Who needs modern technology?

I don’t know about you, but I tend to have many moments where I get nostalgic for life in the 20th Century. I’m constantly surrounded by reminders of it each day. Here in the office we listen to a lot of timeless classic rock music from the 60s, 70s and 80s, and sometimes the still-modern-sounding rock from the 90s.

It’s always fun to go through our archived newspapers from the last 125 years, and see what the news or town makeup of Saratoga was like in the 20th Century. I still enjoy watching old movies, especially high school-themed movies that came out in the 80s. I can’t help but get nostalgic for pre-21st century life, and reminisce about what life was like before modern technology took over our brains. Of course, I was too young to really understand or appreciate the 80s while they were happening, and I was only an older child and teenager throughout the 90s. I sometimes wish I could go back in time and relive life during the simpler 20th Century America as an adult.

I know some of you, especially all you kids and teenagers out there, are probably thinking, “Why would you want to go back in time and live without today’s technology? Wouldn’t you go insane?” Well, looking back to the technology of the 80s and 90s, I could easily live without what we have today. I could do just fine with books, magazines, television, newspapers, music CDs and cassettes, computer or video games and movies on VHS or DVD to keep me entertained or informed.

I wouldn’t see it as a burden to have to use encyclopedias, dictionaries, phone books or hand-written letters instead of the internet. I don’t need Facebook to find out what people I know are doing every second of the day, or to look up old high school classmates I haven’t seen or even thought about in 15 years.

In fact, the more I think about what I use the internet most for, the more I realize it’s looking up pointless random trivia or arguing with people in Yahoo story comment sections. Without the internet being accessible 24/7, I could easily spend more time walking, running, hiking or doing other more productive fun things outdoors.

Being a huge music lover, people today may ask how I could live without the internet, as advanced as it is today, to find out about or download new music. They might wonder how I could live without an iPod that can carry thousands of songs in the palm of my hand. I say, who needs the internet when you have the radio to listen to or find out about music? For buying music, I can also go to my local thrift or merchant stores to find a selection of used full-album CDs for a cheap price. Just last Saturday I was able to find two classic albums on CD for only $1 each. For listening to music outside of the home or car, I could easily take along a trusty portable CD player (remember the “Discman”?) with me everywhere. There’s also something about holding an actual CD album that reigns superior over a tiny device with thousands of songs, many of which you might only listen to once or twice.

Cellphones are another thing I don’t feel like I desperately need. Although I do have a cellphone, I think I could still do just fine with a home landline and answering machine. I would have no problem with planning ahead to meet people, or organizing where I or someone else was going to be at a certain time. Looking back, it was also kind of nice to not have something buzzing or ringing in my pants pocket all the time, no matter where I went.

Kids today may ask “but how could you live without texting?” Like I mentioned with Facebook, I don’t need to know what someone is doing every second of the day, or tell them whichever boring thing I happen to be doing at the time. It’s almost sad to think that texting is becoming more common than actual verbal phone communication all together. Sure, you can still have somewhat of a conversation with someone through convenient texting, but there’s something about having a nice voice-to-voice chat with someone that is more personal and can’t be replaced. You can also tell when someone doesn’t really want to talk with you if you leave them a message and they text you back right away. Therefore, it’s harder to know which people truly think you’re annoying without the convenience of cellphones.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the advanced technology we have today, but when I look at what we had in the 20th Century, I could live without what we have today, even in modern America. I know many may will disagree with me on this, but in my opinion, sometimes simpler is better.

 

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