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Okay, so I'm bored at work, and I was thinking that I'm really beginning to hate technology: I think it's actually making us dumber as a species. Hear me out. A lot of new phones can often assume what you're trying to say when you start spelling a longer word or mangle a word as well, as long as it's semi-close. This should be a great thing, but as an English major, I'm finding that my phone thinking for me causes me to misspell a lot of words. Words I never had issues with in the past. How do you guys feel about tech doing stuff for us? Anybody else find it frustrating? And no, frazzled, fire doesn't count as "tech".

Agreed. Technology is ruining society. Instead of talking to each other, we text. Everyone puts their whole life on stupid Facebook. I really really hate the 21st century. I'm not getting along with it at all and I don't fit. I was much happier in the 80s and 90s when music didn't suck and not everyone had a damn cell phone. I ever find a time machine, I'm outta here.

Everything started to go wrong when they made those bloody steam engines, and decided to give the commoners rights.

All those who wish to shut down the internet say AYE!

Tech that thinks for you is oft good for causal users - for the rest of us its often a pain half the time. Predictive text relies upon you speaking only a certain way and with certain simple phrases - if your vocabulary is wider than average and you're not speaking in "text talk" chances are its best to just turn it off.

Sadly a lot of companies make turning things on and off hard or outright impossible - or reset them every time an update appears so you have to keep hunting (because they always move things around).



I'd say tech is ok but its the interfaces where we are seeing some real stupid and annoying problems.

Facebook needs to go. Agreed 100%. Twitter needs to be nuked from orbit. I had friends who only wanted to text, had no interest in talking on the phone at all. If you called, you got ignored. Text, and you'd have a reply in seconds. I don't think the Internet itself is so bad (free porn, after all), but social media is terrible.

Social Media needs to go die in a hole. It isn't helped by the fact that people are basically sheep and will do anything another person does.

 thenoobbomb wrote:
Everything started to go wrong when they made those bloody steam engines, and decided to give the commoners rights.

Pfft, the wheel, its just a fad.

Everything went downhill when Glog put a rock on the end of his pointy sticky. real cave men just burn the end of theirs.


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 timetowaste85 wrote:
Facebook needs to go. Agreed 100%. Twitter needs to be nuked from orbit. I had friends who only wanted to text, had no interest in talking on the phone at all. If you called, you got ignored. Text, and you'd have a reply in seconds. I don't think the Internet itself is so bad (free porn, after all), but social media is terrible.

Whats awesome is you don't need to be involved in any of those.

I use FB only to confirm with friends if I'm going to game club this month and that's it. Twitter has never earned an account from me. Texting, unfortunately, is a necessary evil for work. That one I have no choice over.

 Frazzled wrote:

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 timetowaste85 wrote:
Facebook needs to go. Agreed 100%. Twitter needs to be nuked from orbit. I had friends who only wanted to text, had no interest in talking on the phone at all. If you called, you got ignored. Text, and you'd have a reply in seconds. I don't think the Internet itself is so bad (free porn, after all), but social media is terrible.

Whats awesome is you don't need to be involved in any of those.

More or less this. I find facebook useful for businesses / Stores so can they reach to a bigger number of people, and I do appreciate it's uses, but, I really have no patience for the more personal use. I did try to use it once, but I honestly have no patience. Still, I won't hold against anyone if they really like sharing whatever they had for lunch, I'll just ignore it.

Twitter? Never created an account, no problem there.

Just ignore it if you don't like the social crap.

You have to be 10% smarter then the equipment you operate. Only Twitter account I follow is the spoof they do for Games of Throne

 Jihadin wrote:
You have to be 10% smarter then the equipment you operate.

So how do we rate the intellectual capacity of items that are normally used to define a sapient, sentient species?

 Overread wrote:
Predictive text relies upon you speaking only a certain way and with certain simple phrases

Predictive text learns. Has done for a long time. It will very quickly adapt.

You could also turn off autocorrect but I suppose a rant against the evils of technology is in the same ballpark.

As a guy who formerly worked in "IT" I also hate computers and technology... but that's more because the DoD tends to be idiotic with their stuff.

As with all things, there's a "proper" use for Facebook and other technology, and where I think many people go wrong, is that they've only ever known technology, so don't know that proper use.

For instance, my rugby club's page on Facebook is generally used for putting out information; practice times, locations, schedule of matches, etc. it's the most efficient means of reaching the whole or most of the club.



The thing I can't stand is seeing a family at a restaurant (for this example, we'll go with Mom, Dad, and 2 kids), and EVERYONE at the table has their face in a phone, iPad or some other electronic device... Bloody hell, you're at a fething restaurant!!! CONVERSATE!!!!

I think you mean converse, but I agree with you.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Okay, so I'm bored at work, and I was thinking that I'm really beginning to hate technology: I think it's actually making us dumber as a species. Hear me out. A lot of new phones can often assume what you're trying to say when you start spelling a longer word or mangle a word as well, as long as it's semi-close. This should be a great thing, but as an English major, I'm finding that my phone thinking for me causes me to misspell a lot of words. Words I never had issues with in the past. How do you guys feel about tech doing stuff for us? Anybody else find it frustrating? And no, frazzled, fire doesn't count as "tech".

To a certain extent, ANY thing that you can come up with that makes life easier is bad because you lose the skills you had previously from practicing doing it all the time. Damn the automobile for all but eradicating the timeless and nuanced skill of driving a carriage! Cure you, Mr. Hamilton and your horrible invention, the digital watch! What you have done to the honorable career of watchmaking (not to mention impairing the ability of the common man to read an analog watch!). I could go on, but you get the point. Somehow we're not dumber for it. We're as dumb as we've ever been, we just have transitioned the brainpower spent on thinks like watching your spelling to other things.

Also, in spite of my above rant, I don't care much for technology either. I don't like it because it can fail. I don't keep notes on any computers. I handwrite anything I want to last, because it keeps my handwriting somewhat passable, and because my notebook doesn't break on me if I drop it, and it doesn't run out of batteries. I am visibly reminded when it fills up, and a new one is less than the price of a new tablet.

FB and Twitter are not my things at all.

Every time gak goes down between people I know, it originated on one of those sites, or people in general are constantly distracted by said sites. All around my lecture halls, the computer screens (75% of any given room will be using computers) have FB open or other social media. It's usually just a few of us actually taking notes and being students. Then these same ignoramuses will have the balls to ask around for THE NOTES, DO YOU HAVE THEM CAN YOU E-MAIL ME THEM?'. Unbelievable.

I use facebook. I like facebook. Not because it's facebook, but because of it, I made some new friends. Twitter in the other hand... Yeah that's only good for stalking youtubers and other celebs. I've never owned a smartphone, never even used one. So I can't say anything about that

I'm still on a messageboard posting stuff. I think you know what I think about technology.

 Easy E wrote:
I'm still on a messageboard posting stuff. I think you know what I think about technology.

That you like 1990s technology with some javascript, frames, and image macros as window dressing?

Raven911 wrote:
I was much happier in the 80s and 90s when music didn't suck

Saying it doesn't necessarily make it true. Especially when it's something as silly as this.

You mean Tubthumping wasn't the cumulative peak of humanity's progress in the arts?

 daedalus wrote:
You mean Tubthumping wasn't the cumulative peak of humanity's progress in the arts?

Or Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On"? Who doesn't love that classic? Or what about the legendary "Barbie Girl"?

Warzone

You rate it by how many times you throw against the wall and how many pieces there are

I'm OK with Facebook I use it mostly to stay in touch with friends and occasionally post facts about myself or thoughts that I have other than that I hardly use it.

Step 1: Turn OFF autocorrect.
Step 2: Lrn2txt using FULL words - but also learn to economise using the bare minimum of words to get the point across.
Step 3: Review text (and correct) before sending.

I don't have a problem with it.

Admittedly, I do all of the above for a forum post, too. I got sick of 1 line txt style messaging on BBS message boards back in the 80s/90s

Yeah, you can keep your Justin Bieber, lady gaga, and American Idol crap. Ill keep my hair bands, r&b, and good rap over anything that came out in the last 14 years. Even the spice girls were better than the crap out today.

I miss video arcades too. That was a social experience that got kids out of the house and out to meet people. Now arcades are extinct and kids are sitting on the couch with a controller and a head set on talking smack to the other players from the safety of the Internet. If you would have tried that face to face it would have led to an instant attitude adjustment from your apponent.

I work as a deputy sheriff. I have to answer calls because someone is upset because someone else threatened them on Facebook. You have to be a complete and total moron to think that's a reason to call the cops. Block them and get over it. More proof that people now are stupider that they were 20 years ago.

The only tech I will say I am happy with is mp3. I always hated CDs and how easy they were to scratch.

Raven911 wrote:
Yeah, you can keep your Justin Bieber, lady gaga, and American Idol crap. Ill keep my hair bands, r&b, and good rap over anything that came out in the last 14 years. Even the spice girls were better than the crap out today.

ITT: People who have no clue about music complain about music.

There has never been a better time for music. Ever. You just need to stop living with the top 40. Because the top 40 has always sucked.

 welshhoppo wrote:
All those who wish to shut down the internet say AYE!

NAY! I need my easy access to limitless porn.