Do you realize how addicted you are to your electronics?

Kika said:
I have become a tech addict. I have my iPhone, AirPods Pro, Apple Watch, Alexa, 2 lap tops, landline phone, 2 smart TVs.

I have morphed into my grandchildren. Well, Not quite…they text each other while sitting in the same room.

@fuzzybuddy Do you have a cell phone charger for the car?
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Of course not, I 'm not that much of an addict to have a car charger. :) It comes pre-built into the car. I have an iPhone charger, and a back up charger, and one for when I travel, and about 6 other chargers.
 
Disgustedman said:
WARNING, GOING OFF TRACK HERE WARNING

If you lose power due to an EMP, wait 5 minutes. Then you are gone, along with your worries, family, money, house everything!!!!!

That's what a first strike does. Watch "The Day After" my family watched it. Needless to say we were impressed with the movie as low budget as it was.

It wasn't "Cutesy" in any form. Young boy looking into the blast (eyes fried, brain damaged) four year old child, mother, father all wiped out.

What could happen was spelled out and it was terrifying.
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Hell Discustedman

EMP is not a nuclear attack like "The Day After" !
It was tested in 1962, shot Starfish Prime.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/going-nuclear-over-the-pacific-24428997/


A medium sized thermonuclear device is launched to the center of the target area, butDOES NOT reenter. The burst height is 50..200 kM so exoatmospheric. Thus, NO blast, thermal or radiation on the Earth. The effect is purely a very poerful electromagnetic pulse, that penetrate the atmosphere and causs high voltages and currents at the surface in any conductor.

Electrical cables, computers, mobiles, cell towers are damaged or burned out, but no direct casualties.
The untracablility, low cost and lack of guidance and reentry make it a cheap threat.
An EMP event is much more likely than a nuclear strike.

ENJOY AND BE AN OPTIMIST!

Jon
 

Oh sure. Obviously. But it isn’t my only addiction. I’m also addicted to walks in nature. spending time with my dogs, good literature, tea, steel cut oatmeal and playing (non virtual) card games over meals with my wife. Oh and then there is my Infatuation with making a garden, tending it, visiting other gardens and horticulture generally. My screens are only the tip of the iceberg addiction-wise.
 
For me, a majority of electronics are nothing more than a tool. They have a specific function & even though I might miss one or two, I could pretty much live without them.

Cell phones are for calling/texting when needed. I don't live on it. Too many people walk around on their cell with their head up their derriere totally oblivious to their surroundings. It's especially unforgiveable when they do the same thing behind the wheel of a vehicle. I've seen this stupidity far too many times.

Landline with answering machine is my main contact for all business. Even in a power outages it will still work for emergencies.

Computer works best for me when I need to use the internet for business. I seldom use the internet on the phone since screen is too small for fat fingers & eyeballs can't read it.

TV isn't watched that much, just for the news, weather, a few shows or DVDs.

Don't get me wrong, life has benefited from some of these things. But I feel it has dumbed down a lot of the younger people who either never learned or was taught the basics & can only rely on electronics to survive. And not all young people don't fall into this category.

It's been an asset for people who, through no fault of their own, can't get out & about to take care of business matters. It's also let them stay in contact with friend & family from all over.
 
Glad to see that not everyone is addicted. I have learned that people are way more important in life than any toys you might buy.

My daughter gave me an iphone. I seldom look at it; perhaps 2 or 3 times each day. I go walking 5 times/week and never take that phone. I go shopping and leave it at home. Cut my cable 23 years ago and never miss it.

On the day you die, if you are lucky to have the time, you will remember all the wonderful people that you knew over the years. I doubt if you will remember all the "wonderful" toys you bought?
 
Packerjohn said:
On the day you die, if you are lucky to have the time, you will remember all the wonderful people that you knew over the years. I doubt if you will remember all the "wonderful" toys you bought?
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For the most part people are a disappointment. I’ll be thinking about all the things I didn’t have time to create.
 
I would not call it an addiction. It is our world now. The computer and coffeemaker are the two most important to me right now. Before I moved here (to a small city) there were many times I did not have enough power to run anything. It was okay with me back then. I had horses I could hang out with or I could bake goodies. Always had something else I could do and enjoyed doing. Here in a small apartment, the computer is my link to the world. I can always read or color or write but I would desperately miss my computer.
 
I began the love of other electronics in 1964 (we've TV since 1957, Papa bought it at the Fair) so I grew up with black and white, then the transition to colours. IBM was a huge part of my childhood thanks to brother-in-law joining the ranks that year, 4 years before he married.

So, the love of manual typewriters was replaced by the IBM Selectric, which got me into Commercial schools for my degree. I didn't graduate in a typewriting field per se, but eventually doing the accounting is now out of the books and into Android tablet.

Word Processing was my career, where I saw once more the Selectric with a Mag-Card attachment for files saving, then onto the worst possible system of WP the Wang System 5 Model 3. That thing took 2-3 to kick-start on cold winter mornings, lol! Then, the best came along, the Micoms systems, those were great.

On down time, aka when my workload card was full, it was fun to do graphics with letters on the machine's printers. The Qume with the daisy font heads were great. Only downside these printers were noisy and had ink cartridges which costs an arm and a leg.

I recommended a way to refill these, then began the recycling fads we've got today. Nope, I've never received the benefits of my discovery. Shitaki mushrooms...

I then went through data storage devices, namely said Mag-Card from IBM which looked like a punch card... Then a 10" disk, to diskettes 5.4" through what has become known as USB Sticks. Meanwhile, the precursors to desktop computers included an 8088, to a 360 and so on, even a briefcase Mac PC with the green screen.

In 1989, I had to retire for my health, many of my at-home work included PCs which were second hand, I fixed them, they were low prices and they lasted until I ran out of memory and or storage on them huge but small hard drives.

With all my typing expertise, work ran out in late 90s. That's when an idea to try my hands (excuse the pun) at writing a best seller series. I miss the Netscape browsers and the animated filing cabinets of the early versions of Microsoft Windows.

During these years, one pronounced addiction was the internet, I remember the rooms filled with these huge machines with tapes lol. It showed up November 1994. The wonderful but very slow dialup... 6 hours at night to download a simple file to waking up in the morning to a flashing message: "the internet connection was lost and the file download cancelled..." Grr huh! Head stuck to papers left on desk over night...

When I took up my stories again, the new ePub format was beginning and my chance of publishing my own stories was born. Unfortunately, the hackers in cyberspace put an end to my efforts. During the Pandemic, I rewrote my entire series on my old second hand tablet using Google Sheets or my HP pavilion laptop with LibreOffice WP program.

At least when the power goes out, my tablet's got battery power and a few of the games I play don't need internet, and my mobile but I miss my TV during those. Touch wood, the last power outage happened during the first lockdown on my 60th birthday no less, no dinner just cake.

I don't have a kindle I read my ePub format on my phone/tablet with two apps. I read in bed usually but since hubby died all my books, ePub or on paper and my series are shelved. I still love typing but my style's changed to accommodate new digital keyboards. One finger at still near 150 words per minute. Dangers of lifetime of typing, yes, problems with wrists and shoulders pains on top of back pains.

To this day, it's still a passion to write stories, write business letters and occasional documents for friends. If it's an addiction, well it won't cause me a major accident so that's good. I've left social platforms due to personal reasons. I prefer sites such as this one.

Quote: the 70-80s were great for opening a world which thanks to Pandemic has shrunk...
 
To an extent, yes. Although, when I go down the shore, I only use a computer on occasion. As for my phone, I dislike them entirely, but they are handy when in need. I do not own, nor want to own a TV.
 
Llynn said:
I've held an amateur radio license since 1959. Back then, electronics involved vacuum tubes, wired in resistors and capacitors, and lots of individual switches, meters, dials and knobs. In those days you could get inside the cabinet and see what you were working on.

Now everything is microscopic mounted on a chip or two and for the average person, impossible to work on. To me, electronic gadgets are no longer fun. I don't have a TV, have the bare minimum flip phone, and rarely activate my ham station.

I use my PC mostly for research and for the little bit of on line shopping I am forced into doing. When out and about I seldom carry my phone and never my tablet.
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I, too, got my 'novice' class license in the late 50's (KN9IYE - Kilo-November-Nine-Intelligent-Young-Engineer, and actually did get an advanced engineering degree). Back then you had to copy Morse code at 5 WPM and pass the low-level technical written test. The next year I passed the General written test and the 13 WPM code test & my call sign dropped the 'N' for novice to K9IYE. Then I passed the Advanced written test and got an Advanced license. Then I moved to California and got the 'vanity' call WA6DN.

There is nothing like turning on a vacuum tube receiver and transmitter and waiting for them to warm up, producing a comforting golden glow. And then tuning the dial to hear another ham, maybe across the ocean, tapping out 'CQ' in Morse code (is anybody there?). Then the excitement of answering him and having a nice chat in code. It was magical. After the chat, you carefully logged all the info into your logbook and addressed your QSL card to your new pal. QSL cards were glossy post cards with your call sign in bright colors which you exchanged with your contact to document the contact. Some contacts were rare and went on the wall. Some were used to get awards such as 'Worked All States'.
Now it's all done online; some old-timers hang on to the QSL card tradition but not like it was.

Building and working on those older radios was a breeze - they had big parts that could withstand even clumsy soldering and wires big enough to wrap around posts, plus test points that were easy to find and accessible. Now, if you just touch an integrated circuit with an ungrounded solder iron you zap it and you need your loupe to find test points.
 
oldaunt said:
Electronics? I have a laptop, and a TV which is seldom on. Other than that, I have a landline and a sewing machine. Its the last 2 I would actually miss.
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Me too oldaunt: My remote control for the T.V. failed on me the other night. My son said to go and get another one, but I said I don't mind having to get out of the chair to change the channels. He was shocked and said I should come up to date with the times. He was quite willing to buy me another T.V. which I refused.
 
Disgustedman said:
WARNING, GOING OFF TRACK HERE WARNING

If you lose power due to an EMP, wait 5 minutes. Then you are gone, along with your worries, family, money, house everything!!!!!

That's what a first strike does. Watch "The Day After" my family watched it. Needless to say we were impressed with the movie as low budget as it was.

It wasn't "Cutesy" in any form. Young boy looking into the blast (eyes fried, brain damaged) four year old child, mother, father all wiped out.

What could happen was spelled out and it was terrifying.
Click to expand...
Doesn't an EMP (Electro-Magnetic-Pulse) just kill electronics? I think if you wait 5 minutes, electronic devices will be dead but structures and living things should be ok. But you might still have a chance if you're a prepper or high-level government employee or even Amish.
 
Jean-Paul said:
Hell Discustedman

EMP is not a nuclear attack like "The Day After" !
It was tested in 1962, shot Starfish Prime.
Going Nuclear Over the Pacific


A medium sized thermonuclear device is launched to the center of the target area, butDOES NOT reenter. The burst height is 50..200 kM so exoatmospheric. Thus, NO blast, thermal or radiation on the Earth. The effect is purely a very poerful electromagnetic pulse, that penetrate the atmosphere and causs high voltages and currents at the surface in any conductor.

Electrical cables, computers, mobiles, cell towers are damaged or burned out, but no direct casualties.
The untracablility, low cost and lack of guidance and reentry make it a cheap threat.
An EMP event is much more likely than a nuclear strike.

ENJOY AND BE AN OPTIMIST!

Jon
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Right on, Jean-Paul! From and old retired EE wishing he was in Paris
 
caveman.jpg
I'm still at the early stage, but give me time!
The only time that I have used e-mail was to join this forum, and even then, someone helped me. I have never emailed anyone, or bought anything online. The way that I communicate is by way of a letter. Not a common practice these days, but a handwritten letter inevitably gets a response. The reaction from officialdom ranges from incredulous to disbelief, they think that I got some wordsmith to write it for me.
letter 001.JPG
 
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dilettante said:
Did EEs ever knuckle under to P=IV or stick it out with P=IE as Ohm intended?
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Yep, it's P=IV. I haven’t encountered the P=IE version (maybe before my time).
P = Power in Watts
I = Current in Amps
V = Voltage in Volts
E is reserved for Energy (either Joules or Watt-secs)
E = QV (used more in physics)
E = Energy in joules
Q = Charge in coulombs
V = Voltage in Volts
E = Pt (used more in engineering)
E = Energy in Watt-secs
P = Power in Watts
t = time in secs

Current flow direction & speed are more interesting discussions.
Back when I was in college, current flow was considered to flow from the + side of the source (battery) to the – side. This convention is consistent with the flow of positive 'holes' not negative electrons. A hole is just a position along a circuit where an electron is missing. This view is used more in engineering.

However, since current is really all about electrons which carry a negative charge, they flow in the opposite direction (from the – side to the + side of the source). This view is used more in physics.

Electric current travels a little slower than the speed of light depending on conductors, temperature, etc. However, more recently, experiments in quantum physics have shown superluminal (faster-than-light) effects. Practical uses need more work. If you are interested in these kind of magical quantum discoveries, check out “Quantum Entanglement”, a truly unreal effect.
 
You know, I was reading something this morning that really struck a nerve.

Essentially it made the following point: People have, forever, used religion, and their religious belief, to support them through life. It gives a sense of belonging, and comradery with others. This is now being replaced by electronic tools, which we use for the same purpose - essentially, to combat our loneliness and sense of belonging.

I'm not doing the argument justice in one paragraph, but it did make me curious.
 
VaughanJB said:
You know, I was reading something this morning that really struck a nerve.

Essentially it made the following point: People have, forever, used religion, and their religious belief, to support them through life. It gives a sense of belonging, and comradery with others. This is now being replaced by electronic tools, which we use for the same purpose - essentially, to combat our loneliness and sense of belonging.

I'm not doing the argument justice in one paragraph, but it did make me curious.
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This is an interesting viewpoint. It seems to me that it wasn't a 'jump' from communities based on religion to those based on the cell phone, but a gradual change. Starting with tiny religious/ritualistic communities hundreds of years ago to castles and kings which brought people together for support and safety. Then on to small towns where people worked and played together, to bigger towns with telephones that brought more people together. Then faster transportation (cars, trains, planes) shrunk the world even more and brought us all physically closer. Then radio, tv and the internet brought people into our homes. And now cell phones which let us carry other people around with us both audibly and visually.

Soon we will have implants so we can all be of the same mind. And even later, we will merge with AI and be a part of the universal mind. And finally, when Elon admits he is the author of the great virtual-reality game we are all playing we will lose consciousness because we won't need it anymore.

Ok, I got a little carried away at the end, but I think it's accurate up to and including AI.
JMHO
 
Electric stove, freezer/refrigerator, pump to our well water are all electrical. Without them life would be very hard. I could probably survive if the internet went down, but the other stuff , I am totally dependent.
 
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I do realize it and I wonder what I would do if suddenly the ability to use these devices were to be cut off for...say...months. I've been reading about a massive solar flare that we're due to get hit with in 2024 that could knock out the satellites that provide us with those services. It would be chaotic (actually described as potentially catastrophic), not just on a personal level but for businesses, doctors and hospitals, banks and brokerages (Wall Street would be a mess)! I had been reading about it even before @Paladin1950 posted this thread thread about the event:
Anybody read this? Solar Maximum. It really sounds scary.

My tablet comes in handy when my computer is acting up, which happens more frequently than I'd like since my OS "upgrade". I also watch shows on it using earbuds after my son goes to bed (around 8:30) so as not to disturb him. I play some games on my tablet and others on my phone. I handle all my financial business (except Cash App) using my tablet (the apps make it easier). My phone is important too though. Besides calling and texting, I use the phone as my scheduler, calculator, voice recorder, camera, music player and pedometer.

I also use it to quickly check my main email account where my Amazon hub access #s are sent, purchase train (and/or bus) tickets, send and receive money via Cash App, order Ubers & Lyfts and use Shazam to see the names and artists of songs I hear and like when I'm out and about. My rewards points for IHOP and a retailer are stored in their apps on my phone. I can also hold down a button on either device and ask a question so the device searches what I need and/or provides information for me. So yes...I would find it hard to do without my devices.
 

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