My Favorite Westerns

Tag: technology

  • Reverse Technology … Post 2


    rocket man / iron horse
    ___________________________________________________________________________________________

    “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.”
    – HG Wells 

    “Inform Rose that I have engaged the Clock.”

    I would say this: 

    Of most of technological devices and gadgets I have, I’d say I know less than half 
    of what they do and how to use them to their full potential. 
    This goes for our TV, my camera, and our Samsung tablet.
    Among other things.
    I doubt that I am unique here though.

    Never thought I’d ever have a colour TV. 
    That was for rich folks.
    Now we’ve got this gigantic Samsung Smart TV.
    It might be smart, but sometimes I’m not doing so good. 

    We figured most things out: like Netflix; Youtube; how to get Game of Thrones,
    and how to download stuff from the Net and play it from a USB stick …

    Our main issue is this thing: 
    The ‘Clicker’.

    These are our Clickers below:

    We’ve got three of them. 
    We use one (left) to turn the TV on and adjust the Volume.
    And the second one (middle) to choose the Channel.
    The third one (right) is for the DVD Player.

    We still don’t know how to fully operate them.
    I do know you can buy a movie you didn’t want by pressing the wrong buttons. 
    and I think one button launches a ICBM in Dakota.

    We’ve called in a Tech guy a couple of times to try to figure a few things out. 

    I’ll make a simple guess why many Tech products are so difficult for us.
    It’s not because we’re dumb – or don’t have Tech savvy – though we don’t.  
    It’s because most modern Tech is designed by young people for young people.
    That’s where the money is.
    They don’t care about us older folks.

    But we blunder and fumble our way through anyway.

    It’s a new world out there …

    Let’s get at it.

  • Reverse Technology … Post 1


    20th Century Man / The Kinks

    “It was a bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
    1984 / George Orwell

    Image result for we have seen the enemy and he is us
    You will periodically see this cartoon on my blog. 
    It never gets old.

    Reverse Technology

    I have other names for this stuff, but I can’t print them here.
    It refers to an absolute mass (mess?) of modern Tech that is harder to use;
    takes longer to use; and is more difficult to use.
    Instead of the opposite.
    There’s a legion of this stuff around and I’m sure dozens of articles have been written
    decrying the evils that has been inflicted upon us in nearly every category of appliance. 

    Items around the house that are blinking at me: 

    My Coffee Maker (Thank God I can still make coffee without having to program it).

    Our DVD player. It took me an hour to figure out how to play a DVD the other day.
    I’d forgotten how to use it.
    It’s slow to operate, but works OK.

    My Clocks. I’ve been using that black thing for a while now.
    But the power went out the other night and I don’t recall how to reset the time?
    The Radio on it works though. It woke us up in the middle of the night.
    See those buttons on top? They do stuff. Not fast or     easily.
    That’s my old clock on the right.
    You can wind it up and set the time in less than 15 seconds.
    But it makes a ticking sound.
    Remember that?

    This is my one of my several USB sticks.
    This one contains my many Passwords for my computer.
    If I ever lost this I would really be in trouble.
    It’s a simple and useful device.
    Go figure. 

    Here’s my Cell. Haven’t used it in about 4 years.
    It’s old. I think it cost 24 bucks when I bought it.
    Nobody ever phoned me except bill collectors so I put it away.
    Never missed it.
    The Bill Collectors were looking for somebody called Alexandra
    who previously owned my number.
    No matter how many times I told them I wasn’t Alexandra they kept phoning me anyway.
    I bet she’s in Russia by now, and they’re still phoning her.

    Rose bought me this neat lamp.
    It tells temperature, time, chimes on certain dates and other stuff.
    I use it as a lamp. 

    Haven’t mentioned my computer yet?
    That’s where I do all this blog stuff.
    It’s sacred. Like an Altar.
    I’m addicted.
    I can’t remember what I used to do before I had it?

    Yes, it takes a lot of upkeep, updates, software, etc …
    My Tech abilities are poor so it’s a struggle … 
    And I pretty well have to buy a new system every 4 years so I can keep up.
    That’s expensive.

    Uh oh … I’m getting an alert from Microsoft 9000:
    “We have just picked up a fault in the AE-35 unit.”

    Really??! Darn! I better check that out.

    So this is just SOME of the Tech stuff we have all over our house. 
    But it’s everywhere.
    Our dependance is immense.
    And worrisome.
    I wonder that this whole outfit will go down someday and we lose electricity for instance?
    And communication – and many other things. 

    HG Wells expressed fears about this in The Time Machine.
    Fears of a world where we revert to a hunter/gatherer state after a war
    because we have     forgotten how to fix or recover our once marvelous technology?

    Atlantis has already proven that one.

    “We all have our time machines, don’t we. Those that take us back are memories …
    And those that carry us forward, are dreams.” 
    ― H.G. Wells

    We’ll see …

     

4 responses to “Reverse Technology … Post 2”

  1. jcalberta Avatar
    jcalberta

    O so true.

  2. Don Ostertag Avatar
    Don Ostertag

    Oh, boy, JC, now you scared me. I got the same problems including the Samson Smart TV. I knew about buying a movie by accident but not about launching the ICBM in No. Dak. Kind of reminds me of the old song, ‘I didn’t know the gun was loaded. and I’m so sorry my friend.’
    Every time I ask one of the grandkids for help with some tech, I secretly think to myself, yeah but I know how to drive a stick-shift and you don’t.

    1. jcalberta Avatar
      jcalberta

      I wrote a huge response to your comment Don. But it disappeared into the ethers. Mercifully edited by the Gods.

      We’ve definitely had problems with our TV, but persistence wasn’t futile and we can operate it OK now. Never did figure out what they call it smart though?

      Yeah – LoL – at work we have a saying when some out Tech goes down: “Find a 12 year old kid quick.” They grew up with this stuff. Hell, I didn’t learn how to type until I was in my 30’s. And I’m still no good at it.

      Your right about many city kids. They don’t know anything practical. Or how to work.

      I lived on some farms when I was a kid. Can’t go running to the store when shit happens. Or the hospital – or many things. I figure if there’s ever a huge war, the farmers will be the only people who survive.

      I shovelled asphalt for 7 years – road work. Baled hay; surveyed on the cutlines; was in the Militia – went to Camp Wainwright and trained with the Regs. Was an expert with firearms before i was 12. And on and on. I know why the Royal Family makes their kids go into the Forces. It changes and makes them into men fit to be leaders.

      Back in the 70’s I had a temporary job as an Assistant to the Personnel Manager for Westburne Drilling here in Calgary. A huge outfit. Our crusty Personnel Manager (Jack Evans) used to almost exclusively hire Saskatchewan farm boys for work on the rigs. They were strong and tough and knew how to work. No problems.

      But … it’s a different world nowadays. Or is it?

      1. Don Ostertag Avatar
        Don Ostertag

        Different world indeed. Like you I grew up on a farm learned how to work using horses or tractors, learned how to fix things often often using baling wire or twin. Good foundation for later life.

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