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Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

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Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#41

Post by siraben »

One reply seems quite prescient for its time, clashing against the attitude of the original author.

  We should support alternatives both to coal-
  generated electricity and to IBM-style technocracy.
  But I am reluctant to entertain alternatives that
  presuppose the traditional subservience of one class
  to another. Let the PCs come and the wives and
  servants go seek more meaningful work.
    -- Toby Koosman, Knoxville, TN

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#42

Post by pddpro »

People decry the energy wastage brought about by the Crypto Mining, rampant invasion of privacy & trust by mega corporations, ubiquitous presence of misinformation and vitriol in social media, mismanagement of e-waste, global climate change and the impending doom upon the entire human civilization, and a thousand things more, and yet find this article condescending.

This is not to say that I agree entirely with it either but, I find myself empathizing with the author at some level. If nothing more, it's a fun mental exercise to imagine what life today would be like had there been no personal computing.

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#43

Post by bcbrown »

geocrasher wrote: post #8

The original Computer Vegan, complaining about the coal used to power a computer while at the same time using a typewriter that is made of steel that had to be fired and forged probably using coal. I'm not saying he's wrong, but unless he mines his own metal and has a solar powered forge, he's fooling himself.

He, uh, says that he writes "with a pencil or a pen and a piece of paper". Not a typewriter. I'm not saying he's right, but I don't think he's fooling himself. I think his response at the bottom makes that clear:

> I did not say that I proposed to end forthwith all my involvement in harmful technology, for I do not know how to do that. I said merely that I want to limit such involvement, and to a certain extent I do know how to do that.

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#44

Post by horsawlarway »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #6

> My wife types my work on a Royal standard typewriter bought new in 1956 and as good now as it was then. This was written in the late 80s, but I'd guess they're still using that typewriter over 60 years after it's purchase. Not saying I completely agree with his whole essay, but there's not a lot of computing equipment still in use (or considered usable) from that era. > But the cost would not be just mone- tary. It…

> Floppies were ubiquitous in the 90s, but try reading one now - it's not impossible, but you'll probably have to find some service to help you do that since it's not likely that you've had a floppy drive for close to 20 years.

This is a bit rose-tinted. You can pick from a huge variety of floppy drive readers available on amazon, most for less than 20 bucks.

Additionally -

>As an example, I'd like to get an e-reader that would be usable in 20+ years. But that doesn't seem likely.

I have a kindle gen 2, purchased basically as soon as that model was released in jan 2009 (I actually ordered a gen 1 and amazon bumped me to gen 2 when it was announced). It's still going strong. My guess is that basically any kindle will go about 20 years as long as you take care of it. Battery life degrades a good bit, but even at only 20% of the original capacity, the thing still goes 3 days without a charge - used to be a month, but three days is enough.

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#45

Post by WWLink »

UncleOxidant wrote: post #6

> My wife types my work on a Royal standard typewriter bought new in 1956 and as good now as it was then. This was written in the late 80s, but I'd guess they're still using that typewriter over 60 years after it's purchase. Not saying I completely agree with his whole essay, but there's not a lot of computing equipment still in use (or considered usable) from that era. > But the cost would not be just mone- tary. It…

A laptop from 20 years ago would almost certainly have USB ports. The first computer I saw them on was a Sony VAIO in 1997. Compaq was also sporting them at the time, and of course Apple heavily adopted them in 1998. By 2000, practically every computer had them. Yes a USB stick should work with those.

USB floppy drives can still be purchased, and will generally work with anything, including android phones lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT1l8Dcjb1Y

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#46

Post by _carbyau_ »

forgotmypw17 wrote: post #40
_carbyau_ wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mother doesn't have a computer or mobile phone of any kind. Landline phone, TV and snailmail is her contact with the world from home. I did give her an old laptop but when the link to "her email" webpage was moved by the ISP she got the error message "It looks like your page has been moved." Innocuous enough error message right? But this caused her to freak out as clearly "someone" was watching and knew what "her"…

>I did give her an old laptop but when the link to "her email" webpage was moved by the ISP she got the error message "It looks like your page has been moved." Innocuous enough error message right? >But this caused her to freak out as clearly "someone" was watching and knew what "her" page was. Ergo "someone" was watching her on the internet. So she turned off the laptop and never opened it again. >On the one hand, s…

While true, there is:

"You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time"

For simply changing their webmail page, most of us would adjust pretty quick. If I had been quick enough I could've simply updated her link and she never would have known. But when mental health comes to paranoia, doing things behind her back is a sure way to get offside. I have zero issues with what happened, it is life.

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#47

Post by mlyle »

horsawlarway wrote: post #44
UncleOxidant wrote: post #6

> My wife types my work on a Royal standard typewriter bought new in 1956 and as good now as it was then. This was written in the late 80s, but I'd guess they're still using that typewriter over 60 years after it's purchase. Not saying I completely agree with his whole essay, but there's not a lot of computing equipment still in use (or considered usable) from that era. > But the cost would not be just mone- tary. It…

> Floppies were ubiquitous in the 90s, but try reading one now - it's not impossible, but you'll probably have to find some service to help you do that since it's not likely that you've had a floppy drive for close to 20 years. This is a bit rose-tinted. You can pick from a huge variety of floppy drive readers available on amazon, most for less than 20 bucks. Additionally - >As an example, I'd like to get an e-reader…

> This is a bit rose-tinted. You can pick from a huge variety of floppy drive readers available on amazon, most for less than 20 bucks.

Back to 3.5" / 1440kb is not too bad. Though the new drives are kinda crap compared to old ones in reading many disks.

But going back a little further-- reading Mac 800k disks, or 5.25" floppies, or things that are not DOS formatted--- gets harder and harder.

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#48

Post by mlyle »

bcbrown wrote: post #43
geocrasher wrote: post #8

The original Computer Vegan, complaining about the coal used to power a computer while at the same time using a typewriter that is made of steel that had to be fired and forged probably using coal. I'm not saying he's wrong, but unless he mines his own metal and has a solar powered forge, he's fooling himself.

He, uh, says that he writes "with a pencil or a pen and a piece of paper". Not a typewriter. I'm not saying he's right, but I don't think he's fooling himself. I think his response at the bottom makes that clear: > I did not say that I proposed to end forthwith all my involvement in harmful technology, for I do not know how to do that. I said merely that I want to limit such involvement, and to a certain extent I do…

And then hands it to his wife, who types it on a typewriter and edits it. I think the assertion is very much pencil + servile wife + typewriter > computer.

He has a workflow that works for him and has produced great works with it. Where this all goes awry is when his criticism strongly implies that the computer might not be better for others (who may not have a wife that types everything for them, for instance).

Re: Why I am not going to buy a computer (1987) [pdf]

#49

Post by spennant »

kurthr wrote: post #11
jimhi wrote: post #3

Holy cow - this guy still does not own a computer. From: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/g... "Berry, who is now eighty-four, does not own a computer or a cell phone, and his landline is not connected to an answering machine. We corresponded by mail for a year"

Well, at least only the truly old school Nigerian snail mail scams will get to him! Seriously, if you have parents going into their 70s and 80s you need to really start limiting exposure to scams or the ability to send them money. Otherwise, you won't know until it's too late, their bank account is empty, and their CC are maxed out on cash advances. Also, immediately contact the IRS and Social Security, because they'…

My dad is in his 80’s and has all the tech. (computer, iPad, iPhone, etc…) Thing is, he doesn’t believe anything (true or false) from his devices. He just thinks that everything he reads is from someone trying to sell him something and/or part him with his money.

I’m not sure if he’s wrong.

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