modern things you haven't experienced

[koopkooper]

Was wondering if there is something modern you have managed to avoid.

So far I've never touched a playstation or xbox. Benny Holiday has just got one and plans to introduce me via a ww2 flight game.

But....I remember ten odd years ago I was working in Perth, Western Australia at a tennis tournament and I was given the use of a courtesy car for the week to drive around in. That sounded good on paper till I got into it and realised at that point I had never driven a car earlier than 1972.
You see my parents car was a 1972 Holden (aussie brand of GMH), it was big with drum brakes, no power steering and column manual. I learnt to drive on that car. After that I bought a 1960 FB Holden which was my current car at the time of this story. So I get into this new Toyota with a girl I was dating that week who was looking at me as if I had never driven.You see I struggled to get into it (set off the alarm).I then couldn't figure out how to adjust the seat.
I couldn't find the lights and kept bumping a button on the steering wheel that either turned the radio on/off and took the windows up and down. Suddenly it was as if I was Jerry Lewis ...Lady!!!!!!!!!! Ok here's the kicker, I am flying down the road at 45 mph....that would be good if we measured speed in miles in Australia, we don't it's kilometers per hour, so for a start I am driving too slow (give me a break, my 1960 car was in miles still, Australia converted in 1966) I then get pulled over by the cops cos I have my highbeams on. I explained to him that I hadn't ever driven a car past 1972,and that highbeams in the older cars had the switch located under the drivers brake pedal, under the carpet, he looked at me strangely and asked me to turn the highbeams down "ok sir, sorry,ummmm, how do you do that??"
Fortunatly he didn't book me, but he did run a breath test to make sure I
wasn't drunk!! Since the 1960 car I have owned a 1957 Chrysler and now a 1965 Valiant Regal. For the record,I still struggle with a new one from time to time!

 

[beaucaillou]

x-box is one of the great-goodnesses of the modern era. i think you will be pleased. it's really (relatively) cheap therapy.
it's so good i won't allow myself to have one in my home.
*play Halo. thank me later*

i avoided a cell phone until this last year. i wish i could have held out longer. it's a necessary irritation.

i don't own tennis shoes or any clothing with drawstring, though i've an idea that will change in the near future. no automatic coffee maker, as that's an affront to coffee. no food processor... that's what knife skills are for. i don't own a car. i've had one before, but not for a year now and prior to that, i did a two year stretch. i'm interested to see how long i can hold out...

 

[Spitfire]

no iPod for me. Thank you!

And my cellphone is only open, if I intend to call someone.
I like to be in control - instead of being controlled.

Only got my first - and only - digital camera last year.
Which is GREAT!!!! Leica D-LUX2

Used GPS for the first time only two weeks ago. Found it boring and confusing!!!!

 

[Senator Jack]

That's a hilarious story, Koop. I also go through that whenever I have to drive a rental. I can't figure anything out. I don't have to look at the speedometer in the Mustang to know I'm speeding - just the whay the road whistles underneath me lets me know I'm going at a good clip - but these newfangled cars are so quiet that they get away from me. I sometimes look down to see I'm going 90! I, too, have thought about that excuse I was going to give should I get pulled over. 'Really, it's these new cars officer. I just didn't realize...'

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've never owned a cell phone, a cordless phone, a Windows computer, an iPod (although I do have iTunes on my laptop), a PDA, a GPS, a digital watch, a video game, a Tivo, a DVD recorder, an HDTV, a flat-screen TV, a TV with a screen larger than 19 inches, a dishwasher, a clothes dryer, central air conditioning, a self-defrosting refrigerator, an automatic toaster, a Teflon frying pan, a food processor, an electric can opener, a multi-speed bicycle, a car with an automatic transmission, pants with the maker's name on the rear end, sneakers with air pockets, gel packs, lights, or Velcro anywhere on them, or any garment made of fleece.

 

[Spitfire]

Dearest Lizzi - where do you live? In a cave??

 

[SpitfireXIV]

cell phone
iPod
x-box
tivo

i really, really hate cell phones. if you thought that modern society lacked social graces before... now that everybody has a cell phone, it's infinitely worse!

 

[BeBopBaby]

I've never watched a movie with Tom Cruise in it.

 

[Sunny]

cell phone
iPod
x-box
tivo

Dittos on all but the cell phone. And I only use it for a handful of minutes a month. Six people in the family, one at college, four cars - sometimes things need coordination.

No Blackberry, PDA, or anything along those lines.

I live at home, but I personally have never owned a television. I do own the DVD player/VCR that we use, but that was mainly because I wanted to watch the videotapes of classic movies my friend sends me.

Technically I've never owned a car, either.

Koop, I learned to drive on a 1973 Buick LeSabre. I really liked having the high beams under the carpet! It was our family car from 1984 until 1999, and I drove it in high school and when I was home (and graduated) from college. It finally died in the fall of 2005. I was making a left turn at an intersection and the transmission just... went out. It was sad.

I can still park those long old jobs so much better than a truck or Suburban. It's where the wheels are positioned. And the Buick was a good six inches longer than the Suburban. We had to be very precise when parking it in the garage.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I don't have an iPod and have no desire for one.

My husband has an xbox 360, but I don't play it. I still prefer my Sega Genesis (it still works perfectly!) We both have cell phones - I only use mine for emergencies. I never got a DVD player until the end of 2003.

I haven't experienced modern media in a looooooong time! I couldn't name any current movie stars nor could I name any shows on the air right now. I lost track of TV in the early 90s sometime.

 

[GoldLeaf]

Wow, Lizzie! I didn't know that your lifestyle is so vintage! Pretty cool! I can't imagine my life that way, but I admire yours!

So, if you don't have a Windows computer, what do you use? A Mac? It would be interesting if you were using DOS. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of my family's old Apple IIc that ran on DOS.

I know there are things that I have strong opinions about and avoid, but I just can't think of them right now.

I do have a cell phone, but I don't have a regular land line. I got a cell phone when I commuted 55 miles one way through the snow belt along Lake Ontario in New York. Freak lake effect snow could just crop up and make it almost impossible to get to work and road conditions were perfect for ending up in the ditch (only once, thank goodness!) We got rid of the land line to save money. Everyone I know is on the Verizon network so I can call my mom in New York for free anytime I want. Can't beat that! But the cell phone is usually off unless I am at home. I treat it like a land line.

I wish I didn't need a car. I am a community planner, and one of the big principles of New Urbanism is walkability and dense development that supports public transportation. I believe in it whole heartedly, but the area I live in doesn't provide me with an alternative to my car. If I were to try to take a bus to work, it would take 2 hours and 5 different busses to go 22 miles. Rather rediculous. I am also afraid of the busses, people get shot on them in Durham

I miss the city I lived in while in Germany. I could walk 5 minutes and catch a bus that took me to the train hub, where I could then catch another bus or a train and go anywhere in Europe. My apartment complex was high density, and it defined the edge of the city. Across the road were the farm fields with the interconnected, paved tractor roads (no cars). We could ride our bikes though those roads and end up in the neighborning towns. I have many fond memories of using alternate forms of transportation during the 4 years I was there. It's probably why I became a planner.

Anyway, I have babbled off on a tangent. Don't mind me

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Oh yea...

I'm also lost when it comes to all of this modern cell phone related stuff!

I had this conversation at work not too long ago:

CoWorker: "Have you seen a Blackberry laying around anywhere?"
Me: *confused* "No I haven't..." *even more confused* "Do you mean an actual fruit?"
CoWorker: *dies laughing* "No! It's like a cell phone!!"

Hey, at least I made her day!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Wow, Lizzie! I didn't know that your lifestyle is so vintage! Pretty cool! I can't imagine my life that way, but I admire yours!

So, if you don't have a Windows computer, what do you use? A Mac? It would be interesting if you were using DOS. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of my family's old Apple IIc that ran on DOS.

Never had anything but a Mac -- I'd never even touched a computer until I got out of radio in 1997 (I used a Royal manual typewriter for my entire reporting career) and when I started my writing job, I needed to be online -- and it happened that Apple was one of the clients we were writing for, so I got a Mac for free as part of the deal. And that's the one that's still sitting on my desk to this day. My laptop is a bit more up to date -- I got it secondhand, and it's only five years old.

I wish I didn't need a car. I am a community planner, and one of the big principles of New Urbanism is walkability and dense development that supports public transportation.

I *devoutly* believe in this -- it was just starting to be talked about when I got out of journalism, but I can remember a few of the local planning boards starting to think about it. I hope it catches on nationwide -- the whole suburban sprawl/auto-driven way of life is one more modern development that I desperately hope I never have to experience!

 

[ValleyBoy]

As I stated in a previous thread, i don't own a TV. I've never owned any game system, even the earliest nintendos. I have no pager or blackberry. In fact, I have never sent a text messege. But the rest of my life is fairly modern.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I said I didn't want a cell phone....but guess what I got for my last birthday... I get confused with it every so often, though I had it worse when I first got it. I couldn't figure out how to turn the thing on, and kept having trouble with the features. I don't want a new one. I'll stick with this one. I use it on occasion but tend to just grab 50 cents and leave it at home. I hope that pay phones stick around for a couple more years. I like modern electronics so I can't say there's anything I haven't tried in that topic. I don't plan on buying a new video game system. Super Nintendo is just fine for me, and the games are cheaper.

I take public transportation on a regular basis, but in Los Angeles, since 1950 we've been crudely weened on gas. A city isn't a city without efficient mass transit. If I start driving, it's going to be in a car 40 years old.

 

[Fletch]

I never have...

sent a TXT...played an Xbox, Playstation or similar...worn air sneaks...used a GPS...speed dated...watched a gross out comedy...rollerbladed...worn square toed shoes...played lazer tag or paintball...eaten a Hot Pocket...had a ringtone that wasn't a "ring"...shaved my head...tasted super hot sauce...been pierced or tattooed...owned a ferret...played beach volleyball...watched American Idol...dated an Ashley, Madison, Kayla, or any variety of Brittany...used Netflix...worn a hoodie.

 

[Twitch]

We have a cell phone which my wife uses much less than 60 minutes a month. No PDA or i-pod. No Ti-Vo. No X-box- I run entertainment software on my PC. I'm totally no anti- modern devices but at my age and situation I don't need some of them. If I was still working a PDA might be useful but I did it all before with a book of days. Don't care to be plugged into music when I'm outside of the house so no I-pod. Ti-vo, I rarely watch anything I tape on the VCR later so if I miss it I miss it. You can purchase a non-subscribable machine that does the same as Ti-vo for less in the long run too.

If I had a use for GPS I'd buy one. My pal lives in a small Nevada and goes Jeeping and can use on when he's off the beaten path for sure. If I was communting daily 35-40 miles each way as ai once was or in outside sales a traffic-GPS would be helpful, but now, no.

We own regular tube-type TVs of 27". A really good HD would be great but ouchy in the $$ department. Maybe someday. Have an answering machine. Had cordless phones for years. Ever need to work in the garage or garden and not miss an important call?

No dishwasher- no space for it really. All our appliances are modern and the difference in just a new fridge will be noticable in the electric bill. Don't have central air but don't need it. Just a couple small window A/Cs used a couple weeks a year usually.

I'm against any modern device I can't actually use that would be a toy just for the sake of having. A cell phone could be a life saver but for me an I-pod is useless...etc.

 

[RAF Man]

No Ipod, X-box, Playstation, tattoos, body pierceings, SATCOM, but I am a sucker for the MS FlightSim.

 

[Fletch]

My pal lives in a small Nevada

Is that like having your own private Idaho?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

i don't own tennis shoes ...

Ah, but tennis shoes (Keds) have been around since the 'teens.

.