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Anyone older feeling a bit sad for the younger generation?

posted 5 years ago by [deleted]
24 replies | jump to latest

When I was in my twenties, this was at the height of when the internet and digital age first exploded, and I was so envious to not have come of age at that time.

Twenty years later, I now feel the opposite. The problem I'm noticing with technology now is that it's reduced life into a pathetic singularity in which everything is done through your phone or tablet, and usually using one app.

For example, back in the day, there was more than one way to discover and listen to music. You could go to the music store, watch music videos, pick up a magazine (like Rolling Stone), listen to radio shows, watch a TV show (American Bandstand/Soul Train) or go to venues. Hell, sometimes you could just walk into ANY store (bookstore, clothing, etc.) and hear something you'd never heard of before and go, "What the hell is that?"

Now, it's like, "Oh, let me just turn on my tablet/phone and see what's trending on this one app that I use for all of my music."

Ditto passing the time. If you were bored ages ago, what did you do? Maybe you completed a puzzle book or played a board game with your friends or called someone up to talk to for an hour or two or played a video game or listened to the radio or read a book or took up knitting/stamp collecting/model building. Now it's, "Let me turn on my smartphone/tablet and use the one platform I'm obsessed with (Facebook, Instagram, Candy Crush, etc.)."

Same thing with shopping. Back in the day, you'd go to stores, garage sales, flea markets or order via catalog. Now it's, "Let me open up my tablet/phone and order on Amazon or eBay."

Every single thing today seems to be based around this one gadget and boiled down to a small handful of apps. I can't imagine growing up in such a time defined by this level of singularity. There's none of the richness and variety that older generations grew up with.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72266) 5 years ago

I disagree
I enjoyed the 'adventure' of getting turned around back in the olden days (I got lost pretty often, no lie:) and a pretty girl in my car was just the icing on the long drive around the woods but damn is it swell to have GPS and comp maps at hand

I quite like flea markets as I am an avid antique and vinyl album buyer but I use Amazon for 90% of my purchases

Today a guy Delivered 3 cords of wood AND carted off my broken yard machines and assorted rubbish for $550...I got him on my phone!

I love this new technology way more than I loved the 80s

[–] Prelude (1443) 5 years ago

I feel a bit sad for ALL of us, that we are now a species who are glued to these little phones 24/7.

It's altered the way people interact, to have a constant ability to be reached or to ignore the moment you're living in by turning instead to what's going on online instead/social media/your e-mail/snapchat etc.

Nobody can just BE with the people they're in the physical presence of anymore. People always have their phone to look at, take a call, make a call, start playing a game or going on Twitter...

It's changed the nature of even just hanging out with people. It's making things very rude, in my opinion.

[–] BillHicksFan (10148) 5 years ago

I agree, but you or I don't have to have those phones, and other bullshit. I use the internet mostly for message boards, and as a server to find movies, music, comedy...

I actually canceled the internet all summer last year. I did a lot more reading and other productive stuff. Time flew by, too.

[–] Prelude (1443) 5 years ago

Yes, I do not, in fact, have a smartphone. I've elected to have a basic phone that's only good for calls and texts - no apps, no getting online to social media etc.

I keep that for at home on my laptop, where, similar to you, I will go on forum boards, e-mail, look at a bit of social media, and other stuff. I do have an online outlet for my business so I can't cancel the internet, it's part of my livelihood.

But even with some business usage mixed in, it's still what I would call "old-school" usage - sitting at home on a PC or laptop deciding that's what I'll be doing for an hour, then I stop and do other things. I'm still using the internet the same way I did in the year 1999 before the cellphone truly became something every person had and used all day everywhere they went.

I don't approve of carrying it around and being on it 24/7. Trouble is, even if you or I do not have these phones and use them this way, inevitably the people in our lives do.