Technology

[Gunner37]

You know what I'm really sick of is when people don't even socialize in person anymore its all online and with their phones. I see this a lot in college with people eating dinner with friends or significant others its really pathetic. For instance I took this girl on a date and we were having a great time at an Outback and then she tells me that everyone us is just on their phones not talking to the people at their tables. So i looks and sure enough everybody is just buried in their phones and not talking and it's just sad. We both start to laugh at the people around us and they don't even notice that. It got to the point where we made fun of them quite visibly and enough so they all could hear us only after 10 minutes of doing that they started to notice and started giving us looks and telling us to stop, it was quite enjoyable. I don't think I've ever had more fun at an Outback we both were laughing so hard we were crying it was probably one of the best dates I've ever been on.

Anyways the point is that we as a society really need to learn to let go of our technology and actually spend time with one another as social fun people instead of having our heads up our own asses due to our phones always being there to escape whatever situation we are in. Some of my own friends do this so we play the game where when we are all getting a drink with each and whoever uses their phone first for something not related to telling people where we are has to buy the next round of drinks and lets just say I don't buy them very often its quite nice.

So sorry about the long post I just hate the way society is going because we are all becoming zombies to our own technology and not being social anymore and its driving me nuts.

 

[GRColin]

He says as he posts this from his technology.

Just kidding.

 

[Wes]

Honestly I miss the 90's. Not just for the nostalgia but because it was an she before texts, twitter, and all this useless narcissistic crap.

In the 90's the internet was for two things: e-mail and porn.

 

[UrbanMasque]

People are socializing even more than before. Online forums and communities are allowing people, who wouldn't even know the other existed, to connect and collaborate on ideas, problem, and hobbies.

You're on a date with a girl (at Outback), and instead of talking about each other and your lives you're looking around and judging people who may be using their devices to: Order a cab, write a review about the food they had, pay the bill, read breaking news about a shooter in the area, coordinate with a friend who is running late, etc. Some people just scroll facebook/instagram/twitter forever.. true, but most people use the device to improve the quality of their life. Keep that in mind and DON'T BE THAT GUY. You know, the Luddite who wishes all videogames were still 8-bit because it "encourages imagination". Society is headed toward becoming a Type-I civilization and these devices facilitate the exchange of information. Some groundbreaking, some fluff - but you can't generalize society as a whole because of it. Embrace progress or get left behind.


tl;dr - This is what you sound like

 

[Green_Lantern]

People were probably telling you to stop because in order for them to say something like that you had to have been acting like loud obnoxious assholes about it.

 

[Optimus-Crime]

there's a place for everyone, even the technology haters, in today's internet age.

you can try and keep it as geeky as you want to but there's always gonna be a soccer mom who's happy with her daughter's hand-me-down iPad, that one shitty game that's already installed, and the ability to browse online.
Don't have an amazon account? just get your kid to buy it for you on theirs and pay them back.

I've come to realize that people aren't hardheaded about technology, this is just their comfort level with how far they're willing to go, and for some people that's to not even flip the switch on the power supply. I don't think there's anything wrong with being "that guy" either, because what's the other option... being "that other guy" who's always first in line to sign up for the newest service because, simply, it's the newest service? That's stupid. But whatever, that's my comfort zone. My sister is younger than me and she doesn't do half of the emlator-online shopping-bullshit stuff that I do, and I don't do half of the vine-spotify-bullshit she does. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can cherry pick and live pretty happily online.

 

[Gunner37]

People were probably telling you to stop because in order for them to say something like that you had to have been acting like loud obnoxious assholes about it.

We were being loud obnoxious asshats probably because we were the only people actually talking in our section of restaurant but we both had fun and I got another date this weekend. It's not like thats the only thing we did though we had our meal while talking to each other about our lives, interests, hobbies, etc. We only were assholes while we were waiting for our bill which took forever.

And Urban your right I can understand most of the uses for technology like what you listed its just I don't like it when people use their tech constantly on stupid things like instead of using it on other things that can actually help you.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

The gift of the internet is that I never would get to talk about my interests with others who enjoy them to the same degree but I can because if the INTERNET. The problem with the internet is that because people have constant access to their interests, they will often time disappear into the digital cminity instead of associating with an individual.

 

[used44]

I can agree with your sentiment, but yeah, keep to your own damn table. Interrupting strangers to make fun of them is the worst.

 

[WickedLiquid]

You know what the worst thing about this is? Concerts. I can appreciate filming a part of the show so you can always remember what it was like but some people will just film the entire thing. I prefer to live in the moment and I just don't see that with these people. They don't feel the music. They don't feel anything. They just record like a robot.

 

[Lien]

My brother drives me nuts texting me or asking me to text instead of giving me a call. The worst offense of this for me? during the end credit of a film, everyone stands up, turns on their phone and start talking about the film RIGHT THERE!

All i want to do is listen how everything is awesome but those yuppies have to yuck it up like some sort of ritual here... With their "Sexting" and their "Reddit"...

Whatever! i am old!

 

[Sourdeez]

I really don't mind it honestly. I'm a libertarian. Let them be them and you be you. I really see this freedom as a good thing. I manage to balance interacting with the material and digital world and I am sure many do without incurring any real harm.

Im sorry some people don't want to interact with you. That the massive digital world is at everyone's fingertips and they are interacting in ways and without boundaries ever experienced in the history of human civilization. Oh wait. No, I am not sorry.


I don't call anyone anymore unless it is work. So I maybe make only 2 calls a year. I use things like ventrilo and teampspeak and mumble and raidcall to voice chat with distant friends.

 

[GRColin]

So I get being annoyed by people buried in their phones. When I have my sister in law and her husband drop in to watch a movie or something and they're on their phones every few minutes or when my wife pulls her phone out when we;re spending time together I get irritated. I also don't like T.Vs at every single bar I go to. If I'm at a dive bar or a sports bar fine, I get it. But when I'm at a jazz bar/nice restaurant I'm not expecting to see ESPN on the bar t.v. Having said that and reading your entire post, you sir, came off as a douche. I'm sorry but no matter how much their behaviour irritates you, the fact you tried to make them uncomfortable and make fun of them while they were out having fun and trying to enjoy themselves makes you the equivalent of a bully.

If that's how you like to prove a point, I'd rather be wrapped up in my technology if I'm ever around you.

 

[MattAY]

Haha, you know there is this girl ni the office at work that is always in her phone instead of doing work.

Pisses me off to unbelieveable extent.

 

[C_nate]

I know this is going to sound like I'm a hipster asshole but I don't even own a smart phone. I don't mind them though, but for me there isn't much of a point in having one. I don't do facebook or twitter or instagram or whatever else the kids are using now.

I like gadgets and technology stuff though. I just stay away from the "Look at me!" trend that seems to be going on now. When you have what are supposed to be respectable news outlets putting random assholes tweets on the air as the new age man on the street interview to gauge public opinion on certain topics, then you know times are changing.

Aside from that though, if I had to choose between sitting next to an oblivious couple quietly buried in their phones, or a couple loudly and obnoxiously ridiculing them, I'd sit next to the phone people every time. Different people like different things. Some people like to have a conversation during dinner. Some people just want to shut up and eat. Who is to say one is better than the other.

To put it another way: Say a guy next to you lit up a cigarette. Do you A.) Politely ask that he put it out because the smoke is bothering you? Or B.) Start an extreme(ly fake) coughing fit as if someone had just dumped an ashtray filled with old cigarette butts covered in asbestos shavings down your throat? (assuming you aren't a smoker yourself.)

 

[Sourdeez]

I would ask the guy why he is smoking, when vaping your nicotine is not only way healthier but way cheaper.

I still don't think its very polite to be vaping in restaurants or in near proximity to people who don't vape. In fact when I'm at work, I use a activated carbon smoke filter to blow the vape into so it doesn't get released into the environment.

 

[cyberjim2000]

One thing I have noticed about myself is that I'm waaaaaay to dependent on the internet to connect with real life friends and it does feel a bit lonelier when something happens to my computer. Maybe it's time to get a cell phone or something.

 

[Affen]

One thing I don't like is that the heavy phone users expect the same amount of dedication to phone from you.

I will not be always accessible. I don't want to be always accessible. I'll get back to you eventually.

 

[UghRochester]

The attention span of the people in my area is ridiculous. I hate when you talk to someone and they just pull out their cell phone and start texting somebody. It's even worse when it's someone I'm attracted to.

 

[UrbanMasque]

One thing I don't like is that the heavy phone users expect the same amount of dedication to phone from you.

I will not be always accessible. I don't want to be always accessible. I'll get back to you eventually.

This.. I set the expectation when I'm around my friends that my phone isn't a direct line to Urbz's attention, by not always looking at it or checking it - but I do know friends who have their phones attached to their hands basically from the time they wake up to when they go to bed. So I get rightfully pissed me off when I send them a text or call and it takes them about 5 hrs to respond. Its just a subtle "your not important". :roll: