A new year puts me in a reflective mood, piqued last week by an article about delivery drones finally coming into their own (yay?)
Never mind that they will put hundreds of delivery drivers out of work. Never mind that I don’t want them in my airspace.
And then there are the cars that drive themselves, “occasionally” blowing through stop signs and mowing down pedestrians (collateral damage?) Motorized scooters that would be great if their drivers obeyed the rules of the road and slowed down or stayed off the sidewalk… and had batteries that didn't burst into flames.
Of course this is nothing new. Remember when all the movie tapes went in the trash and along came DVDs and then Netflix nailed us CDs then DVDs… and now streaming…
Where once there were malls now there's Amazon.
On the horizon or here, depending on who you ask, AI is gobbling up and spewing the words and ideas we once got paid to write.
It’s a zombie world.
I keep remembering movie WALL-E: the last robot left on Earth spends his days tidying up the planet, one piece of garbage at a time. CDs. TV antennas. Steering wheels.
What’s your vision of the future, and what will you miss most? I know my answer.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Oddly enough, I read recently that movies on tape - like music on records - are making a comeback among Millennials who were familiar with them from childhood. So maybe past technology isn’t doomed to be zombified, but made into taste markers for the hipper-than-thou crowd.
I’m actually hoping for a REAL self-driving car, from some company far less likely to move fast and break things, as Tesla seems to enjoy doing. I live out in the country, and it’s likely someday in the next decades I’ll have to stop driving. It’s already an issue in our rural state; truly competent driverless cars could be a gamechanger in keeping old folks in their own homes.
The technology that seems to be on its way out that I’ll miss? Money. Saving pennies and turning them in at the bank. Getting a crisp bill in a birthday card from grandma. The pleasure of finding a twenty you tucked into the back of your wallet and forgot.
I like cash. It feels real.
JENN McKINLAY: I see driverless cars every single day and not just one but many. Phoenix and the surrounding burbs are on a grid so we are an ideal place for this technology. When I walk my dogs to the park every morning, I am passed by at least two driverless vehicles.
At first they freaked me out, but now I’m getting used to them. A friend of mine took one and said the upsides were no forced conversation and there’s a kill switch you can hit at any time.
I was thinking about the movie WALL-E the other day. I’ve only watched snippets of it as my mom took the Hooligans to see it when they were little and it made her cry, so I passed on it because I get very sad about the state of the planet and the disposable world we live in.
I was remembering seeing a clip where everyone sat in these robotic chairs and stared at screens and I thought “That is what’s happening to us. Eek! I want to throw out my phone.”
I won’t but for a hot minute it was really really tempting.
I am using a timer on my phone now so I only have a half hour for screen time and that’s it. I want to see the sunrise outside my window, not a filtered one that a company put up on social media to sell me a food delivery service, the latest fashion fad, or a trendy kitchen gadget I don’t need.
Technology is great in so many ways but not when it takes away our freedom to just live in the moment.
LUCY BURDETTE: Good idea Julia about the self-driving car taking older people where they need to go. Would they own the car or would it be like an Uber service? Can’t quite picture…
I haven’t yet seen a self-driving car and honestly the idea still scares me. If there could be a kill switch, couldn’t there also be a ‘drive faster and crash into something’ switch?
I guess I’m dragged kicking and screaming into most new things!!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I can remember when my parents, who were in the theater concession business) were absolutely sure that videotapes would kill the movies. Didn't happen. Although the pandemic and streaming may have made a dent, I think people are always going to want to experience things communally. At least I hope so.
So many things we've thought were outmoded have come back. Polaroids! Vinyl! Fountain pens! Even typewriters! So maybe we will not all turn into screen zombies in our driverless cars, staring at our phones instead of the road.
If we have self-driving cars here in the DFW area, I haven't seen one!
RHYS BOWEN: We have driverless taxis in both San Francisco and Phoenix. I’ve seen plenty but haven’t needed to use one yet. I’d love a reliable driverless car when we make the trip from CA to AZ. So long and boring. I could watch a movie or sleep.
What I worry about with all this new technology is the loss of jobs. People have to work. If everything is done by AI what jobs will be left? Will we revert to a society where the rich technocrats live well, but the only other jobs are in the servant category–their house cleaners, gardeners, garbage men, etc. Where are the jobs with dignity? At least plumbers and electricians make a good living and there will still be people needed to build houses.
I hate the thought of paying people a stipend to exist.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: AH, AI. So much happening with that now, as people realize a lot of it is …well, I just read an article that called a lot of what comes out “AI hallucinations”--that it’s just making stuff up, and as a research tool, it is about as reliable as a bad WIkipedia entry.
Every new thing has to work itself out–look at the technology for our fabulous new Reds and Readers page, right? It’s all a learning curve. And who’d-a thought we’d all become so uber-proficient at Zoom? And now it’s mundane. Look what we do with our phones, and how much we know! (And right, Jenn, WAY too often.)
That said, there's not a cell in my body that would get into a driverless car. Never, nohow, no way.
HALLIE: So what about you? Is technoogy dragging you kicking and screaming? Or crowing joyfully into a tech-filled future?
And what will you miss most? For me, it's no contest: human contact.
I often fret at how technology seems to have taken over every aspect of our lives, but folks generally don't seem to mind the change. Yes, I love the convenience of my phone, but convenience isn't always the most important thing. I miss the adventure of going to the mall; with drones delivering my Amazon packages, the whole shopping experience has removed contact with others. I may be shy and introverted, but I like doing things with people [as opposed to the machine technology we've created].
ReplyDeleteAI troubles me . . . news of its use to create believable "grandchildren in trouble" messages from social media posts in order to scam grandparents tells me there's a lot there that's not so rosy. As for the driverless cars, please do get that technology to work . . . I don't like to drive so I'd love a car that would drive me IF it was safe and reliable.
I chuckled when one of my grandson’s “best present ever” pronouncements was for a record player and a vinyl record . . . perhaps there’s hope yet.
"I like doing things with people" - oh me too, me too... that's what I regret the loss of. Human contact.
DeleteMe too on the doing things with people. I take my paper check to the bank and cash it with a teller. Unless it has been lost to memory, I have never used an ATM. Elisabeth
DeleteI wouldn't get in a driverless car. Technology has its uses, but not for everything. I'll miss human interaction the most.
ReplyDeleteExactly! We're all getting marooned in our own little universes. Really not a good thing.
DeleteAI is our future overlord. We all know what happens when the machines rise up (Terminator) and then put on a red dress (Galactica). The only red I want are The Reds in print. Your curmudgeon of a librarian, Michael
ReplyDeleteAndwhen we stop being able to do for ourselves (and for others)....
DeleteI am kinda like JULIA in missing cash. Pre-pandemic, 90% of the vendors at the farmers market stalls in my historic ByWard Market neighbourhood were "cash only". In 2023, it's the opposite, with me tapping my credit card on their Square terminal. Yes it's convenient, but I kept better track of my expenses when I had to pull money out of my wallet.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm glad about vinyl records making a comeback. Streaming music is convenient but I am sorry that I tossed my old vinyl turntable 10 years ago. Analog was better than digital.
As for driverless cars, NO WAY would I get inside. I also don't like the idea of robots preparing my order at a coffee shop or fast food eatery. All those minimum entry jobs are in danger.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention there is an automated 24/7 convenience store that opened last year in downtown Ottawa. It's similar to the Amazon GO stores in the US. You have an account, sign into the building with your phone, buy what you want & just exit the store. No staff, no self checkout. I PASS.
DeleteAnd you were in an automated hotel last year somewhere, weren't you?
DeleteI was shocked in the airport not long ago that a food concession would not take cash. And you had to use the machine to place your order.
DeleteEDITH: Yes, SONDER is an new international long-term stay/hotel chain. My first experience was at the Vancouver hotel last October. Using my phone to get the code to open the building door. No hotel lobby or staff. Number keypad to enter my suite. I stayed 10 days, and only saw housekeeping staff in the hallways.
DeleteI booked another stay at Sonder hotel for the first 2 days in Montreal before the mystery fiction festival.
I went to a baseball game last spring in DC with my daughter and her Virginia family. There were regular concessions, but they also had a fully automated self-service one, too, attended by a very bored young woman. It was freaky; you set the item in a lit circle and then tapped a card to pay for it. There were only a few items, like bottled water and chips, but I can see it's the way of the future.
DeleteMany European countries are cashless. I was in Norway about 7-8 years ago and paid for everything with a credit card. I never used cash once. England is also pretty much cash free.
DeleteTrue, ANON, but there are always exceptions. You still need coins to access public washrooms, and several European Christmas markets would not accept debit or credit for transactions cheaper than 3 Euros last year. Cash only.
DeleteHonestly, I don't miss using cash in the UK because the coins are so darned heavy!
DeleteDEBS: We switched to $1 and $2 coins in Canada since the 1990s. But we're used to them.
DeleteI never like to say never, but the driverless car thing has too many bugs yet to be worked out. Although I'm pondering Julia's comment about living out in the country and getting older. Same here. Maybe by the time I NEED one, the driverless car will be the norm. I'm thinking of those people way back when who swore they'd never trust one of those horseless carriages!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm with Hallie. I miss human contact. And being able to reach a knowledgeable human on the phone when I need customer service.
Imaging how terrifying the first cars must have been! (Of course I"m afraid of horses...)
DeleteScary times. I saw driverless cars, as Jen and Rhys say, in Phoenix and in San Francsico. Just...no. And I absolutely hate the googly eyes robot that roams the aisles at Stop and Shop. I say, "Get away from me" and it sometimes turns around. If not, I do. I often shop at our local small market, which is remarkably well stocked, where it's all humans all the time.
ReplyDeleteIn some airport recently (San Diego?) I saw a robot coffee stand. SO creepy. And please, no delivery drones.
I still deal in cash sometimes and like it. I use paypal but refuse to sign up for Venmo or the other one.
What is Stop & Shop robot's job? Security? Helping customers?
DeleteIck. I think it's supposed to be checking inventory and scanning for spills. It doesn't speak (that I know of). I would never set foot in the store except it's the closest big supermarket and sometimes you just need something that my local market doesn't have.
Delete"Cleanup needed in the produce section" is what those robots are good for... and all summer long they ring out as people are shucking their corn. Remember the terrible timing of when they introduced those robots -- during job action. Otherwise I love my local S&S - some of the staff have been there as long as I have.
DeleteUgh, that's creepy as heck, Edith! As far as I know we don't have any robots in Cincinnati, yet.
DeleteIn my earlier sales rep days I used to fantasize about a self-driving car, so I could work on the 3 or more hour drives, or watch the beautiful scenery in New England and upstate New York. Since the pandemic I am mostly on the phone, Zoom, or Microsoft TEAMS and I miss the driving. Credit/ debit cards are easy bit with cash you know exactly what you are spending and what is left. I already miss all the human contact. Suzette Ciancio
ReplyDeleteOooh that's another blog topic: what do you do on a long (train? plane? ride) - What I need tips for figuring out which seat on the train has a descent view out the window. Ditto on a plane.
DeleteMy mother once said to me that by the time I got my driver's license, I would just be able to whistle and my car would come to me. I already had my license when she died in December 1965. Her prediction was just a few years premature.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I am with Jen about screen time, with Hank on driverless cars. Irwin already tossed all the DVD 's, so much good stuff. I am not happy about technology taking over. It is a nightmare to think about foreign entities seizing our grid. Without safeguards, everything we accept technologically, can be turned against us. We can be locked out of our computers, our Facebook pages, our phones, even our homes. Enough. Personally, I don't want any more..
Getting locked out is my nightmare. We've become SO dependent.
DeleteOur neighbor is on his second Tesla, which he often drives when we go out together. Years ago, it was raining when we left the restaurant, so he told the car to drive to us from the parking lot. It was beyond strange.
DeleteBeing dependent on all this technology becomes a nightmare when we lose power for multiple days. Remember the 2003 North American blackout? Technology was simpler back then but we still had no traffic lights, no ATMs, no electric streetcars in Toronto as well as thawing food and no A/C during a summer heat wave.
DeleteI was in a restaurant in DC once when their credit card machine failed. We were stuck there for hours. Seriously, no one had enough cash to get us out of there.
DeleteYour husband sounds like a sweetheart! Oh gosh, 45's! I've got a ton of LPs but I confess, the 45s are long gone.
ReplyDeleteJulia – I agree with the driverless cars. We too live in the country and there is no such thing as getting the bus/a taxi. Once we are unable to drive – we will be stuck.
ReplyDeleteThis morning there was a news report about using AI for mole analysis. It is said to be as accurate as a physician, and should make such a difference to finding melanoma easier and quicker, and hopefully saving lives. That would be a good thing.
It was also the Bird Hour this morning. Other than it starts at 6am (who is awake at that time), it was talking about the Christmas bird count, and that one person had ‘counted’ 821 white-winged crossbills. Hunh? Apparently, there is an app for that – focus, and it counts the swarm. Wow, who knew!
As for the old coming back to the ‘new’. I look forward to the return of VHS tapes – I have a huge collection that we saved from our kids for our grandkids. Think of the shelf space that might be liberated!
The players will have to come back with the tapes!! Then fun fun fun!
DeleteMargo, I've been going on Christmas bird counts with my birder hubby since 1980. Birders come up with those numbers on their own, too, without virtual intervention. That was probably several groups of crossbills. Which I've never seen, and would have been excited by!
DeleteAirports: when I prepay for a checked bag on an airplane, it should be seamless, right? Maybe with curbside drop? Noooo. When it's working, I battle the kiosk which demands my confirmation number. Print out my baggage tag and boarding pass. Shuffle through a line to "drop" the bag which still has to be weighed. TSA no longer accepts boarding passes printed at home. Cellphone or kiosk produced only. And then TSA tells me I "don't look like my DL photo." Just scan the enhanced DL. That's why I have it. And after all the technology and all the security, I have to fight for my aisle seat every time. "Excuse me, you're sitting in my seat." They gesture to middle seat and stare straight ahead. I ring for the flight attendant who settles everyone's hash. In the end, people, not technology, get things done.
ReplyDeleteLaughing AND crying... because that is SO TRUE, Margaret. Yes, people, not technology, get things done. But seriously, wouldn't you just hate having to be the guy who takes tickets and ids at the tsa checkpoint. I hope they pay them well.
DeleteHallie, they don't pay them particularly well. My goddaughter's husband had that job for a few years. He worked really hard to earn a slot as a...starter police officer! He seems much happier doing actual community (and criminal) policing and being in line for all kinds of advancement.
DeleteAppalling that someone sits in your aisle seat and has the nerve to indicate you can sit in the middle seat. One thing though - if you had to sit in the middle seat (you don't) but hypothetically you could get up ever few minutes to walk down the aisle and back, disrupting the jerk constantly.
DeleteWe had a one year pilot program that ended in August 2022 for a small autonomous shuttle. About 2000 people tried out this free mode of transportation downtown during that year. I was not one of them. There were two shuttles and they had an attendant on board to assist people and assure that the shuttle was working properly. The biggest complaint was that they were two slow. The max speed was 12 mph and often only went 3-7 mph. The sensors would make it stop for things like leaves in the street or steam coming up out of a manhole cover. I’m haven’t read any reports of what happened in the snow. But no vehicle crashes were reported. MN Dot also piloted these in White Bear Lake and Grand Rapids. I don’t think any city transit people are looking into buying these shuttles any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI guess the technology I would miss most is my phone as it is the thing I use most to connect to other people.
Wondering if those shuttles "knelt" - that's what many NYC busses do so wheelchairs can roll right on. But driving a bus in a big city is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for a robot.
DeletePilotless shuttles and trains have been used in Europe for years. When I was in Innsbruck in 2016 I took a driverless shuttle across the Inn River to the Alpenzoo up the mountain. It was seamless, too.
DeleteToronto has the UP (Union Pearson) express driverless air rail link from airport to downtown Toronto since 2015. It is a 25 km/15 mi trip that takes 25 minutes. They carry over 5 million passengers annually.
DeleteHallie the Grand Rapids pilot program was focused on serving the population with disabilities. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/06/30/mndot-eyes-autonomous-vehicles-to-close-transportation-gaps-improve-safety
DeleteAs one of those aging drivers who stopped driving (voluntarily) because of failing vision I do not think the “kill switch” is a safety solution. I stopped driving because I could not tell with certainty how close another car, a person, a tree was. And, as loneliness has been identified as a health hazard, “forced” conversation with my Uber drivers is welcomed…even if limited to “thank you”, “drive carefully”, “have good day.” Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteI so agree on welcome conversation with Uber drivers. (Given, I'd strike up a conversation with a fire hydrant if I could.) I've had chatty ones and not-chatty ones. And they've always been smarter about traffic than I am. Elisabeth, so scary that failing vision thing... I do find I notice things on the fringes less often (peripheral vision) and try not to drive after dark unless absolutely necessary.
DeleteHallie, my vision said “no” to driving after dark when I was 30ish. So this aging vision has been going on for 40 plus years. It is one of those problems for which there was no “fix” then and no easy fix now with my older eyes. I have found that my Uber drivers often match my mood…wanting no conversation right after a medical appoinment…and then after a 15-20 “rest” to talk for the remainder. My grandmother would indeed “talk to a fire hydrant” and it would answer back! :) Elisabeth
DeleteI've had so many nice and interesting Uber drivers. I'd miss that contact.
DeleteI remember both the chatty/nice/safe drivers as well as the sullen "how do you have a driver's license?" Uber drivers!
DeleteI have concerns about technology, but also appreciate some of the benefits. When I first started working at 9-1-1 in 1983, we had a made-to-order computer system that we used for call-taking and dispatch. I still remember the beautiful red, yellow, and blue keyboard with the 'dispatch', 'cover' and 10-code keys. Because we were plugged into the phones or radios, our communication with each other was via system message. We were doing instant messaging way before aol made it a thing. I noticed right away that I was willing to say things on the message line that perhaps I wouldn't say face to face. It was way easier to flirt, and in those days the messages weren't all recorded. That's a long way of saying my feelings are mixed.
ReplyDeleteI trusted my abilities and was the Zoom host for several church groups and even workshops during the pandemic. Yet driverless cars and AI scare me. It seems like a good time for some government regulation. Like Rhys, I worry about job loss. I kind of like the idea of a universal minimal income. It would be amazing to see how creative all sorts of folks could be if they didn't have to worry all the time about basic survival.
Your 9-1-1 job was way ahead of its time. I remember I was working at Digital in the early 80s and we had mail and phone on our computers... NO ON LIKED PHONE! Because it interrupted people in real time. So not polite. Needed a bridge... "texting" had yet to be invented.
DeleteI definitely would take a self-driving car if I thought they were safe enough, but I'm not convinced yet. I really, really hate driving and I definitely see the practicality for people's independence. But it's not even just trustig the decision making. They're vulnerable to hacking just like any other computer device.
ReplyDeleteI've also read predictions (which I know are only predictions) that the best way to make them safe and practical country wide would be *all* vehicles have to be self driving (and communicating with each other and not dealing with the unpredictability of humans) and have fleets that would not be owned by individuals but drive out to pick you up.
I can't imagine either of those things flying in the US's car loving/independence loving society. What if your wi-fi was down, or the app had broken, or you lost your phone? What a mess. Especially since we've seen how big companies love to get Americans dependent on something, eliminate a lot of the competition, and then jack up prices. The fluctuation of gas prices is bad enough but what if one day you couldn't afford to go to work b/c they raised car rates that day?
I do love my hybrid car though. We live in the city and it's perfect for us. We're at something like 300 miles per gallon and it would be even more than that if we hadn't taken it on a few longer trips.
And AI, don't even get me started!
"*all* vehicles have to be self driving" - that's a thriller writing itself because imagine the chaos that would reign if someone hacked that system.
DeleteSuch an important topic.
ReplyDeleteI remember how e-readers were going to replace books and book stores. But, our local bookstore is busier than ever selling more books than ever. There is something about a book with paper pages. You can visually see everything up front and can turn to the back to read the ending (yikes sorry did I actually say that haha), or check the acknowledgements and return to the page you were reading. Technology in this case is hard to beat the good old fashion book.
Yes, I sometimes do that too, you know?Don't tell...
DeleteIt's been so encouraging seeing bookstores claw their way back to relevance.
DeleteFrom Celia: Wow that’s a lot to take in first thing as I’m not an early riser. Driverless cars - I ‘learned’ on what is called here a stick shift. Due to back pain I was delighted with my first automatic. In view if my age perhaps the driverless model will offer me freedom in my no public transport area. Loving my new iPhone but it’s a tool not a toy and I shut off notifications for Fb etc. so far nothing earth shattering has occurred. But I do read a lot on it. My new watch is for my protection and peace of mind for my daughter. I won’t use auto checkouts but I do use food pick up/ delivery particularly now as flu is rampant here. I think it’s all a matter of personal balance. Yes it would be lovely to go out for a special dinner and have my car drive us home but I can see some danger here for drunken misuse. Not me actually but others? Maybe.
ReplyDeleteYes, a whole lot safer to have a driverless car deliver dinner TO you....
DeleteWould love to have a driverless car as long as there are strong safety inspections and monitoring.
ReplyDeleteI have always been an advocate of the cars since GM had their Futuramas which featured technology of the future. One of those technologies was the microwave oven. They demonstrated how quickly meals could be prepared. This was long before they were commercially available to consumers.
Driverless vehicles would make it so much easier for people unable to drive because of mobility or sight issues and provide independence for them for shopping, appointments, etc
Since I no longer have a car and have some walking issues, I have been at the mercy of public transportation which has become increasingly unreliable, some times waiting 45-60 minutes for a bus for what used to be a 15 minute walk. If the bus is already full they don’t stop at all and then you can tack on an additional unknown time period to wait.
This is in a town right next to Boston so it is not a rural suburb where one might expect to find greater
waiting times.
How discouraging about the poor reliability of busses... I was just in NY where there's an app to tell you where the bus you're waiting for is and how long the wait is. I wish taht had that here.
DeleteHallie, my mother is one who would "talk to a post". She's little and cute and manages to charm most people with her chatter.
ReplyDeleteWe were invited out this week to a lecture and dinner, on the other side of town. Steve has to be home for a virtual meeting, and I'm unable to drive at night right now (at least safely). A driverless Uber might be safer than one driven by an unknown quantity. Every driving service I've used has been anonymous and impersonal, and made me nervous about the driver's state of mind/physical state, etc. Emotion is not an issue with a driverless vehicle, so definitely no road rage.
Since the early 1980's I've always been an early technology adopter, for the most part. But none of the devices I used directly affected my physical safety.
All that said, drone deliveries freak me out, and I can't see how they can be made safe, or make life better in any way. They are NOISY, for one thing. When two photographer friends were getting hours for their drone pilot licenses, they did some of their flight hours at our farm. I was picking blackberries, and suddenly it sounded as if a massive swarm of bees was ready to attack. I could not figure out what was going on until I heard raucous (and frankly, cruel) laughter from up the hill, and I realized it was a damn drone. The guys all thought it was hilarious that I was freaking out, on camera, but I was not a fan.
Karen they don't sound like very good friends... :(
DeleteKaren, give me an Uber with a driver…unlike your experiences Uber and other car services I’ve used have been “professionally friendly”, I.e. clearly seeing the boundary between being a service person and your “best buddy”. I don’t trust my vision enough to drive nor enough to control a driverless car in an emergency. Elisabeth
DeleteMe, too - 100% positive experiences with Uber drivers... here in Boston, in Florida, in Marin...
DeleteAbout the drones, what is to stop them from invading privacy, too? Just what we need, more devices monitoring us, with our permission. Ugh.
DeleteI have sometimes wished my car would come to me, like the horses in westerns, especially when I can't find it in a big parking lot. Self-driving would be useful at night, and right now with injured arm and forbidden to drive.
ReplyDeleteI have resumed paying cash or check at small local businesses, who feel the bite from credit card fees. I had stopped during COVID parking lot deliveries, but now back to new normal.
-- Storyteller Mary
Good point about cash. I do try to always tip in cash.
DeleteTotally not a fan of drone deliveries except in emergency situations where they could be lifesaving. I'm concerned about jobs disappearing and the visual and noise pollution. Driverless cars getting hacked? Yikes! Imagine some serial killer-type with the knowledge to hack these and an unsuspecting passenger getting into a vehicle....no thanks!! And I agree about all the other types of jobs disappearing. What will replace them? How will society remake itself? I am not such a pollyanna to believe that there won't be a massive pyramid with a tiny group of people with all the advantages at the tip and the rest of the world at the bottom. And AI will facilitate it. There are already too many people who can't tell reality from the stuff coming out of bloviaters' mouths, AI will just make this worse and heaven help us if power shifts back to those goosesteppers.
ReplyDeleteI was dragged kicking and screaming into the age of personal computers (in 1986), having thought my 3-line-memory-erase Selectric typewriter was the bee's knees. Of course, once I got the hang of the PC, I realized how much easier it made my writing process. That said, it's a hard NO from me for the technology that puts people out of work, that adds noise to our already noisy world, and that promises nothing more than more convenience for us. Unless the technology is saving lives or bringing us world peace, I'd gladly just let it stay in the box. Just call me "the Luddite Curmudgeon".
ReplyDeleteLove your “Luddite Curmudgeon” Amanda! A fellow Luddite, curmudgeonly about many tech things. Elisabeth
DeleteI loved my IBM Selectric! We recently got rid of ours (plus our two smaller electric typewriters) to a technology teacher at a local elementary school. She wanted the kids to see and try “old” technology! — Pat S
DeleteI have all my 45’s from my kid days.🙂. My favorite being “The Hokey Pokey”!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous is me Sharon Bishop.🤭
ReplyDeleteThe malls took businesses away from our small town downtowns. Empty downtown buildings... One of our older, downtown office buildings has been converted into housing for at-risk individuals and it happened years ago, but it is an office building not retail space. And it's the only one I know in our town right now.
ReplyDeleteMy sister just purchased an electric car, all electronic. It has technology to stay in it's lane. Staying in lane is fine but she still has to correct if she starts to drift. She was showing it off while driving in town. Slower speeds but what happens at higher speeds? I have the same questions about cars that sense an collision. I'm all for people staying in their homes for as long as possible. Self driving cars are used in JD Robb's books but again it in a larger city.
I have a robotic vacuum, do I remember to turn it on regularly? Nope. I don't have the app to program the thing. So I have to bend over and push the button. It makes life easier on my knees and lower back, but I have to clean up stuff to run it instead of just working the yarn projects that litter my home.
Okay, off to work.
I have a Tesla. They are amazing, and we save so much money not paying for gas. We charge it for free at work. You can turn all the checks off it thst is your preference.
DeleteHank: I’m with you….will never get into a driverless car. I have never even taken an Uber. It’s the fear of what can go wrong that holds me back. Well… and I live in a small town & don’t travel so really have no use for an Uber. (Plus, I have Steve to drive me)! My fear is driverless vehicles will crash & burn (literally) & that some Uber drivers are not safe. Hear too many stories of shady drivers & people getting attacked. Don’t trust AI, however the zombie apocalypse sounds rather fun! ~ Sharon Bishop
ReplyDeleteYes, can you even imagine getting into a driverless car? HA! ANd you are lucky to have Steve, that's for sure. I have had a million great experiences in Ubers, and two where I honestly thought I was going to die. :-)
DeleteI have had those “near death” fears riding in taxis which are supposed to have some kind of regulatory oversight. But maybe that’s just to be sure the vehicle is safe, not the driver.
DeleteThey tried driver-less cars in Pittsburgh, but something about the rivers and bridges messed them up. I haven't seen one in a long time.
ReplyDeleteI don't miss cash. Not one bit. I love the self-checkout at the store because it's often faster. And a lot of the people I used to see at the checkouts are now handling fulfillment of the online orders, so it doesn't look like many of them lost jobs.
The Boy bought his girlfriend a Polaroid camera for Christmas and she loved it. What's old is new again (maybe)?
Agreed. I don't miss cash at all.
DeleteMy granddaughter's favorite Xmas gift was a Magic 8 Ball... yes, more or less precisely like the one I had as a kid. No electronics, just gravity and "magic"
DeleteMy kids have a Polaroid. That was the only Christmas picture they took.
DeleteOoh, Hallie, an 8 ball?? What fun! Wren's 8th birthday is coming up next month...
DeleteOh, I remember the Magic 8 ball. Such fun.
DeleteI will also admit to loving paying with my phone. Much more secure and I often have my phone closer to hand and it's easier to get than digging out my wallet and card.
But no one misses getting up to change the TV channels, right? I also love how you can talk to the TV. Jonathan will say--what channel is XYZ show on? ANd I say: just ask the TV for it!
ReplyDeleteI think that's wonderful. And I love how easy it is to return things online now. (not to mention ordering them...)
So funny, Hank! We don't miss getting up to change channels, and we talk to the TV, too. I absolutely LOVE streaming TV and no way would go back to the old TV tech.
DeleteWe could do a whole blog about this topic. In my household, the youngest person watching had to get up and change the channels!
DeleteDo not miss getting up to change the channel either!
DeleteI love this. I'm in rural Maine - no driverless cars here, and I'm not sure how they'd cope with road conditions - of course, one good old Maine night of -40 would take care of them. Those batteries and electronics do not like deep cold. Whenever this topic comes up I'm reminded that I was a member of my school's 50th graduating class. With the arrogance of youth, I felt sorry for those dinosaurs in the first graduating class and wondered how they coped with the bewildering leaps and bounds of technology they lived through. Airplanes, automobiles, telephones without operators, television, you get my drift. Well, that school has now graduated its one hundred plus year graduating class. When I looked back to my year, I remembered wondering that that first class, and realizing that in the next fifty years we had to learn about jets, cell phones, computers, streaming services, the Internet, space travel, men on the moon, the space station and people living in space...Funny, it seems very different, but not so different at all.
ReplyDeleteKait, I agree, and I think it's because so much of our day to day lives are the same. We get married, we raise kids, we make dinner, we do the shopping. The specifics may change: same-sex marriage, IVF kids, air fryer, groceries to go, but the essentials of actually living don't feel all that different.
DeleteHallie,
ReplyDeleteThere is an app for the MBTA bus system but if it is a lengthy wait it doesn’t make it any better if you know how long you will be waiting, also, if the bus is full it either doesn’t stop or the driver won’t let anyone else on for safety reasons
As I keep telling my husband things go in cycles. LPs and typewriters are back in. Our country is in a slump but it will turn around. Again. Our schools will smarten up in what is taught. Some of the technology is a miracle. Some is unnecessary. I fear people will forget how to do the most basic things because they are done for them.
ReplyDeletePat, typewritera are back in? Why didn't someone tell me? *Goes up to the attic to retrieve her old Selectric*
DeleteI use technology (since I retired I’m on my phone or tablet a lot during the day and while working, I obviously used computers), but hate how dependent I (we) have become on it. My iPad froze up about three weeks ago and I hauled out my old Kindle (which I had only been using for crossword puzzles) so I could read the many e-books I have. I am also paranoid about the Google Home/Alexas music thingamajigs (technical term) and won’t have one in my house. We visited a friend for a night over Thanksgiving. I only barely noticed she had one sitting in her living room. She and I had a brief discussion about the language company Babbel. The next day she texted to tell me she suddenly had ads for Babbel in her Facebook feed. When I explained that her device almost assuredly “listened” to our conversation, she texted back, “Oh my! When I think of the conversations that have been held here about certain topics/people, yikes!” — Pat S
ReplyDeletePat, it's funny you mention how dependent we can become on tech, because yesterday, during the storm, my internet went out. And I was utterly baffled for a while - what do I do now? Fortunately, I also have an old Kindle and a house full of books, but it was weird how panicky I felt for a few minutes!
DeleteIt is indeed scary. The brief time away from my iPad caused me to remember that I, too, have a house full of books (more so since Jay Roberts told us about the B&N sale, darn him!). I pulled out one, read it and am now on my third hold-in-my-hands-and-turn-the-pages book since then. Considering I was a librarian by trade, it should not have been that revelatory, but it was…. Pat
DeleteMy husband has macular degeneration which started in his 40s. Some years ago it got bad enough that he couldn't pass the vision part of the driving test. Goodbye driving. I am now the premanent designated driver.
ReplyDeleteHe would/will be thrilled with safe, reliable driverless cars in order to regain that aspect of independence.
That's my thought, Libby. Having it available for those of us who AREN'T on flat, gridded roads like Jenn's does seem a long way in the future, though.
DeleteTheu are in my hilly no grid neighborhood and do well consistently! Our county is pursuing a contact to provide driverless rides for seniors and disabled. This is a very hilly area.
DeleteHooligan 1 and his Plus 1 got a Roomba from us for Xmas - I'm waiting to see how it works for them before buying one for me. So many pets, so much hair, that robotic hair sucker doesn't stand a chance. LOL.
ReplyDelete