Technology. Ugh.

I get really aggravated when I am REQUIRED to use the computer for something, such as getting tuition bills or my pay stub. I want technology as a choice when I want to use it.

Technology can be wonderful, but it can also be a "monkey wrench". A jack of all trades, but master of none.

Yes, it allows us to research terms and people, plan trips, talk with friends and family, track packages, and be informed.

No, it can't do everything. Self serve checkout lanes at grocery stores are one example of technology's limits.

Computer professionals like me feel comfortable exploiting the technology, but most people feel overwhelmed by it. Humans have adapted to worse changes over the millenia; we will adapt to technology as fast as it adapts to us.

I started carrying around a pad and paper to prove that 'texting' isn't the fastest way to write someone a note.
Technology has actually gotten to be quite boring. It is always 1 new gadget followed by a million clones. None of it is necessary, and it is driving the bees away. How are we supposed to get our melons if there are no bees?

when i want to 'instant message' during a power failure, for example - i only need a standard landline ... no downloading, no rebooting, no headsets, no it really is a small word after all keypads, no pop-up ads; just pick up the handset and really start instant messaging-wow!
ps-if i can hide a camera in my colon (don't ask)-why are cable boxes morphing to a size needing a luggage cart?

I'm helping to organize my wife's 20-year high school reunion, a job that would be a lot easier if everyone would just sign up online. But nooooo - we have to account for the technophobes who insist on mailing a check. A CHECK? You gonna have that delivered by pony express, there, Silas? And this is a 30-something group of ex-private-school kids. Live in the world, people!

Those darn TALKING HEADS are at it again and as usual are for the most part deaf, dumb and blind. They should research the MANUFACTURERS and ask the question "why do you so pervasively invent things that people don't want and didn't ask for" ..?

Most of what you refer to as technology never is seen by the consumer as it is utilized by the big companies.

Consumer technology is nothing but a bunch of crap with no end of variations.

What really makes a difference to the consumer is the advances in laptop computing; aceess to the Internet for choices that make our lives easier and the cellphone, which by the way, is only good for making phone calls.

The ultimate piece of technology that I have is my 25 year old Pioneer stero system with 250 watts per channel "baby cakes" ..and blows away anything ever made in the last 10 years !

Seems to me that most of these comments are designed to conjure up an image of speciality or snobby superiority. I don't think anyone here would even be reading this article or making comments if they weren't absolutely intrigued by technology - like me.

I love technology, I watch TV on my computer, send email to friends all the time. The lights in my area of the basement come and go off automatically. My DVR records all the shows I want to watch automatically. What's not to like about Tech.

Technology has increased my productivity over the years, but like all items with a price, it finds itself subject to marketing forces. Profitability requires that we give up something that works to adopt the "new and improved" (which often is neither) on a regular basis. Each new iteration of Windows brings its parcel of headaches, all for the simple joy of staring at a newer and cuter GUI or working our way through extra features we didn't know we couldn't live without until they were shoved down our throat. It seems virtually impossible to get a quality cell phone without a camera now (or a quality phone of any type -- they all are regarded as disposable anymore). And why carry yet another gadget -- an iPod -- when the PDA will hold and play enough mp3s to last a commute? We CAN become too invested in our technology, and in our faceless and largly anonymous conenctions with others. We become like unto the Borg, albeit without the permanent implants. Yet. Wiki, wiki, wiki.

I really love technology. I took the survey and found out that I am an omnivore.

Here's what I find interesting about technology. We now accept a vastly inferior level of sound quality and reliability in our telephone communications in the name of "convenience" than we would ever have put up with from good ol' Ma Bell and those landlines. And at a much higher price. So I pay more and get less. This is progress?

You can't really categorize folks like that. Like, I use a computer all the time at home & work, have an MP3 Cd player in my car and use it, have gone thru 4 digital cameras, but I don't own a cell phone. Nothing against them, but there's a phone on my desk at work and a couple more at home, and I find I can survive quite nicely whilst driving between those 2 places.

Kris from Philly makes some interesting points about technology -- I think it is fascinating to understand how technology has influenced our work/non-work life. It's now impossible to get away from work. As an example, when my parents visit to see our infant son, they truck with them a laptop and Blackberry -- just in case something important comes up at work. Heaven forbid they put aside the technology to spend time with their grandson!

I won't address technology as a whole - that would be a lot of text! But I only have one true complaint about cell phones and other communication devices: Just because I have one doesn't mean you should expect me to instantly be available to receive your call. I know people who honestly get upset or worried if I don't immediately answer the phone. Sometimes I just don't feel like talking!

Computer savy and a 10 year, international cell phone user until 9 months ago, I dropped my service provider because of service difficulties. I just never seemd to get reconnected with a new service provider. My life is simpler and much more enjoyable. I will eventually reconnect but am in no hurry.

Hey no-name - did your old Ma Bell phone ever come to your rescue while you were lost on a hiking trip? Sound quality is a trade-off for other benefits, such as - say - mobility. Maybe things aren't as bad now as they seem?

Technology today, especially via communication is close akin to prostitution. If it is well done and provide a great service (which it rairly does) then the price can almost be appreciated. If not, then a bad street-corner and STD's come to mind.

There is a concerning trend that if it is there, well, we must have it. But I don't --no cell, no computer and no credit card. Haven't needed any of them.

I remember when I was a little kid and my parents spent time at home after work with us. Now the damn cell phone rings. Worse still, companies take on a job with a customer who expects 24/7 coverage and your boss decides to save money by not hiring another shift supervisor but by giving you a Blackberry so you can handle off-hour problems. Why don't these ego-maniacs realize that not all of us want technology intruding into our lives every hour of every day. I get tired of explaining that I don't take calls during dinner. Someone needs to make them understand that I work to support my life outside of work. More and more I find myself just shutting the cell phone off and to heck with the consequences.

In 1979 I attended the Student Conference on National Affairs sponsored by Texas A&M University. The topic - Technology: Tool or Tyrant. Turns out 'both' is closer to the truth for many people. Perhaps the central problem with 'productivity technology' is that to fully exploit the technology, you must use the 'tool' in the manner prescribed by the tool maker, a.k.a the 'tyrant.' You (and your requirements) must conform to the selected technology. And your need to grow and improve is too often held up until the next iteration of technology allows it to happen.

There are no guarantees that products you buy today will pay for themselves in productivity gains. I am sure e-mail spam has cost the US billions of dollars in lost time. I like technology, but have reached the point that I am no longer willing to purchase the latest "toy" I only purchase when the item presents a capability that I do not currently have. The bleeding edge has left me... well bleeding. Meanwhile Gates spends my "donations" on whatever needy cause that will get his name into the history books.

Technology is a wonderful thing, when used correctly. I looooove the internet.

Remember when, if you wanted to get information on something, you had to go a LIBRARY and look it up in a BOOK? Remember writing school assignments on longhand or - if you wanted to be fancy - a typewriter? Remember "party" phone lines, three TV channels, and only rich people having credit cards?

Take your good old days and stick it.

I was an old hand at computers before "www" existed.
I have a pda, several computers. I do not subscribe to many periodicals because I am online a lot. Very experienced and love tech. Hell, here I am posting [one of the qualifiers for some category] But...
I do not own a cell phone. I don't think either I or anybody I know needs to be available on a whim. But I do use a computer for an answering machine.
I have scads of mp3s that I listen to a lot, but I will never own an Ipod. Before it came out, I was using my pda with large memory cards to listen to music. Why should I plunk down another $200 for something that ONLY plays music?
So is there a category that encompsses technology, but not fads?

I get frustrated by the rapid proliferation of "upgraded" technology that isn't really needed. Digital cameras are a great example -- really, who needs a 6, 7, 10, megapixel camera? How many people blow up their pictures to wall-sized posters? Ah, but it does created a need for even larger capacity media - hence the 4GB SD card. Perhaps instead companies could focus on features that need upgrading (like the camera lenses) rather than adding "numbers" just to keep up in the race.

Office Drone, you make a good point. I wonder if there will be a time when technological invasions reaches critical mass and people just won't abide these types of invasions any longer?

Technology too often hinders when it's supposed to help.

I spend most of my day sitting at a computer, so in my free time, I'd rather go for a ride on my motorcycle or do gardening or make a meal for friends. People need to balance it their lives. Technology is a resource to be used, not the purpose of one's existence.

I understand technology is not for everyone. I live, breath, and eat technology. On the other hand what i don't try to do is be interconnected with my friends and family 24/7. I have a cell phone but it only has 300 minutes a month on it and i never use more than 100 minutes. So what does this all mean? It means that you can use technology to its fullest without it being evil or bad.

As far as a comment goes above where you have to pay your bills/tuition online in today's competitive world if a company doesn't do these things they will get beaten out by the competition simply because they can do it with less people.

My wife and I both have jobs that require that we have laptops, and cell phones. My wife loves the technology and is always looking to keep us up to date on what's needed and out there. I, on the other hand, wish I could without either. I tend to think of my business cellphone (yes, I have both business and personal cells)as constraining as an electronic leash (like the ones they give to convicts under house arrest) and my personal one as a necessary evil.

The biggest issue I have is the fragility of the entire system, be it laptop, cellphone or the Internet. Don't think this is an issue? Think about the number of passwords (mind-numbing if you work for a major company) or the threat of identity theft. Really, before the computer age, exactly how many of you had your identities stolen? Bet you could count the national number on one hand...

And really, how many of you really NEED all this crap on the phones, laptop, or internet? Be honest with yourself. Do you REALLY need video games, a camera, text messaging and all the other nonsense or do you need a PHONE? Sure, some of this stuff is an amusing diversion, but c'mon, aren't we busy enough as it is?

As a soldier in the U.S. Army, I can say that technology affects my life more than the average American. Without email, VOIP phones, instant messaging, online banking services, and online shopping, my quality of life would be that of a soldier in WWII. For me, technology provides security, independence, and that much needed piece of home-even when I'm half a world a way. Being able to serve my country is a privilege that sometimes separates me from everything I know and love. With the help of technology, I'm always just a click away.

From Bagram, Afghanistan
SGT Power

Yes, I am a technophile, and I have my days of information overload. As a graduate student, it comes into play on a daily basis but the funny part is, when forced down my throat it can be disruptive/insensitive. Prior to going back to school, I worked in IT and now I"m just another poor college student struggling to make ends meet because I opted to go full-time. I see the most obvious and ubiquitous problem as folks not realizing (a) not everyone has a high speed connection and (b) not everyone has access to a computer at all times, especially if you don't own one. And having a computer without a high-speed connection is akin to not having one at all. Unfortunately, the digital divide will be that of accessability and speed - it will distinguish the "haves" from the "have nots"

Ipods and mp3 players, camera phones, text messaging and IM's these aren't the things of adults. The teenagers are the biggest users of what I call technological BS. I have my first camera phone but only because I wanted a phone with good reception and this time around there wasn't a choice. My cell phone is personal and not used for work, if someone gets in touch with me for business on my personal cell I will politely hang up on them. The cell does come in handy when you need to call your spouse because you found a better deal at the store or to ask if there is anything else needed when at the store. Nothing like driving all the way home to find out that you forgot something. I think it would be cheaper though to pay over 3.00 a galon for gas than to pay what the cell phone company charges. My 80.00 family plan costs me 130.00 a month. This paragraph is purposely written the way it is because this is the way my mind works now that we are constantly in touch. 50 things going through the mind at once and everything has to get out. I think what needs to be marketed is how to relax and get attached to people again because with all that we have there is no reason to be there in person anymore.

I'm a videographer/ Graphic designer who was eaten
alive by obsolete analog equipment investment when
a rain of low cost computer editing and cameras became
available to the little guy. I wallowed for a couple of
years , nursing my wounds and my recovery was based on
the same low cost equipment available to others.
Hi-Tech can bury you over night and may resurrect you
if you're lucky and not bankrupt.

I just had to "post", only to change my "profile", so now I can officially be one of the "Nearly 1 in 5 Internet users have posted a comment on a blog or newsgroup."

Having been in the tech biz (desktop support, network engineer, & now a developer project manager), all I use is a T-Mobile prepaid personal cell (cost $100.00 a year), company laptop, and my home workstation.

For those of you that are so pro-technology when's the last time you went to a fast food restaurant and the kid behind the counter counted your change out to you without using the computer? What happens at your local grocery, home improvement, gas station when there's a power outage?

Technology can be great and helpful but total reliability upon it can be devastating.

Had a cell phone years ago... got rid of it, so no one can expect to call me at any old time of the day.

Was an online chat enthusiast, until it cost me my girfriend, eight years ago... after that, every chatroom I went to had robots whispering me with an x-rated web page and cops acting like schoolgirls hot for me. No thanks... I stopped chatting years ago.

Texting is almost exactly the same as chatting used to be, and that brings a smile, but it's not for me. my daughter likes it and kills our phone bills with it.

For twenty years, I've been a User Interface Designer, but now I've become one who is officially sick and tired of working with crappy little anal-retentive programmers and lazy/greedy managers who just sit in their offices and think of nasty ways to take my bonuses and benefits and lay me off the minute version 1 is delivered.

I work on the computer all day, and I like what I do- I have been doing it for a long time- but I hate dealing with those people who consider themselves to be so "connected". They're mostly inconsiderate jerks who have nothing to say, no matter how connected they are.

I have a modem... I'm pretty sure that I have one of the oldest msn online memberships and email addresses... and no desire to be any more connected than that.

I started-off thinking of myself as being a power user, but after a period of time, found out that it was mostly just boring. I'm happier without it.

I'm an omnivore, but hate my job which requires lots of tech. Does that count for anything? I guess hating one's career but being able to eat is better than the alternative.

Technology, How sweet it is!
If not for technology WE would be a third world country.
Is it a pain? yes sometimes.
But if not for technology we would still be eating steering wheels in crashes.
Premature babies wouldn't have the chances of surivival they have today.
People would be dying for things that are easily curable.
And our fine men and woman like SGT Power get to keep in touch with there loved ones while protecting the freedoms we so love and enjoy.
I'll jump over to the hate tech side when we start producing things like the Terminator.

All of this talk of technology reminds me of a Rush song, Hemispheres which compares and contracts the war between Apollo and his gift of wisdom and Dionysius and her gift of love. Either extreme is bad for humanity for various reasons covered within the song. A happy medium must be found between opposing philosophies. Technology and simplicity must meet in the middle.

Here's the URL to the complete report (and questionnaire):
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/213/report_display.asp

I am now branded a "lackluster veteran." Wonderful. Last I heard, cell carriers still charge SMS to the recipient, cell-based cameras and MP3 are still token enough to be gimmicks, and let's not get started about "Web 2.0", and for that matter, MMO games.

Consumer tech used to consist of overpriced, "preformed garbage" which would emit sounds and/or light and/or pictures. I really don't see much of a difference between the old consumer tech and the new "services".

Broadband internet here, both for play and for household business. That's as much connection as I need. It is a convenience and an escape, not a necessity.

I have a cell phone, but it is not even on 90% of the time, which suits me fine. Being naturally unsocial, the last thing I want is to be even MORE in touch with people. There is no emergency so great that it cannot wait the 30-40 minutes it takes for me to go between work and office.

No Blackberry, and no desire to have one. I prefer old-fashioned paper for books, so there goes the only possible reason I would want a Blackberry.

The only gadget I wish I had is an iPod, and that is so I can shut out the conversations around me at work and on the bus.

I've been at this since the mid seventies, that was back during UNIX Mainframes, inception of portable computers using CPM, "They really weren't that portable" anyone remember the old Osborne's with the three inch CRT's, all the way through DOS, WINDOWS, etc. I still love computers and working on them. I spend a lot of time on line checking newer technologies, and watching for what's coming in the future. The world is a 0's and 1's place and you can't go back only forward. We've advanced farther in the last 10 years in technology, because of computers, than in the past 100 years. You just have to remember, computers don't shorten the amount of work you do, they just let you do more work in a shorter time span. The only problem I've found with the internet is truth. If you receive and email or go to a website, remember, it may not be accurate depending on the source, and then it may still be inaccurate. Accuracy is only good if you double check the information against reliable multiple sources. Have a good day and Happy Computing or "GHacking to the older set".

The internet is like going to the junk yard, when all you want is a hub cap.

I'm a hardcore techie, but very unsatisfied. Technology is very far behind where it needs to be. Think an impressionist painting vs a digital picture: a matrix sensor assigs a numeric color value to each pixel, giving a superficial recreation of the colors, and the sensitivity of a painter, translating everything into what it IS, not its color values. Todays technology reduces everything (including people) to a few fields and data points, leaving 99.99% of the reality outside.

I love technology... wish I were saavy enough to have my lights and stereo in sync as well. I'm not crazy about e-mail on my Treo but it's available if I were to change my mind. But honestly it's all for my conveneince and no one else's. I don't take many calls on my cell, only my contact list can e-mail me, etc. I'm loving it and using it to benefit ME!

i am in a field that requires computer skills, but I must say that there is so much to learn and become proficient in, that it is too daunting, and most do not bother, unless it is imperitive. It does not seem worth it.

All mystical spiritual traditions have understood that to encounter the Divine, and to know oneself, requires stillness. Think monastery. Technology increasingly makes that impossible for most people. When I not at work, I refuse to use a computer, cell phone, or any other piece of stillness destroying technology. We are rapidly turning into Borg. The only thing that will save us is to turn off the machines.

They forgot a category. The unhappily addicted. Having just killed yet another 10 minutes of my life reading an article and comments that have improved my life not a whit, I sign myself up as the first member of this category.

Waaaaayyyyy up there ^ somewhere a woman from Alaska said she didn't have a cell phone or a computer. Them alaskans are really savvy.....imagine that - smoke signal postings on a blog.....cool....

Technology to me is what you use it for. Most of it has way to much excess baggage that hinders the purpose it is supposed to accomplish. eye catching candy and having the latest even if we don't know what it does sells though. New technology does make life easier to me as long as you maintain some control of it.

I have been computing since I was 8. about 20+ years now. I can build any system you want. I can program anything you want. I hate computers. Actually I love computers what I hate are operating systems that tell you what you can and can't do. I do not want my OS policeing me. I want an os that will tell me the best way to download music illegaly. I want my computer to do what I want when I want. I do not want to give myself permission to do something only to find out that I don't have permnission to give myself permission.

Over-use and abuse of technology is what's going on here. Corporations to keep better tabs on everyone, advertisers to keep you immersed/buried in contant ads, internet predators waiting for a mistake to jump on (to steal your identity, your child,etc.)And everyone playing "mine's is bigger than yours" in an effort to keep up (or show you up)with every new-fangled development, which will probably not fly. In the birthplace of consumerism, we are studied, mapped,categorized,analyzed, and targeted with the utmost efficiency. And for who's sake? Certainly not for mine. What started as a free exchange of ideas has turned into the biggest marketing tool known to man. MySpace is not your's, but Rupert Murdoch's. So don't fool yourself, Big Brother IS watching, and waiting to sell you the next gizmo you don't need and to intrude further into your life and freedom. Corporate control is the key here.

I've been in electronics for 40 years and so computers are a big part of my life. I use them to make my job easier, and service them too. Primarily I use computers to gather information for me so I can do my job quicker and better. I can make a computer do anything, given the right hardware. Most users have no idea what they want their computer to do, it is a daily rehash of doing things repeatedly, and give up on other things that don't work for them. The more they research the more they find what it can do and become enthralled by new uses and different ways of doing other tasks. Then just about the time they get comfortable the thing stops working or they get a virus. That's where I come in. The hardest thing to explain is what the machine can't do and why, not why it won't do today what it did yesterday. Many users have "pie in the sky" visions of what they'd like to do, but don't realize that their machine can't. Results are maximum frustration and scorn for both the hardware and software and users who are happy whith what they have and know its limitations.

I'm on the computer often, usually just to read random junk, as I need to unwind from going to school and work fulltime. I just recently purchased a Krazr (dull, it's missing some of the cool aspects from my previous phone) and purchased my girlfriend the Envy--she's on it all the time (doesn't have the features because I won't pay for it) and I don't understand why she has to play with it. My cell phone is used only for phone calls, nothing more, nothing less and my phone rings once a month, maybe twice. We also have a DVD-R (one of the more expensive ones) and I do record stuff, I won't lie, but I watch the commercials as well. My girlfriend, fast forwards and I don't get way. Yeah, commercials can be annoying but it's part of the experience and I know when I was younger, I couldn't get past them. In the end--I think technology has done a lot for the medical field but for the rest of us--it's not doing us any favors.

Been there for the whole thing - learned Fortran, did Payroll using keypunch cards, had a PC since 1982. Now have cell phones, multiple computers, MP3s. Love the internet - all that knowledge accessible in one place! It has made the world a smaller place.

However, I HATE being leashed to work by cell, nextel walkie-talkie, and email 24/7. No such thing as time off anymore. And this has become the standard for managers everywhere. Am also concerned about our vulnerability due to our dependence on technology. Many businesses have moved what used to be internal applications into net-based systems. Seems like terrorists who REALLY want to hurt us could just disrupt the internet. Imagine every net-based business and service going offline at once - very scary.

I built my first computer back in 1975, etched my circuit boards and everything and I should have realized where that would lead but perception is far clearer in hindsight. I am one of your lackluster veterans. I have owned everything many times over the past 40 years as well as designing, building and programming much of it as well. I have seen nothing truely original in most of that time. I remember installing what could be termed a cell phone in a car back in 1966. I've grown tired of all these money grab changes (planned obsolesence) decades ago, I think color TV is still just a fad... Sorry, got to go, my BlackBerry is summoning me, will it ever end?

For those of you complaining that technology doesn't have what you need, do you have suggestions for a solution? What is missing that you need (besides less of it)?

When I want to make an overseas call, I use a phone that cost $6.99. The person on the other end sounds like if she was in the next room. I don't want some stupid iPod blasting music into my brain. The Internet is useful sometimes, but at least 70-80% of the info on it is garbage. I watch less and less TV, because I'm sick of the commercials. I only bother with a little "oyster" cell phone so I can be reached in an emergency. I resent to be told how to live my life. I like simplicity. I don't want all these gadgets. It's all about "the bottom line"..money. We're being told we need all this junk, when we don't. This is not progress, this is exploitation. The whole thing is pretty ridiculous Thank you

I don't own a cell phone personally, but I have a desktop. The computer is more convenience than a necessity, really. I would rather type out reports than handwriting everything. I have the dial-up internet access and I wished I had broadband. The only thing that is stopping me is the price. Have you seen the monthly charges! It's scary!

I love the technophobes in this string of comments posting one liners without backing up ANYTHING.

I'll post one myself -

Technology is like a tsunami. You can always ignore it, but when you do, you'll end up in the middle of the ocean around it.

Not so much of a one-liner, but whatever. Many people here, however, are thinking technology as in gadgets. That is incorrect, as technology is mostly advances in the medical fields, engineering fields and little things that you don't see, that eventually trickle down to the consumers. The iPod was merely a continuation of the portable CD Player, which was merely a continuation of the portable tape player, which was a continuation of the portable 8-Track player, and etc. Do you see what I'm getting at? Most consumer gadgets are merely improvements on previous technology - different media, different choices, different results.