Are you a conservative computer user?

Hi gus,

I had an idea for an article, but I wanted to hear some more opinions first.

Recently, I've been discussing/exploring the brave new world of gadgets and social media and its impact on how we work and live, from the technological point of view. And it reminds me of what happened 100 years ago, when they started with electricity, cars and medicine.

Some people loved the change, others were resistant, others yet undecided.

So what makes one a conservative user?

Is it someone who understand technology but refuses to embrace it? And for what reasons? Political, ideological, practical? Is it someone who does not understand technology and fears it? Is it justify to resist something you don't understand or vice versa, resist it because you do understand it?

Does using FB or iPhone makes you less conservative? How does hype relate to technology, cause some of it seems to be technology for the sake of technology. And some of it has become popular. But then, if a majority if population is using something, can we treat it as novel, new and innovative?

And so forth?

Your thoughts on the subject?

Mrk

 

As far as i'm concerned, and others i know, rejecting tech for techs sake isn't conservative at all. Rather it's not being a sheeple and not wanting to appear to keep up with the jones's etc.

iphone/FB etc, you can keep it

Anyway it's not the tech i reject, i like tech, it's the application of of it that is often the problem.

Tech was supposed to save time and enable people to have more free time to do some real things. Instead it's made people slaves to the machine/s. I've stopped being amazed at the amount of people who waste their lives away on FB & texting etc crap for hours every day. The sad thing is, they can't see the problem

The interesting thing is, there is a TV program that's called Big Brother where people go into a studio/house for up to 3 months. In there they NO access to TV/radio/phones/comp/newspapers etc etc, and they soon seem to be able to cope without them ! So maybe there is hope after all

 

I don't find the word conservative to encapsulate the type of user who is maybe cautious when dealing with technology. Maybe the main reason for being cautious is the lack of time to learn about the tech and be confident enough to deal with it without fearing (because not enough is known about it, whether how to use it or what for etc. etc)

 

People who have 'the knowledge' but don't want to 'change' because they don't feel like it or just lazy...
I think they are the conservative user. I hate them.


EDIT: sorry, I changed my mind. People who do not want to learn and go for the change are the conservative ones. I hate them the most.

 

The issue for me is change for change's sake. I'm conservative (resistant to change) if the change serves no real technological purpose. I have no desire to see an application's or operating system's GUI change every six months.
Mind you, I'm not saying my position is at all better. It's just my old-fashioned conservatism.
If the change adds another cool bell or whistle that really works...hey, I love it!

 

I have the knowledge but i don't want to change because i don't have extra money. Every dime will go for my family first and the any last might go to those luxury tech stuff

 

My way of life is not compatible with all the social networking crap. So I do not use what I do not need. Tweeter and facebook are more business promotion tools for me than real social nodes.

The gadgets thing is another story. I have spent a lot of money on them, specially when I was younger. But not anymore. I have learned that I do my tasks better using only:
- A phone, for just voice calls and sms
- A laptop
- Many desktop computers
- A small laptop or e-reader for reading when my laptop is not the most comfortable thing to use.

Am I a conservative user? No! I use what I need, when I need it. I have matured experience to see my real needs and satisfy them spending the less amount of money possible. Marketing, fashion, design and all the blinking things do not touch my pocket but I like to study their evolution.

I consider myself a rational user. The word rational fits my way better than conservative.

 

In general I like structure and plans, I like to solve problems and think about how the solutions effect me. I'm also less comfortable in unclear situations, I like to get more information first.

I don't consider myself conservative, I enjoy new features and like to learn about it. But I make conscious decisions: I don't pay extra for a dataplan on my cellphone when I already have internet at home, I even blocked SMS on my cellphone. But I did purchase an iPod Touch, which lets me connect anywhere with wifi and it also lets me SMS text for free.

With every dollar that I spend, I ask myself 'do I need this purchase or do I want this purchase?". I don't have the latest hardware, but outdated cheap hardware. I do run Windows 7, though and I play with Linux, although I quit chasing the latest Linux releases. There is not much payoff for the time spent.

I have noticed that the US society encourages to label everything, OCD, ADD, bipolar, etc. And it's common to value other based on their income or career.

Anyway, call me anything you like, I'm happy with myself. And by experience I have learned to be more comfortable in different situations than years ago

 

I wouldn't call myself 'conservative' but I am a conservationist.

All these gadgets cost and they change so fast, it's possible to go broke or nuts tryin to keep up with them,
that's why it makes sense to quiz yourself about your reasons.

Why are you getting this new phone, puter, notebook, gps,etc."

Just because you want it, isn't a very good reason anymore, because as soon as you
buy it, something else will catch your eye.

And I agree, alot of these gadgets take up more time than they save you,

They ARE alot of fun to play with and learn about though..just be a little discerning!

 

Ahh well

My son tells me "Look what has become of you. You used a smartphone in 1991 and now you have a phone that can only be used for text messages and calling someone. You use a seperate digital camera, seperate navigation system, have a mobile card in your laptop for email and surfing, take an alarm with you when you go on business travel, you are becoming a dinosaur"

Yes I am from 1958, I am not generation Y or Z. I am not in constant contact with my friends. I am not following someone others boring events on twitter, put my photograph on facebook.

I live in the present. I am not constantly giving devided attention to every one. When I listen to someone he or she got my undevided attention. I like phisical contact. When I go out with friends we meet at a certain pub or restaurant. When I with them I have no need to see where others hang out on my mobile phone. I am with them allready. I do not listen to music when I am at work, I go to a concert to enjoy music, see them life.

You are constantly informing your homies what you have done, where you are right now (and not doing anything, because it is obviously not interesting enough to stick with it) or what you are going to do. While you walk around with a brand icon t-shirt which says 'just do it', but read my lips you are NOT doing it. The gadget life is like teanage sex: everyone is talking about it, but nobody is doing it. Drop the gadgets, live life to the max (you recognise that slogan problably), you might just be loving it (again a hollow slogan).

Does this make a conservative?

Regards Kees

 

i am kind of conservative mainly because of privacy, i don't use social media, apart from YT, i don't use a mobile phone because i don't like the idea your movements can be traced/tracked and don't use a cc i use TOR too sometimes. i am a complete privacy nut. i have never written my name online either lol

 

I'm not from 1958, I'm from the 70s, lol, and I don't get all up in arms about the latest fads either. iPhone? Why? A regular old cell phone can make calls just as easy, and it won't cost me a fortune, and, I won't be tied down to the "My way or the highway" attitude from Steve Jobs. Facebook? Don't make me laugh. If people would like to be that much of a target for identity thieves and government intrusion, have at it. I don't use social networks, I don't use wireless, I don't use smartphones, no Gmail, no "flavor of the month" services, products or software of any kind. I use what I want, how I want, when I want. Music to me stopped existing after, oh, 1996 (with VERY few exceptions)....damn, I'm getting old, lol. But, I'm happy

 

It looks to me like the word conservative is being substituted for practical and/or sensible here. IMO, conservative is a bad choice of words for describing anything anymore. It's been used so much as a label that it's lost most of its original meaning.

Most of the form regulars know I like the older operating systems. It's not because I'm being cheap or nostalgic. With Windows for instance, I don't like the direction it's evolving. For me, an idea operating system would be a interface between the user, the hardware, and the users software. Beyond that, it should be transparent and stay out of the way. It should do exactly what you tell it to, and only that. It should be light and efficient, using as little of your hardware as possible so that your disk space, memory, resources, processing power, etc are all available for your applications. Each newer version
of Windows goes further in the opposite direction. Why should I stop using a system that works and behaves the way I want, then replace it with one that doesn't behave the way I feel it should and is bloated up with things I have no use for?

I'm not resistant to change itself. If a change serves what I consider to be a useful purpose, I have no problem with it. In recent years, there's been a push towards alternate energy and "going green" (I hate that misused term.) Changes like these I made long before they were popular or were the "in" thing to do. My home has been partly solar heated for over 25 years. Change for the sake of change or for the sake of staying current or modern for me is not a valid reason. For me, things like Facebook, MySpace, etc are a complete waste of time. I wouldn't use them even if they were completely safe. I wouldn't get a iPhone or a Droid. There's nothing there I need or want. I don't even carry a cell phone. Just don't see it as necessary to be in or available for constant contact. The people that matter to me know how to get in contact with me if the need arises. To me, texting is an even bigger joke

A navigation system? I never needed one before. Why would I need it now? Things like this make you reliant on them, eventually to the point of becoming incapable or too lazy to do the task without them. It amazes me how many people can't figure out what direction they're facing just by looking at the sky and knowing approximately what time it is. It used to be common knowledge. Other modern toys that are advertized as work or time savers don't work out that way. That modern household gadget might save a bit of housework time, but you had to put that time in at your job in order to get the money to buy it in the first place. There's a good chance that the work you did to purchase it was more unpleasant than the work it saved you from.

The industry likes to portray these things as status symbols. IMO, most of them are nothing more than marketing ploys and toys designed to part you from your money. Others are used to track or monitor you, or store records of everything you did. If it has GPS, I won't have it. I can't remember the last time I was lost or didn't know quite where I was at, so I have no use for it. If I don't have it, I don't have to wonder if it's being used to keep tract of where I'm at or going, which is no one elses business anyway (that includes law enforcement, NSA, and other surveillance groups).

 

Noone, you're probably one of the few who will survive the one world government and the apocalypse, lol. You're right though, just about everything "hot" these days is nothing more than a waste of time, money, and, too often, unsafe.

 

There are so many reasons why one does not adopt, or does adopt, new fangdangled conraptions.

Some feel they are too old to radically change thier ways. They take it slow, adopting one thing at a time. They are not opposed to it until they see instances of it not saving time or making money. Take an 86 year old woman who still does bookkeeping in a ledger. She uses quickbooks sparingly, only for the accountants and taxman. She understands the use it can be for them, because they know how to use it properly. She also sees other people, who should be working, instead spending a lot of time on the computer. She sees it, and from her lifes experiences, knows that time was wasted and money lost. She knows they can play a role, but does not see the rate of return in proper proportions. She looks at cell phones in the same way. They can be very useful, but more often are only distractions.

Some people abhor what everyone else is doing. They want to take their own path. I am personally that way. Myspace, facebook, iphone.. I am not going to be "just like Mike". I reserve some space for my own individuality. I don't mind being the same in broad terms - I use windows 7 and chrome browser. It is not being stubborn or conservative. It is simply not wanting to be a sheep and follow the leader. Is this "keeping up with the Jones' "? Maybe?

Some people find their identity by being "current". Current clothes, current slang, current iphone, current fad. They may not want to "stick out" by being obviosly different. They want to fit in and be "one of the gang". They will embrace things they might not even care about just to fit in or be cool.

Some people simply like it the way things are, or were, and dislike anything that changes the "status quo". To them, their favored "way of life" is being changed before their eyes and they hate it. Take a look at any small town in any state other than California, and watch what happens when people from California move there. Slowly over time things start to look like they do in California, and the people who were there prior have some serious problems with it. I know, I see it change more every year where I live. I dislike it, does that make me conservative or just have the desire to not live in mini-California?

As a tech junkie myself, I find it really fascinating at what I will embrace and what I will not. I am conservative by nature, but not with technology. If it seems logically better, why not embrace it. If it seems illogical, why embrace it? Why does my phone need all that in it? It is illogical. If I were a businessman utilizing the conferencing and data etc, I would be logical. I don't "condemn" the state of phones, but I don't see the need to rush out and buy something that I don't need. But it seems that the more you can stuff into something, the more astounding you can make the claims, the better your product is. The right tool for the right job you know. If you need a 27pc swiss army knife because you are MacGyver, it is the right tool. If you are needing a knife to cut your steak, why would you need the "latest and greatest" swiss army knife? That is what I would call conservativism in relations to the topic, and it does play a role. But being conservative alone is not a reason why people embrace or despise new technologies, IMHO.

Sul.

 

Lol. I'd like to think that it's not going to come to that, but everything I see says otherwise. Technology and electronics are just the tip of the iceberg. I can remember when ceiling fans were just becoming popular for homes. The price was reasonable. Then someone "proved" that using one properly could save on your heat bill. The price shot way up almost immediately. As a result, a large part of any saving you might have realized was taken by the manufacturer. An item like a ceiling fan is also a good example of the wasteful use or outright misuse of technology. Several manufacturers have incorporated electronic speed control into them, which is completely pointless. There is absolutely no need for precision speed control in a ceiling fan. Who really cares if it's spinning at 61 rpm instead of 60?

So many of these new toys are touted as time and/or work savers. Yet most of the users of these devices make no practical use of the time or energy they save. Example, those self propelled vacuums that work by themselves. Assuming that your home is laid out in such a way that one of these vacuums can do a decent job, the individuals who used to push that vacuum often do absolutely nothing with that "saved" time, or just park on the couch in front of the tube and wonders why they're getting fat! People are labor saving themselves to the point of inactivity. Then they either buy exercise equipment or a membership in a health club. Spend money to get out of performing physical work, then spend more to replace the physical activity that they just bought their way out of. Why is it that so many households can't get by on one income? Buying time and labor saving devices, tech toys, keeping up with the Jones, etc is the biggest reason.

Staying current and modern is a devious trap that's so easy to fall into, and very hard to get back out of. It's these little toys, modern conveniences, and services that push your expenditures beyond what a single income can often pay for. When both go to work to pay for them, all the other expenses go up. Child care costs that didn't exist when one parent was home. The house and the food suffer because both are too tired from work to make a good home cooked meal. Enter precooked meals, aka high price and lousy tasting. Unless you're both working the same shift, family time gets scarce. And why does the rest of the world seem to have so much influence on your children? Because you're not there? Too many equate the quality of life with material possessions, income level, keeping up with the times, etc. Modern society bombards you with these lies constantly. None of these will make you happy or healthy, but striving for them can make you the exact opposite of what you hoped for. These things don't make life better. they distract you from life.

 

I don't know if being thrifty and lazy count as being "conservative", but I'm one more user, and consider myself a reasonably knowledgeable one, who hangs onto a computer system and its OS as long as it keeps running reasonably faithfully. My Celeron/XP system is something like 8 years old now, and when support for XP finally ends and I have to upgrade to Win 7 (or 8, or whatever's standard by then) to continue getting security updates, I'm well aware that I'll need considerably better hardware even if my current one's still running fine (probably not, by then) just for the OS. And if current pricing/technology trends continue, I'll probably get much more computer for no more than I paid for this one, probably even quite a bit cheaper.

About the only negative factor in working this way is that it means jumping several generations of Windows in one shot, with corresponding learning-curve problems. Going from DOS to 3.1 was nothing, since 3.1 was essentially an application running under DOS rather than a new OS. And 3.1 to 98SE wasn't too bad, since the latter still retained most DOS functions. But going from 98SE to XP was quite a challenging jump, and definitely marked the point where I got "demoted" from being considered an expert to just one more point-and-click-and-pray user.

I'm rarely out of the house, so have no use for any kind of portable phone, much less a smart-phone, and would much rather buy DVD movies on disk than try to watch streaming video or use VoIP for phoning, so while my 256 megs of RAM has often been criticized as woefully inadequate, my system and the things I do with it are quite happy with it -- especially since my video controller is an onboard chip rather than a card, which makes a lot more video memory available to me.