The choice isn't really binary, iPhone vs Caveman. I develop software and graphics for a living, but I've never owned or touched a cellphone. Never felt a need for it. I threw away the TV for the same reason. Both devices are designed to create a degree of phase-locking that other media can't match, and the cellphone adds an unprecendented degree of surveillance.
With a desktop computer, the web knows everything I type, but NOT every step I take and every noise I make.
I agree and must say I am jealous of your ability to do this. Then again, I feel that once you "enter the grid" it is harder to leave, every piece of technology I have feels dependent on every other piece...eventually it all becomes a barricading with me stuck in the middle.
The surveillance is troubling, as is the eternal memory, which I feel that forgetfulness is one of the things that makes the human life livable.
There is a chain of causality that I could probably map out if i tried and it goes something like this: I owe money so I need a job, i need a job so I must communicate electronically, the jobs I am most suited for (i.e. lowest level of labor + some level of enjoyment for highest pay) require that I be on call, being on call means I need a cellphone, having a cellphone creates an expectation that I am reachable by cellphone, this expectation is reinforced (especially in instances of group/picture messaging, emailing of attachments, etc).
Anyhow, in about a year I will be done of the most significant financial debt I have in my life, and I think at that point I am going to reevaluate my occupation and what sort of lifestyle I want to have.
The Limp Bizkit is supposed be therapeutic for this condition.
I didn't get a computer until I was a grown-ass married adult (late 20s). Cell phones came along much later.
Back in the primitive days, we had google maps printed on paper that was folded up real weird and followed road signs. We would drive around and look for our friends' cars and just show up at people's houses.
Same here. Phones had a large impact on me growing up. My parents were constantly on their phones and it made little me feel so disconnected to the people closest to me. In hindsight this is part of the reason I chose my career though, because I am looking to make meaningful connections with people and for that I am grateful. Community in the internet age seems almost impossible that is until there is a rude awakening and we will be forced to forgo these device shackles. Till then I will keep dreaming of the days when people go berserk and tear down the cell towers.
I think when my iPhone 5 finally croaks I’ll try a light phone and subsequently have to carry around a duffle full of other electronics for work but just maybe it will be freeing or something.
The choice isn't really binary, iPhone vs Caveman. I develop software and graphics for a living, but I've never owned or touched a cellphone. Never felt a need for it. I threw away the TV for the same reason. Both devices are designed to create a degree of phase-locking that other media can't match, and the cellphone adds an unprecendented degree of surveillance.
With a desktop computer, the web knows everything I type, but NOT every step I take and every noise I make.
I agree and must say I am jealous of your ability to do this. Then again, I feel that once you "enter the grid" it is harder to leave, every piece of technology I have feels dependent on every other piece...eventually it all becomes a barricading with me stuck in the middle.
The surveillance is troubling, as is the eternal memory, which I feel that forgetfulness is one of the things that makes the human life livable.
There is a chain of causality that I could probably map out if i tried and it goes something like this: I owe money so I need a job, i need a job so I must communicate electronically, the jobs I am most suited for (i.e. lowest level of labor + some level of enjoyment for highest pay) require that I be on call, being on call means I need a cellphone, having a cellphone creates an expectation that I am reachable by cellphone, this expectation is reinforced (especially in instances of group/picture messaging, emailing of attachments, etc).
Anyhow, in about a year I will be done of the most significant financial debt I have in my life, and I think at that point I am going to reevaluate my occupation and what sort of lifestyle I want to have.
Glad to have you as a subscriber
The Limp Bizkit is supposed be therapeutic for this condition.
I didn't get a computer until I was a grown-ass married adult (late 20s). Cell phones came along much later.
Back in the primitive days, we had google maps printed on paper that was folded up real weird and followed road signs. We would drive around and look for our friends' cars and just show up at people's houses.
We wanted to break shit back then too.
Don't forget about "Mapquest." A car ride was not just a ride. It was a quest.
Same here. Phones had a large impact on me growing up. My parents were constantly on their phones and it made little me feel so disconnected to the people closest to me. In hindsight this is part of the reason I chose my career though, because I am looking to make meaningful connections with people and for that I am grateful. Community in the internet age seems almost impossible that is until there is a rude awakening and we will be forced to forgo these device shackles. Till then I will keep dreaming of the days when people go berserk and tear down the cell towers.
I think when my iPhone 5 finally croaks I’ll try a light phone and subsequently have to carry around a duffle full of other electronics for work but just maybe it will be freeing or something.