Don't you just love technology? (Sometimes)

[PeeBee]

don't you just love technology, a few years ago if anyone had said that we could do all the things we now take for granted such as email, mobile data, internet, GPS and the subsets of those technologies that allow us to have things like;-

GPS positioning with MOB facility
Private and business email on my cell phone
internet forums like this that operate in real time
etce etc
and most of them are now fairly idiot proof, in the early days you needed to understand what a Uniform Resource Locator was, now I'm frustrated if I can't find what I'm looking for on the 1st pass through Google.

For me at the ripe old age of 52 the two technologies that have made the biggest difference to my life are Mobile phones and the Internet, I'm sure that things like MRI scanners and other advances have had their impact but if I had to pick a couple it would be those 2.

So what are the things along these lines that have impacted you positively or negatively?

[MattS]

I have been fascinated by technology since I first started watching Raymond Baxter on Tomorrows World. The first PC I got to use came in a plastic bag and it took a few of us about a month of after school activity to build it. My very first after school job was to pay for the Vic 20 I was on the waiting list for. Needless to say IT has become a career.

Top 5 likes;
#1 In car GPS. I well remember the stress of trying to find customers without it.
#2 Films on DVD.
#3 Forums.
#4 The induction hob in the kitchen.
#5 Google.

Top 5 hates;
#1 Mobile phones.
#2 E-mail and even worse IM.
#3 Cyber crime.
#4 The IT industry.
#5 The terms IT Professional, IT Engineer.

[Marky Mark]

I agree, but I do hanker back for the days when the internet was a force for good rather than the strange place it has become these days.

I unfortunately went down the Oric route before giving up and buying a Spectrum. If fact I've bet on a few lame horses over the years including Betamax and now DAB (I'm yet to be convinced it'll work out), I'm only glad I didn't buy a HD DVD

One thing Willy Woolard (sp?) got wrong, Paperless offices Ha!!!

MyM

[big_si]

Originally Posted by MattS

Top 5 likes;
#1 In car GPS. I well remember the stress of trying to find customers without it.
#2 Films on DVD.
#3 Forums.
#4 The induction hob in the kitchen.
#5 Google.

Excellent! I'm glad you like an induction hob. We're moving to a house with no mains gas in the coming months and have decided on a Stoves Range cooker with induction hob.
Looking forward to it

[MattS]

Originally Posted by big_si

Excellent! I'm glad you like an induction hob. We're moving to a house with no mains gas in the coming months and have decided on a Stoves Range cooker with induction hob.

It has saved the SO from burning the Kitchen down a dozen times in the 18 months she has had it.

I like it cos I get to do great party tricks like putting my hand on the element which is simultaneously boiling a pan of water.

You know you need magnetic pans don't you?

The hob is Bosch and almost as responsive as a gas one.

[big_si]

Originally Posted by MattS

It has saved the SO from burning the Kitchen down a dozen times in the 18 months she has had it.

I like it cos I get to do great party tricks like putting my hand on the element which is simultaneously boiling a pan of water.

You know you need magnetic pans don't you?

The hob is Bosch and almost as responsive as a gas one.

Cool! Yep, I know about the pans. They sound really good from what I've read, I've not seen them in action though. I'm used to gas so I'm really pleased they're almost just as responsive.

[chrisch]

Originally Posted by PeeBee

don't you just love technology, ...

No not really. Although I am in awe of much of it.

A mate of mine is a geek type and has all the latest rubbish (and buys it usually before it works properly so gives me a laff at his expense) I remember him getting a car navigator based around the otherwise pointless little PDAs that people have to look silly in meetings.

What got me was the sheer volume of data and processing power on this tiny little thing. When you consider what it is doing (and in a wintel platform FFS) its quite amazing.

Me, I have a map.

(Under duress and after several pints I will admit unnatural fondness for a waterproof LCD colour sounder/chart plotter though)

Chris

[Finless]

On the other hand I would wish to be rid of speed cameras.

The advent of the electronic personal data files which are kept on just about everyone really pisses me off.

Breathalysers!

Drugalysers. Surely nothing can beat the good old days and a cold wet nose in the nadgers ......... I would imagine?

I am developing a phobia about "security questions" to the point where I get quite terse about it. The Inland Revenue enquiries number is a real PITA as you have to answer questions whilst they type the answers in. Why! They don't store the information in a easily useable way because they have to type the same info in every poxy time. Doubtless it's the poxy 'blame, sue and claim' culture that has caused that. Nobody wants to do anything for fear of ...............

Respect ........... I haven't quite figured out where that has gone or why but I blame the demise of respect on technology.

[purple vonny]

Being a domestic goddess and not very modern, I worship my microwave and my dishwasher. Do those count?

My bro thinks I am behind the times and is getting me a sat nav for my birthday, so no more trying to see a scrap of paper propped on the steering wheel for me!

Other bits of "technology" that make life nicer are:

T'internet
mobile phone
fantastic new methods of pain control (work related, sorry)


Rubbish technology includes:

Speed cameras
databases generating junk mail and spam
video games (they fry your brain.....apart from Tetris which is ace)
The latest "must have" gadgets and widgets. For geeks with more money than sense.

[Adrian Kelland]

Originally Posted by MattS

I have been fascinated by technology since I first started watching Raymond Baxter on Tomorrows World. The first PC I got to use came in a plastic bag and it took a few of us about a month of after school activity to build it. My very first after school job was to pay for the Vic 20 I was on the waiting list for. Needless to say IT has become a career.

Didn't learn did you