US GenX want to go back in time to before the internet existed

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https://www.fastcompany.com/90909279/gen-xers-and-older-millennials-really-just-want-to-go-back-in-time-to-before-the-internet-existed

…According to a new Harris Poll shared exclusively with Fast Company, most Americans would prefer to live in a simpler era before everyone was obsessed with screens and social media, and this sentiment is especially strong among older millennials and Gen Xers.

Asked whether they would like to return to a time before humanity was “plugged in”—meaning before people had wide access to the internet and smartphones—77% of Americans age 35-54 said they would, the highest of any group…

63% of 18- to 34-year-olds agreed with the idea..

All told, though, a decisive 67% of respondents agreed that, if given the choice, they would prefer the world as it used to be, versus only 33% who seem to think things are perfectly fine the way they are…

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I would go back to the 80s or early 90s in a heartbeat, and I am within that demographic where that sentiment is the most common. How nice it would be if smartphones had never been invented!

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Charlie, BobbyB

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Hmm not sure about going back in time. I totally agree with @Acaris definitely craving for a time Pre-cell\Mobile or as I term it the electronic ball and chain although to get a Computer back then to do anything involved typing long strings just to get Pong to work on the machines of the day, I am afraid in my old age I find the advent of the Modern (relatively) GUI a lot easier, although I do delve in to Terminal or CMD prompt once in a while, purely for nostalgia’s sake. 😉

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Ascaris wrote:

How nice it would be if smartphones had never been invented!

Back to the 40s. How nice it would be if computer had never been invented.

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fernlady, BobbyB

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There’s a vast difference between the 40’s and where we find ourselves now, and you are as intensely aware of it as are we all.

All technologies, including the Internet and all telecom have advantages and repercussions. We all know this.

To have denigrated Ascaris’ comment devalues your deeply founded experience as well as his/hers/its.

Smartphones are an invaluable tool for business, as well as personal communications, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t annoying as crap, and that many of us everyday “smartphone” users don’t wish for the ever so slightly simpler life, where we could ignore that call, (or more likely page, or text) and better set the pace of our lives.

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The problem isn’t the technology per se, it’s what people do with it

Corporations uses it to sell us stuff we don’t want. Governments use it to track us. Threat Actors use it to screw us over

And we are all complicit. Everywhere you go, people nowadays can seemingly only experience life through their mobile phones

But, same as with nuclear weapons, you can’t UNinvent stuff once it’s been invented. You just have to grit your teeth and get on with it

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I would not go that far. I like computers. It’s the “always on, always with you” nature of phones that is the problem. I had the same issue with pagers when they started to proliferate too. I called them electronic leashes. Phones are far, far worse than that.

The ubiquity of video and still cameras is part of it too… I can’t imagine going to school in an era when that awkward or embarrassing teen moment isn’t just spoken of by all the students for a few days, then forgotten. Now those moments are immortalized forever by packs of kids with video cameras, recording your shame for eternity, making it available to everyone in the world before you even see your bedroom again. I am glad I got to miss all of that!

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I agree. I’m 74 and I love the digital technology available today. But just as you do not have to have your TV set turned on all day every day, you also don’t have to be tied to your digital technology 24/7/365, either. People can do a full normal system shutdown on their desktop, laptop, tablet and chromebook devices when they’re not using them, and only turn them on and boot them up when they need to use them. I generally don’t keep my smartphone next to me all day at home; it stays on the night stand in my bedroom all day except when it needs charging. I usually never take it with me when I leave the apartment; and when I do, I put it in airplane mode when I walk out the door (no wi-fi or cell service activated). If I had a landline phone, I would never answer it when it rings unless I recognized the number of the caller. Let the calls go to the answering service. If it’s important, they’ll leave a message. The point is that no person in any age group needs to let technology control them; they need to exercise their own control over the technology. That includes not accepting employment from employers who require you to be connected and accessible 24 hours a day, but only during scheduled working hours (i.e.–40 hours a week). I love my smartphone. Airplane mode is its best feature, by far.

 

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Charlie, WSBirdLady, Cybertooth

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It would seem that respondents in this thread are speaking in reference to what other people are doing with their smartphones/tablets, rather than in reference to how the respondents personally use their own devices.

I’m a boomer, 78, and I haven’t bought a stamp to put on a return envelope to pay a bill in over two years.  I now pay everything online, with regular payments setup for autopay.  I don’t receive paper statements from any business, nor from my credit union.  When I’m out and about, my cellphone is in my pocket, unless I receive a call, or want to make a call.  I’m not using it to check my social media or anything of that sort.

As for how others use their smartphones, that’s them and their business, not my concern.  In my experience, conservatism, “the inclination, especially in politics, to maintain the existing or traditional order,” is a failure at the outset.  Change is inevitable, and balking at change, or  trying to undo change, is a futile waste of time and energy.

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WSBirdLady

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I’m considered Gen X but I’m not interested in going back before Internet or smartphones existed. To me they are just tools and like many other tools they have been of great benefit. They just need to be used responsibly so you control the tool, not the tool controls you.

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My tools certainly don’t control me. My phone is essentially a glorified alarm clock most of the time. I charge it once or twice a week, and generally I will not have used it for anything other than being an alarm clock during that time, or maybe a mobile hot spot for my laptop (which happens a time or two or three a month). I don’t “text,” I don’t use any social media, I don’t browse the web on the phone, and I don’t give out my cell number to anyone, so I don’t get any calls on it. If people are to be told my phone number, they get my landline, and when they do they are told not to expect an answer if they happen to call. Leave a message and I may call you back, if I want to. Email is preferred, but I don’t give instant responses with that either. I check it when I have the time to properly think about and craft a reply; I certainly am not waiting for a notification so I can go read whatever it was immediately.

Those are my terms; accept them or don’t, it’s your choice.

That does not, though, free me from the scourge of smart phones. I don’t live in a vacuum… the large majority of people in the world are not me. The way they use their phones has an impact on me. Perhaps literally, if someone texting while driving (which is ridiculously common) happens to crash into me out on the road.

Even if the hypothetical student in my earlier post did not have a phone at all, he would still be subject to having his unfortunate teen moments that are best forgotten immortalized and made available worldwide forever by the actions of his classmates.

If that same phoneless youngster went to college, he might be obligated to download and have available (if not actively use) a given “app” on his nonexistent phone. There are all kinds of examples like that. Everyone out there assumes everyone else out there has an Android or Apple phone that they carry with them (and pay attention to) at all times, and there is often little accommodation for those who opt out.

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Charlie, Cybertooth

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Huh, that’s very interesting. I am a Gen X-er and I choose to be “in the olden days”. I use a desktop computer and a landline. I have a cell phone, but I use it only for texting occasionally or when I travel. It doesn’t even have a Google account tied to it. I have never had a social media account of any kind.

I can honestly say I’m the only person I know around my age who chooses this “old-school” lifestyle, because I prefer it.

If 77% of my generation wants to go back in time… why don’t they? It’s perfectly possible and I’m living proof. Maybe they just want to complain but not do anything to change their behaviour?

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I remember the good old days … my mobile phone was properly called that because it had a conventionally sized handset and was permanently installed in my car!

One of my gripes about today’s technology focused, app infected business models is that they try to induce you to install an app on your phone and cough up personal information if you want the bargains/discounts that are only available through the app.  Sorry, in my world privacy trumps app addiction.

 

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Charlie, Cybertooth

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On the other hand

The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is a return to the idealised past.

Robertson Davies

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There are lots of things I miss from the 60s and 70s. And there are a few things that I am glad are gone.

One thing I miss is 60s cars and 30c per gallon gasoline. As long as your car had an air conditioner and a stereo, you were good to go. You really didn’t need all of the hyper technology that they cram into cars and everything else these days.

Problem is, we didn’t know what we had in the 60s and 70s. By the time things had changed, that era was lost forever.

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Charlie, Cybertooth

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MrJimPhelps wrote:

Problem is, we didn’t know what we had in the 60s and 70s. By the time things had changed, that era was lost forever.

So very true MrJim.  My first car was a new Nightmist Blue ’66 Mustang Coup with an AM radio and automatic transmission. I added a cassette player and two speakers in the back deck. Recorded my own cassettes from the stereo. That was it but I had lots of good times in that car.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Very nice car! And a very reliable transmission – a lot better and more simple than the CVT transmissions of today.

Back then you could buy and install an aftermarket air conditioner for your car.

And back then, you could get a decent used muscle car for around $500.

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Charlie

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The 60’s and 70’s were the some of the best years of my life.  I fondly remember visiting my neighbors and playing Atari 2600 games like Space Invaders, and having a good time being with and communicating with the people around me personally.  Also, I was in my 20’s and didn’t have any worries!

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s and I miss it! Not the part with no A/C though and having to lay on the wood floor in front of a box fan to cool off though 🙂

Started learning to drive on my Dad’s lap before I was 5 – yes, I know that was unsafe and wouldn’t do it now – but different times! We woke up at the crack of dawn and headed out to build our forts and tree houses in the woods with my Mom yelling be in when the street lights come on. We fixed that by shooting them out with our BB guns 🙂  Following the mosquito truck spewing DDT on our bikes and having a ball doing so 🙁  Holding the TV rabbit ear antennas so reception would improve so my Grandpa could watch what was on 🙂

Tried to reproduce as much of those times for my kids and grand-kids but it has gotten hard to do as time went on!

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Charlie, Cybertooth

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