A Luddite's Angst Over Her GPS

My fight against technology has been long one. I don’t know why I resist to these things but I do. I remember being adamant about never having a microwave oven because I was certain that people would forget or never learn how to cook. I never wanted to give up the joy of putting a meal together using stove top and oven. Then the world took off without me and started to make all these pre-packaged meals that confirmed my original prediction. I still resisted for quite a while but then realized that waiting an hour for something to heat in the oven was taking too much time out of my busy life and I caved. I felt ashamed. I felt as if I had bought into some futuristic cult that was going to take over my mind. But here I sit, drinking tea made with water heated in the microwave feeling a little shame.

I have only had cable television for two years in my adult life. One year while living in Norfolk and another year when a housemate had it. Now that was a brain drainer! I hated it when I would find myself flicking through endless channels like a zombie. I have to say that I do miss having access to the MSNBC pundits (I love Keith Olbermann’s purple tie and Rachel Maddow is the smartest women in the world!) and Boston Red Sox and UCONN basketball (thank you, Kat, for that!). This was one area where technology moved a lot faster than I did so I decided to jump on the next bandwagon and just watch most of my television when I wanted on the computer. Downloading television shows and movies when I want eliminates the channel surfing that made me feel like a slave to the television.

At this point, I should also admit that I had a black and white television into the early nineties. Like I said, I don’t give up easily.

I remember that I dug in my heels and refused to buy a car with electric windows. I think I had it in my head that it meant more that could go wrong and I would have none of that. I am over that now.

In the early 80s, I was sitting at my desk at Stihl, Inc. in Virginia Beach happily typing away at my IBM Selectric when someone put an IBM computer on my desk. Not only was I told I needed to use it, but I was to teach myself and then teach others. Our IT department was still into printing out green sheets and personal computing was outside of their domain. I was not happy but by 1989 I was sitting in an office with three different computers: the PC, a clunky AS400, and another computer that was linked in to all the machines that produced the components of the company’s chain saws. I think all of those electromagnet emissions may have contributed to my alcoholism and penchant for men with tool boxes and big trucks. But I digress.

I didn’t get my own personal computer until 1994 when I started grad school, but it took me a little longer to get on the web. At that time there was really very little of value on the internet, but now I don’t think I would enjoy life as much without it. For someone who is basically an introvert, the internet keeps me in touch with the world without having to actually touch it. I can then save my energy for those times when I have to be “on”. (I will write another post soon on how I manage being an introvert in a world that requires me to be an extrovert a good part of the time.)

Some technology keeps me at bay by its price. I would love a hybrid car but that is out of my price range right now. However, I don’t understand the concept of multi CD changers (why can’t you just get up and change it). If I had cable and a television I would probably love TiVo, but I think there is something that has made TiVo obsolete. I am so out of it all that I don’t even know.

I am still on the fence about e-readers. I know that when I saw my first Kindle I got all excited and started pricing them. That slowed me down. Now that they are less expensive I am still holding back. I love the feel of a book in my hands, but I realize that book cases are taking up more square footage in my apartment than any other furniture.

I have never had my own cell phone. My cell phone is required for my job and I use it sparingly. I don’t know how to “text” and I will keep it that way, thank you. I don’t have a lot of apps on my phone and if a picture gets taken by it, it is usually by accident. My granddaughter showed me how to access my Facebook account and I often play solitaire while sitting in waiting rooms. I know people who have their whole lives on their cell phones. I can access my work email and that is just about it.

My latest surrender to technology has been to buy a GPS. I have made all sorts of noise about loving to get lost (which I do) and that GPS systems are for people without a sense of direction (I have great sense of direction). Then I got lost in Boston three times last year and realized that having printed instructions from MapQuest was not quite doing it and Bostonians get a little cranky when you stop and ask someone for directions at an intersection. I think they see the New Hampshire license plates and think I am some libertarian freak with a gun in trunk of my Toyota. Well, I figured that enough of them had tried to run me off the road that the least they could do is give me a quick direction and without using their middle finger! I digress. So, I now have a GPS sitting next to me on my desk waiting for me to take it out and let it know it is no longer in Illinois. Right now it thinks it is in Chicago.

I was finally convinced to get it when I realized it would be handy when I go to Montreal for a conference in May. I also want to get to know Boston better. People say it is a great city and I would like to find out more about it. I have surrendered to the GPS, but only for city driving. I really like getting lost on country lanes. That is how I find yarn shops, alpaca farms, food stands, and blueberry farms. Getting lost is really about finding new places. That has always been a metaphor for my life and I don’t want to give it up.

I am so slow at accepting technology that I didn’t find out until recently that there is a word to describe me: “luddite,” someone who thinks things were fine “back in the day.” Well, I do have some things I am grateful for. I am a great proponent of indoor plumbing. I stayed with country relatives as a small child and know what it is like to use a ceramic pot in the middle of winter or make a mad dash to the outhouse. When I need to use outdoor facilities now, I don’t complain because I know it is only temporary. I also like washers and dryers. I wouldn’t complain, though, if my apartment complex had a place for me to hang out my laundry. I also have a dishwasher but find a sink full of sudsy water and dirty dishes to be a Zen like experience that I don’t like to pass up. I like washing dishes, particularly if there is a window above the sink that looks out on trees and birds.

There are some things from my childhood that I wish my grandkids could experience - the coolers where you slid the ice cold Orange Crush soda along the rails until it was released by a nickel; the ka-chink of an old fashioned cash register; and being able to walk to the corner store for bread and milk without worrying about being molested.

I guess I am always a few steps behind when it comes to modern technology but I really think that it has moved so fast over the past 50 years that there was no way for someone like me to keep up. I am fine with that. I don’t need to move that fast. I am just fine with my knitting needles and a blanket over my knees while I watch the sunset over the mountains.