Technology is moving too fast for the average person, even for me whom I consider well above average. In the world of mobile phones that deliver email to your hand-held device, a huge photo album, an entire music collection, access to the Internet, the resources of Google and other search engines which give you the world at your finger tips, twitter...I could go on and on. I have reached that which a few years ago I could never conceive. I have stopped buying new stuff and finally realize there will be stuff friends have that I can't possibly justify paying for or taking the time to slog through the learning curve involved.
It is frightening to think of how much is stored on the Internet when countries are playing around with nuclear bomb plans. It reminds me of the spoof The Onion has on YouTube.
Never before have I experienced such a disparity of skills among well-educated people with high intelligence. I cringe as I realize there are many who are still resisting learning to use a computer (and I'm not talking about the Amish, or others whose religious beliefs prevent them from coming into the 21st C.) It surprises me that, for the first time, I own so many electronic devices about which I struggle to make more than basic use. It seems like having the whole world at my disposal and choosing to live only on one small island. As more and more computer chips are in more and more appliances which are not made to last, it makes me wonder why designers can't make some things universally compatible. I have finally stopped buying cell phone chargers for my car because the phone won't last long enough to make the purchase cost effective. Why don't things last like the Sony TV I have had for nearly 25 years? It was in color, had an excellent picture, but just wasn't cable ready. I worked around that by hooking it up to a VHS recorder...in fact it outlasted three of them until finally all VHS format was put in the tech graveyard as I retired the poor things, still clinging to life, and moved another TV into the space.
Finally I have resorted to attaching a name tag to every cord and cable that enters the house. I label each AC converter to tie it in with the appliance that it services. Most of you might imagine the boxes of those things I had before I started to label them and what finally drove me to that bit of obsessiveness.
It baffles me that I could have bought an Amana Radarange at least 20 years ago that still works great though I have never used it to roast a turkey (which is why this one is as big as it is). While it does many things, my limited use of it is to cook vegetables and heat liquids. Wrong, I also cook regular oatmeal in it. I used to cook bacon in it but got tired of needing half a roll of Bounty to drain the fat into. Now I just bake bacon and it tastes better to me and I don't have to watch it constantly.
I own two DVD recorders on which I used to record TV shows I wanted to see but couldn't sit in front of the TV at the time to do. Then Verizon got proprietary and made them both obsolete for that purpose. I hate that companies can be so heartless as to wipe out functions in your life with no conscience about the pain they cause.
If the economic downturn has any positive effect, it may stop the plethora of new and better models of everything that make all of what I own no longer work.
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