addicted that they just have to get up at three am to check if there are any replies to their postings, that's entrapment, or as I prefer to call it, addiction.
 
Just because we have technology, it doesn't mean that we have to use it. Of course some people will want the latest gadgets and swear that they "couldn't live without them", but as I see it, most of these devices didn't exist for most of my life, and I'm still here.

Reminds me of a tale (true or not) that while NASA spent a fortune trying to develop a ball point pen that would write in zero gravity, the Russians simply used pencils!
 
Owlivia said:
Being relieved by machine from some of the physical requirements of life has been a good thing (clothes washer, central air, central heating, etc.) But, I look for the least computer controlled items so I can manage the decisions myself, without someone controlling my thermostat from far away, which does happen and has been in the news.

Also, the least electronic the controls, the cheaper to repair. I dread replacing my car, it's an oldie and I am not ready for all the electronic stuff the new cars run by.

Aunt Marg, I was on the Tube and looked at the other riders. It was a weird moment to see every single person young and old, looking down at their phones.
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And there was a time when they would have all been looking down at their newspapers.....
 
I am empowered rather than trapped by the technology I use, and I use as much of it as I’m able to or can afford.

I’ve been having some trouble with my neck so my range of motion has been compromised and driving was a bit of a problem. I was having trouble navigating traffic, glancing out the window to check my blind spot before I merged, looking behind me when I backed up etc. So Ron’s solution to that so I could drive safely?? He replaced my older vehicle with a new car.

It has a backup camera on the dash, and blind spot alerts on each of the side windows so that I don’t have to put a strain on my neck any more, while the chiropractic adjustments I’m getting solve the neck problem.

As part of our renovation we’re switching out our old thermostat for a smart thermostat that we can control with our phones. No more stumbling out of bed in the dark to adjust the temperature when we’re too hot or cold.

My AirPods (in ear headphones) have increased both my productivity and my learning capacity because I can listen to an audio book while I’m working.

But see I’m also adaptable, in part BECAUSE I’ve been willing to allow myself to learn and evolve with technology and expand my knowledge bar so I can continue to be flexible and not get stuck in a rut. So if everything goes to hell and we’re back to the stone age of no technology, I can adapt to that too! 😉
 
I think i am both trapped and enabled by technology. Great time saver for shopping, banking and researching. Very intrusive at times with all the robo phone calls, texts. No piece of technology is secure yet I find where I live i need to use it for banking and some shopping.

Read a few studies that many of the social media companies do employ methods using pyschology to ensnare users to keep coming back. I cut the cord on social media years ago once i kept getting adverts and people i did not know all over the world wanted to be a friend to up their numbers. Found it very strange.

I keep the cell phone only but hardly use it. keeping in touch with family and friends via email and a few chats with facetime. Phone calls are for call to gov't agencies to sort things out and listen to elevator music !
 
Huzz's cell phone started acting up so he took it into a cell ph. repair place here in town. The kid told him he needed a new one; okay, makes sense, the one he had was pretty old, espec. for all this new digital stuff since it seems to age in "dog years", lol. So he got a new one ordered, pulled out his check book, and the kid looked stunned and said, "Oh, uh, you're gonna pay with, like, a check?!" Huzz said yeah becuz his debit card is for an account that we didn't want to take the rather high amount for the new cell ph. out, is that a problem? Kid says, "Oh, no, uh, it's okay." :sneaky:
 
officerripley said:
Huzz's cell phone started acting up so he took it into a cell ph. repair place here in town. The kid told him he needed a new one; okay, makes sense, the one he had was pretty old, espec. for all this new digital stuff since it seems to age in "dog years", lol. So he got a new one ordered, pulled out his check book, and the kid looked stunned and said, "Oh, uh, you're gonna pay with, like, a check?!" Huzz said yeah becuz his debit card is for an account that we didn't want to take the rather high amount for the new cell ph. out, is that a problem? Kid says, "Oh, no, uh, it's okay." :sneaky:
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I saw a woman pay the hairdresser with a cheque a couple of days ago .. very rare, indeed!
 
I would say it's a little of both. Sometimes I'd like to do away with technology, especially when it comes to automated phones. Lordy, they drive me nuts.
 

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