This is why I detest modern technology....

[topochico225]

Kids don't NEED technology when they're ten, or even 13, or 15.

I disagree about the 13-15 thing. At that point kids are starting to go out just them and their friends in public, and some 15 year olds are driving so it’d be dangerous to some extent not to have a phone.

 

[gtaus]

I've thought about the bracelet. I'd be ok with it. Folks would have to know to look for it. But it would work if they did

My idea was a bit different. If we could use modern tech to our advantage, the medical ID bracelet would also include a Bluetooth type signal that would automatically send out a signal to a responder alerting them to the fact that the person may have some special needs. When I was an EMT, way back in the day, we were taught to look for medical alert bracelets and necklaces. But even better would be some kind of device that automatically alerted you to their condition. It could even broadcast their emergency point of contact, etc... and maybe that would help some people get through a crisis. I mean, my cell phone automatically connects to my car stereo when I get in the car. We should be able to use some of the same type of tech to help save lives.

Thank you for your perspective. I appreciate it from someone who understands.

I know this was not directed to me, but I wanted to say that I just found out that someone close in the family just had a ~3 year old child diagnosed with Autism. I don't know where on the spectrum. I don't know what to say to the mother, if anything, but I am heartbroken about the situation. I personally have never had to work with an autistic child. I just don't understand what mother and child are going through, although I assume there will be special need issues.

My wife had a friend that had an autistic child and she ended up giving the child to the state for care. It destroyed her marriage and her life. She moved away from everybody (Minnesota to Florida) to try to start a new life. It was tragedy all around. I gather there was some stigma for giving up her child. But I know that there is a wide spectrum of autism and I don't want to judge people. I don't understand what some people go through, but it must take a lot of strength.

 

[gtaus]

I hope I didn't mean to come off as accusing you of just being ageist;

No, it's alright. No offense taken, we are just having a nice conversation. I just think back over my life and how I managed to get on fine without a cell phone growing up. Now, I see my grand nephews and nieces with cell phones as young as 3 years old. They will be living in a different world than I grew up in. I'm not convinced that living a life centered around a cell phone and social media is a good thing. I'm sure I would have been just as addicted as a kid if I grew up with a cell phone. I'm glad we did not have cell phones, in that respect.

 

[-Flash-]

I disagree about the 13-15 thing. At that point kids are starting to go out just them and their friends in public, and some 15 year olds are driving so it’d be dangerous to some extent not to have a phone.

Driving?! At 15?! Oh... you're in America! (Sorry took me a while!)

 

[gtaus]

Driving?! At 15?! Oh... you're in America! (Sorry took me a while!)

I grew up in a small rural farming community. The farm kids could get "work permits" to drive vehicles at 14-15 years of age. There were limits on the permits such as going to/from the farm to town and I think only during daylight hours. But many of my friends were driving vehicles on their farms at a very early age.

My dad was a drivers trainer instructor at our high school. He would tell me that sometimes the farm kids that had been driving for years were the worse students for his course. They had developed many bad habits over the years, or rather they had never been taught safe driving to begin with, so there was a lot of retaining that needed to be done to make them safe drivers on the highways. His students that came in with no driving experience were taught safe driving techniques from the start and often were much easier to train. I guess that makes sense to me.

 

[Aunt Angus]

My idea was a bit different. If we could use modern tech to our advantage, the medical ID bracelet would also include a Bluetooth type signal that would automatically send out a signal to a responder alerting them to the fact that the person may have some special needs. When I was an EMT, way back in the day, we were taught to look for medical alert bracelets and necklaces. But even better would be some kind of device that automatically alerted you to their condition. It could even broadcast their emergency point of contact, etc... and maybe that would help some people get through a crisis. I mean, my cell phone automatically connects to my car stereo when I get in the car. We should be able to use some of the same type of tech to help save lives.



I know this was not directed to me, but I wanted to say that I just found out that someone close in the family just had a ~3 year old child diagnosed with Autism. I don't know where on the spectrum. I don't know what to say to the mother, if anything, but I am heartbroken about the situation. I personally have never had to work with an autistic child. I just don't understand what mother and child are going through, although I assume there will be special need issues.

My wife had a friend that had an autistic child and she ended up giving the child to the state for care. It destroyed her marriage and her life. She moved away from everybody (Minnesota to Florida) to try to start a new life. It was tragedy all around. I gather there was some stigma for giving up her child. But I know that there is a wide spectrum of autism and I don't want to judge people. I don't understand what some people go through, but it must take a lot of strength.

I have deep compassion for those caring for people who need very specialized care. I don't know how some people do what they do. But I wouldn't change my son for the WORLD. He is fantastic just the way he is. I KNOW I am blessed that he is as high-functioning as he is. I hope the child of the person you reference brings the mother as much joy as my son brings me. Is it challenging? Lawd, yes! But I am a better person for having him in my life.

I'd have to think seriously about the idea of the automatic transmitting device you described. Something like that would be intriguing, to say the least. There are some serious philosophical considerations to ponder, for sure. But it would probably save a lot of heartache and tragedy.

 

[Sequel]

Today we had a tornado warning. I got a notification from the local warning system then maybe 1 or two minutes later one from the National weather service or whatever it’s called. That’s the best part of modern tech! My neighbor lives in a mobile home so she put her cat in a carrier and came over. She asked if she could and of course I said sure then she said well I’ll wait till the wind starts!! I told her omg no if you wait it’ll be too late! The warning expired but I had a nice visit with her and Sophie, her cat.

 

[azurbanclucker]

Hi. Is this a 12 step program for tech haters? Am I in the right place? Get off my internet lawn!

My career is tech, and I've been in the industry of being online in one form or another since before I needed to shave. It pays the bills, but it has severely jaded my views on tech, how we consume it as end users, and ultimately what the actual product being marketed is. In short, I'm not so much against the tech. I have serious issues with the invasive and often unethical ways tech is marketed, data is harvested and consumed, and the predatory practices a lot of tech companies employ to put their product in your hands. All with the sole intent to profit from not only your purchase, but your use of the products and reliance on their walled in ecosystems to keep you using their stuff (and harvesting your data). We're actually the product tech companies want access to. Our brains, our interests, our digital bread crumb trails as we happily use nav services in our cars, browse and shop on the internet, agree to those EULA's when we buy new toys and never read the fine print, etc... Getting faster and more complete access to that data is what drives the tech innovations now. A large and very prominent tech company's creedo used to be "Do no evil". That ship sailed when they figured out how profitable evil was. now it's every one of us for themselves.

Kill your television. Smash your alexa and google home while you're at it. The real struggle of the modern age is remaining anonymous. Do that, and you're ahead of the curve.

 

[gtaus]

Hi. Is this a 12 step program for tech haters? Am I in the right place? Get off my internet lawn!

Well, I started ranting about the modern tech and what I detest about it. Others have joined in both agreeing and disagreeing in certain aspects. Even I enjoy some of the benefits of modern tech, like the ability to rant about it on an online forum, while at the same time question the use/misuse of modern tech that appears, to me at least, to be damaging our social fabric.

I started programming computers back in the late 1970's and over a number of years post High School I managed to get 2 college degrees in computer science and related fields. I would not call myself anti tech, per se, but recently I have really become upset with the way/direction of our modern tech in how it has become a big part of the lives of so many people in ways that I do not like. My programming days were well before the internet and all these social media platforms.

I see these social media platforms as life changing. They are not tools, they take over the minds of people. I know too many people who only get their "news" from Facebook posts and only believe something that they read on Facebook. Problem is, of course, Facebook is not a news media outlet and is free to make and pass on all kinds of misinformation without having to post corrections or be accountable for their spreading garbage. Real news organizations and publications have reputations to maintain and if they make a mistake, they will post corrections, even if not on the front page. I don't know how a democracy survives if we the people have no collective confidence on the "facts" we need to know to make decisions about the people we elect to represent us and to lead the nation.

I don't have to go further than my own family where I can get into a political debate with a sibling about an issue. I will state that ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and even Fox news (not the late night opinion shows) will all cover the news more or less the same. My family member will have some completely different view because they read something posted on Facebook and give that more value than the "Fake" news of all our broadcast channels. But I'm a news junkie and will watch many channels throughout the day. My sibling states they don't have the time or desire to do that, and besides, the only real news is what they read on Facebook. I think that is toxic as misinformation is all over social media without any checks.

I guess I'm still ranting.....

 

[Folly's place]

I don't do Facebook, or Twitter, and when I use google to look for information, I'm careful to use reliable sources, not some blog out of nowhere.
I can't say the same for some of my relatives either.
Mary